Candle Problems

[StarFall]

Hello All. Ive got a bit of a bind here and I was wondering if anyone has any advise.


First, Ive got to ask, are candles *absolutley* vital to rituals and circles? Becase if they are I have a bit of a problem. See, here in these dorms I live in, we are prohibited from having any open flame in the dorms. Actually, we're not supposed to have alot of stuff, but I'm trying to keep this relevant. Normally this would not be a problem, but I have not one but TWO smoke detectors/HALON fire extingwishers in my cell here. (ok, room). Does anyone have any alternatives to candles I can use, or soemthing I'm not thinking of? Like...do smokeless candles exist? (kidding).


Any help here would be appriciated. Thanks in advance.

[Sun Sprite]

Actaully, they do, kinda. In some gift shops you can find neat "candles" that are actaully small light bulbs in a candle like caseing. Some even have the "flames" that flutter from the heat of the bulb.

I wouls say they aren't necesary, however you may feel diffferent.

[Kalika]

Well... everyone hates this answer, but....

What is "necessary" really depends on you, and what you want to do.

Most things can be substituted for, or left out altogether... your will and intent is the main driving purpose behind a ritual... everything else is just dressing.

You can buy el-cheapo candles at the dollar store and WalMart if you really feel like you need them. :) If you need a certain color, you can always color it yourself or wrap it in colored foil.

(Oh... and that's irrelevant to your question. :lol: )

There are the lamps that look like candles... though I think I would rather forgo that altogether, since candles generally represent flame of some sort, and incandescent light just... isn't the same.

But, its what you feel comfortable with!

[Teresa]

You do not have to use candles or incense it is your preferance in the situation that matters most and maybe you can make an outdoor private shrine somewhere if you do feel a need to use candles or incense.

[skilly-nilly]

[SIZE=2]Hello All. Ive got a bit of a bind here and I was wondering if anyone has any advise. First, Ive got to ask, are candles *absolutley* vital to rituals and circles? Becase if they are I have a bit of a problem. See, here in these dorms I live in, we are prohibited from having any open flame in the dorms. [SIZE]

I agree with Kalika that your intent is what'e really important, but there's a way to use your intent to have candle-light.

The way I see it, we send the flame of the candle up into the Timeless Land or, to put it a different way, the flame exists (through our intent) both here and in the Timeless Land while we are spell-casting.

Sooooooooo, you can go outside, or someplace candle-friendly, and light one or more candles. Sit and meditate while looking (with intent) at the flames. Pinch them out (or blow). Back in your dorm-room when you want to spell-cast start by taking out your pre-flamed candle, set it up, and meditate the flame back on to it. The flame won't be there in your dorm-room but the part of the flame that went (via intent) to the Timeless Land is .....well, timeless, and so is always retrievable (imo).

Meditating up candle flames is a fine way to practice meditation as well.

[RunningRiot]

No physical materals are needed in spell work, they just serve as a focus for your mind to better direct your energy. If you can over come that, you don't need to do anything physical to cast a spell at all.

For alternatives for candles I've seen people use representations of fire (like dragon statues, ruby gems, ashes), flashlights, and even card board cut-outs.

[mtpathy]

go to a hobby store,pick out five nice big smooth rocks
also buy some paint and some clear paint protectent.
paint on each of the four rocks symbols that represent
the various directions,and on the last rock paint a big
pentegram or other generic designation.
now let them dry then paint over your designs with the clear
paint/protectent so your rocks wont chip.
now you have a way of designating the corners,as well as a
alter "center piece",and not a single candle had to die for it.

[StarFall]

Thanks everyone. Ive settled on some black metal dish/candle holder things (dont really know what they are indended for, buy meh, it works for me) Ive got one filled with dirt, one with a small candle (unlit, its just there) one with a sea-shell and water, and one with a feather on it.


Thanks for the help.


StarFall

No F8

[AussiePagan]

See, here in these dorms I live in, we are prohibited from having any open flame in the dorms. Actually, we're not supposed to have alot of stuff, but I'm trying to keep this relevant. Normally this would not be a problem, but I have not one but TWO smoke detectors/HALON fire extingwishers in my cell here. (ok, room). Does anyone have any alternatives to candles I can use, or soemthing I'm not thinking of? Like...do smokeless candles exist? (kidding).


Spooky, I've got the same problem and was about to post about it _inabox_. My idea was to get a plastic container, put a rubbery air tight seal around the edge then push it onto the ceiling so that the container covers the smoke detector, and the seals stop air from passing in or out. So long as you've got a fan to blow the candle smoke away, in theory it should work :idea:

You'ld need to use non smelly candles. Do candles smell much when they burn ?

[Crimson Mage]

Use soy based candles with lead free wicks to eliminate the smoke........

[Jenett]

Please please don't use candles if they're forbidden: the reason so many dorms are so strict about them is that older buildings are often bigger fire risks (the wood and other materials in them have aged and dried). The timber time (time for serious fire to spread, threatening people's lives - not just their stuff - can be as small as a couple of minutes, even in a very large dorm.)

