Hi, I’m currently pathworking thorugh Works of Darkness and there is only one ritual that requires new candles. But as I prepared to work with King Paimon I just felt that gut feeling to buy new ones.
I wouldn’t have a problem with using used candles for spellwork in general (unless my intuition or the instructions say otherwise), but is it in any way “disrespectful” to use the same candles with different entities?
I wouldn’t do it myself, candles are relatively cheap and if you’re offering the candle to the spirit, however that works out it seems wrong to me to ask them to share.
The Nec. Spellbook does specifically state to only use the candles specified for other work from the same book, I’m not a big grimoire expert though so I’m not sure how many times this idea is repeated.
I’d hate it if I was a spirit, anyway, so that’s my guideline. Imagine going to someone’s house, they give you a can of beer or coke or whatever and then take it away once they’re done talking to you and give it to the next person to finish?
Maybe I anthropomorphise too much, but I just try to show the respect I’d like, if I was offered something. Better safe than sorry, especially for the price of a candle.
I see, thanks for the input. And how about spells only? Or whatever rituals/meditations with no entities involved… Is that a more personal approach,or is there something such as a general guideline?
If it’s a spell, you’re hopefully at least charging the candle with intent, and maybe engraving it, even dressing it with oils, or herbs, or pther stuff, so definitely don’t use the same candle for a different purpose, ideally use it consistantly until the end, even if that means doing several burns over several days and not one long burn (which won’t work with some candles anyway, they turn into molten wax if they burn too long and just spill everywhere).
Is that a more personal approach,or is there something such as a general guideline?
I’m not certain because magick comes from different ideas about the nature of reality, but I would guess that a guideline is if a candle is “given” to a purpose - spell, or spirit - don’t re-use what’s left for a different purpose or spirit; if it’s the the same purpose, e.g., meditation on the flame, it’s probably okay to use it on different days, for different things.
Alright, that was helpful, thanks for the quick replies! I really needed it 
It depends. Like others stated, if doing a purpose specific spell, do not use the same candles for more than purpose. That’s obvious if you have already dressed the candle and carved it because once a candle is carved you can’t un-carve it and dedicate to another purpose. But even if you did not carve the candle or use any oils, if you did for example a love spell, for obvious reasons you would not want to use that same candle that has loving positive energy imprinted on it for a baneful curse, you could end up making your enemy obsess over you in an unhealthy way because you are mixing the two magick types or worse, make your enemy accidentally fall in love with you.
So for purpose specific spells and rituals, stick with one candle per each purpose. When doing evocation or maybe doing a ritual to call upon several entities just to commune with them, you can use the same candle unless of course, you have promised a particular entity that you would dedicate a certain candle for use with them only. But generally speaking, using the same candles for evocation to commune, or ask for advice, or share an offering or ask for a favor in general, is not a problem. It can actually make the candles stronger because each time you use them each individual spirit’s energy gets imprinted on everything in the room incuding the candle used to aid in calling it forth.
So the energy builds into one strong foundation. Sort of like how some people never clear their temple or working space of energy after their workings to let it build and create a strong magickal atmosphere within. But anytime you do a baneful working, you do want to cleanse your working space and if the candles are too large to be burnt all the way down with that first use, you can reuse them, just only reuse them when doing other baneful workings in the future, so set aside all candles used for baneful work that are not yet burnt out, by placing them in a box by themselves to contain that baneful energy together in one centralized dedicated location.