As someone exploring different kinds of ritual this was a wonderful primer to candle magic. So comprehensive, detailed, beautifully written and expressed, while also giving tips for supplies. Highly recommend for newbies and dabblers, or even a seasoned practitioner looking to expand their resources.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for a honest review.

As a person who always has candles and oils in my home I found this book to be so handy in incorporating them together and using the candles with more intent that I would usually. I found the instructions and ingredients to be more basic that other books I have read which meant that I had most of these in my home and did not have to fork out for things that I rarely used.
A great guide for everyone interested in candle magic.

Myself and a friend were both gifted eARCs from NetGalley and had heaps of fun going through it together!
Highly recommend this to anyone wanting to get into candle magic! :)

EN: Through various exercises in "Practical Candle Magic," Rachel Patterson teaches us how to use candles in magic for a variety of situations and needs.

With very simple and captivating communication, Rachel guides us through the entire process, providing a step-by-step approach but explaining all the details and reasons, ensuring this is not merely a "recipe book" but a book that leads us to deepen our knowledge in this area of energetic work.

With this book, we learn thousands of correspondences for many different everyday situations, such as anointing the candle, reinforcing the power of the work with plants, colors, crystals, and symbols, using candles for divination, and even making our own candles.

I have been reading books on this topic for many years, but this book pleasantly surprised me, standing out from all the books I've read. The author gives the reader great independence to practice according to their beliefs and experience, also providing many tips for those on a tighter budget. I appreciate the message that with little, one can achieve much, as the power is not in the tools but in ourselves.

Rachel also emphasizes the importance of our intuition in relation to her guidelines. These should be just guidelines, and what we feel should never be underestimated. Each case is unique, and symbolism can be understood and felt differently by each of us, so everything can and should be personalized.

Something else I value is Rachel's very balanced view on the role of ethics and morality in these practices. Over the years, I have become accustomed to finding authors who are extreme, seeing everything as either black or white. Authors who understand that there are many shades of gray between the extremes and explain it as Rachel does here are crucial.

In this book, I would only change one thing: I would add images to the tutorials, especially when teaching how to make candles. I got lost in the details and steps. Some images would make all the difference.

In conclusion, this is likely the best book I've read on this topic, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this practice. It's a book I'll want to keep for reference.

I want to express my gratitude to author Rachel Patterson, Llewellyn Publications, and NetGalley for providing this eBook. The opportunity was truly appreciated.

PT: Através de vários exercícios, em "Practical Candle Magic", Rachel Patterson ensina-nos como utilizar as velas na magia para as mais variadas situações e necessidades.

Com uma comunicação muito simples e cativante, Rachel guia-nos em todo o processo, dando-nos um passo-a-passo a seguir, mas explicando-nos todos os detalhes e razões para que este não seja meramente um "livro de receitas" e sim um livro que nos leva a aprofundar os nossos conhecimentos nesta área do trabalho energético.

Com este livro aprendemos milhares de correspondências para imensas situações diferentes do dia-a-dia, como untar a vela, como reforçar o poder do trabalho com plantas, cores, cristais e símbolos, como usar as velas para a adivinhação e até mesmo como fazermos as nossas próprias velas.

Há muitos anos que leio livros desta temática, mas este livro surpreendeu-me pela positiva, destacando-se de todos os livros que li. A autora dá uma grande independência ao leitor para praticar de acordo com as suas crenças e experiência, dando também muitas dicas para quem tem um menor orçamento. Valorizo a mensagem de que com pouco se consegue fazer muito, uma vez que o poder não está nas ferramentas mas sim em nós mesmos.

Rachel também destaca a importância da nossa intuição face às suas diretrizes. Estas devem de ser linhas guias e o que sentimos nunca deve ser menosprezado. Cada caso é um caso e a simbologia pode ser entendida e sentida de maneira diferente por cada um de nós, por isso tudo pode e deve ser personalizado.

Algo que também valorizo é o facto de Rachel ter uma visão muito equilibrada sobre o papel da ética e da moral neste tipo de práticas. Ao longo dos anos tenho-me habituado a encontrar autores que são pelos extremos, que vêm tudo como sendo branco ou preto. São muito importantes estes autores que percebem que existem muitos tons de cinzento entre os extremos e que o explicam como Rachel aqui o fez.

Neste livro apenas mudaria uma questão: adicionaria imagens dos tutoriais, sobretudo quando ensina a fazer as velas. Perdi-me completamente nos detalhes e nos passos. Algumas imagens fariam toda a diferença.

