Table Of ContentHere is a thoughtful, accessible, hands-on guide to the increasingly
popular practice of candle magic. Author Phillip Cooper off ers
techniques for training your mind and working with the energy
of candles. Th e Power of Candle Magic shows how the magical use of
candle energy can brighten your attitude, help focus your attention, create
abundance, help you with healing, and draw more love into your life.
“Th e Power of Candle Magic contains practical information that can
be put to excellent use by anyone. Transcending just burning candles,
Cooper presents an entire system of magic with candle burning as
its centerpiece. For those new to magical practice, Cooper’s system is
eff ective, and you may fi nd it a good place to begin. For adepts or those
already on their paths, pan for the gold within these pages: take what
works for you and integrate it into your magic.”
—Judika Illes
Th e book explains:
(cid:31) how to choose candles for magic
(cid:31) the basics of creating candle rituals
(cid:31) how to make and work with incense and anointing oils
(cid:31) the importance of color correspondences
(cid:31) how to use the planetary correspondences so you can harness
the right energy for any endeavor
Previously published as Candle Magic, this new edition includes an
extensive new foreword by Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of 5,000
Spells and Pure Magic.
PHILLIP COOPER has been actively involved in magic for many years.
He has examined the nature of astral projection and altered states of
consciousness, along with a study of Hermetic magic.
www.redwheelweiser.com
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This edition first published in 2022 by Weiser Books, an imprint of
Red Wheel/Weiser, llc
With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.redwheelweiser.com
Copyright © 2000, 2022 by Phillip Cooper
Foreword copyright © 2022 by Judika Illes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, llc. Reviewers may
quote brief passages. Previously published in 2000 as Candle Magic by Weiser
Books, ISBN 978-1-57863-121-6. This new edition includes a new foreword
by Judika Illes.
ISBN: 978-1-57863-794-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.
Cover design by Sky Peck Design
Cover art by iStock
Interior by Debby Dutton
Typeset in Adobe Caslon and Frutiger LT
Printed in the United States of America
IBI
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Contents
Foreword v
Preface ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1 Learning Correct Procedure 1
Chapter 2 Circles of Power 13
Chapter 3 The Magic Sphere 31
Chapter 4 The Cosmic Tides 65
Chapter 5 The Power of the Planets 81
The Power of the Sun 92
The Power of the Moon 98
The Power of Mercury 111
The Power of Venus 116
The Power of Mars 126
The Power of Jupiter 131
The Power of Saturn 137
Chapter 6 Perfecting the Art 143
Bibliography 165
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Foreword
While I was contemplating how best to write this foreword
to The Power of Candle Magic, I thought it best to heed the
words of author Phillip Cooper himself: “The best place to
start is at the beginning.”* Cooper further writes, “I believe that
magic belongs to anyone who has a mind to use it. I believe
that the magical arts are simple and natural, and a part of our
divine inheritance.”
As someone who has spent her life studying the magical arts,
both their practical applications and their history, I firmly believe
that magic is the primordial human art, something that is our
shared ancestral birthright. Its practice stretches into prehistory,
back to that proverbial “dawning of time.” It occurs everywhere
around the globe. Some practices are too ancient to date—when
crystals and plants were first used magically, for instance—but
others can be more accurately pin-pointed in time.
To the best of our knowledge, candle magic first emerges—
at least in ways that are recognizable to modern eyes—in
ancient Egypt, among the rites of Isis. After the Romans con-
quered Egypt in 31 B.C.E., they brought veneration of Isis
back home with them, where she proceeded to win the hearts
* All quotes in this foreword attributed to Phillip Cooper derive from
this edition of The Power of Candle Magic.
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of many Europeans. In addition to Rome, Isis had cult centers
in the British Isles, Marseille, and especially Paris. Wherever
she traveled, candle magic traveled with her. Candles were so
closely identified with Isis that the Christian Church initially
banned them, associating them with Paganism.
That ban did not last for long. Candles speak to the human
soul, then as now, and people were loath to abandon them and
their power. Many aspects of the worship of Isis, considered a
chief competitor by the architects of the Church, were trans-
ferred to the new veneration of Mary, Mother of Christ or were
inspired by her. These range from shared epithets, such as Stella
Maris (“Star of the Sea”) to votive imagery featuring a nursing
mother holding the divine child at her breast.
Candlemas is the informal English name for the Feast of the
Purification of Mary, also sometimes called the Feast of Mary
of the Candles. Celebrated since the 4th century, it is the oldest
of the now many official festivals that specifically honor Mary.
