BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Candlemaking Waxidents!

What is your worst waxident? OMG, mine is kind of funny. Remember me mentioning the electricity going out and lighting all the candles? Well, I could of sworn hubby extinguished the pillar candles that are on sconces on the wall. So off we go, the next night I notice a little glow on the wall and as I went to bed I reminded hubby to extinguish the pillars and thanked him for being so sweet to light them. So next night, I notice it again and I ask hubby "you did extinguish those last night didnt you?" He's like no, and I'm freaking a little, babe you can't light candle's unless you remember to put them out when you go to bed! His response, he didn't light them! Fully confused I go to blow it out and realize it "blew" out of one side. And yes, they had been burning for THREE days! I now have three days of dripped wax down my wall and on the carpet 2 inches thick!! Needless to say I've gone though a whole lot of paper bags! I still haven't been able to get it all out yet! Once my back gets better, I'll get at it again!!

*please note I say extinguish because I don't "blow" my candles out and highly recommend others not either!! Not only can you end up blowing melted wax all over the place, it is not the best for your wicks. It will cause smoking and possibly increase the likelihood of sooting next time round. I highly recommend dipping your wicks!

Just snuff them out between finger and thumb - excellent training for the nerves!

OUUCCHHHH!!! I do have a wick dipper, but you can use a paper clip too!

As long as you have a steady hand it doesn't hurt at all. In, squeeze, our, done- the fear is all in the mind. It's also the traditional way to extinguish spell candles because blowing them out using the Element of Air to, in effect, destroy something, is counter-productive. Particularly as Air is one one of the Elements bringing the spell to fruition

Okay, call me a weenie, but I'm sitting here thinking okay, maybe I'll give it a try, then I look over at my last votive experiment burning and the flame and start to chicken out!! do you like your fingers before hand or anything? what if you have unsteady hands?

You can lick your fingers if you want, the effect is mainly psychological. It doesn't hurt- just don't do the T E Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") trick of doing the same thing with a match. He had some strange ideas about pleasure and pain....

Don't think about it just do it, it doesn't hurt. Lick your fingers, grab the flame and poof gone.

One safety precaution: Keep your clothes clear of any naked flames!

Hmm, and keep flames away from any naked skin?

That depends on on how much you're 'into' fire magick. The Witch Alex Sanders used to set himself on fire at regular intervals as a publicity stunt at fairs etc. with no discernible damage. So with the right training bare skin and flames are, if not compatible, at least tolerable. But you do have to have the right training first!

My concern is just how flammable modern textiles are and the potential for going up in flames like a film stuntman, but without the support crew. So always keep trailing fabric clear of the flames. I covered this in my article on Indoor Ritual Safety Tips and scroll down to the last paragraph