Concluindo, este é, muito provavelmente, o melhor livro que li desta temática e recomendo a sua leitura a todos os interessados nesta prática. É um livro que vou querer manter para consulta.

Quero expressar a minha gratidão à autora Rachel Patterson, à Llewellyn Publications e ao NetGalley por disponibilizarem este eBook. A oportunidade foi verdadeiramente apreciada.

A good basic book about working with candles, although it has a Wiccan slant. Most of the information is useful for people of any path.

I did like that she pointed out you don't have to spend a lot of money on 'speciality' candles. I've used the birthday cake candles myself many times! They're especially good for short spells, as they burn down quickly.

The only thing I didn't see but might have missed was advice to look above a candle flame, not directly at it as it can damage your eyes. I'm hoping it was in there and just slipped by me when I was distracted.

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC!

This was a lovely little book, it had great information in it and would recommend it for beginner/intermediate practitioners.

This was such a great introduction to candle magic, and I appreciated how many correspondences were given and that no closed practices seemed to be touched on!

Good and very extensive dive into candle magic. Easy to read, and very in depth. Like that it doesn't call for expensive tools.

I read whatever Rachel Patterson writes as her books are always easy to follow, full of ideas and do not request bizzarre or expensive material.
This is another good one and I learned a lot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I’ve always had a minor (okay, major) obsession with candles. You can always find plenty of scented candles in my room, but it was only recently that I realized how vital candles are to the practice of witchcraft. As an aspiring witch, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and starting to reach out to others. But some books speak to me more than others. This one stood out from the pack.

It seems like the books describing witchcraft fall into two categories: either a very surface-level description of a lot of different aspects of magic and witchcraft, or a super-detailed exploration of one aspect. I was kind of expecting this one to be the second type, but was surprised to find it completely broke the mold and turned out to be a hybrid of both kinds.

While Patterson focuses exclusively on candle magic, she takes her readers on a pretty thorough journey through all of the different ways it can be used, and all of the different aspects of candle magic to consider—what type of candle, color, how to charge it, choosing oils and herbs to dress it with and how to do that, how to enhance the spell through the use of sigils, rules, oracles, tarot cards, and/or Zodiac signs, as well as making use of the solar/lunar/day of the week/crystal affinities of the spell effects. There are spells and guidance for using candles in divination and meditation.

Patterson manages to make this book appropriate for both beginner and advanced practitioners. Throughout, she urges readers to trust their own intuition, and go with whatever feels right for them and the spell that they are choosing. However, for the beginners, she also provides simple and easy to follow directions. Each of the spells require items that are easy to obtain, most of them directly from the pantry, and the lists of items aren’t long. I left a ton of bookmarks in my copy, and can’t wait to start practicing candle magic of my own, now that I know how to set up protection, charge items with intention, and feel confident in doing this safely.

I loved the personal tone that Patterson takes with her readers. It allowed me to feel like I was listening to a trusted mentor or friend who knew more about a topic than I did, rather than reading a blurb of information and then a list of instructions. Her little vignettes add a touch of fun to the book, and this is someone who clearly knows her stuff. Overall, this was a wonderful book that taught me a lot, and will teach me even more with continued readings. If you’re interested, even a little, in candle magic, this is the book for you.

Great Reference Material

The author discusses candle magic and states that it starts with the candle, but it relies heavily on your INTENT. She states that if one's will and desire is strong enough, it will transfer to the candle and help move the magic along.

She discusses the fact that candles also employ the element of fire, and that once you light a candle, you set the spell in motion using the power of that element. Additionally, FIRE is ruled by King Djinn, a warrior who controls the power of life, courage, inner strength, and transformation, and above him is the Archangel Michael, believed to be the first angel created. Michael is the Archangel of fire and sun who brings justice and defence. He is often called in to bring protection and to help you achieve your goals. He can be found in several fire-related stories throughout the Bible, although it should be noted that angels were found in cultures that predate Christianity. Stories of the Archangels can be found dating back to the Bronze Age.2 Think of Archangels are being universal to all faiths. Some Wiccan traditions call in the Archangels at the quarters when in ritual. These are referred to as “Guardians of the Watchtowers.” The Archangels are called “The Watchers” because they look after, or “watch,” human beings. Archangels are incredibly powerful!

This book, Rachael Patterson provide information on how to select the best candles for your spellwork, how to charge it with intention, dress it with oils and herbs, and complete your spell. She states that it is best to give an offering of Thanks and discusses various ways of doing so.

Of particular interest to me is the Energy Ball Exercise. She states that this exercise is great to help you recognize and get the feel of energy, and if you practice it regularly, you will soon be working with energy without even thinking about it.

