actually all that you just said was what i believe. Literally all i think about is how such a complex world is so simple. There has to be more than this.
I read a spell on "becoming a witch". I want to be one.
Then learn all you can. This site is filled with information. And when you feel confidant in your knowledge (although you continue to learn until the day you die) you may perform a dedication ritual. Witch is believed to be synonymous with "wise one". Knowledge is very important!
As Brysing stated, I was never "initiated" into anything or by anyone. I decided to dedicate myself when I was 16, even though I had been learning about such things since I was a child. There is no rush. It feels more special when you have earned it.
Let me offer a different perspective (or perhaps the same perspective worded differently):
I disagree that candles are merely an aide for better concentration. Yes, they are an aid, but that is not the end of the story. I, for one, would never take a candle magic spell and eliminate the candle, much like i wouldn't take a spell that incorporates magical herbalism and eliminate the herbs. I would choose an entirely different spell based upon the ingredients, or lack thereof, that i have on-hand.
Reason being is that magic works, at least in great part, by the laws of ressonance: like equals like, and candles have some serious ressonance mojo (Google "sympathetic magic" if you have no idea what i'm talking about).
For instance, let's take a love spell and a common method of preparing a candle to be burned for that purpose:
You'll use a red candle, most likely. The color red has a strong ressonance towards love and passion, thus increasing the mojo.
You'll carve symbols such as your lover's initials, hearts, and any other sigil - again, strong ressonance toward your goal = mojo.
You'll anoint the candle with magical herb-infused oil and roll the candle in a powdered blend of love-drawing herbs. This is a blessed union between herbalism and candle magic and provides strong, strong ressonance toward manifesting your goal.
The flame of the candle burns like your passion for your lover = strong ressonance. As it burns, the color red, your herbs, oils, and symbols get released into the Universe directed towards your goal = powerfully awesome mojo.
And this is where i full-Heartedly agree with others, as the candle burns, it provides a wonderful focus for your chants, prayers, and petitions.
And this is a very simple candle magic spell. There are other candle magic spells that include figure candles to further ressonate with your goal. There is a whole body of "moving candle spells" where you actually inact your goal with candles: drawing people closer, moving people away, flusing them down a toilet, etc. In these examples, to simply eliminate the candlework is eliminating a huge percent of your mojo.
Is it possible to effect change in the world through words and willpower alone? Of course it is. Look at the huge body of work on the Law of Attraction, vision boards, positive affirmations, etc. But this is NOT candle magic, a deriviative of candle magic, nor is it sympathetic magic.
Most beginners, and experienced pracitioners alike, need all the help we can get to bring our will into fruition. We use "helpers" that have magical powers *inherent within them*: herbs, stones, colors, symbols, Diety, etc. To call these things mere tools discredits their natural powers. To join with them increases your mojo exponentially.
In short, in my opinion - take it as you will - i would not substitute out candles in a spell that really depends on candles for their efficacy. There are plenty of other non-candle spells to choose from that rely on the ressonance of your own mind, energy, and Diety; work with those.
first, it depends on the spell like LdyGry said, if it's candle magic, you kind of need a candle. second there is not spell that will make you a witch, a witch is normally what you call someone who is in a religion like wicca or paganism or witchcraft [but you don't have to belong to a religion to study witchcraft] or anything that studies magic and/or the occult. perhaps you mean you're initiation into the religion. when i did it the first time, i cast the circle and told the God and Goddess why i felt in my heart this was the right spiritual path for me, later on i did it a bit more formal, and when i started studying Dragon Magic, i had to go to the astral plain and talk to the Dragons for the elements to accept me. so no candles were needed for most of them. if you mean become like Sabrina the teenage witch, no spell will do that i'm afraid.
no i dont want to become sabrina. I know magic isnt bibidibobidido. i read the spell and i wanted to be known as a witch the way it put it. I have troubles and it helps im going to take chances.
I don't discredit the energy that flame, true beeswax, herbs, metals, colors, wood etc. holds. I use the word tools as defined "a device that aids in accomplishing a task" (merriam webber dictionary) although it would fit this situation best to switch "device" with "object/material".
No one said that such things are meaningless, and I apologize if I didn't convey that properly. They all have a purpose and we can choose to us them to aid us. But the key would is "choose", it is a choice. We can go without them, because our power lies in ourselves and the earth just below our feet that connect to all of Nature. We are never separated from our life giving and sustaining Mother because we are a part of the whole that is life and existence.
Some people prefer tools and some people can't access them at all. My point is that if you can't access such things, that doesn't mean you cannot practice magick. Many new to magick see the words, ingredients, times, and instruments as what actually causes the magick to work. Such "aids" help us to bring forward energy when we believe that object represents something or recognize the energy within it, it allows us to easily pinpoint that energy and bring more of the same forth, but we can gain the same effect by going to the source of that energy in nature or pulling that energy to us through focus and will.
One reason why writing our own spells is best, is because we know what energy we wish to bring forth, the effect we desire it to have, what exact goal we will to be, and can shape the spell to our needs and available resources. I love using herbs and other ingredients and tools, but if I am placed in a situation where I have no access to them, that doesn't mean I am helpless.
In this sort of situation, my mind goes back to Mickey Mouse's Fantasia. The old wizard leaves his hat behind, and Mickey picks it up (being just an apprentice), starts using the power the hat has and causes chaos. This misrepresentation of tools and ingredients in magick has spanned the ages and is then fed to kids in the form of colorful moving pictures. And fed to adults and teens in works of fiction. How many times has their been a cartoon where the witch loses their wand and becomes powerless until it is retrieved? Tons! This is all I debunk.
Certain objects can be charged with energy, but that magick occurs through the work of the practioner, not the object itself. The object alone merely is used as a choice.
