I had some questions about candles and didnt find anything on the forum so i did some research and here is what i found.
There is primarily 3 types of candle wax:
1.Parafin waxwhich is your normal candle
2.Beeswax,which burns brighter and longer then a normal candle and does not drop
3.Soy candles which are apparently cleaner burning for more fragrance.
Price wise at least in my area, they seem to be around the same price, however beeswax is a little hard to come by without going to a specialty store.
For ritual purposes:
beeswax is a denser wax, which give it itās higher melting point and longer burn time. You may have some minor issues if you need to inscribe anything on your candle. The longer burn time gives you more time before you need a new candle and the brighter flame has potential to be more easy to focus on.
Soy produces minimal amounts of soot and other air impurities, as such theyāre generally used for scent candles, so you may have difficulty finding unscented candles. And also since there is less soot, these candles are great for āsmokeless flameā (iāve come across a few rituals that require a smokeless flame).
Ritual tips:
Writing from bottom to top will bring things to you, love, wealth fame etc etc and from top to bottom will send things away, bad energies, curses(both getting rid of a curse or sending one to someone else) etc etc.
If youāre confused what i mean by bottom to top or top to bottom. I think it like this; Assuming youāre writing from left to right, to go bottom to top put the base of the candle on your left side and start writing from the far left. If going from top to bottom put the wick on you left side and start writing as close to the wick as possible.
Iāll post more observations/research that i find valuable if/as i come across it.
I can also post about the different style/size of candles if people desire it but i feel most people will just go with the shape/style they like? Iāve yet to find a ritual that calls for a specific shape.
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Hoodoo/root working/folk magic and the like often call for specific candle shapes. Common ones are skulls, male/ female figure candles, penis candles etc.
My favourite wax is palm wax.
I get my supplies from candlewic.com, but I buy wax by the box of 50lb or more. Palm wax comes in a crystalising and a feathering blend - just gorgeous, sustainable and biodegradable, I love it 
.
Beeswax is expensive, but do look for local farmers who are beekeepers sometimes they sell it as a byproduct at decent prices, sometimes not.
You might find rituals that need a candle to burn for a specific period of time, short or long.
You can make your own dipped tapers very easily, and you can make huge candles way cheaper than retail. I actually donāt even buy big molds, I have my faves (love my obelisks - hard to find in a store as well), and I just recycle things like pringles cans and peanut or cocoa cans for other shapes and sizes.
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Iām actually looking for skull molds right now. I found this https://www.vanyulay.com/ that looks like they have a nice selection, but Iām thinking of just buying liquid latex or silicone and making my own, but retail silicone is no cheaper than buying otherās US-made molds.
If anyone has links for a place that sells skull candle molds Iām all ears!
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Interesting. And makes sense, i was more thinking like cyndrical, tapered, etc etc, but penis candles make sense.
Thank you so much for posting a link to that site. I have been wanting to start making my own candles for a little while.
And thank you @Hs_Panda for this topic because I honestly never really considered the uses for different types of candle wax before.
For sure, making your own is fun and useful.
The thing to watch with paraffin, is it comes in many melt points and can come with finish styles (like snowflake blends that have mineral oil in them are pretty).
The lower melt points are for container candles, and donāt shrink as much, so you might not even have to top off.
The higher melting point paraffin waxes contain additives that harden and best for votives and pillar candles and tapers, and they shrink more on cooling, you need to top off but they release from the mold. A
A silicone spray to sort of āgreaseā the mold helps release as well.
Getting the right size wick for your candle is super important - too small and it just gets drowned in the wick pool, too big and your candle will drip everywhere and burn down too fast with a massive flame.
Personally I donāt worry about all the technical pretreated wicks, I just get square cotton braided in various sizes.
I like candlewic as that site tells you all about this in the product descriptions.
If you plan on making a few, itās worth making a āburn testā one first to see if your wick works with your wax and candle size.
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Honestly when I was making candles I got most of my molds of etsy or like the generic heart shaped ones and things I used cake/cookie silicone molds, so Iām probably the last person with ideas on it lol.
I spent as much supporting the small guys that make molds on etsy, as I saved making them (the candles) myself lol.
But not really, only in startup costs, once I had all the things I liked it was damned cheap to make candles. Iāve been thinking about getting back into it, but to start from nothing again meh.
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I will say the ones like this: Mason Jar Kitty Cat Candle 1 Cavity Silicone Mold 1939 ā Van Yulay
are a lot harder to get out of the molds when you first start though (for anyone just looking at beginning with this) They can turn out real pretty- but the mold shape is usually more difficult to get the wick in straight and then to slide it out without messing up the details on the candle- but as @Mulberry mentioned, a spray goes a long ways here.
It seems like it will definitely be worth it to me. Iām constantly having to restock on candles, and it would be great to make specialized candles for rituals and meditations.
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It really depends on you lmao. I did one random assed spell when I was making candles and that was it. It was years before I actually believed and worked with magic. I got into it to make my wedding candles (Didnāt end up having a weddingā¦) cheaper than what it cost to order them.
I ended up doing craft sales and stuff on etsy back then, but it was hit or miss and my ex gave me hell over the mess I made (and I cleaned it up tooā¦) so I got tired of it and sold all my stuff in a big lot.
Iāve moved too much the last 2 years so I wouldnāt have any of that stuff now anyways, but if I did, I would probably use candles more in my work. I tend to see them as a tool, nice but necessary, so if I have more than one candle on hand itās usually because I found clearance lol.
Itās a bit of a science to do it well, but itās incredibly cool and relaxing like most crafts imop. Unless you get stressed over the fck ups, and fck ups will happen when you first start playing with it. Especially if you get into scents and colors. certain one need to be added at certain temperatures, it varies based on which wax etc lol.
So black might end up being purple etc but I had a lot of fun with it.
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Well, Iāve never been a person to do arts and crafts, but I do have a lot of patience, so it may or may not stick. I just need more activities that allow me to unplug from technology for a little while.
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Honestly you could probably find a beginners kit to get you going with all the basic needed stuff
Iāll have to check that out myself, I wouldnāt mind getting back into it, but I know Iād have to save or get a bit at a time lol.
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I wonder if crayons would work, lol
To get the strong color on paper for crayons, those are colored with pigment as well as dye. The Pigment is basically a very fine non-soluable powder, which sinks to the botton on the mold - and the bottom of a mold is usually the top of the candle. On burning, the pigment clogs up the wick, which goes crust, stops wicking and the flame goes out.
Also crayons have a very high amount of stearin, which is the main additive used to harden wax and raise the melt point, so using a few will also affect your wax viscosity and how much it shrinks,
What crayons are great for, is using like in encaustic painting - you melt them and use the melted wax like paint on the outside of your candle. This isnāt enough to mess up the burning qualities and is a nice option for painting sigils and such.
You can also buy ācandle mediumā for acrylic paint to paint on candles.
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