Since Djinnergy started vendoring this year, I’ve met several people who eye up our spell candles curiously — and then hesitate.

What are they for? Are they just pretty candles?

Some people are bold enough to ask, and I’ve discovered quite a few have actually been thinking about trying candle magic but don’t know where to start — or are worried they’ll somehow do it wrong.

One particularly lively lady I met at a show responded to her friend’s hesitation perfectly:

And honestly? I couldn’t agree more.

As funny as it is, there’s a lot of truth behind it. There are so many traditions, practices, systems and opinions surrounding candle magic that it’s easy to get caught up in doing things the “right” way and forget to actually connect with what you’re doing.

So I decided to share my own experience learning candle magic — not as the way to do it, but simply as the way I found my way into it, and what has worked for me.

Because I definitely didn’t start out knowing what I was doing.

And somehow, that was the point.

So… How Did I Get Started?

I honestly can’t remember exactly what sparked my interest in candle magic.

It may have been the book You Don’t Look Psychic by Lynnette Brown and Divi Chandra, and reading about different ceremony and ritual ideas. It may have been the candle magic TikToks that started appearing on my feed.

That period of my life was a bit of a whirlwind and, if I’m being honest, kind of a blur.

I was also taking an intuitive training course with Dr. Divi Chandra and Lynette Brown. One of the teachings that stuck with me was that when doing readings for others, the information coming through isn’t actually from you. You are the conduit for Spirit.

The idea is that when we put too much pressure on ourselves to perform or get the answer right, the ego can get involved and interfere with the information coming through.

I decided to apply that same idea to candle magic. Something about it felt like a neutral way to see the path. Instead of worrying about whether I was doing it correctly, I decided to light the flame and let the energy do the talking.

As with most things in my life, I just jumped in.

I didn’t spend months researching every herb, colour correspondence, moon phase and ritual beforehand. I started experimenting with what I felt drawn to, when I felt drawn to act, and applied the knowledge I had at the time.

My First Intention Rituals

These were some of my first attempts at intention candle magic.

I remember the very first one used flowers I picked on a walk around my neighbourhood to represent rebalancing the chakras.

There wasn’t really a master plan. I would go for walks, pick flowers or other things that caught my attention, bring them home and start creating.

No spell book. No tutorial. No copying someone else’s ritual (although there is nothing wrong with those things if you’re drawn to it).

I chose things I was drawn to and arranged them in a way that felt beautiful and meaningful to me.

That doesn’t mean I think you should ignore everything you’ve learned from other people. There is a lot of value in learning from established traditions and practices. But for me, candle magic became much more interesting when I allowed myself to experiment and release some control over the process.

• What colours, herbs, flowers and scents am I drawn to?
• How do I want to arrange everything?
• What symbols feel appropriate?

Then I Took It a Little Further…

Once I became more comfortable with candle magic, I started taking some of what I had already learned about cord cutting and applying it to candle work.

I started creating elaborate candle workings that became almost like storytelling devices. I started combining different systems, including tarot and runes.

The candle wasn’t just a candle anymore. The entire setup became a story.

Every piece had a place. Every symbol had a purpose. Every part of the arrangement became something I could observe and interpret.

The cord that wouldn’t cut

Here is one from that era I still think about.

I had met someone, and I wanted to know whether the connection was what I suspected it was. So I set up a burn to ask a single question: is this person my twin flame? Two candles, one for each of us, and a cord strung between us.

The cord caught. It burned. It smouldered its way down into the salt and kept going.

And it never severed.

In twin flame lore, the silver cord is the one connection that cannot be cut. My candle seemed determined to demonstrate the point.

Make of that what you will. It felt like an answer to me.

When I Started Simplifying

Over time, my practice changed — largely because of exhaustion and time constraints as a single mom.

I don’t feel the same need to create elaborate spells that incorporate every tool I have available.

The funny thing is, the answers I receive now can be just as clear as they were when I was creating those huge, complicated workings.

Sometimes clearer.

I started realizing that the power of the practice wasn’t necessarily in how much I could put into the ritual. It was in how well I could observe what was happening.

That eventually led me in a slightly different direction. Instead of only using candle magic to set an intention, I started using it to ask questions and observe timelines.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a yes or no

Other times — the multiple-choice wheel

Sometimes I have several possible directions I want to explore. That’s when I started experimenting with what I think of as a multiple-choice wheel.

Rather than asking a candle a simple yes-or-no question, I can give it several possible answers and then observe what happens during the burn.

This is where I really started paying attention to the behaviour of the wax.

• Where does the wax pool?
• Which option receives the most wax?
• In what order does the wax flow?
• What shapes is the wax or wick creating?
• Does the wax change colour when flowing to different options?

For me, the important part isn’t just looking at the candle after it’s finished burning.

I watch the process — the story it’s telling.

The Importance of Journalling

You can also create your own rules before the burn begins.

I once did a burn with several candles representing different people because I wanted to explore whether their soul contracts were temporary or long-term.

Normally, when a cord is severed, I watch which candle’s flame makes the cut and use that as part of my interpretation. For this particular burn, I created an additional rule: whichever thread remained intact the longest would represent the longest-term contract.

You can experiment with your own rules too. Just set them before you start, so there is no ambiguity or second-guessing later.

The Post-Burn Check-Ins

This is probably one of the most important parts of my practice.

I don’t want to simply interpret a candle and immediately declare that I’ve figured out what it means.

Sometimes I just grin and think:

Cool. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Then I let the Universe do the rest. I’ll often revisit my notes at:

Sometimes even longer, depending on the question and whether I gave it a specific timeframe.

I look back at what I originally observed and compare it to what actually happened.

Sometimes my original interpretation was spot on. Sometimes I was completely wrong.

Usually, that happens when I get too caught up in how I think something will happen instead of allowing it to unfold naturally. The energy can still play out exactly as indicated — but not necessarily in the way I imagined.

Which is actually a pretty nice surprise.

For me, that’s part of learning. It’s about observing, learning, testing your assumptions and seeing how things unfold over time.

A Real Example

At the beginning of 2026, I asked a candle to show me where my energy should — or would — go between my two businesses and a potential job offer I had on the table.

The wax never touched the job offer.

At the time, I couldn’t understand how that could possibly happen.

My administrative company was taking up about 80% of my time and was my bread and butter for paying the essential bills. The job offer was also still very much on the table.

A later psychic reading independently confirmed that the job timeline would ultimately end in disappointment, and that I would leave because of false promises.

Fast-forward to August.

The energy ended up playing out almost exactly as the candle indicated. Somehow, everything fell into place to streamline my administrative company and free up time to work on my startup.

What a blessing.

I’m definitely repeating this burn in 2027.

So… Can You Actually Do Candle Magic Wrong?

My answer is still the same.

You probably won’t.

There are definitely things you should learn about candle safety. Fire is fire, after all. But beyond that, I think there is plenty of room for experimentation.

You don’t need an elaborate ritual.
You don’t need a hundred ingredients.
You don’t need to know every correspondence.
You don’t need years of experience.

You can start small.

• Start with an intention.
• Light a candle.
• Pay attention.
• Notice what you’re drawn toward.
• Journal what you see, feel and sense.
• And then see what happens.

The more you practice, the more you’ll learn what things mean to you.

I made some beautiful things. I made some absolutely ridiculous things. I probably overcomplicated things more than once.

And eventually, I found a way of working with candles that felt like my own.

That’s what I hope you take away from my experience.

Now go light something.