If you’re seeking a fun and powerful method for manifesting, this guide is perfect for you. Manifestation candles harness the power of all four elements: fire, air, water, and earth.

The flame symbolizes fire.

The oxygen fueling the flame symbolizes air.

The solid wax of the candle symbolizes earth.

And the melting wax as it burns symbolizes water.

With these elements present in your ritual, your intentions are bound to manifest.

There are countless ways to manifest with candles, so keep reading as this guide will cover everything you need to know.

So, grab a cup of cacao, and let’s dive in!

What is Manifestation? (+ Important Things to Note)

Manifestation is the process of co-creating with the universe.

It combines intentional magic with intentional accountability on your part, meaning you need to put in the effort too.

One of my favorite sayings is, “believe in the magic, but also do the work.”

I love this saying because it embodies the most balanced and effective approach to manifesting.

I understand that some of you might not like this idea. Some people have told me they prefer focusing solely on the magic—the praying, the wishing, the rituals. They say, “Don’t remind us of the hard work; that’s not really manifesting.”

But that’s just not how I see it, nor how it’s worked for me. Manifesting is about actively pursuing your dream life. It’s a balance of energetics and, most importantly, the actions you take to change your life.

You can say your affirmations, perform your manifesting rituals (which I love doing and sharing on this site), and visualize your dream life endlessly. However, if you don’t clarify your action steps and actively work toward your dream, becoming the person you need to be, you might not achieve the results you want.

The amount of purposeful, aligned, and clear action you take toward your goal determines the leverage you have over the universe.

The more aligned action you take, the more likely you are to experience the magic.

With that in mind, let’s get back to the fun stuff and dive into this ritual guide for manifesting with candles.

What You’ll Need:

• Candle: I recommend these ritual candles.
• Matches: Try these adorable matches.
• Anointing Oil: I use Resonance Oil from Etsy or Road Opener Oil from Art of the Root.
• Herbs: I purchase from my local health food store or from Mountain Rose Herbs for organic, wildcrafted herbs.

How to Use Candles to Manifest: 8 Step-by-step Instructions

The opportunities for manifesting with candles are endless. You can use candle manifestation to attract love, money, opportunities, healing, and more. Once you’re clear on your intention, you can select your ingredients.

The specific oils, herbs, and colors you choose for your candle ritual have the power to amplify your particular desire.

With this in mind, the instructions below can be tailored to your specific manifesting intention.

1. Gather Materials: Candle, Oil, Herbs

Collect your materials and the specific ingredients you want for your ritual.

• If you’re manifesting money, try using ingredients like cinnamon, frankincense, basil, chamomile, and ginger.
• If you’re manifesting love, consider ingredients like rose, jasmine, cardamom, hibiscus, ylang-ylang, and lavender.
• If you’re manifesting clarity, try ingredients like lemon, sage, spearmint, grapefruit, and lemongrass.

2. Sacred Space

Whenever you perform a ritual, it’s important to set up an intentional, sacred space. Choose a quiet area where you won’t be disturbed during your ritual.

Fill your sacred space with items that make you feel at peace and remind you of your desires.

I like to keep fresh flowers, fairy lights, and extra candles in my sacred space.

3. Cleanse Space and Cleanse Candle

There are many ways to cleanse your sacred space. One of the easiest and most common methods is using the smoke of burning herbs. Ethically sourced sage, rosemary, lavender, or even palo santo all work great for smoke cleansing. Be sure to source your herbs from an ethical vendor; Mountain Rose Herbs is my go-to for organic, wildcrafted herbs.

4. Clarify and Set Intention

Some say this is the hardest part of manifesting, but it’s the most important. You have to be clear on what you want to manifest a change in your life.

Take a moment to envision your ideal life. What does your heart desire?

Once you’re clear on your desire, you can set your intentions for your candle manifestation ritual.

5. Write Your Manifesting Affirmation on Paper

With your clear desire and intention, formulate a sentence or two summarizing what you’d like to manifest. It helps to write the statement as if it’s already happened and connect it with the energy of gratitude, as shown below.

Example: “I am so grateful I accomplished my goal of [xyz],” or “I am so grateful I met the love of my life.”

When done, you can either place the paper underneath your candle and leave it there as the candle burns, or you can light the paper with your candle and allow it to burn in a fire-safe bowl.

