Categories
Spell and Recipe Journal

Recipe: Recycled wax candles

Ingredients:

  • leftover candle wax in a glass container
  • candle holder
  • prewaxed wicks w clips

Process:

Gather all the wax you want to melt into a small glass jar or container.

Fold up a wash cloth or a few sheets of paper towel and line the bottom of the pot before filling it up with water. Make sure the water level in the pot is at least an inch lower than the height of the jar. (This is a good opportunity to also do a bay leaf boil.)

Set the jar of wax in the pot, but don’t get any water into the jar. Set the water to boil, and once the water is boiling, turn the flame down to the lowest setting.

While the wax is melting, use a bit of melted wax to affix the clip end of the wick to the bottom of the candle holder. Wrap the top of the wick around a wooden dowel to stop it from falling in.

…or use a contraption like this one, made out of craft sticks and a little tiny clothes pin:

[image]

When the wax is melted, use pot holders to remove the jar from the pot and pour the wax into the candle holder.

If the candle is deep, it will almost certainly develop a hole near the wick when it cools. Plan for this. Wait for the hole to develop and pour in more wax. This is why when I make tall candles, I make them four or five at a time rather than one at a time.

Observation:

When you’re collecting your spare wax, do your best to keep them separated by color, unless the color of the finished product doesn’t matter to you. But don’t freak out if you don’t or can’t. A mishmash-colored candle can still be infused with intention by some other means, like for example, by bay leaf boil.

Categories
Chronicles and Observation Journal

Chronicles: A visit from Money and Pleasure

I felt drawn to the basil-cinnamon smudge today. I felt drawn to the Money deity from that course I took with Carolyn last year. Adjua Luna doesn’t mind that. She’s friendly with all deities. Some days ago I bargained with her. Bargained is the wrong word. I “talked back” to her? Regardless, I demanded a small monetary win, just big enough and direct enough to be obvious that it was from her. I got my response in the form of an unexpected $20-ish royalty check.

I’m still not sure how to talk about my money situation. I don’t know if I should actively manifest with my words, or if I should describe what I see. This was a problem when this blog was private, and even more so now that it’s public. Maybe that’s not the point. Maybe money and how I choose to talk about it isn’t the point.

But if it’s not the point, why was I called to burn the basil today? Why was I drawn to her today?

I’ve also burned the last of the Jupiter-Saturn candle. It burned down to the clip, but left a blue and black cliff on one side of the candle holder. I removed the clip and stuck in a vanilla votive, which has melted into an ivory-blue-black melange of colors, scents, and intentions. The complicated dance between expansion (Jupiter energy) and structure (Saturn energy), leaves cliffs and cracks for the softness of the vanilla (feminine energy) to smooth over. This was after I was admonished by the god of Pleasure for ignoring her even for one day. She held a hand against my throat and whispered cruelty into my face as she sometimes does. I only notice her when she’s direct. It was she who wanted the vanilla candle.

So what’s next after a sign and an admonishment but to do the thing I’ve been called to do?