Reusing Novena Candles
Greetings and bright blessings,
Candles are...amazing. I usually have one or two Novena candles burning on my altar,maybe a Saint candle where I have prayed for a specific request, but I always have a plain white Novena burning to promote peace and tranquility in my home. I have researched for a way to reuse the lovely glass container encasing these awesome candles, and I have come up with nothing. Today I recylced four of them, and it seems like such a waste but I draw a blank when I brainstorm ways to reuse them. Any ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sangraal on -
Make a double-boiler. Fill a pot about 1/3rd of water, and place a smaller pot inside of it. Turn the stove to low- maybe no more than a quarter of the max. Put your novena candles in it, standing up. The point is that you're creating some indirect heat, enough to melt it, but not enough to mess with the glass. And while the glass is obviously heat-tempered, too much heat all over it can cause it to crack.
You can then use an oven mitten to pour all of the excess back into one of the novena glasses or something else altogether.
You can make a wick out of cotton twine or a thin yarn, just make sure it is 100% cotton. Coat the entire twine in the melted wax, and then use something as a small weight to sink it to the bottom, tying it to the end. A small nut or screw may work. Use something to suspend the string to the center, let it cool, and there you have it.
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Permalink Reply by SpiritMaiden on
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Thank you Sangraal! Como estas? I have been mulling over using the glass jars to grow herbs or plants..I might give it a try soon.
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Permalink Reply by Lady Skydancer on -
Hi Spiritmaiden,
I would like to add a suggestion here. Never ever reuse items you have previously used for a specific reason or spell. when you started burning your new candle you empowered it to help you with a spell (spell A). You then see that you have the remains of candles you charged when doing other spells, B, C, & D. 4 different spells for 4 seperate intentions.
If you now mix up the remains from spells A, B, C, & D, and use them for yet another spellcasting, the Goddess only knows what will be manifest as a result?
I suggest caution in these matters because of a past client I had. I made up a spell for her in a silk bag, in order to drive her old lover away. It worked, and I told her how to dispose of the bag and contents. But she decided the silk bag was too nice to destroy, so re-used it herslf with other herbs, in order to attract a new man into her life. Can you see where I am going with this?
Her old lover came back and stalked her. That silk bag was charged with his energy and had, had his personal things inside. To re-use it was folly. So before you make up a new candle out of the old wax, think carefully.
I wish you all the best,
Lady Skydancer x
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Permalink Reply by Sangraal on
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I think it was for novenas in either the traditional application of petitioning the Saints, or for Orisha, using the commonly associated Saint imagery typical in the ATRs.
But, if they were for differing purposes, I agree. It's best not to mix energies from different works.
Also, if you want to use the glasses to grow things, you'll need a means for drainage, i.e. you will need holes in it. To accomplish that, you'll need a drill and a very small, diamond bit, no more than 1/8". You will need to clamp or otherwise stabilize the glass as you use the lowest speed setting to drill into it. You don't want to go too fast or drill the holes too closely together, or it will break.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel O'Neill (Cat wrangler) on -
yes an you also need to wear gloves and safety glasses sometimes that type of glass can break no matter how careful you are but it can be done just as sangraal explain I would say a chep Drimul type tool works better then a drill and you can get these for under 20 bucks the are made to engrave glass an come with the bit you need.
Sangraal said:I think it was for novenas in either the traditional application of petitioning the Saints, or for Orisha, using the commonly associated Saint imagery typical in the ATRs.
But, if they were for differing purposes, I agree. It's best not to mix energies from different works.
Also, if you want to use the glasses to grow things, you'll need a means for drainage, i.e. you will need holes in it. To accomplish that, you'll need a drill and a very small, diamond bit, no more than 1/8". You will need to clamp or otherwise stabilize the glass as you use the lowest speed setting to drill into it. You don't want to go too fast or drill the holes too closely together, or it will break.
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Permalink Reply by SpiritMaiden on
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I understand about not reusing candles that have been used for specific purposes, and I would definitely be reluctant to reuse my Orisha candles labeled with specifc saints. But the all-white candles that I light for general protection and tranquility at home would certainly be reusable, I could collect any leftover wax and probably create another protection-peace candle. I have abandoned the idea of starting seedlings in the glass containers, as you've decribed it would definitely be lots of work and knowing me, I would probably cause the glass to shatter or explode in my face. Thank you everyone, for your suggestions.
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Permalink Reply by SpiritMaiden on
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Hello everyone..just wanted to share the good news! I have finally figured out a great way to reuse the tall glass containers left behind after a novena is burned. As I was resetting my altar yesterday evening, I was once again going to toss out two used up novenas with images of La Virgen de la Regla. It was snowing, and i had forgotten to pick up extras. I have always felt a guilt akin to the guilt some of us feel when blowing out a candle whenever I discard these lovely remants of a well-thought out ritual...it's like we know we should'nt do it but I guess we must. I figured out how to slowly place a lit tealight in the candle while it's on it's side, and move the tealight down the candle, eventually with a little flick motion having the tealight be directly in the bottom of the glass container...viola! Another thing was that I was simply amazed to see my tealight burning happily at the bottom of the glass this morning, it burned all night long! Amazing...I usually get about 4 hours out of a tealight. Maybe the glass protected the light and allowed it to burn longer. I'm estatic with this newfound way to reuse my novena image candles.
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Permalink Reply by VLM on -
Glad to hear you found a use for them..
In addition you could always buy wax and wicks and refill them -- you can get both bead type wax, or something like soy wax, and simply refill :)
SpiritMaiden said:Hello everyone..just wanted to share the good news! I have finally figured out a great way to reuse the tall glass containers left behind after a novena is burned. As I was resetting my altar yesterday evening, I was once again going to toss out two used up novenas with images of La Virgen de la Regla. It was snowing, and i had forgotten to pick up extras. I have always felt a guilt akin to the guilt some of us feel when blowing out a candle whenever I discard these lovely remants of a well-thought out ritual...it's like we know we should'nt do it but I guess we must. I figured out how to slowly place a lit tealight in the candle while it's on it's side, and move the tealight down the candle, eventually with a little flick motion having the tealight be directly in the bottom of the glass container...viola! Another thing was that I was simply amazed to see my tealight burning happily at the bottom of the glass this morning, it burned all night long! Amazing...I usually get about 4 hours out of a tealight. Maybe the glass protected the light and allowed it to burn longer. I'm estatic with this newfound way to reuse my novena image candles.
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Permalink Reply by Arsenic & Old Lace - Vinnie on -
From a purely physical safety standpoint, I would caution against reusing the glass from the 7-day novena candles unless they are specifically designed to be used that way. Every time they are reused, it weaken the structure of the glass a bit and at some point they may crack or explode. Mind you, it doesn't happen too often but when it does happen it can be quite messy. :-)
There are reusable glass holders that you can refill with either your own wax or with purchasable "plugs" or refills. This is the way that I go. Even though they are just clear glass, you can do all kinds of wonderful things with them. For instance, I take a red candle and put it into the clear reusable glass holder. I then print a picture of the particular god/goddess/saint that I am working with (or simply an image that represents my goal). I then trim the printed image to the appropriate size and (lightly) "gluestick" it to the outside of the glass. That way, I get to reuse as often as I like and I still get beautiful candles for my magic work.
You can always say a prayer or chant while creating/cutting/gluing the picture to the glass holder as a way of cleansing, charging, and empowering the specific candle/picture for your specific goal.
Benedizioni,
---Vinnie
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