In the fourth and final post of our Candle Magick series, we look at the ancient art of Ceromancy, a type of divination where you read the patterns of melted candle wax.
Table of Contents
Introduction
There are several ways that candles are used to scry.
The first is flame scrying (as discussed in part 3 of our Candle Magick series: BURNING AN INTENTION CANDLE).
Secondly, you can use an intention candle to boost your psychic abilities and/or connect you to your guides while scrying using any divination method (tarot cards, pendulum, crystal ball gazing etc).
The third is a divination method called ceromancy, where you look at and read the patterns of melted wax after a candle has finished burning. This article will focus on how to read the wax.
When Can You Read The Wax
Scrying After A Candle Magick Working
If you have performed a candle magick working, you can read the candle wax at the end of the burn to divine messages related to your working. For example, if you burn a candle for healing, you might read the wax from the candle to see if there are clues as to how long the healing will take to manifest, or if there are things (and what they might be) standing in the way of the healing.
Purely For Divination
You can also burn a candle specifically and only to perform ceromancy. For example, you want to do a general reading and see what comes up. Or, you want to scry about a health issue to gain any information on it. You can burn a candle, and then read the wax.
In this case, you don’t have to do anything special to the candle beforehand. You can take a plain white candle and burn it just as it is. It’s always good practice to cleanse the space, all objects and tools, and yourself, before you do any kind of energy working, including divination. Start by cleansing everything in front of you before you light the candle, just as we discussed in HOW TO DRESS A CANDLE.
But instilling your energetic intention into the candle while it burns will strengthen your results. So you might get a clearer reading if you spend some time dressing the candle with your intention to scry the wax when it’s done.
Your intention in this case is to get guidance, so you could work with correspondences related to strengthening your psychic abilities, opening the third eye chakra, connecting with your guides, etc. A purple or dark blue candle works well for divination.
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Spell Candle GreenR15,00 -
Spell Candle PinkR15,00 -
Spell Candle WhiteR15,00
How Does Divination Work?
From a magickal perspective, divination is about reaching out with your senses to “read the wyrd” – the invisible web of energy of all-that-is.
Imagine all that is, everything in existence, connected by thin strings of energy. And happenings, stories, events, energy patterns, these are vibrations travelling along the strings. When we practise divination, we are attempting to feel and interpret those coming vibrations to pick up what might be coming along a string in the future, or from the past to affect the now, or to see what elements are affecting the now situation. We feel and interpret those vibrations as images, words, scents, sounds and feelings, through our subconscious mind.
We can find clues to these messages anywhere – the shape of clouds, the lay of tarot cards, the reflection of light on water, or the patterns of melted wax.
Another way to look at it is to consider divination as a way to speak to your spirit team – your spirit guides, ancestors, angels etc. In this case, you are asking them to give you guidance, and interpreting what they are telling you in the things you see.
The conscious mind directs our will, directs our questing, while the subconscious mind receives and listens to what comes back. What you read in the wax, therefore, is highly personal, and different symbols may mean different things to you each time. Trust yourself, and practise to build skill at this.
Preparation & Setting Up
That there are a variety of factors that can influence / affect the outcome of a candle burn. The primary factors to look out for are:
- DRAFTS: Ensure that your candle is not near a draft, fan, airconditioner or a door that’s being opened and closed frequently, as even a slight breeze can change how the flame behaves and how the candle melt performs.
- LEVEL SURFACE: Make sure your surface is completely level and not tilted at any sort of angle.
- QUALITY OF THE CANDLE: And make sure that you choose a quality candle that you are familiar with. A poorly made candle can have an overly hard or overly soft wax, an oversized or undersized wick, sinkholes in the wax, and a variety of other issues that may lead to ‘false negatives’ in your reading.
Before you light your candle, choose a flat surface to place it on that you don’t mind the wax going onto. A large plate or a tray works well. You want the wax to be able to flow down and out unhindered by anything that might change the natural flow and burn of the candle.
Leave your candle to completely finish burning, letting the flame extinguish on its own.
Once the wax has hardened, you’re ready to interpret!
TIP: Placing a paper plate directly underneath the candle works really nicely to minimise cleanup afterwards. Working with a paper plate has the additional benefit of being writable. If you’re lighting an intention candle, you can write your intention on the back of the paper plate. If you’re just burning the candle to perform ceromancy when it’s done, you can write down a question or theme you want to know about.
Reading The Wax
Interpreting the wax is very much an intuitive process. All divination comes down to your ability to tap into your intuition and unconscious mind to perceive patterns of information that you wouldn’t ordinarily have seen.
There are several things you’re going to look at to read your candle wax.
- Wax puddle shapes
- Base of the finished candle
- Overall flow / movement of the wax
WAX PUDDLE Shapes
The first thing to look at is whether you can see any obvious identifiable shapes. Just think about the shape you’re seeing, and what that shape represents to you, then apply it to the situation you’re reading for. For example, a key shape can represent opening locks or locking doors. Pay attention to what first comes to your mind (as the reader, you must rely on your intuition to pick up symbols that convey the right meaning).
Second, the context of the reading must be taken into account (what the candle’s intention was or the theme of the divination query) as well as the surrounding images and how they might relate to each other.
If you’re feeling stuck, you can reference tea leaf shape interpretations for clues. Here are some guidelines to get you started:
- Alphabet Letters: Believed to represent initials of significant people related to rest of reading.
- Numbers: May represent time in days, weeks or years until a significant event related to rest of reading.
- Acorn: Good health. Maybe improving health, or good health continuing. Could be physical health, or the health of a relationship, business growth, good harvest, etc.
- Anchor: Generally seen to represent good tidings relating to business or love. Can also represent safety, coming home, finding a place to anchor down in.
