About Skull Candles~~~~~~

Hello Everyone,

This is Ms. Q.

This post is going to be specifically on Skull Candles, they are an unusual figure candle and I was asked by one of my readers about if I would do a post on them and something a bit more specific on how they could be used which I will repeat here.   

 The Question was asked:

“Dear Ms. Q,

 One thing that has always stumped me about this spell is the wording of the idea you carve onto the candle that you want to influence your target with. For example, would you carve "Mary is perfect for you" or "I am perfect for you"?

My response was : 

“Frankly I would not do either because that is interfering with someone’s life path, or being manipulative. Instead I would write “Mary think about (your name here) and see if (he/she) is right for you”

That way instead of completely influencing the person you still give them the freedom to make up their own mind, you still give them free will. And that is very important  in matters of Love.

My Granny use to say that “The wanting is always greater than the having” Why? Because once you realize what it is then you become disenchanted.

Remember Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, she was wishing for what was over the rainbow, but when she got there all she wanted to do was go home.   So manipulating someone is really not good in a way.”

And I really stress that primarily in Love matters, but in areas of justice, having a good working or home environment, gaining employment or having money returned to you or even healing, that is completely different, one is trying to bring about happiness, peace, contentment and a balance in life.

But there is more to working with skull candles than just what was posted here. 

Skull candles specifically are associated with the human head/mind or mental workings, they are used to penetrate anothers' thoughts and make them think a certain way.  But because many people relate skeletons and skulls with sickness and death, some practitioners also use these candles to bring health to the sick or on the negative side to curse their enemies with sickness until they are dead.

But to do that take a lot of energy and determination, and if that other person has protections up, then one may not be successful.  I’ve never made anyone sick to death, but I have upon request made someone ill to help another person get free, which is a bit different---granted it’s a bit grey but doing the work is never black and white just various shades of grey. 

O.K. so back to Skull Candles---- They come in these basic colors:

White: healing, protection, uncrossing, removing negativity, legal matters and white magick

Green: money, luck, gambling, prosperity and justice

Red: love, passion, lust, friendship and happy marriage

Black: cursing, hexing, break up lovers and black magick

Sometimes especially during Halloween one can find them in other colors like purple or blue or brown, even yellow and pink  if you do find them in other colors Load up on them because you never know what will come up where using a skull candle in that color will be perfect.

Just remember those more unusual colors also relate with what I described in my colors section and candle colors section so check those posts to see how skull candles would relate to those colors.

In some cases, a practitioner would use a skull candle to act in a similar manner to a voodoo doll. For example, some folks have been known to hollow out the mouth of the doll and fill it in with alum or tobacco to stop the individual from gossiping. In other cases, the eye sockets are filled in with wax, or stick pins in them, to prevent a person from noticing them either visually or psychically, or in other cases to give them migraine headaches by sticking pins into the area above the eyes.

Some people prefer to work with skull candles when the moon is in the sign of Aries, which rules the head, or when the moon is in the sun-sign of the person one is doing the work upon that is if one happens to know the month that person was born in.

To prepare your candle, one should hollow out the base and load it with the individual's personal concerns if you happen to have saved anything, a little bit of hair or nail clippings, a used Kleenex, or a tiny snippet of thread from something they wear, or a sample of their handwriting.   It doesn’t take much.

One can carve the individuals name across the forehead or the back of the neck. In the case of a reversing spell, one would write the name reversed (as it would appear in a mirror).

When done, dress the candle with the appropriate oil and place your written petition underneath. If you want, you can also sprinkle any herbs and/or powders over the skull.  Then light the candle and make your prayer or petition. Some folks will even talk to the skull as if it were the actual person in question, either saying “You will return to me the money I loaned you” or even shouting curses at them to be failures.

You can then leave the candle to burn itself out or burn it for a few minutes a day over a period of a week.   Just remember if it’s something you want to be brought to you or returned to you when you write out your petition paper, fold the paper towards you, if it’s something you want to banish then fold the paper away from you.

Once the ritual is complete burn the petition paper and dispose of it and the remains of the skull candle and any pins, etc. in the appropriate manner according to the spell working.

There was one fun thing I discovered and that I why I love to shop around Halloween,  sometimes you’ll find those glass or ceramic candle holders that is in the shape of a skull and they come in handy if you can’t find or don’t have time to find and buy a skull candle, so just get a regular candle such as a vigil candle about 2 inches tall in the appropriate color and dress it as if it were a skull candle if you don't have a skull candle on hand and place your petition under the ceramic or glass skull candle holder. 

Once you’re are done with the ritual complete it by doing the same thing, burn the petition to ashes and set aside, and then soak the glass or ceramic skull candle holder in very hot water to soften up and loosen the remaining melted candle and remove the left over wax, then dispose of the ashes and wax in the correct manner according to the spell.   Be sure to wash out the glass or ceramic holder with dish soap that has lemon added to it to completely clean it from the previous ritual, just in case you want to use it for a different skull ritual. 

That’s why I just LOVE Halloween, you never know what fun things you can find that is very usable for folk magic and yet look harmless. 

There are some more specific rituals using skull candles and as I come across them I will post them here.

Bright Blessings,

Ms. Q