Held annually on February 2, candles are blessed in church for
use throughout the year. However, many modern Pagans also
use the name Candlemas to indicate the sabbat celebrated on
this date, Imbolc, the holiday dedicated to fire goddess Brigid.
While its focus on Mary and candles may have been
intended to substitute for the rites of Isis, the timing of the
festival was also not coincidental. The name of the month
February derives from a Latin root word meaning “to purify”
with the implication of purification through fire. (The word
“fever” is etymologically related.) Once the last month of the
old Roman year, before calendar reforms switched New Year’s
from March to January, purification rites were held in Feb-
ruary including torchlit processions intended to purify and
awaken Earth.
vi THE POWER OF CANDLE MAGIC
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Those torches reveal another truth. While wax candles were
rare and sophisticated, fire is not. Unlike candles, the role of fire
in magic and divination extends into humanity’s earliest days.
Fire magic, as opposed to candle magic, is as impossible to date
as those first crystals or botanicals. Candles were preceded by
torches and terracotta oil lamps.
Pyromancy is divination via fire. Gaze into a flame—
whether a candle, a bonfire, an oil lamp, or firepit—and see
where your mind takes you. Although crystal gazing is now
more famous, many find pyromancy simpler to accomplish.
Magic lanterns are created by hollowing out pumpkins, filling
them with oil, and lighting a floating cotton wick. Pyrex and
other flame-proof cookware may substitute for the container.
For a very long time, wax candles were prohibitively expen-
sive. It is only with the invention of paraffin wax, a petroleum
product, in 1830 by chemist Karl von Reichenbach that candles
became inexpensive and readily accessible, leading to the renais-
sance in candle magic, which continues today. In this way, candle
magic entered the magical mainstream. Candle magic is now
among the most prevalent forms of magic, beloved by many.
Within the US, candle magic is and was massively impacted
by Hoodoo, Conjure, and Spiritualism. Henri Gamache’s Mas-
ter Book of Candle Burning, a mysterious book that first emerged
in the 1940s, exerted a particularly profound influence on the
way candle magic was practiced in the US. The Power of Candle
Magic by Phillip Cooper, however, draws deeply from European
ceremonial magic and so many readers may find its information
to be new. First published in 2000, the book is a reflection of its
era, but also has much to offer the modern practitioner.
I remember my concern when my own book Encyclope-
dia of 5000 Spells was first published in 2004 that it would not
FOREWORD vii
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be appreciated. Why? Because of its emphasis on folk magic,
then frequently known disparagingly as “low magic.” Back
then, emphasis was still very much on ceremonial or “high rit-
ual” magic, which was widely considered respectable, reputable
magic—magic for the enlightened practitioner. However, the
beginning of the shifting of consciousness toward an apprecia-
tion of wider, more diverse schools of magic may be witnessed
in The Power of Candle Magic. Although Cooper draws from
ceremonial magic, he explicitly simplifies it in order to make
candle magic more accessible to more people.
The modern reader may find Phillip Cooper’s definitive
tone to be disconcerting. We bristle (and rightly so) when
authors tell us how things must be done. Now, in 2022, as this
new edition of Cooper’s book is being published, there are open
discussions of the diversity of magical practice where these
conversations did not previously exist. What one individual
requires to practice effectively may not be the same as another’s.
We all bring our histories, our abilities, and our belief systems to
magical practice, which is not a one-size-fits-all art.
Readers, The Power of Candle Magic contains practical
information that can be put to excellent use by anyone. It can
enhance your magical practice, whatever form that takes. Tran-
scending just burning candles, Cooper presents an entire sys-
tem of magic with candle burning as the centerpiece at its heart.
For those new to magical practice, Cooper’s system is effective,
and you may find it a good place to begin. For adepts or those
already on their paths, pan for the gold within these pages: take
what works for you and integrate it into your magic.
—-Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells
and Pure Magic
viii THE POWER OF CANDLE MAGIC
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Preface
I am often asked: “Where do I start in magic?” As a novice,
faced with masses of literature offering many conflicting view-
points and an equally baffling array of equipment, you may well
be excused for shouting “Help!”
My answer to this question is that the best place to start is
at the beginning, with yourself.
There are two main reasons why people become involved
in magic. The first is to fulfill a need for something in which to
believe. Religious hellfire and brimstone simply do not appeal.
The second is to solve life’s problems—lack of money, ill health,
or winning a mate. People searching for answers to material
problems, however, almost invariably approach magic with the
wrong attitude, usually one of desperation. Magic will never
work until negative thinking such as this is reversed. Magic is
in and of the mind.
Although this book is designed for the complete novice,
more experienced practitioners will also find much in the way of
new ideas here. I will show you how to save time and money by
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