There is a tendency to feel that for magick to work it must be big - an elaborate ritual of some kind. My experience has shown me otherwise; good things come with patience, commitment, and the practicing of many little rituals over the course of months, sometimes years.
I think that is why candle magic is so prevalent across time and magical traditions. The lighting of a candle with a simple prayer or petition is something anyone can do, at nearly anytime, and without provoking much suspicion. In fact rituals including candles are very common in the religion I was raised in - Catholicism. In my eyes the dedication of candles to Saints is another form of witchcraft, Christian Witchcraft!
Lighting a candle, saying a prayer, and visualizing my desire coming to be is a tried and true part of my magical practice. I am not calling in fame and riches though - for the most part I intention very mundane things; like wishing for a cat to come home or sending good health to a friend of family member. Now that I am a candle maker both my partner and I have been using candle magic much more often. And recently I have been starting to ask for more, for example, success in my magickal, candle making businesses.
I do not expect success overnight. And I don't expect success to appear without any work on my behalf. My understanding of magic is much like the old Christian saying "God helps those who help themselves". My gods are diverse and have been with me since childhood, so sometimes I petition Aphrodite and other times Demeter or even local spirits of which I don't have a name. I feel that they are obliged to help me because I honor them in my life and they see my efforts.
Aphrodite I honor by working tirelessly to bring beauty into this world both by my crafts and also by creating natural cosmetics. Demeter I honor with my work in the garden and by offering incense to her during outdoor rituals throughout the year. The local spirits I am still learning about how to "work with" but the ways that seem obvious to me now are by picking up trash on the land and on my walks and caring for plants that are native to this area.
Besides saying prayers to these Goddesses and Spirits I also create things for my household and community that embody magick, medicine, and honor them in some way. The healing products I make are alternatives to artificial ones that I feel are neither a help to humanity nor to the Earth. Take this floral water for example.
My friend Marlen and I received instructions for this recipe while on a walk around the farm. We asked the natural world for inspiration to make a spray for spiritual protection as well as a to ward off mosquitos that would also embody the feeling of spring transitioning into summer.
The plants that called out to us on the walk where: Lemon Verbena, Mint, Rose, Palo Amarillo, and Self Heal. They where the herbs and shrubs in bloom, their flowers vibrant and at the peak of their medicine. But besides that, I think the act of asking for inspiration caused us to receive the message of these five herbs. Our "Agua de Cinco Hierbas" or as my friend calls it "Agua Mágico" is in a big jar on the shelf of my apothecary - macerating its medicine and magic.
Thank you all for following along in this series of magical blog posts - I have really enjoyed sharing these words and images here in the Magickal community and have been surprised how taking time to collect my thoughts on my spirituality has affected me. I mentioned this in a previous post too that I would never have been able to finish my Magical Zine and Spell Kit without the encouragement received from previous articles. I am grateful and feel motivated to start a whole new collection of magical posts in the new year. The working title is "a Deity a Month" and of course Demeter and Aphrodite will be featured. January, however, will start with the duo after which the month was named Janus the god of new beginnings and Jana the goddess of the first moon cycle of the year. Stay tuned!