Pagan Pyros

[TeaDidikai]

I haven't met a pagan who didn't like to light things on fire.
Most commonly candles, parchment and incense.

So, the question at hand is this:

Do you use fire in your practice?
If so, candles, incense or something else?

When I use candles, I most often use chime candles. They're readily available in just about any color I care to think of. They're within my budget and I have some of the most adorable holders for them.  

[Shearaha]

Yes, I use fire. I primarily use incense, sometimes for clensing, somtimes during meditation, but primarily not in practice just to keep my home smelling nice.
I also burn herbs for various purposes.

But I've always had a thing for fire and lighting things on fire. For me it was just natural to incorporate it into my practice.  

[patch99329]

Candles mostly, closely followed by scented oils.

I have three huge candles I light in every single ritual I do to represent Hestia (she is the hearth, and is honoured in all my household worship and most festivals too!).

In addition to these, there is a candle that I need to light to burn the aforementioned oils (I use oils in the place of incense in almost every ritual), and devotional candles for various gods in many rituals too.  

[TeaDidikai]

What kinds of candles?
Pillers? Tapers? Mini-Tapers? Seven-Day? Knobbed? Tea lights? (NO LIGHTING TEA ON FIRE!)  

[EternalHearts]

Like Patch, I practice Hellenic religion. Hestia, personification of the Hearth is honored at every ritual, so I keep a jar candle on my main shrine that I light all other flames from. Incense is an easy offering, so that tends to be what I offer most often.

I keep a tea light on Hermes' shrine that also represents Hestia, but since I do far fewer rituals there, and they don't last as along, I don't feel the need (or have the room!) for a larger candle.  

[patch99329]

TeaDidikai

What kinds of candles?
Pillers? Tapers? Mini-Tapers? Seven-Day? Knobbed? Tea lights? (NO LIGHTING TEA ON FIRE!)

The Hestia candles are big a** pillar ones.
Other candles are a mix of tea lights, little pillar candles, votive candles etc.

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=14454367
The link goes to my (still) incomplete pathway thread, but there are photos of my altars with a few of the many candles. xD  

[TeaDidikai]

Spiff. Thanks for the clarification.  

[Gho the Girl]

Candles.

Here's a question. My friend who practices Santeria said that if the glass holder of a candle breaks, the blessings in the candle leak out. Is this so?  

[Bastemhet]

Incense is huge in my tradition. It is considered to be Maat, which the gods feed from. It is considered the scent of the gods, and thus a manifestation of them. It can also be used to cense things for purity.

Flame I think might be one traditional offering, besides incense, water, and bread. There is a ritual based off of the offering of these things (besides the bread) but I haven't seen it yet. I plan on looking into it once I complete my research into the calendar system.  

[TeaDidikai]

Gho the Girl

Candles.

Here's a question. My friend who practices Santeria said that if the glass holder of a candle breaks, the blessings in the candle leak out. Is this so?

Can't speak to their understanding of their tradition.

What I can say is that in the common uses of novenas, the breaking of glass isn't considered "good". You'd have to look at the context of the intent of the novena or vigil candle.  

[TeaDidikai]

Bastemhet

Incense is huge in my tradition.

What kinds of incense?  

[Synnthetika]

Candles and incense and paper mostly. My family also has mini-bonfires at just about every holiday (by mini, I mean we put stuff in the wheelbarrow and light it on fire). I like fire a lot. For me it has less religious/spiritual meaning and more cultural and personal meaning.

In New Mexico, fire can be extremely dangerous because it's so dry here and can burn through a lot of space really quickly. Because of that, there are areas that are burned down seasonally by the Game and Fish/Wildlife department. But fire also has an important role, particularly cooking. Every fall, there is chile roasting everywhere and you can see the the smoke and smell it everywhere. The actual roasting occurs at every store that sells chile and there is a fire pit (though now there are propane fires) with a cylinder that has holes all over it and you put the bag of chile in (usually between 10-30 pounds) and spin it over the fire. I don't know how I can explain it's prevailing importance, but it's there. If people come over to your house after September and you don't have a bag of roasted chiles, people look at you funny. But anyway, I digress.

For personal meaning, I always liked burning candles and incense. I like the way they smell and how they look. Now, I use candle-burning as a way to focus and meditate. I use incense mostly because it smells good, but I have used it to focus and enter a hypnotic state. Nothing really fantastic of life changing ever happened, but it helps me deal with stuff and sleep better. Though I'm sure if I spent enough time doing it I could experience something pretty cool.  

[Gho the Girl]

TeaDidikai

Gho the Girl

Candles.

Here's a question. My friend who practices Santeria said that if the glass holder of a candle breaks, the blessings in the candle leak out. Is this so?

Can't speak to their understanding of their tradition.

What I can say is that in the common uses of novenas, the breaking of glass isn't considered "good". You'd have to look at the context of the intent of the novena or vigil candle.

It broke during travel. It was completely accidental, I even cushioned it for travel and it still managed to break despite all my attempts to prevent it.  

[Bastemhet]

TeaDidikai

Bastemhet

Incense is huge in my tradition.

What kinds of incense?

Well, specifically I know kyphi was used, and there were many different recipes. I haven't come across an authentic recipe yet, but I know there were many inscribed on the laboratory walls at the temple of Edfu, and for perfume as well. At the least I know it was a gummy resin (plus other stuff depending on the recipe) that gave off a white smoke and strong smell. Myrrh was also used. I've heard frankincense was used too- but I haven't yet verified this.

For now I use a certain Japanese incense (Rose scented Nippon Kodo) because I've heard that some nag champa use dung as a fixative which is impure from Kemetic standards. Plus, Bast seems to be cool with it, so that's good enough for me. I do plan on making my own kyphi blend in the future. Yet another fun project. smile  

[Wrath of Ezekiel]

When I'm practicing the Hindu faith, we use specialized candles called "diyas", on Diwali, which is our major festival of light and the Hindu New Years. It follows the lunar calendar, so it's somewhere between October and November. They're miniature candles of just the wick and some oil in a small shallow container.

We use diyas the rest of the year, as it is important for general practices, but you see candles everywhere on Diwali.

And of course, fire is seen as purification. Holi, the spring festival, uses fire as purification. The story goes, the fire god Agni gave one of his devotees immunity to fire. However, she became corrupt and evil. Her brother was an evil ruler who forbade the worship of the Hindu gods after he gained an immense power from them. His nephew, Prahalad, was one of the few people who still actively believed in the gods. His uncle tried to kill him by making him stand in the fire with his aunt. Instead, Agni gave the immunity to Prahalad instead of the aunt, killing her instead.

And of course, fireworks.

If you ever want to experience the sounds of a warzone without getting hurt, go to India during Diwali. It's an experience. Two weeks of non-stop fireworks in the largest cities. xd