Making the Candles
My first task is to obtain beeswax from local beekeepers. This comes 'straight from the hive' and is often full of hive debris - bits of bee usually - and so needs to be melted down and strained. Once this is done the virgin beeswax is left to reset in smaller blocks, to be added to the paraffin wax and stearin, or provide pure beeswax for candles, talismans etc.
Stearin increases the melt-point temperature of the wax, making the candle burn slower, and helps the wax to shrink, making release from the mould easier. This is essential if beeswax is added, as beeswax does not shrink, and has a tendency to stick to the mould. Stearin also enhances and brightens the colour of the candle.
Once the paraffin wax and stearin have been blended and melted in the right proportions, I add the beeswax, according to the end use of the candle. Beeswax is an excellent medium for absorbing and retaining a magical charge of energy or intent, but its natural honey aroma tends to compete with any other scent added to the mix, and its natural honey colour competes with certain dye colours. So candles for ritual magic or meditation purposes will have a higher percentage of beeswax than for decorative or scented candles.
Next comes the dye. I make the candles when they are ordered, so different batch colours may vary. The dye is melted into the wax mix, so that the candles are coloured right through. This is important in magical work where colour is used to symbolise and focus intent on the required outcome as the candle burns down.
If the candles are to be scented, then I add the perfume oil to the mix just before pouring into the moulds. This means it doesn't get the chance to evaporate cooling and setting. As with colour, the candles are scented right through so that the the whole of the candle is perfumed.
In the meantime, the glass moulds have been threaded up with wicks, and sealed with plasticine at the pointy end. There is nothing worse than filling a mould with hot wax at one end, and then watching it escaping out at the other end via the wick!
Once the moulds are full they are left to cool. The wax will cool and shrink, forming a hollow inside the mould, which is then topped up to the previous level with a second pour. Depending on the size of the mould, a third pour is sometimes needed, after which the candle is left to set fully.
On releasing them from the mould, every candle is checked before being wrapped and sent out. Sometimes things do go wrong - even small things like flucuation in room temperature, or the wax being a few degrees too hot, or not hot enough, may affect the final appearance, and if I'm not happy with the results then I will start again from scratch. If I wouldn't be happy to buy it, then I won't sell it.
(In case you're wondering, although molten wax does differ in shade from its solid form, the bottom photo is a batch of ready-to-release blue candles, not the foregoing green ones!)