She provides several spells and suggests the type of candles that should be used for various spells, one such spell is The New Beginning Spell.

This is a great book, full of cherishable information that is well suited for beginners and may serve as a reference book for advanced practitioner. I highly recommend this book.

While this is a good book for beginners, I also believe there is something in here for more experienced practitioners as well. The author writes no one needs to spend a lot of money on special candles. For instance, she states that buying birthday candles will work as well as the speciality candles some people try to sell.

I found this book very helpful, and I am not a newbie. The author taught me a few things, and I love the book so much that I will buy it when they publish it.

Rachel Patterson is a respected author in the witchcraft community with a number of titles under her belt. In her latest book Practical Candle Magic Rachel goes back to basics to teach candle magic from the fundamentals. This short book is ideal for a beginner as it covers the basics of candle magic. Personally though I did not find anything in this book that I had not already read in other books on the subject . I felt that in some sections (such as the eternal flame) Rachel jumped from idea to idea without a lot of detail whereas other section (such as types of candles) were overly detailed

First of all, thank you NetGalley and Llewellyn Publications for giving me access to this arc!

To get right into it, I really enjoyed reading this! I haven't read Rachel Patterson's work before, though I see that she's written many different books on varying topics within Witchcraft. After reading this, I definitely will think about picking up her other books. Patterson is very smart about how she relays information, as she tries to give her personal reasoning for why she includes certain correspondences or does things a certain, as well as including warnings when needed.

I find the book fairly easy to navigate and reference when I'm looking for a specific aspect of candle magic. Many of the correspondences, examples, and practice parts are nicely labeled and I like the way that it is all organized. The charts were nice and simple to understand. As well, I think the short length of the book really aids in the ease of quick reference.

However, due to the shorter length, I would not expect it to go into deeper reasons why certain correspondences work with certain elements of candle magic, which is okay. This is clearly a book for not just beginners to candle magic, but beginners to witchcraft, spell craft, and magic in general, just through the lens of candle magic. Due to this, I would recommend this book to a beginner witch, whether they're interested in candle magic or not.

Finally, while I greatly appreciated all the warnings about fire and burning objects, I was surprised there weren't any warnings about specifically burning certain herbs. Though I know it should be obvious not to burn typically toxic herbs (think about how poison ivy reacts to your skin and then imagine inhaling it), many people don't think about that when heading into witchcraft, so a warning is warranted sometimes. For the most part though, Patterson covered a lot of bases about safety with this particular area of the craft.

Overall, a good reference book for beginners in witchcraft and/or candle magic. I loved the layout and design of the book, it felt easy to read and understand, and included additional reading in the back, which is always appreciated!

NetGalley Arc Review App

I may be a little biased, but I am never disappointed by Rachel Pattterson.
This book is well thought out, and the layout makes it accessible and useful to anyone at any time after a read through.
Must buy must have, great beginner book.

I have been wanting to use more candle magic, and this book gives so much information. The instructions are easy to follow and clear. I love how it covers the Sabbats as well as chants to go along with it. I had seen others use oils with candle magic, but I was not sure how to incorporate them. Again, there are clear directions, and easy explanations. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is new or wanting to up their candle magic game. (I want to thank Rachel and LLewellyn Publishing for allowing me to review this book as an ARC reader.)

Practical Candle Magic by Rachel Patterson breathes new life into the world of candle magic. This captivating book is brimming with invaluable information, empowering techniques, and personalized examples that will ignite your imagination. Discover the secrets of disposing of magical ingredients, learn the art of cleansing and reusing, and unlock a treasure trove of wisdom within the pages of this delightful masterpiece. Prepare to be enchanted as you delve into the depths of this comprehensive guide, where every page is bursting with practicality and enchantment.

Practical Candle Magic by Rachel Patterson is a detailed and thorough book on candle magic. This book far exceeds anything that I have ever read on the subject. (And believe me that's saying something). This book gives history and information about how candles are used in religion as well as Witchcraft. It gives you easy to follow instructions on candle magic that you can use right away. This is a great book I highly recommend it.

This was a great book for beginners and advanced people who want to work with candle magic. It taught me new things I didn't know before and I really enjoyed it. I'd recommend this to any friends looking for candle magic books.

This book explains how to use a candle for outcomes that are wanted. The many forms of candles are explained as well as how the materials needed for this type of magic. The process is explained in a practical way and the outcomes discussed. Keeping a journal as well as timing are important and this is explained. A solid book of ideas and practices.