BY LISA MARIE BASILE
For the entire month of October, I will be posting daily to Luna Luna about all things magical, witchy, spooky, and spoopy. From books and tarot decks to films and random research or rituals I happen upon, I’ll be offering up a little taste of the shadow.
Today, I offer up a candle-making kit (with flowers!), as candle making is the perfect activity for those chilly Autumn nights where a quiet practice is all that’s needed to settle the nerves and ground the mind. As we go deeper into the cool nights of fall and, eventually, winter, we find that we need the luminous to remind us that all death leads to rebirth and that all long nights lead to days anew.
A candle, to me, is a simple but effective way of lighting the path and of signaling goodness and safety. Of course, you can program these candles with your intention and energy, design them with sigils and symbols, use color magic as you apply the flowers — making them even potent in an incredible way.
So far, I’ve made three candles, and I’ve done them two different ways: When I was getting my footing, I made one free of dye and scent (from essential oil) and without flowers embedded into the wax. As I got “better” at making the candles — and I use that term very loosely — I made them with scent and dye, and with flowers embedded into the wax.
Disclaimer: I am not crafty; I don’t sew (well). I am not the friend you call on to create something from scratch. I’ve been known to curate an aesthetic Instagram and paint and image here and there (the image may be discerned, the soul is not there), but the process of ideating and creating something doesn’t come natural to me. Writing is my one and only talent — and I’ll take it.
The kit that I bought comes from the Etsy seller DIYGiftKitsCO with everything you’ll need, including the wax, a pour pot (which you heat up the wax in and pour the wax out of), tea light tins and larger candle holder tins (for candles), wicks, color blocks, stirring sticks, essential oils, and stickers.
Note that I would recommend finding a clear glass candle holder that a) is heat-proof and b) is made specifically for candlemakers. I suggest this so that you can see the whole candle (the tin holders are nice but you can’t see the candle). Since I am making candles with flowers embedded within, glass seems better.
This Triple Moon Phoenix Etsy seller offers a flower pack sampler that may be fun to play with. I topped my candles with flowers and embedded them in the wax by arranging a few on the still-liquid wax, arranging them with a toothpick, and then pouring a sheer layer of wax on top to set them.
Side note: This New Moon Beginnings Etsy shop is offering an Autumn candle tealight sampler pack that is just adorable — perfect for the folks among us who want to buy our candles and not make them.
This activity was fairly easy, and we (Stephanie Valente, Luna Luna contributor and I) did it on the full moon — which felt apropos in all sorts of ways. It was a way of directing energy, learning something new, tapping into our creativity and appreciating the process.
All in all, you’d be surprised at how easy it is to make a candle. I think I’ll start making a few to pair with certain rituals and practices in my books.
The kits come with instructions, but overall it looks like this:
Measure how much wax you’ll need for each tin holder (you can also eyeball it) and put it into the pour pot.
Put the pour pot into a small pot or large pan with water being heated over fire. This heats the wax safely, as you can’t put the pour pot right into flame.
Pop the wick into the candle holder with stickers.
Prep your dye and fragrance (be careful if you have animals around!!!)
When the wax is melting in the pot, put in the dye and the scent (please check the instructions for when to do, and if a certain temperature is needed)
Wait for it all to melt, pour it from the pour pot into the candle holders, ensuring the wick is upright.
From here, you can pour flowers in if you like.
Let it dry.