Contributor: Purest Light

Definition: Candelabra

1. A large, branched, candlestick
2. (slang) A person who is happier when one or more beeswax candles are burning
3. (personal slang) A friendly, semi-mocking term applied to me when my fervor over beeswax candles exceeds my Sweet Baboo’s limits of listening.

Candles are my passion, and I have been able to bring candles into many conversations quite successfully, though some may think there is little to say about something that just sits there and burns. On the contrary, I think beeswax candles set a mood for connecting to others, bring to family gatherings a sense of the sacred, smooth out turbulent moods, and provide a link to other realms.

Beeswax candles burn in my home during most hours of the day. I burn them round the clock for special intentions. These candles create a warm atmosphere that invites gathering and engaging in good conversation. The candle centers the attention in a quiet way, and is said to provide a home for fire spirits. My friend Kris told me that in his Polish tradition, every family keeps a Gromnicia candle to burn at special times. The word 'gromnicia' (grome-nee'-kee-uh) means 'church' in Polish, and his tradition comes from the Zakopene region in the Tatras Mountains. When a couple marries, they obtain a special, blessed church candle. This candle is to be burned on occasions when the sacred is brought forth in the home: the arrival of a loved one home, a prayer or intention for a friend, a birth, a death vigil, safety in a storm, thanksgiving for a problem solved, or safe return from traveling. The candle is a symbol of the family’s asking the spiritual world for protection for their loved ones, and for help in making a good home together. Kris, who commissioned me to make a set of Gromnicia candles, said that when a man gives his wife a set of two candles for their wedding, it is a romantic gesture. It implies he is looking forward to a long life together with many good times to come, so that one candle will not suffice.

In Tibet, candles are burned at vigils for the dying, because candle flames are thought to be visible on both sides of the veil, thus providing a guide for souls taking flight. Besides big occasions, many families are bringing candles to the daily ceremony of the family meal, and burn them also during the time of food preparation. Seeking to counteract the feeling of hurriedness out in the world, candles can center the times when the family gathers, and provide an atmosphere that marks the time as special. The warm, honey scent of a beeswax candle is natural and clean, and has no need of artificial scent or color. The wick should be all-cotton, and free from metal cores that put harmful vapors into the air. In Sweden, where sunlight is not present during winter breakfasts, one family I know have made the breakfast candle part of their day.

Beeswax is one of the more elegant materials we have at our disposal. It can be used to add a clean sheen to any surface, ease a screw into its pilot hole, hold a stained glass lamp piece for viewing, and most importantly, provide a superior substance for candle burning. Molten beeswax also absorbs room odors, but does not send them back out into the air. These candles burn cleanly, and do not emit oily soot, as do common petroleum-based candles.

Because the melting temperature of beeswax is thirty degrees lower than petroleum waxes, the color of the candle flame is noticeably more golden than white. The natural perfume of the wax reflects which plants the bees favored at the time the flower nectar and pollen were collected. The wax surrounding honey made from white clover, for instance, is not only one of the lighter waxes, but has the flowery sweetness of clover. Worker bees produce curved flakes of wax to build hexagonal storage units for honey and caps for them.

In high school chemistry, the first assignment I had is the only one I remember. It was to observe a burning candle and to write down 50 observations of the process. Though it was stretchy to make it to 50, I have never looked at a burning candle in the same way. Today, I have hand-made thousands of beeswax candles, and still am drawn into the magic of combustion, and the magic of beeswax. I find the colors and scents so subtle and pure, and I am privileged to have access to local, organic-quality honey and beeswax. The Mississippi River valley where I live is where the River joins southeastern Minnesota to the central Wisconsin hills, and the bees forage here in rural settings. Because bees are so important for good pollination of plants, supporting their industry also is good for the planet.

If you have ever had the privilege of watching a pure beeswax candle burn, you may have noticed some of these great qualities. You, too, can easily qualify as a candelabra simply by appreciating the timeless charm of this natural gift from the bees.