- Birds: Traditionally seen to represent incoming good news. Can also represent travel, journeys (including spiritual), or prayers being heard.
- Celestial Bodies (Stars, Moons, Planets): Believed to be powerful symbols of good luck, incoming guidance.
- Door: Change. Seeing a door can represent something out of the ordinary will happen soon – perhaps a new opportunity, an ending/beginning, etc.
- Hammer: Success. Believed to mean hard work will pay off. Building, defence, strength, perseverance.
- Heart: Love. A new relationship, existing love strengthening, matters of the heart are important now.
- Snake: Some believe this represents enemies or minor misfortunes. Others believe it means spiritual awakening, major energy shifts.
THE BASE OF THE FINISHED CANDLE
Aside from the wax puddle, take a look at the candle itself and the amount of wax remaining at its base…
- Did it burn all the way down with no unmelted wax left over? That’s a very good sign of positive energy and good fortune. If you burned an intention candle, it suggests the working was powerful and successful.
- Did it leave a band of unmelted wax at the bottom? A base of a centimetre or so is said to suggest unfinished business, or a potential upcoming problem or delay that must be tackled.
- Did it leave a lot (+1cm) of unmelted wax? This might indicate the need to revisit the past and look at things that haven’t been properly dealt with or let go of.
OVERALL WAX FLOW
Now look at the overall burn and flow of the wax. See if you notice any particular formations or directions. Ceromancers recognise several distinct wax formations and have associated meanings to them. Over time, you may begin to recognize and interpret your own unique formations. Remember: there are no rules – and your intuition leads.
Here are some common wax formations and their popular interpretations.
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | MEANING |
|---|---|---|
| TOWER | When a drop of wax slowly runs down the side of a candle, then starts to dry. Then another drop slowly comes down, building upon the first, and so on, until you get a mini tower that doesn’t melt with the rest of the candle. | Something’s been or is building up, usually relates to power, wealth, strength or success. Positive or negative depends on surrounding signs. |
| CASCADE | When some wax flows out from the base of the candle, stops and begins to dry, then after a while another lot of wax comes down, flows out, and dries again, and another, forming a cascade. | Changes are happening in stages. |
| CRATER | When the centre of the candle around the wick burns right down to the bottom, but the sides of the candle remain unmelted. | Walls are up, intention is being blocked, try again. |
| CURL / PETAL | Sometimes you might see some wax making a curling shape away from the flame as it melts away down the side, like a petal opening. The wax may also curl both in and out. | Petal curl: powerful positive sign of manifestation and willpower, a very successful energy working, overcoming an obstacle. Curling both ways: indecision, fluctuations in power. |
| DEOSIL FLOW | Deosil is sunwise, when the wax flows in the same direction as the sun or the shadow on a sundial. In the Southern Hemisphere, the sun travels from East to West while arching towards the North. So tracing a circle matching this movement would be an anti-clockwise motion. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun travels from East to West while arching towards the South. So the N Hem circle is a clockwise motion. Thus deosil is anti-clockwise in the S Hem and clockwise in the N Hem | Indicates things going well, on the right path, things flowing naturally. |
| WIDDERSHINS FLOW | Widdershins is the opposite of deosil, the opposite direction of the sun’s movement in the sky. Anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. | Stalling, things going against the grain, swimming upstream, try a different way. |
| FLOOD | When the melted wax pool builds up around the wick until a split in the side of the wax lets it all run out at once. | Suggests a build up of power and sudden unleashing with potentially unexpected consequences. |
| ELEMENTAL | If the candle burns down leaving a side wall standing, the direction of the side corresponds to an element. – A north-facing wall is Fire (S Hem) or Earth (N Hem), – East is Air, – West is Water, – South is Earth (S Hem) or Fire (N Hem). | The elemental side that didn’t burn represents something that is standing in the way or causing a blockage or needing attention. – Fire represents passion, willpower and the heart. – Air represents new beginnings, communication and the mind. – Water represents emotions, hidden depths and the spirit. – Earth represents physical matters, practicality, and the body. |
Example Readings
EXAMPLE CANDLE WAX READING ONE:
This candle has burned down leaving very little base and very little wax. Notice what looks like two steps on the right. On the left, it looks like a flood flowed right at the end of the burn.
As an intention candle, I’d say this is a very positive sign of a powerful and successful working. The steps indicate that there is still some work to be done to achieve results, and the flood indicates that things will open up all at once in the end.
Overall, I’d say keep focused and don’t push too hard. Keep your mind set on the goal and keep taking steps to achieve it. It’s definitely coming!
EXAMPLE CANDLE WAX READING TWO:
I see curls and waves, a North-East wall, a large base, and a clockwise wax flow which, for a candle burned in the Southern Hemisphere, means a Widdershins flow.
North and East represent willpower and intellect, which suggests that there are major blocks here. Have you properly thought through what you’re trying to do? Do you really want to do it, are you passionate and determined enough? The Widdershins flow suggests you might be pushing in the wrong direction. A large base of unmelted wax suggests issues in the past that haven’t been dealt with. There ares going inwards as well as out. This suggests the potential for success is there, but waxes and wanes.
Overall, I’d say the message here is to take a step back. Re-evaluate your plan and rethink your strategy. Healing and deep thought are needed to align heart and mind, to find the right path forward.
SOURCES FOR THE CANDLE MAGICK SERIES:
Written by Shaz Perks, ordained Wiccan High Priestess of 15 years.
Additional references:
- Candle Magic For Beginners by Richard Webster
- How To Light A Candle by Lou Bognon
- How to Perform a Candle Wax Reading by Jennifer McVey, Cht
- Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kynes
THE CANDLE MAGICK SERIES:
