Early candles were made of vegetable waxes produced from plants such as bayberries, candelilla leaves, candletree bark, esparto grass, and various varieties of palm leaves such as carnuba and ouricury. They were also made of animal tissue and secretions, such as spermaceti(whale oil), ambergris, and beeswax (insect secretions). Sometimes entire animals such as the stormy petrel and the candlefish of the Pacific Northwest were threaded with a wick and burned as candles. Tallow candles were made of sheep, cow, or pig fat. All these candles were rather crude, time-consuming to make and smoky.
Of the two kinds of candle fuel, beeswax was considered the better since it burned cleaner than tallow and had a lovely odor compared to tallow's rancid, smoky smell. Being scarce, beeswax was expensive. Only churches and the wealthy could afford beeswax candles.
By the 17th century, European state edicts controlled the weight, size and cost of candles. In 1709, an act of the English Parliament banned the making of candles at home unless a license was purchased and a tax paid.
Matches were invented in 1827, using poisonous phosphorus but were improved by the end of the century, eliminating the need for sparking with flint, steel, and tinder, or for keeping a fire burning 24 hours a day.
Probably most important of all, Paraffin was refined from oil around 1850, making petroleum based candles possible. The combination of paraffin, which burns clean and without odor, and stearins, which harden soft paraffin, with new wick technologies developed in the nineteenth century, revolutionized the candle industry, giving us the tools and materials we still use for candle manufacturing.
Candle Shapes
Container: Any candle that is poured into a container and intended to be burned in the container is a container candle. These candles are often made of soft wax and would not be able to stand on their own outside their enclosures.
The container also prevents soft wax from dripping. Since these candles are safely contained in a vessel, they are often used in restaurants and in religious rituals that require long-burning candles.
Pillar: A thick candle with a geometrical cross section such as a circle, oval, or hexagon is called a pillar. It is usually referred to by its diameter followed by its height. For example, a 3-by 6-inch pillar would be 3 inches in diameter and 6 inches high. Some pillars come in standard sized for commercial and religious use but you can make many variations of pillars by using molds.
Novelty: These are irregularly shaped candles made by molding, sculpting and/or pouring.
Taper: These are the long cylindrical candles that kindle memories of historic candle-dipping. Tapers can be made by dipping wicks into melted wax, by pouring wax into a mold, and by rolling wax around a wick. No matter the method, the result is always candles made to fit into a holder.
Tapers are generally made 1/2 inch or 7/8 inch in diameter at the base because most holders are designed to fit these two sizes. There are, of course, exceptions, such as birthday candles (3/16 inch) and Danish tapers (1/4 inch). Some specialty candleholders are designed to hold a taper larger than 7/8 inch.
Votive and Tea Lights: Although these candles originated in the church, the term now refers to small plug-type candles that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter by 2 to 3 inches high. This shape has become popular for scented candles because their small size allows them to fit easily into small rooms, such as bathrooms.
As votives melt and become liquid in their containers, the wick uses up all the liquid fuel. If you burn a votive on a plate, the burn time will be shorter because the wax will drip and the wick will be unable to use it.
Tea lights are small votives used to warm pots of potpourri and to heat foods. They fit in smaller-than-standard votive cups.
CANDLE COLORS
WHITE: --Self; Protection; Purification; Full Moon Magic; Purity; Innocence; Centering; Truth; Sincerity; Meditation; Peace; Power of a Higher Nature; Greater Attainments in Life; Spirituality.
RED: -- South; Protection; Strength; Blood; Passion; Courage; Health; Power; Fire Elemental; Sexuality; Vigor; Energy; Enthusiasm; Will Power; To conquer fear or laziness.
LT. BLUE: --Healing; Patience; Happiness; Psychic Awareness; Quests; Intuition; Opportunity; Tranquillity; Understanding. Ward Depression; Safe Journey; Harmony in the Home; Peace.
DARK BLUE: --The Goddess; West; Water Elemental; Inspiration; Truth; Dreams; Protection; Change; Impulse; Fidelity; Deep Emotion; Peace; Meditation; Changeability; Psychism.
GREEN: --North; Money; Fertility; Growth; Employment; Earth Elemental; Herb Magic; Luck; Healing; Balance; Prosperity; Courage; Nature type Faerie-magic; Garden blessing; Abundance; Generosity; Renewal; Marriage.
