Paraffin, Bees Wax, Soya – A Burning Question
So after a fun filled night of making a few candles with my friends and working group I realized that it was late and that still hadn’t posted tonight’s question. So without further a due I ask you a question for this pagan generation. Paraffin, Bees Wax, or Soya what do you burn and why?
Lets face it as pagans we like our candles. I’ve got a couple of them burning right now as I write this question. They are a mixture of Paraffin and Bees Wax in case you’re wondering. Now since we like candles and we are going to be burning them one way or another. So how do we decide which ones to burn? Are we practical and look to the cost of the candles? Paraffin candles have been around for a long time. They are cheap, easy to get , and we are used to them. Are environmentally focused and look to Soya based candles? There clean burning but you pay more for that privilege. There is also Bees Wax as well it is which a lot of people enjoy.
From time to time a lot of talk comes up about the subject of Paraffin candles being bad for our health and for the environment. There really is no question that paraffin candles are not the best for the environment they are made from crude oil and emit hydro carbons as we burn them. Pretty much the same thing that our cars spit out as we drive around, coming right out in our homes.
You can add chemicals to any and all of these candle types to give them a sweet smelling scent. But again at what price? The chemicals that go in these candles can cause all sorts of problems perhaps the most common one is headaches. Something I’ve heard a lot of pagans over the years complain about. Could there be a connection there?
Well lots of little questions all of which are on a related and an important topic that affects all of us as pagans no matter what path we may follow. So give it some thought and burn a candle for some inspiration.
See you all in a week
Randilin
OOOH I love beeswax. We did a really neat Yule ritual one year with purchased sheets of beeswax. We rolled them up with herbs and oils. Wonderful, and they smelled heavenly!
They have a lot of colors and they smell good.
Mostly I go the cheap route and buy my candles from Target.
Personally – I like bees wax over paraffin. I can generally find it for relatively cheap at garage sales in the summer up in St. Laurent. So for me, there really is no cost difference between the two. It’s more of a preference thing. I like the way it feels. I also don’t generally scent my candles due to allergy concerns, so the costs of scents is a non-issue for me as well.
Now that said – it’s rare that I make candles, so I have never really given much thought to the concrete differenced between the materials I was using before now.
As for Soya – never used this to my knowledge, so have no opinion on it.
As far as the environmental impact of these candles – realistically it’s not that big. Or rather, it’s not that big in relation to other things. So when I am looking at ways to reduce the impact I am having, I look for the biggest bang for my buck as it were, and in my case – candles is not it.
M
I’m a skin flint at heart so you’ll find in my altar stash most often paraffin candles. But in my heart of heart I prefer the light of oil lamps over any light given by a candle. I’ve made small oil lamps from clay before and after a while they cracked and broke from the heat of the wick. I had problems with the oil seeping through the unfired clay. I hope to eventually obtain some high quality clay and kiln fire a few pieces.