Candle cinders: folk ways of using them in everyday life. Candle stub: application Candle stubs

Do you have any candle stubs left? Don't throw them away. In skilled runes they will bring a lot of benefits.

1. First of all, you can make an “eternal candle” from them without any hassle. Take a small piece of asbestos cord no thicker than a pencil or cut a piece of the same size from a sheet of asbestos - here you have a wick. Soak everything in melted paraffin. Intertwine two pieces of thin wire, securing the prepared wick in the middle. Place the wire in a clean tin can, add cinders and light. Gradually all the cinders will melt, the paraffin will begin to rise up the wick, and the candle will burn. All you have to do is add raw materials to the jar from time to time.

2. A bottle cork moistened with molten paraffin or stearin is excellent for removing dirt from tiles or facing tiles.

3. If you make a stopper from a paraffin candle for a bottle with office glue, its neck will not become crusty.

4. Moving heavy furniture will become much easier if you place milk cartons under the legs - white, inside to the floor. Coated with paraffin, they glide well on the floor.

5. If the metal zippers on boots, bags, and jackets do not close well, rub them with a candle. After this treatment, the fasteners will slide like butter. The same should be done with drawers of tables or cabinets that do not move out well.

6. Melted paraffin can be used to firmly putty the cracks in the window frames. Heat the syringe (without a needle) in water to 70 degrees. Fill it with melted paraffin and fill the crevices. Of course, this operation must be carried out quickly, warming the syringe from time to time.

7. If you want a polished bronze or copper item to retain its shine longer, hold it for several minutes in boiling water with a small amount of paraffin melted in it, and then wipe it dry. The resulting film will protect the metal from oxidation for a long time.

8. While doing home canning, you doubt whether the jars or bottles are properly sealed. Do as our great-grandmothers did, fill the necks of the jars (on top of the lids) with melted paraffin for safety. Or you can do without lids altogether. After sterilization and cooling, pour a 2 cm thick layer of melted wax onto the surface. The wax will harden and seal the jar, also eliminating the formation of an air gap.

9. Did you accidentally drop stearin on your suit? Don't be upset. You don't have to resort to chemicals. Place several layers of blotting paper on both sides of the contaminated area of fabric and iron with a hot iron - the paper will absorb the melted stearin. And if the stain is large, change the paper.

10. While caring for cacti, you got your hands splintered by thorns. Drip liquid wax from a burning candle onto these places and, when it cools, remove it along with the thorns.

11. To care for unpolished furniture, it is good to prepare wax mastic: melt equal parts of wax, turpentine and kerosene in a water bath. Rinse the furniture lightly with warm water, wipe dry, and then apply mastic in an even layer and rub until shiny with cloth.

12. If your nails are splitting or cracking, make yourself a wax thimble at night by dipping your fingertips in melted wax. When it hardens, put on light gloves or finger guards. In the morning, carefully remove the wax.

And in conclusion Some tips on the economical use of ordinary candles made from stearin, paraffin or wax. Before lighting a candle, dip it in salt water; it will not float and will last longer. If you put a 0.2 mm thick metal foil ring on the top of the candle, the candle will burn much longer, and in addition, melted paraffin will not drip. As the candle burns out, the ring will go down on its own.
The flame of a lit candle cleanses the air of tobacco smoke and other unpleasant odors.

