WORLD CANDLE DAY

This year will see the first celebration of world candle day on 1st March 2020. It is a collaboration of some of the worlds largest independent Candle Associations including the European Candle Association (ECA) who have joined forces to promote the safe use and enjoyment of all types of candles.

Apart from the emergence of yet another new hashtag to keep up with on social media #worldcandleday- it essentially gives candlemakers an opportunity to celebrate the age old craft of candle making in all its varying forms. After all candles have long been an important form of light and heat over more than a thousand years in all cultures.

So if anything at all it gets me thinking- What does a candle  mean to me? Currently candles are my passion. They are my art. An art which reflects my personality; my values and my dreams. When I am creating candles I am "in the moment" I am calm, content and happy with the prospect that I am capturing a moment for someone else.

When I package an order to a customer I am excited and anxious all at the same time- hoping of course that they will love it as much as I do! Carefully wrapping each one and hand tying dried lavender as a "little extra" I want to know that it has reached them safely, on time and that when they peel back the tissue paper they are truly delighted with their considered purchase. Of course a candle also offers me an opportunity to express my creativity and essentially and quite bluntly they provide an income too.

Looking back, a candle has many different meanings for me. It is the tiny candle that rambled about at the back of the kitchen drawer as a child, burnt at my christening. The candles of "Christingles" jabbed into oranges with cloves and of course most importantly covered with melted "liquish all sort" sweets and accompanied by the smell of damp churches. The candle on the birthday cake which started with one and continues to multiply each year until the cakes are no longer big enough to hold them. The candle in the dark of every electricity outage. The candle I shouldn't have burnt in the basement of my home as a teenager. The candle lit in memory of a loved one. The candle which flickered against the sunset of a far-away beach and of course the candle I received as a gift for my first home. 

Over time a candle has mainly been used as a source of light and heat - a provision of safety in a time of darkness and also as a signal for warfare. It has become subject of many religious festivals of light and has even been used to keep time itself. These days, in a world seemingly less dangerous and dark than that which our ancestors experienced a candle continues to be at the focus of our celebrations, whatever they may be. A marker of occasion and a component of time itself, scented candles in particular have an ability to create ambiance, atmosphere and in doing so capture the senses and encapsulate a me mory stronger than any other.

Where we find ourselves in an increasingly fast paced environment - guided by advancing technology, it is becoming more important for us to find something which provides us with a form of escape, a moment of calm or reflection. Back to that initial provision of safety, light and a feeling of being at home. 

This world candle day, when you are joining in with the celebrations of what is a seemingly simple creation; posting beautiful pictures of candles on instagram with the hashtag #worldcandleday you may take a moment to think- what does a candle mean to you?