Updated February 16, 2023
Choosing the correct candle color is essential in witchcraft. Candles are a standard tool used in rituals and spells.
Like all things in magic and witchcraft, the details matter. Everything has symbolism. Understanding color representation helps witches learn how to concentrate their own energy on a task.
Candles are used for a variety of purposes including making a prayerful request, a powerful tool to attain a goal, and completing an altar.
What is Candle Magic?
Candle magic (or magick) is typically the first type of magic or spellwork a beginner witch tries. Although this is a staple in the lives of new witches, many witches go back to this form of magic time and time again. It is simple to do, has easy-to-understand correspondences, and very few supplies are needed.
Candle magic helps us to focus our energies. There is something very compelling about a candle flame.
Fire and light have long been associated with divinity. Light symbolizes cleansing, purification, and spiritual illumination.
Want To Learn More About Candle Magic? Check out my course below!
Learn how to use the power of candles in your spells and rituals. 10 Lessons, 12 videos, and 16 step-by-step spells. Affirmations, Prompts, and additional resources to help you get more from the class. Community Area to ask questions of the facilitator and classmates. Instructor in classroom M-F. This course is for beginner and intermediate pagans and witches.
What is Color Magic?
So what exactly is color magic? Color magic is where the practitioner learns what each color symbolizes and uses these colors for a specific purpose in spellwork.
Energy workers will use color magic as it is simple to focus their energy on a single color, allowing them to meet their end goal. For instance, if someone was trying to find a new job, they may focus on the color green, which stands for prosperity, employment, and good luck.
You could use the color green in various ways. Some more popular ways would be to do candle magic with green candles, wear a green pendant that they have focused on, or even wear green clothing to interviews.
My cat, Pixie, is drawn to my altar and candles! Photo by author
Individual Color Meanings and Symbolism
White: Spirituality, personal strength, positive energy, goodwill, devotion, prayers, spiritual growth, new beginnings, serenity, purity, protection, and cleansing. White can also be used to replace any color.
Black: Calm, energy, banishing, binding, grounding, absorbing negativity, healing disease, invisibility, accessing the subconscious, creating confusion. Black is both the known and the unknown which makes it the perfect color for protection.
Grey: Legal Matters
Purple: Success, power, commitment, psychic, tranquility, spiritual awareness, and wisdom. Purple helps you get in touch with your spiritual nature and increases divination skills and psychic abilities.
Orange: Pride, empathy, confidence, winning, success, new opportunities, career, legal. Use an orange candle for spells to gain confidence, resolve a legal dispute, or win an athletic event.
Pink: Gentleness, love, friendship, caring, respect, attractiveness, nurturing, glamour, self-love, leisure, and reconciliation.
Red: Passion, lust, courage, vigor, revenge, anger, willpower, ambition, and endurance. The classic color for love spells also works well for protection.
Yellow: Intellect, wisdom, creativity, travel, imagination, focus, charisma, learning, concentration, and action.
Blue: Guidance, patience, peace, healing, happiness, truth, and religion/faith. Light blue is often used in offices because it increases productivity. A bright blue color increases communication. Blue is a good choice for spiritual development and dream work.
Green: Beauty, fertility, growth, health, nature, good luck, employment, and prosperity. Green is well known to use in money spells but it also works well for job spells. Use green when working with nature and protecting the environment. Pair a green candle with a corresponding plant.
Brown: practical items, grounding, indecisive, protection, animal magick, material goods, stability, balance. Brown is an excellent color when working spells that have to do with the home or pets. Add brown with other colors to increase the stability of the spell.
Silver: visions, dreaming, intuition, and also represents the Moon and the Goddess. Silver gets you in touch with the ebb and flow of your emotions.
Gold: Longevity, confidence, willpower, life force. It also represents the Sun and God/Goddess. Food for money spells where speed is of the essence. Works well with red in love spells.
Head over to my RESOURCES PAGE for a FREE download slide deck on Candle Colors.
Check out my video on sourcing candles.
Examples
Now that you have a reference point to many of the things that each color represents, you now need some examples of how you can use this in spellwork and rituals.
Counting Your Blessings
This is a month-long daily ritual that focuses on what you are grateful for. In doing so you open yourself up to positive energy and further blessings from the Gods.
Materials:
You will need something to hang your blessings from such as a houseplant, potted tree, or fallen tree branch. Place the plant at your altar.
Small squares of paper cut in 3x3 in pieces with a hole in the corner
Red string for hanging the papers on the plant
Red-colored pen or pencil for writing blessing
White tapered candle in a stand.
Procedure:
Each day during your altar time you will write your blessing on the paper and hang it on the plant.
Next light your candle. Say your blessing out loud.
Focus on the flame and concentrate on your blessings for three minutes.
Extinguish the candle flame and end your ritual.
Do this each day for thirty days. (You may follow a calendar or a lunar month)
At the end of the time period take all of your blessings to your outdoor firepit or some other safe area where you can burn them.
Burn the papers where you wrote your blessings, offer thanks to a deity of your choosing. This releases your blessings and gratitude into the universe.
Restoring Energy
I love this one and first learned about it from a workshop with Richard Webster.
We all have times when our energy level is low and we need to rev ourselves up. This spell will help you restore enthusiasm and vigor.
Materials:
3 candles in green, blue, and purple placed at the forefront of your altar.
Procedure:
Light each candle and either sit or stand where you can look directly upon them.
Start by gazing at the green candle for one minute. Next, inhale deeply while you envision your body filling with green energy. Exhale slowly.
Do the same process with the blue and purple candles. Take your time. Focus on their energy filling you.
Gaze at the three candles and envision yourself doing something requiring energy such as winning a race, climbing a mountain, or keeping up with young children.
See yourself full of energy and vitality.
Give thanks to Mother Earth and/or your chosen deity.
Extinguish your candles.
Have a powerful day!
If you are a baby witch or just need some ideas check out our article Altars: Beginners Guide.
Altar to welcome spring. Here I have a green candle for growth and fertility . The white candle represents new beginnings. Photo by author.
Color Magic and The Elements
Many witches work with the various elements and weave the elements into spellwork and ritual magic. Each of the elements has an associated color.
Earth: Green
Air: Yellow
Fire: Red
Water: Blue
Spirit: Orange, White, or Violet
If you are using the elements, you might want to add in other factors. You can read our article 4 Pagan Cardinal Elements to learn more about this.
Watch my video on candle colors!
Take Away
One of the reasons candle magic is so popular is because it is easy to incorporate in various spellwork. Color meanings are universal and there are many ways that you can utilize candle magic into your practice.
This is an area where anyone can feel comfortable practicing magic and connecting to various deities and the Universe.
Creativity has a place in this form of magic. Although this article provided the building blocks of the color correspondences and different ideas on how to work with candles, you should certainly listen to your own instincts.
Author, Ame Vanorio, likes to joke that she is 1/2 pagan and 1/2 Catholic due to her Native (Cree) and Italian heritage. She is a lifelong pagan, an environmental educator, and a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Ame writes about honoring nature and animal spirit guides. She also does our social media pages. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
Another great way to bring magic into every day is by combining spells and rituals with the days of the week. Each day of the week has colors, crystals, and herbs associated with it as well as a ruling planet.