Pagan, Spiritual & Magical Book Reviews February 2016

Practical Candle Burning: Spells and Rituals for Every Purpose, Raymond Buckland

I got this book as a Secret Santa present at my local moot’s Yule ritual and dinner, and I was delighted – I love books, so I don’t think I could’ve got a more perfect gift, and what’s more a book on candle magic seems very fitting for the Imbolc period. It’s a short, simple text – a basic collection of candle burning rituals for achieving particular purposes, from obtaining money to getting rid of bad habits. There’s (unfortunately) little background information given about the role of candles in magic, but I suppose that’s the point of the book – it’s part of Llewellyn’s “Practical Magick” series, so I imagine it was a conscious decision to keep theory to a minimum.

Practical Candle Burning has two striking features. One is that for each magical aim, two different rituals are given: An “Old Religion” version (which is more Pagan-orientated), and a “Christian” version. I was pleasantly surprised to see Christianity given such a prominent position in a book on witchcraft; it certainly makes a refreshing change. While I feel more attuned with the Old Religion rituals (naturally!), the Christian ones are interesting to read. They use selected passages from the Bible appropriate to the goal of the ritual, mostly the Psalms, which led me to appreciate just how poetic the Bible can be and made me look at the Psalms from a new and intriguing perspective. The wording for the Old Religion rituals is nice and poetic too.

The second surprising feature of this book (especially when you regard its Christian content) is its amorality. This is the first book I’ve read that includes rituals specifically for harming others. There’s one for breaking up a love affair, one for causing jealousy, and even instructions on making a poppet doll for cursing others (together with the obligatory statement about the dangers of “black magic” and the risk of it rebounding) . While I personally follow the Rede closely and have never willed harm on anyone in my practises, I respect that this book acknowledges that magic is inherently neither good nor bad, and includes such rituals for those who do not believe in following the Rede to the letter. It’s a reminder that not all witches adhere to exactly the same moral principles when it comes to magic, and neither should we expect them to.

Would I practise any of the rituals in this book as they are ? Probably not, at least on their own. Mainly because although they are usually present, candles are not often the central feature of my rituals. Although I like their basis within sympathetic magic and appreciate the beauty of the wording, the spells in Practical Candle Burning were all a little too simplistic for me to use just as they are. But I can imagine them serving as inspiration for creating my own rituals, and perhaps I would use some of the wording too.

All in all, it’s an interesting book with some unique features, but potential readers should be aware that it very much sticks to the ethos of being “practical” magic, i.e short, stock rituals without much explanation, and probably won’t be so much help for those looking for more  detailed interpretations of candle magic.