The history, use and value of candles – candles and witchcraft

During the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages, inquisitors' handbooks such as the Malleus Maleficarum suggested the use of holy candles as among those consecrated objects ‘for preserving oneself from the injury of witches.’ Farmers used holy candles to protect their livestock from danger and bewitchment. On the other hand, witches were said to light candles at their sabbaths as offerings to the Devil, who was often portrayed as wearing a lighted candle between his horns. Witches also put lighted candles in the faggots of their brooms, which they rode through the air.

Candles made of human fat were believed to contain life energy, and supposedly were used in the Black Mass in the seventeenth century, and in other black magic rituals. The Petit Albert, an eighteenth century magic book, claims that a ‘Magic Candle’ made of human tallow would disclose buried treasure. When the candle began to sparkle brightly and hiss noisily, treasure was at hand. The nearer the treasure, the more intensely the candle would burn, until it went out at the exact spot – presumably the would-be treasure hunter had the good sense to have an ordinary candle in their pocket or they’d have had to dig in the dark!

In folklore, candles have a strong association with the dead, perhaps dating back to the old Jewish custom, later adopted by Christians, of lighting candles for the dying and dead. A lit candle placed by the bedside of a dying person is believed to frighten away demons, except in American folklore, where a candle burning in an empty room will cause the death of a relative. A candle that burns blue means a ghost is nearby.

Devil photograph by Indigo Goat, used under a creative commons attribution licence