Witch’s Guide to Candle Colors for Intentions, Spells, & Rituals

Why do witches use candles?

Humans have a deep, primal connection to fire. Our ancestors relied on it to survive. Humankind has used flames to keep wild animals away, to provide light and heat, to clear land for agriculture, to cook, to send signals, and more.

It’s no wonder that fire became an important aspect of human rituals throughout the course of our history. It’s prominent in most Wheel of the Year celebrations, but especially Beltane.

For modern-day witches, the flame remains a valuable tool and symbolic manifestation of magick. Candle magick can be used at any time of the year, but it’s especially powerful when it aligns with the lunar cycle and the Wheel of the Year. Lighting a bayberry candle on New Year’s Eve and letting it burn all the way down until it extinguishes itself is a tradition that’s said to bring good luck to your household for the coming year.

How to Use Candle Magick

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Witches, pagans, and other groups have been burning candles for spiritual rituals for centuries.

Candle magick is a simple exercise for beginners and experts alike that connects us to our ancestors and taps into an ancient, powerful energy that allowed our species to survive in a harsh world.

When using candles for your rituals, start by clearing your mind and focusing on your intention. Consider all of the possible outcomes of your goal. You may choose to carve sigils into your candle or anoint it with essential oils.

Charge your candle by instilling it with your magickal intent. Remember that the burning candle embodies the four elements:

• Fire: the flame that dances with a life of its own
• Earth: the solid wax that forms the candle body
• Air: the life-giving oxygen that feeds the hungry flame
• Water: the melting wax representing a fluid state

The fifth element — the spirit — resides in you. Channel your goal, intention, hopes, and purpose into the candle to imbue it with your own spirit energy.

When you light the candle, focus on the flame as a manifestation of your intention coming to life. That energy is flowing into the universe. You can further amplify it with crystals, smoke-cleansing (smudging), and other rituals.

Candle Color Meanings for Candle Magick

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What intentions are you setting? Do you need spiritual protection, or are you looking for guidance to repair a damaged friendship?

Depending on your needs, you’ll want to choose a candle color that best aligns with your intentions.

This doesn’t need to be a stressful decision. Remember that the candle itself is not as important as your mental resolve and focus as you set your intentions. However, choosing the right candle color to complement and amplify your goals will help you manifest them.

Below, you’ll find a comprehensive guide on candle colors for spell work, rituals, and candle magick.

WHITE

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White candles represent purity, new beginnings, and lunar energy. Wiccans often use white or silver candles to connect with the Goddess and her feminine energy.

Burning a white candle is a safe choice if you aren’t sure what color to choose, or if you can’t find the color you need. White candles are universal and can be imbued with your intentions, whether you seek protection, healing, spiritual connections, etc.

BLACK

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Black candles represent protection. They’re especially powerful when it comes to repelling hexes and absorbing and banishing negative energy. Much like black crystals, such as obsidian, black candles can be heavy to work with if you aren’t used to their energy. I like to envision them as spiritual black holes sucking in negative energy.

Burning black candles can also aid in unblocking stuck energy, stopping bad habits, and ending unhealthy relationships or situations.

BLUE

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Blue candles represent spiritual and emotional healing. They can help you tap into a higher mental state and aid your creativity, focus, inspiration, memory, and ability to communicate.

GREEN

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Green candles represent health, prosperity, and luck. Burning a green candle will help you tap into powerful earth energy and plant magick to help you find abundance in earthly matters. Whether you’re asking for good luck, health, or financial success, a green candle will help you manifest your intentions.

RED

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Red candles represent potency, confidence, strength, and lust. This candle choice is powerful and especially effective for fast-acting spells. Red candles are associated with a fresh start, determination, and stamina in addition to passion and sex.

ORANGE

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Orange candles represent joy and positive, stimulating energy. They strike a balance between the aggressive potency of red candles and the higher-level intellectual energy of yellow ones. Burning an orange candle works best if you’re seeking a specific outcome in your life, such as making career advancements.

PINK

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Pink candles represent unconditional love. Much like rose quartz, pink candles focus more on intimate connections than the aggressive lust and power of red candles. Burning a pink candle focuses on the kind of love you feel with friends, family, pets, and the emotional bonds of a romantic relationship. Pink candles can also aid in self-love, happiness, and forgiveness.

PURPLE

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Purple candles represent your third eye and psychic connection. Use purple candles to deepen your spiritual awareness, meditate, seek wisdom, and tap into divination.

YELLOW

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Yellow candles represent intellect and logic. Burning a yellow candle can help you to examine problems in a new light, clear mental blockages, gain clarity, expand your wisdom, enhance your capacity to learn, and open your mind to see situations in a logical way.

BROWN

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Brown candles represent the earth and are used to ground you when you feel lost. This color choice is best for situations that require you to build trust, foster understanding, and connect with your roots. Burning a brown candle can also help you to foster a stronger connection with your animal guides.

GOLD

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Gold candles represent power, wealth, and the sun. Wiccans often use gold candles to connect with the God and his masculine energy. Burning gold candles can help you manifest success and wealth in life.

SILVER

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Silver candles represent astral energy, intuition, clairvoyance, and dreams. Wiccans often use silver or white candles to connect with the Goddess and her feminine energy. Burning a silver candle can be especially powerful for dream analysis.

Where to Shop for Spell Candles

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Whenever possible, I recommend shopping local and making connections at your favorite metaphysical store. It always helps when you can talk with an expert and receive personalized guidance based on your unique spiritual needs. It’s also better to shop for crystals and other tools when you can touch them and feel which ones you connect with.

But of course, visiting a store isn’t always an option, especially during a pandemic. If you’re going to order from Amazon, I recommend Bluecorn taper candles. They’re hand-dipped and made from 100% beeswax in a variety of colors, so the candles are paraffin-free, lead-free, non-toxic, and hypoallergenic. Beeswax also emits negative ions that cleanse the air.

Bluecorn candles are made in Colorado using 100% renewable energy. I’ve used these candles myself, and in a draft-free space, they truly are drip-free and wonderful to use.

In addition to tapers, Bluecorn also makes pillars, tea lights, and other types of candles. You can shop all of their products on Amazon here.

If you’re looking for scented candles to burn around the home, three of my favorite candle companies I recommend are Hemlock Park, Mama Wunderbar, and Old Soul Artisan.

Hemlock Park crafts beautiful aromatherapy candles and spa packages, handcrafted with natural ingredients. They offer crystal candles and organic coconut wax candles with wood wicks. But here’s why I love this company — they partnered with One Tree Planted to focus on reforestation. A tree is planted for every order placed.

Mama Wunderbar quickly became a favorite for me! I purchased some beautifully packaged smoke-cleansing kits as Christmas gifts and have been in love with this company ever since. Although they have a greater selection of crystals, smoke-cleansing (smudging) bundles, and jewelry, they do have a limited but beautiful candle section, including crystal candles, ritual candles, moon phase candles, and intention candles. When you order from Mama Wunderbar, you can count on everything being all-natural, high quality, and sustainably grown and harvested in the United States. It’s a great one-stop shop for your online spiritual needs!

Old Soul Artisan creates handcrafted candles inspired by folklore, literature, and the dark psyche. They also offer seasonal fragrances, such as a special Samhain candle. Their 100% vegan soy candles are hand-blended in small batches and contain no dyes, parabens, phthalates, or other toxins. Another reason to love this company — Old Soul Artisan donates part of its profits to wolf conservation.

I hope this post has helped you with your candle magick and intention-setting rituals!