YELLOW: --East; Air Elemental; Intellect; Creative Work; Learning; Changes; Confidence; Attraction; Harmony; Clairvoyance; Charm; Imagination; Power of the Mind; Gentle persuasion; Action.
BROWN: --Earth Elemental; Animal Health; Endurance; Steadiness; Houses & Homes; Physical Objects; Overcoming uncertainty and hesitancy; Attract Money and Financial Success; Concentration; ESP; Intuition; Study.
PINK: --Love; Peace; Femininity; Friendship; Honor; Morality; Emotional Love; Affection; Romance; Spiritual Awakening; Healing of the Spirit; Togetherness.
ORANGE: --The God; Attraction; Stimulation; Energy; Healing; Vitality; Encouragement; Adaptability; Luck; Pulling things to you; Clearing the Mind; Dominance, Sudden Changes; Change Luck.
PURPLE: --Power; Dignity; Spiritual Development; Meditation, Spirituality; Intuition; Ambition; Spirit Communication; Tension; Business Progress; Healing Severe Diseases; Occult Wisdom; Success; Idealism; Higher Psychic Ability; Break Bad Luck; Drive Away Evil; Honors.
GOLD: --The God; Solar Energy; Physical Strength; Power; Success; Mental Growth; Skill Sought; Healing Energy; Fortune; Divination; Creative Work; Intuition; Money; Fast Luck; Attracts Higher Influences.
SILVER: --The Goddess; Lunar magic; Removes negative forces; Opens astral gates; Conducts Energy; Meditation; Creative Work; Protection; Money; Psychic Development; Success; Balance; Ward Negativity; Remove Negative Energy; Stability; Victory.
VIOLET: --Self Improvement; Intuition; Success in searches; Creative Work.
BLACK: --Endings; Closing of Doors; Psychic Work; Death; Ward Negativity; Remove Hexes; Protection; Spirit Contact; Truth; Remove Discord or Confusion; Reversing; Releasing; Repel Dark Magic and Negative Thought Forms.
GREENISH-YELLOW: --To Negate; Discord, Sickness, Anger, Jealousy, Cowardice, Anger.
INDIGO:--Meditation; Spirit Communication; Karma Working; Balance; Learn the Ancient Wisdom; Neutralize Another's Magic; Ward Slander, Lies or Undesirable Competition
GRAY: --Non-Nature Faerie Magic; Travel to Otherworld; Vision Quests; Veiling; Cancellation; Hesitation; Competition.
LAVENDER--Spiritual Development; Psychic Growth; Divination; Sensitivity to the Otherworld; Blessings.
MAGENTA: --Very High Vibrational Frequency that tends to work fast so usually burned with other candles; Quick Change; Spiritual Healing, Exorcism.
CANDLEMAKING METHODS
Cast and Molded: These candles are made by pouring wax into a preformed mold or shape. Molds can be made of disposable materials such as milk cartons and sand, purchased in metal or plastic, found at garage sales and on the beach, or created by you out of rubber, latex, or silicone rubber. You can make any of the candle types mentioned in the previous section with the molding and casting method.
Dipped: These candles are made by repeatedly dipping a piece of wick into melted wax in a container, or dipping can. The results are called tapers because this is the natural shape that occurs as a result of dipping.
Drawn: This is an old method made new by modern technology. It involves pulling long lengths of wick (thousands of yards) through melted wax. This method works well for making small diameter candles such as birthday candles, or the long waxed wicks used to light multiple candles called wax matches. In earlier times, some lamps were designed to hold wound lengths of waxed wick, which were unwound as they burned down. This method allowed a long burning candle without a thick wax product.
Extruded: This is a machine method that pushes wax out through a shaped template, much like making cookies with a cookie gun. Once they're extruded, these very long candles are then sliced into their proper lengths. This method requires accurate heating and cooling of the wax in order to ensure that the intended shape holds as the wax comes through the die.
Poured: This term refers to an old-fashioned method of pouring wax repeatedly over a wick to build it up to candle size.
Pressed: This is a newer method of making commercial candles in which wax is atomized onto a cooling drum, forming wax beads or granules. These beads are then compressed into molds, where they bind to form a candle. The commercial advantage of pressed candles is that they can be removed from molds much more quickly than molten-poured molded candles.
Rolled: These candles are made by rolling sheets of wax around a wick. Tapers, pillars, and novelty candles can be made with this method.