6. Dress Candle

Next, it’s time to dress your candle. Take the anointing oil and/or the essential oils you’ve chosen and rub them on the outside of the candle. Apply the oil thoroughly, then roll the candle in your herbs so they stick to the outside.

*Bonus: You can also carve your lucky number, a symbolic number, or your name and short affirmation into the candle to strengthen your intentions.

7. Light Candle and Recite Your Manifestation Affirmation

As your candle burns, gaze mindfully into the flame. Visualize your manifestation and state your affirmation as described above. If you’ve decided to burn your affirmation paper or bay leaf, now is the time to do it.

8. Allow Candle to Burn All the Way

Allow the candle to burn entirely as you monitor closely and stay connected to the intention. If you don’t have a lot of time, birthday candles work great for candle manifesting. You can also use a tea light candle if that’s what you have at home.

Manifestation Candle Color Meanings: Choosing Your Candle

Each candle color brings specific energy to your manifesting ritual. Choosing a color that aligns with what you’re manifesting can amplify your intentions.

Here are the common meanings of candle colors for manifestation. Don’t worry if you don’t have a specific color that matches your desire—the most powerful part of manifesting with candles is your intention. You can assign any meaning you’d like to a color, but here is an outline of what each color traditionally represents spiritually:

• Pink: Love, self-love, romance, friendship, forgiveness, healing
• Red: Passion, lust, love, energy, fertility, strength, determination
• Orange: Success, stamina, prosperity, playfulness, independence
• Yellow: Optimism, confidence, good luck, focus, self-worth
• Green: Money, balance, healing
• Blue: Inner and outer peace, soothing harsh emotions, spiritual guidance, protection
• Purple: Intuition, wisdom, ambition
• White: Cleansing, purifying, blessing, calming
• Black: Protection, absorbing negativity, revealing truth
• Brown: Financial success, stability, grounding, balance, travel
• Gold: Abundance, influence, power, happiness, awareness
• Silver: Ambition, fame, creativity, protection

When is the Best Time to do a Candle Manifestation Ritual?

While you can manifest with candles at any time, certain times tend to be more successful for rituals like this. I’ll explain below.

Moon Cycles

NEW MOON:

The best time for manifesting in general. New moon energy supports new beginnings, calling in what you desire, and manifestation rituals as a whole.

FULL MOON:

A great time for manifesting the release of bad habits, letting go of things that aren’t serving you, and seeking support in releasing something.

Planetary Days

MONDAYS:

Ruled by the Moon, making it an ideal day for cleansing rituals, calming rituals, and reflection.

TUESDAYS:

Ruled by Mars, perfect for rituals focused on confidence, action, and ambition.

WEDNESDAYS:

Ruled by Mercury, making it a great day for rituals involving communication, presentations, and performances.

THURSDAYS:

Ruled by Jupiter, an excellent day for rituals of luck and fortune. This is one of the best days for candle manifesting because Jupiter’s energy is said to bring extra luck and good fortune. I love doing my money manifesting rituals on Thursdays for this reason.

FRIDAYS:

Ruled by Venus, ideal for rituals involving love, beauty, pleasure, and self-care. Any manifesting rituals focused on attraction, beauty, lifestyle, or dreams are encouraged on this day.

SATURDAYS:

Ruled by Saturn, making it a great day for rituals related to structure in your life and any shadow work you’ve been meaning to address.

More Tips for Manifesting With Candles

1. As with any ritual, the more you personalize it, the more powerful it will be. Don’t worry about perfection or doing it “wrong.” Follow your intuition and what feels right to you. You have the power to create and manifest anything you want; the more you trust yourself, the easier it will come to you.
2. Take the time to find clarity before attempting to manifest. Sometimes we want to jump ahead to the big picture without understanding what our soul truly desires. Don’t manifest on a surface level based solely on material wants or what you see others have. Take the time to know yourself, your soul, and your purpose so you can manifest in alignment with your dharma. This approach is more powerful and fulfilling, though it requires more patience.

1. There is no perfect timing. When manifesting with candles (or in general), it’s important to detach from the timeline. Sometimes we need to experience other things before our manifestation can become a reality. We can’t control the timing, but we can work on ourselves and what we need to do to align with our best selves and our soul’s purpose in the meantime.

1. Don’t forget to do the work and take action. Once you’ve connected to your inner voice, gained clarity, and understood your purpose, you need to take action. Manifesting is a co-creative process, so you need to actively work towards your goal. The more aligned action you take, the more likely your success.