Flames

On the cusp of the new millennium, I made a dear friend who shared with me the many rituals she uses in her personal life and art process. She told me that when she was a child, she occasionally found solace from a large chaotic family by attending services at the local Catholic Church. Her family was not religious, so she went on her own. She customized some of the practices learned there to create her own rituals.

If I understand her correctly, she prays or makes a request and lights a candle as a way to signify the hope or desire and to make it manifest in as an element. Shortly after she showed this to me, I began to do it too.

I've kept on top of a chest of drawers a candle that I acquired on a visit to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. It was a religious votive candle with the Virgin Mary printed on it. Usually these candles come in glass jars, but this one seems to be made of plastic. I've lit the candle many times over the past couple of years, but didn't allow it to burn longer than an hour or two.

Last night I prayed and lit this candle. A half our later, it burst into flames.

When it caught on fire, I was about ten feet away in an adjoining room. From the corner of my eye I noticed a very subtle increase in light intensity, but it quickly faded so I figured it was a flicker. For some reason, I was compelled to get up and check on the candle.

I'm glad I did because a portion of the table top was on fire. The fire was about the size of my hand and I tried to blow it out. But the fire was spreading too fast and wouldn't be extinguished this way.

I ran to the other end of my apartment to retrieve a cup of baking soda by my stove. As I poured it on the flames, they got higher. I realized I had never actually used baking soda to put out a fire and started to doubt it worked. Just as I was about to panic, the flames died out suddenly.

I'm not sure what happened to the candle, but it appears to have exploded. There was wax sprayed like a mist around the area where the candle had been. The cup was gone. Only a small pool of wax and the bottom tray of the container remained.

The furniture is badly damaged. There is a small circle of wood intact where the candle sat, but a five inch ring of charred wood surrounds it. This is a fine piece of furniture, and I would be upset about its condition if I wasn't so grateful that the fire didn't escalate.

This incident rattled me. The fire was nearly out of control. It could have caused a lot of damage to me and others in my building. My circumstances, which are not good, could have gotten much worse.

Although I am not a Santeria follower, I made inquiries with friends who are. A combusting candle is a strange phenomenon. I wondered whether it would be regarded as a good or bad omen.

My friends interpreted the event positively. One said the candle was lit to deflect negativity so abundance could flow in. She thought the explosion indicated that the candle was doing this job powerfully, and that it was a lesson that I need to expect positive change rather than negativity.

That sounds about right.