As far as alternatives: what do you use the candles for?

Some people use them for magical working (there are alternative methods, including things like charging the candle in your room, and then taking it outside to burn somewhere else.)

Others use them as a place for something to 'sit' during ritual (the element or direction, deity, etc.) In this case, you can come up with something else that provides that space. I've done ritual where we used small boxes (bought at a craft store: ours were $2 a piece or so), painted and decorated for the element. When we called that element, we opened the box.

If what you want is a representation of the element of fire, you might consider a special piece of glass (for the heat and melting and transformational aspects), obsidian (same deal, but naturally produced), or other visual representations (an image of a hearth, bonfire, picture of a candle, etc.)

There are also some fountains and home decoration things out there now that do quite a nice little flickering 'candle' flame that's really an LED light. It's not quite the real thing, but it looks suprisingly good, and it's a lot safer. I know several people who are using them for 'always on' flames, such as for a Hestia or Vesta shrine.

[kheretsenu]

http://www.homesew.com/LB3.html

I've been in the same situation, and found electric tea lights to be quite useful. :)

[Merrilyn]

http://www.homesew.com/LB3.html

I've been in the same situation, and found electric tea lights to be quite useful. :)
I love these as well! :fpraise:

[cheddarsox]

I second the "don't break the fire rules" response. My son's dorm was recently gutted by fire.

People have offered very lovely and creative ideas. Here is another really beautiful one. Get a wine bottle, stuff a short , 30 or 50 light string of Christmas lights into it. it glows beautifully. Looks almost magical.

cheddar

[Mouse]

If I can't use a flame to represent the element of fire, I'll use chilli powder. Just thinking about it makes my mouth and skin burn, :lol: so that might help you.

Colour magick can substitute for candle magick fairly easily, because a lot of the time the colour of the candle is what is important, not the actual flame.
Best of luck!

[CelticMoon11]

Can you used inclosed flames? Like those in a jar or something? Or go somewhere else? Friends? Forest? etc if you really want to use a candle? Just don't burn that place down either :p lol

[Qeniheru]

When I lived in the dorm, we weren't allowed to have candles period, even if they were on a candle dish warmer and stuff. I also didn't want to weird out my roommate. I just did everything in Second Life...sounds crazy, I know, but it worked for me. :lol: As for going out and doing stuff, I would be careful, as I have had the fire department called on me because they thought I was trying to set the park on fire! :awilly: I second using the color symbolism idea, while I was in the dorms I used gemstones constantly to replace the candles, and I would often go out and bury them under my favorite tree. :) That worked well, too.

My two cents. :)

[AussiePagan]

Use soy based candles with lead free wicks to eliminate the smoke........

So they wouldn't set of a smoke detector ? :idea:

[MorningDove030202]

I like to use the Ace cards of a Tarot Deck to represent the elements when candles are not alowed, or it's windy.

You can find more dorm room advice here: http://www.collegewicca.com/collegefiles/rules.html


Dove

[Dawa Lhamo]

Well, in a word, no. They're not necessary.

In fact, our ideological ancestors, most of them wouldn't have had candles. Candles (like mirrors) until relatively recently were very expensive and a luxury of the rich. The peasant class, from which a lot of folk magic/cunning craft comes, would have burned tallow lamps and such for light. And they *definitely* wouldn't have had coloured candles. Most of the colours we have today are pigments that are synthetic or would have been completely unavailable not that relatively long ago. They managed to get by without coloured candles, so I imagine we can, too. ;)

If you want to represent fire in your circle, red peppers or cinnamon sticks work just as well, or whatever speaks to you of fire. Electric lights work. Sulphur is a fiery element, so heck, if you feel comfortable with the association, put an egg yolk there. What really matters, since it's really about getting *you* into the ritual state of consciousness, is whether the symbol makes sense to you, innately... if you can look at it and think, fire, then it's an acceptable symbol. In the dorm, I used red chili peppers that I bought at the spice section of the local supermarket.

Even with different spells in which you'd normally use candles, acceptable substitutes can be made. So long as they are symbolically right for you... Just think about why a candle is being used. Is it for colour? Fabric or crayons or whatever work just as well. Is it because it melts away? Try melting a bit of butter in a dish or chocolate or whatever (though be careful not to burn chocolate in the microwave or anything!) Is it because the flame continues to burn? Set up something else that lasts. Leave a light on, or let a glass of water evaporate, or really, whatever works. ^_^

Good luck!

[Anubis]

Use soy based candles with lead free wicks to eliminate the smoke........
even an unscented soy candle with a lead free wick can smoke if the wick is not trimmed or if the wrong size is used.

[ViolinGoddess]

There's all sorts of magick that you can do without candles. There's knot magick, herb magick, moon magick, poppet magick, stone or crystal magick, color magick, basically, any kind of folk magick.

Here's a little idea, if you feel you need candles or some sort of flame, get some colored construction paper and cut out the shape of a flame (or lit candle) in whatever color association you want it to be in. The place it in a circle or where ever it would do the most good. I hope that helps.

Violin Goddess