Candle Spell for Protection, hoodoo style

Here is an example of a candle spell for protection. I know this is the second example of protective magic, it's sort of my default teaching example. At the end I have some ideas on adapting this format for other uses.

1) Get "personal concern" of the person you wish to protect. A lock of hair will work great.

2) Get herbs that your research says are protective (I would use devil's shoe strings to tie up evil influence, high john for success and strength, angelica for a divine helping hand, rue to repel bad fortune and a mercury dime for protection while traveling).

3) Take a piece of paper. Write a petition/prayer/spell/intention on it. Put the rue and hair onto the paper. Fold it toward you speaking your intention. Ideally you’d end up with something fairly flat.

4) Place the items into a small jar with the roots.

5) Pick a candle out, white or a color that matches your intent. Red if you're wishing the person the strength to vanquish all enemies (I might include something iron in the packet to amp up the Mars energy if that were the case) or blue to wish him peace/avoid problems. Purple is the color I tend to with for general protection. Anoint with a protection oil or simple olive oil if that's all you have. Dust with some of the left over protection herbs. You can also inscribe the candle with the name of the person and your intetion (protection) and feel free to add other magical symbols that work well for you.

6) Place the candle on the bottle and light the candle while saying your petition/prayer/spell/intention. Let the candle burn as long as you are able to.

7) Continue to burn that candle as often as you can for the duration of of the time period while the person needs protection. When the first candle burns out, get another candle, repeat from 5. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are good times to make time to burn it for strength and success type working particularly.

8) Read the shape of the wax, like you'd read tea leaves or the shapes of clouds, as well as the way the flame burns. This is a way of divining how the spell is working and if you need to step it up or if it is succeeding.

You can do this for yourself too. I work a few candle spells in this structure . Depending on your herb blend, you can use the basic spell pattern for just about anything. For a love example, mix in your own personal concern with your desired lover's personal concern and use herbs designed to encourage love. (Google honey jar for really solid variation of this.) Candle work is one of my most common form of spellwork. I just light them on my altar, as well as put out fresh offerings for spirit allies.

I mix this up with knitting actually. After lighting the candles, I sit and knit a project that I'm working on, as long as it is simple and mindless. The knitting helps me stay in a light trancey state for good period while letting the candles burn. I prefer this over the "light and leave" method. Both for safety and I like that I stay focused on the magic. Knitting and praying is pretty easy.

Plus the knitting while working magic adds a certain element of atmosphere to it actually. I totally want a rocking chair and plan to mix in the occasional cackle. I imagine doing any kind of simple, repetitive craft, like needle point, whittling, carving would have a similar effect (both in terms of atmosphere and helping you hold attention).

I've also maintained a light trance state/consistent prayer by drumming and that's good too. But the knitting is my favorite.