Also called reversing candle, double action candle, reversible candle, butted candle
A hoodoo candle spell that uses a candle half black and half another color, turned upside down and burned on a mirror, to burn away bad luck and send it back where it came from.
TraditionAfrican American hoodoo candle magic
RegionSouthern United States, especially New Orleans
Era1930s to present
Moon☾ Waning moon
DaySaturday · Saturn
ElementFire
Difficulty●●○ Moderate
Time1 hour to prepare, then several hours of burning
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
The working
Choose the color for what has gone wrong: red for love, green for money, white for health. The black half stands for the trouble you want gone.
Butt the candle: cut off the original tip on the colored end, then carve a new wick out of the black end so the candle will burn black-first.
With the nail, carve the words all harm sent to me backward, in mirror writing, on the black half. Carve your own name normally on the colored half.
Dress the candle with a little oil, stroking from the middle out toward each end.
Set the mirror on the heatproof tray, stand the candle on it with the black end up, and sprinkle salt around it counter-clockwise.
Light it and say a short prayer or statement asking that the trouble go back to its source and that your good luck return.
Stay in the room while it burns. When the black has burned away, you may let the colored half burn on or snuff it and finish another night, then throw away the remains off your property.
Take care: A mirror can crack from heat, so always put a metal tray or heatproof plate underneath and never leave the candle unattended. Trim long wicks and keep hair, curtains and pets well away from the flame.
Versions across time and place
i
Black-over-red glass vigil candle
Spiritual supply shops, later 20th century · Late 20th century to present
Glass-encased reversing candles cannot be turned upside down, so they are supposed to be poured with the black layer on top and the color beneath, reproducing the butted jumbo candle. Yronwode complains that some factories pour them the wrong way round. They are burned for long-distance work, often for seven days.
Lucky Mojo's history of candle magic credits these booklets, sold through Black newspapers and mail-order catalogs, with spreading a uniform style of candle work across the South. They helped turn colored candles, dressing oils and psalm recitation into the standard kit that double action candles later joined.
Recorded in: Mikhail Strabo, The Guiding Light to Power and Success; Henri Gamache, The Master Book of Candle Burning (1942)
History
Catherine Yronwode traces hoodoo candle magic to New Orleans, where Catholic candle-burning met African American folk practice. She writes that the style spread to Memphis and Mobile and was fairly uniform among Southern rootworkers by the late 1940s. Booklets by Mikhail Strabo, published from 1941, and Henri Gamache's Master Book of Candle Burning of 1942 carried these methods into mail-order catalogs nationwide.
The double action candle, half black and half a color, became a favorite tool for reversing work. Its logic is simple and visual: the candle is literally turned on its head, the black burns away first, and a mirror below sends the trouble back. Yronwode presents reversing as a cleaner choice than outright cursing, since it only returns what was sent. The version here keeps that spirit and names no individual.
