Inner Fire Tapers for Sideshow Gallery

Inner Fire tapers made exclusively for Sideshow Gallery in Chicago! These tapers have been dressed with Yerba Santa, a fox rib bone, and garnet crystal.

Sideshow Gallery is a fun and unique shop in the heart of Chicago. They carry unique one of a kind finds, curiosities, handmade jewelry,  oddities, vintage treasures, candles, herbs and tools to perform magic,  and lots of ART!  They always have something going on with classes, art shows, pop ups, and events to keep the community learning.  Owners Cheri Basak and Anne Elliott have been best friends for 25 years created Sideshow Gallery was created to “continually inspire people and live FREE!” The whole crew at Sideshow are super fun and creative and a blast to hang out with. I always look forward to trips up to Chicago for pop-ups and classes in their space!

When Anne and Cheri said they wanted a unique candle style for Sideshow I knew I wanted to capture their wild and creative spirit in the dressing. Yerba Santa to aid in bolstering inner strength. Garnet crystal for strength and finding joy in the physical world. And a fox rib bone* symbolizing transformation, cleverness, and resourcefulness. All together this combination is about tapping into your power and finding joyful expression.

I love the way these tapers turned out, with the fox rib wrapping around the candle and the deep dark red of the Garnet. These candles will also make great divination tapers as the way the crystal and bone fall onto the candle dish may be interpreted intuitively. These tapers definitely feel very lively and energetic… just like SSG!

The SSG Inner Fire tapers are available exclusively in the Sideshow Gallery shop. So if you find yourself in the Chicago area, stop in and take in the wild experience that is SSG!

*The bones I use are sustainably sourced from OracleKC who work with abatement programs, conservation, and small farms with parts that would otherwise go to waste.

For Strange Women Collaboration

This month For Strange Women has released our collaboration tapers! The FSW Botanical tapers have been hand-dipped 20 times into vats of filtered beeswax perfumed with roasted seashell and myrrh, then lightly gilded with 24k gold and carefully embedded with preserved calamint botanicals.

©2022 Moth and Candle LLC

For Strange Women is an all-female indie perfume house in the Midwest. They source plant-derived aromatics from around the world and value sustainable practices. As I am chemically-sensitive, FSW has been the only perfume I can wear for many years. (While many companies claim to be “all-natural” or “allergy friendly” they often still contain the phthalates and propellants which trigger my immune system. FSW does not use these toxic chemicals and they extensively research all of their ingredients.) So when FSW approached me about a scented taper collaboration I jumped at the chance!

We sat down to discuss the logistics. Typically beeswax does not hold onto fragrances like many other waxes, so this scent would need to be thicker to begin with. FSW chose to try their roasted seashell and myrrh scent. I would need to monitor my double boiler very carefully to keep the temperature as low as possible while still keeping the wax melted during the dipping process so as not to evaporate the perfume before it was sealed into the layers of the tapers.

Then came the next challenge… my mother had given me a limited supply of the calamintha nepeta from her garden, which I pressed and dried in my studio. But as these particular dried flowers are so delicate… when it came time to embed them into the candles they would crumble and fall apart! The flowers needed to be slightly rehydrated just moments prior to being added to the candles.

This dipping session was a carefully timed and monitored process of maintaining the proper wax temperature, adding the fragrance as close to dipping time as possible, rehydrating the flowers for a few minutes just before embedding them into the candles. Rinse, repeat.

I am so happy with the way these tapers turned out. The roasted seashell and myrrh fragrance just lightly permeates the air as they burn. The gold flake shimmers gently off the details of the embedded flowers as the flame makes its way down the taper. One of the reasons I love making candles is for the experience that happens during the burning of the candle. The atmosphere it will create. These tapers definitely emanate an atmosphere of luxury and magic.

The FSW Botanical tapers are available exclusively through their website: forstrangewomen.com

©2022 Moth and Candle LLC

Sunset Tapers

I love making special commission candles! I work with the customer to develop a unique candle dressing just for them. Sometimes it’s a particular herb, flower, or crystal they want me to include. Other times there’s a general theme or intention and I develop the candle style around that.

In July, Oracle asked me to make a special candle for the first edition of their Witch Club subscription box which is relaunching in September. The subscription is released quarterly and centered around seasonal rituals, which means I would be making a candle for Autumn. We brainstormed some ideas for the candle dressing and decided on carnelian crystals and yarrow.

I pressed a book’s-worth of yarrow leaves and a few select bloom heads. I let them dry and press for a few weeks before the dipping session. Then, with the moon in Taurus, I dipped and dressed 16 custom 6″ tapers.

©2022 Moth and Candle LLC

Each taper has carefully arranged Yarrow leaves and blooms wrapped up and around the taper. Yarrow represents healing, love and protection. It is also said to be the “flower of death” making it an appropriate choice for Oracle’s Autumn candles. I sprinkled powdered Frankincense resin as an overall light dressing representing spirituality and the sacred. The powdered incense will also release a very, very light scent as the taper burns. Finally, each taper is crowned with a single reddish-orange Carnelian crystal representing warmth, courage, and the sunset.

I am so happy with the way these Sunset tapers turned out. I secretly wish I could make more of them!

But the dressings I develop for custom clients are exclusive to them… so maybe Oracle will ask me to make more? (Fingers crossed.) But until that happens, these Sunset beauties can only be found in Oracle’s September Witch Club.

If you’re interested in commissioning a unique candle style… send me a message!

Elegy Candles

Alessandra Dzuba of Oracle Natural Science specializes in skeletal articulation and does memorial work for clients. Finding ways of honoring memories and soothing grief become a major theme. She has certain rituals such as setting an intentional space, burning incense, and lighting a candle while working on a memorial. She asked me if I would create a special candle specifically with grief in mind.

I started with an herbal blend: Hawthorn for love. Nettle for strength. Lavender for peace.

Although she had not specified, I chose to make this candle a joined pair. So one candle is dressed with an Obsidian crystal for courage and grounding; and the other has a Rainbow Moonstone for soothing sorrow.

There is a long tradition of burning candles during times of loss, grief, and sorrow. We light candles to remember those who are no longer near. Both prayer and homage, a lit candle is a universal offering. The candle’s flame burns bright and flickers with life until the wax has been spent and there is no more wick. Candles are temporary, something we experience, and then it is gone; a ritual for the senses and a small gift of light to the world.

It was an honor to develop these Elegy candles. They are made exclusively for and available at Oracle Natural Science.