Candles, Meditation & Healing

What a delightful little book. I think this makes a great present especially for someone who is spiritual and loves candles. They will really appreciate this book. It talks about infusing your prayers & meditations with divine energy and how lighting candles can create an atmosphere that is soothing & healing. It also talks about divining with candle wax and has a nice little dictionary in the back. If you are looking for a new agey book but without the pentagrams & witchcraft, this book is for you.

An astrologer and metaphysician, Charlene Whitaker teaches, counsels, and writes. She's also the founder of the Cosmic Academy of Metaphysical Arts, and has been featured in newspapers and on radio and television. Candles, Meditation, & Healing is her second book. She says that some people are wary of rituals, but points out that we all have daily rituals that we follow, such as brushing our teeth. There's nothing inherently fearful about a ritual, including those involving burning candles. When asked what candles do, she replies that "candles do nothing except burn when lit. You are the one who makes extraordinary things manifest in your life and the lives of others." She emphasizes that "doing candle rituals is not incompatible with Christianity or other belief systems." Whitaker starts with an explanation of how to create your own inner sanctuary using meditation. She then describes how to create a physical altar for your candle work. This can be very simple, or as elaborate as you wish. Once you've done that, you're ready to begin--she says that the "possibilities are endless as to how you can use your altar." She provides suggestions for using money, blessing newborns, and general healing. Candles can also be combined with astrology to do readings for others. Whitaker explains how to purchase the candles best suited for your purpose, how to care for them, and the significance of the ways in which they may burn. She also says that using the right color of candles is important, and describes the meanings and uses of each color. Melted candle wax can also form meaningful shapes, and Whitaker provides a complete dictionary of symbols to aid in interpretation. "Candles are a natural source of light and guidance--[Candles, Meditation, & Healing] will show you how to use candles to fire up your prayer, healing, and divination work."

Charlene Whitaker was the owner of a local metaphysical store in Canoga Park, CA, in the 1990s, as well as an astrology teacher at the Carroll Righter Foundation, Hollywood, CA, and the founder of the Cosmic Academy of Metaphysical Arts in Canoga Park. Charlene is a very talented teacher and highly knowledgeable in many areas of metaphysics and occult practice.In this slim volume, Charlene presents spiritual working with candles in such a way that anyone practicing any religious discipline could apply these teachings easily within that framework. As she says in her introduction: "Doing candle rituals is not incompatible with Christianity or other belief systems . . . that flame of light . . . is your connection with your Supreme being. Be a loving and giving person as you begin now to `light up your life,' and all those who follow your light." From that point of view, Charlene takes the reader through steps toward developing a relationship with candles as divine messengers and tools for healing.The first chapter, entitled "Creating Your Inner Sanctuary" focuses on a meditation practice which creates within the worker a personal place of power from which your candle work will draw it's inspiration. The next four chapters are about creating a material altar, types of equipment you might want on your altar, preparing yourself to use the altar, and then several different ways you can use your altar.Once you have your inner sanctuary and material altar prepared, Charlene discusses the mechanics of candle burning. She gives suggestions for choosing the best time for candle burning, how to light your candles, and how to read the way your candle burns. In the chapter "Things To Remember", Charlene makes some good suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of your candle rituals such as placing a mirror under your candle to amplify the light and energy of the candle's purpose. Instead of just repeating the usual chart of magickal associations, Charlene describes the spiritual essence of colors in such a way as to make it easy on the newcomer to these concepts to remember without constantly referring back to this chapter.The last half of the book presents the most interesting material on candle reading. She presents two different methods of candle reading that also utilizes some very basic astrological information. Both the votive and the taper drip methods use the natural horoscope wheel to provide the framework for interpreting the fall of the candle wax. The material is presented fairly simply so that even someone with only sun sign knowledge can easily use the techniques.Overall this is a great introductory book on working with candles. If you already have a basic knowledge or have been working with candles for some time, you might find most of the material very basic and would do better with a more advanced book such as The Candle Magick Workbook by Kala & Ketz Pajeon (Citadel Press, 1991)