In a darkened room, shadows dance along the walls, and in the center of the room a single candle stands, burning brightly in its fight to hold back the night. Candles are probably the most widely used tools of magick. They create light, atmosphere, and are power, yet simple, foci of energies.
When performing an indoor ritual at night, most magickal practitioner will tell you: Don't use electricity to light your circle. Candlelight is the preferred light (other than sunlight) of witches everywhere. You can place it where you want, it is related to the element of Fire, and it does not interfere with any magickal practice. It is just widely recommended taht one uses candles to provide light for reading and moving about while performing a ritual. The best candles are the 7 day candles in containers. I don't know about where you live, but I can get them at the local grocery store (the grocery store calls them "religious candles" but don't let that scare you, you can get them without the Virgin Mary painted on the glass) for 99 cents a pop. Since they come in glass, you don't have to keep an eye on them during the whole ritual to keep from starting a fire--just place them somewhere a little away from drapes and you are set.
Electric lights are harsh, not to mention they remind the subconscious of technology and the "logical" world. Candlelight can make anything look mysterious, wonderous, romantic, or beautiful. The atmosphere alone makes the creative juices flow and your subconscious wakes up, knowing that something is going to happen.
Candles are a simple thing to focus energy through. Anyone can buy or make a candle of a color best suited towards their purpose. People find it much easier to gaze at the flickering flame of a candle rather than staring at a rock to make something magickal happen. Below is a table of Candle Color Corespondences.
| color | use | zodiac* | day |
|---|---|---|---|
| black | curses, uncrossing | libra (virgo, scorpio) | saturday |
| blue | tranquility, peace, honor | aquarius (gemini, libra) | thursday |
| brown | pets, concentraion | scorpio (cancer, capricorn) | - |
| gray | neutrality | - | - |
| gold | solar deities | virgo, sagittarius | - |
| green | fertility, money, luck | cancer (aquarius, pisces, leo) | friday |
| orange | stimulation | - | - |
| pink | love, femininity | (aries) | - |
| purple | power, success | - | wednesday |
| red | lust, sexual love, strength | taurus, gemini (sagittarius) | tuesday |
| silver | lunar deities, stability | - | - |
| white | consecration, divination, purity | pisces, aries | monday |
| yellow | attraction, confidence, charm, persuasion | (taurus) | sunday |
*The colors used for the zodiac signs are for specific people. For each Zodiac sign there are two colors, the primary and the secondary, the secondary is the one with the sign in the parentheses.