Candle Magic: A Coveted Collection of Spells, Rituals, and Magical Paradigms

by Phillip Cooper

Candles have been used for centuries to light the way in churches and temples, in religious ceremonies and in most religious practice. But you don't need to be a priest or priestess to use the energy radiated by candles. Cooper's book shows how to use this ageold energy to train your mind and change your life by the magical glow of candles. Easytolearn techniques and instructions are presented so you can create your own rituals, set up an altar, and make your own temple space.

Genres: Magick, Wicca, Occult

163 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[CJ Beshara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book is somewhat deceptive, and I didn’t find it very useful. This isn’t really a book about candle magic - it’s a book about the author’s personal method of performing magic, which happens to involve some candles. Mostly, his method is defined by needlessly complex Golden Dawn-inspired visualizations. This all is badly colored by his attitude, which is clearly “my way or the highway” - not only is this off-putting, but it’s wholly unearned.

I was expecting a book on candle magic and this pretty much wasn’t that. There was little to no discussion of candle-making, types of candles (shape or material), or candle colors. Only one method of candle-dressing is discussed, and it’s laughably brief. Much more emphasis is placed on the author’s ritual surrounding the candles (which are set up basically the same way every time), which involves an elaborate series of visualizations to possibly induce some kind of light trance, altered slightly depending on the purpose of the ritual. I have no doubt the author finds these satisfying and effective, but to me, they read as pointless and meandering. Plus, some of the elemental, planetary, and symbolic associations used struck me as bizarre and atypical, which made the author’s insistence that these were “correct” all the weirder.

The largest portion of the book was in fact about planetary associations. This struck me as out-of-place in a book supposedly about candle magic, and added yet another needless layer of complexity unsuitable and unnecessary for beginners. There’s also a rather extensive bibliography at the end, which wasn’t cited in-text at all. It doesn’t actually appear as if the author used much from those works. But, I think I will be pursuing some of those sources listed, in hopes of finding the info I was looking for.

Throughout the book, the author finds points on which to indiscriminately bash Wiccans, ceremonial magicians, Christians, Satanists, and just about anyone else that doesn’t use his exact methods. This reads as extremely immature, especially as we’re dealing in the realm of metaphysics where there are no “right answers”. Any method can work as long as it feels right to the person performing it. The fact that this author has reached this point in his magical career and failed to learn this is frankly embarrassing.

The only reason I didn’t one-star this book is that the foundational techniques discussed aren’t useless. The author adequately emphasizes critical concepts like magical intention, designation of workspace, and visualization. A total beginner may not recognize or benefit from the way they are discussed here, but folks with some experience might gain something from his perspective. Largely however, I would avoid this book if you actually want info on candle magic. There’s barely any here.

[The Shakti Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author presents candle magick deeply rooted in a ritualistic and analytical approach as opposed to a straight candle spell book.

[Molly]

Take what you will from this review, the entire premise gave me very thickly biased views, and a Crowley-esque performative/ritualistic practice

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cooper gives some good guidelines for the basics of practice, and his explanations are simple enough for even beginners to follow. However, he tends to be closed-minded, even hostile towards alternate methods of practice; this can be off-putting, especially for the beginner, who may be the subject of his scorn. Honestly, I've read blogs with better writing and more convincing explanations. Cooper is no great writer or debater. Nonetheless, taking notes and saving pages of this book, one can compile a decent quick-reference store for practice.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

was not impressed by this book although it had some good points i didn't really get anything out of it. i kinda felt it was his opinion that if you didn't do it his way you weren't doing it right