An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - Doreen Valiente 2018

Fire Magic

The natural flame of candlelight has been the perpetual accompaniment of magical ceremonies. Both the witch and the ceremonial magician have preferred its soft glow to that of artificial illumination. Because night or twilight are more conducive to psychic results than the bright glare of day, illumination is needed. Midnight is often called the ’witching hour’, from an instinctive perception of its influence upon human minds. Witches and magicians’ candles burn at midnight.

In the glow of candlelight, an ordinary everyday room can take on quite a different appearance from that which it normally possesses. People’s faces look different, too. The commonplace is transformed by the alchemy of fire.

Because one of the most important secrets of magic is to provide the atmosphere in which the unusual can happen, this lore of candlelight and fire-flames has acquired importance. However simple a ritual may be, a witch will always have fire in some form upon the altar; either a lighted candle, a burning joss-stick, or both.

Today, when different coloured candles are easily obtainable, their colours are chosen for their magical significance. Red is a favourite colour for the candles used in witchcraft rites, because it is the colour of life. If black candles are used, it is usually in a rite meant to summon spirits of the departed.

Sometimes, however, witches prefer to make their own candles. They use for this purpose beeswax with which a small quantity of aromatic herbs has been mingled. The figure of a pentagram, the sign of magic, is cut on the candle.

Sometimes the candle flame is used as a means of communicating with spirits. The leader of the rite will ask any spirit entity that may be present, if they will make their presence known by causing the candle flame to flicker. It is surprising how often this will happen, apparently without any physical cause.

In fact, candle flames will often do odd things, in the course of a magical ritual. Witches believe that a natural, naked flame gives off power, whether it be that of a candle or a bonfire. Outdoors, the bonfire takes the place of the candle flames of the indoor ritual.

If candles are used outdoors, as they sometimes are to mark the four cardinal points of the magic circle, then they have to be enclosed in lanterns. Otherwise, the wind would soon gutter them away.

The old story goes that when a candle flame burns blue it is a sign that a spirit is present. Strange as it may sound, this could have a foundation in fact. When I have been taking part in witchcraft rites, I have seen on a number of occasions a kind of blueish light building up over the candle on the altar. This could be something akin to the “orgone energy” described by Wilhelm Reich, the colour of which is blue. It is in fact, in my opinion, the power which is being raised by the ritual, of which spirit entities can make use in order to manifest.

The glow of a candle makes an effective point of concentration. Some people use it as an aid to clairvoyance, and profess to see pictures building up around the flame. Too bright a flame, however, will dazzle the eyes; so the seer concentrates upon the blue part of the flame, at the base, and watches for a softly shining aura to form around the light, which is the prelude to psychic sight. People also concentrate in this way upon a wish or a prayer.

Those of a philosophical turn of thought may reflect that the candle is an image of humanity. The wax corresponds to the body, the wick to the mind, and the flame to the spirit.

Outdoors, the bonfire is a frequent accompaniment to witches’ rites. In this case, a witch will stand with his or her back to the wind, so that the flames will be blown away from them, and the spell will be sent outwards upon the wind and the flame. Sometimes a circle of thirteen stones is collected, and placed round the fire.

Dancing around the ritual bonfire is a time-honoured way of raising power. When the witches could venture to build a bonfire big enough, its warmth would encourage them to throw off their clothes and dance naked, in a wild and exhilarating round of joy and abandon. The magnetic emanations of power flow more freely from unclothed bodies; hence the popularity of ritual nudity down through the ages, as an adjunct to religious and magical rites. (See NUDITY, RITUAL.)

This is not always possible, however, even with the biggest of bonfires; and in general, in the present day, witches’ bonfires have to be kept discreetly small. The countryside today is more thickly populated, and hence there are more people about to notice a fire at night, than there were in former times. Even so, some witch-fires still get lighted.