The candle has never ceased to fascinate human beings, despite the development of the electric light bulb. Perhaps that is because a candle produces fire as well as light, and fire is essential to human life. After all, a light bulb is merely a fire trying to burn in a vacuum. But a candle offers the real thing: fire you can see, heat you can feel, aromas to smell.
Candle Renaissance by M. J. Abadie
Candles hark back to a time when they were a vital component of life. In this day of ever expanding forms of technological advance, the humble candle is undergoing an amazing renaissance. Its magic never really died, however. It merely went underground during the time when people were so fascinated with the mechanical and manufactured products of their own nimble brains.
My own sense of the amazing interest in and use of candles, both commercially available and more so made by both professional handcrafts and ordinary home candle makers, is that it is a reaction against the alienating experience of all that is technological and, therefore, soulless. As an exemplar of the soul, the candle provides something that switching on the electric lights can never offer.
Perhaps this is why candles are so valued as mood-altering tools — you can create a wide range of moods with candles that are totally drug-free! You can use candles to match a mood, whether reflective or festive, or to change a mood — from ho-hum to romantic and exciting.
So, hail to the candle and to its burgeoning return to our daily lives.
Fascinating Flames
Why does the candle continue to fascinate us all? I am reminded of an old saying: “The gods gave humans cats so they could stroke the tiger.” In some ways, a candle is like a cat — a domestic version of a great force.
Fire — the essence of the candle — was believed to be one of the four elements basic to life on earth, and it is an element fraught with mystery. We gaze into the flames of the fireplace and see all sorts of inner dimensions within ourselves, or we project shapes from our imaginations onto the dancing, leaping flames. Fire fascinates us, whatever its form. We are irresistibly drawn to its magic and mystery.
True, many people still think of candles as something to be used only on holidays such as Christmas or for fancy dinner parties, but more and more of us are finding that we enjoy candles every day. We might light a candle while we are soaking in a tub to relax after a long stressful day, because its gentle flame will enhance our sense of relaxation. Or, we might set a couple of long slender tapers on the dining table, even if the menu is meatloaf, to make dinner more than a humdrum meal. Candles make us linger over our food, they encourage conversation, and they bring people together in their soft glow.
The Earliest Traces of Candlelight by M. J. Abadie
The use of candles and improvements in candle making have paralleled human ascent from the Stone Age. We do not have much accurate detail about the use of candles in ancient times. However, references to candles and candle lighting have been found that date as far back as 3,000 B.C. Most of these clues have been discovered in Egypt and the island of Crete in Greece. For instance, clay candle holders dating from the fourth century B.C. have been found at archaeological sites in Egypt.
Although highly prized today and throughout history, beeswax was not found to be useful for candle making in Europe until the Middle Ages. However, beeswax candles have been found in the tombs of the Egyptian rulers dating back to circa 3000 B.C. They were made much as rolled beeswax candles are today — usually conical in shape (tapered) and with a reed for a wick. The tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered and opened in l922 by the team of English Egyptologists Howard Carter (l873–l939) and George Carnavon, the fifth earl of Carnavon (l826–l923), during their explorations of the Valley of the Kings (l906–l923). The death of the Earl of Carnavon so soon after the opening of King Tutankhamen's tomb, and under peculiar circumstances, led credence to the famous “curse” which is supposed to attach to all persons and objects related to the tomb. The discovery of a bronze candle holder in the tomb led to crediting the ancient Egyptians for being the first to develop candles.
Candles are also mentioned in Biblical writings, as early as the tenth century B.C. But although candles appear in the Bible several times, there is no information on how or of what they were made.
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