The years continued to pass inexorably. Celebrated his silver wedding with his wife and other relatives. When the parents were returning from the holiday, there was ice on the road, the car skidded and drifted into the oncoming lane. When the ambulance arrived, it was already too late. Not wanting to bury them in the cemetery, I placed two graves right on the dacha plot. As soon as I left after their death, I received the news that my daughter and her husband had died in a plane crash. I didn’t love her very much and I wasn’t upset. After much persuasion from my wife, I went to the funeral.
10 years later he retired and together with his wife moved to live in a country villa. Two years later his wife died. The diagnosis was lung cancer, she smoked too much... and I didn’t stop her from doing this... I was left alone. I spent a long time after her death, reproaching myself all the time... Little by little I began to drink too much - I could not find another way out. I spent almost all my time alone, only occasionally did my son visit and bring my grandchildren.
Celebrated our golden wedding anniversary alone with a bottle of vodka. Gradually, my kidneys began to fail. I was already tired of calling doctors, but I didn’t want to go to the hospital and, if possible, gave myself injections myself. The son has not visited for several years. Then a telegram came - he was shot, probably by competitors... He went on a drinking binge again. I have long wanted to die - the meaning of life after the death of my wife ceased to exist for me, the tragic death of my daughter, and then the murder of my son finished me off.
Thirty years have passed since the death of his wife. I remembered with a glass of vodka and a few words - I didn’t know prayers and had long ago stopped believing in God. Then he lit a small candle and placed it near the icon. Having driven in a wheelchair to the bed - his legs gave out ten years ago after a stroke - he lay down in bed, overcoming the pain, and turned off the light.
Before my eyes there remained only one pitiful, dim candle light, swaying in the draft. The cinder burnt down inexorably: drop by drop of melted wax, minutes of his life passed, like years for a person. This small piece of a candle, a couple of centimeters in size, seemed to realize that he did not have long left - as if he was deliberately accumulating a frail fence of unmelted wax around its edges, not allowing the last drops that held the dying wick of his life to flow away. There's very little left now. The light has completely weakened and dimmed. A strong stream of wind blew from the window: the flame swayed, moved from side to side, escaping from the threat; it even flared up a little more, but the wind mercilessly covered it with its hand. With a last flicker the fire went out. The candle was enveloped in darkness, only a small spark crowning the end of the wick still resisted death, inexorably decreasing, decaying. Another moment and the room became dark. Only a faint gray haze, in the moonlight, rose in bizarre patterns over the remains of the candle, gradually dissolving into the air.
“No, the candle is still alive, still trying to resist. What's the point? She’s already burned out and won’t catch fire again,” I thought, tried to get up, but couldn’t - my body was paralyzed and I couldn’t feel it anymore.
“Well, now it’s time to die...” he said quietly out loud, even rejoicing a little at this, but this moment did not come. Morning has come. Then day turned to night, and I was still alive:
I heard the rustling of leaves and the hooting of an owl outside the window, felt the light aroma of spring flowers and the blow of a light wind.
So I lay there for a week, or maybe a month - I lost count. Vision gradually began to fail, as did the rest of the senses. Only now did I remember that old man at the crossing and let out a barely audible sigh. If I were in a normal state, it would have been a scream.
Then my body began to gradually decompose, although I had not felt anything for a long time, but with some sixth sense I felt everything. Maybe months... years passed, then someone found my body. No one noticed any signs of life in me, and I couldn’t give a signal, and was I even alive? I was taken to the morgue, then, at the request of my relatives, I was cremated. Even when my body was burned, I was still conscious, then they put my ashes in a funeral urn and forgot about it.
I don’t know how much time passed - it ceased to exist for me, then someone dropped the urn with my ashes and it broke. The remains of my body scattered into fine dust in different directions, my ashes mixed with a light stream of wind, dissolving in the air.
I was still alive. With every grain of sand, every part of my dispersed body, I was aware and felt everything. I wanted to die, but it was impossible...

P.S Thanks to everyone who understood or tried to understand this story.

All events and characters in this story are fictitious and have nothing to do with reality.

Candles are an invention of mankind that is thousands of years old. Once upon a time, these fire sources were incredibly expensive and were lit only in the homes of rich people.

What happened before?

Candle lighting created a festive atmosphere and symbolized wealth and prosperity. The scope of the celebration could be assessed by the number of lights lit. This is probably when the phrase “the light of a thousand candles” appeared. When the holiday ended, the candelabra and candlesticks were carefully cleaned. Not a single candle stub was lost. The remains were melted down, new light sources were poured out. And they were carefully stored until the next magnificent celebration.

Use Cases

Over time, the candle acquired symbolic meaning. For a writer or poet creating his great work in the light of a lonely candle, it has become a symbol of inspiration.

Festive lights burning on the birthday cake represent the continuation life path. The lights on the holiday tree are lit with the hope of happiness and many bright events in the coming year. The stub of a candle has become synonymous with poverty.

Use in religious ceremonies

Candles began to be used in almost all known religions, this is a mandatory attribute. After all, a candle is a symbol of spiritual faith that can disperse the darkness of ignorance. They began to be depicted in iconography as a mandatory attribute of some saints. On the icon of Saint Brigid, wax drops flowing onto her hand are depicted as a reminder of the wounds of Christ. In images of Saint Genevieve, the candle is extinguished by a demon, and an angel lights it again, thereby personifying the allegorical struggle of good against evil. The burning end of a candle in the hands of the deceased demonstrates the loss of vital energy and health.

Use in magic

IN magical action the candle took center stage. This is the most easily accessible attribute of fortune tellers and predictors. It’s even difficult to imagine how many magical sacraments are based on the symbolism of light, type, shape and even color of a candle. After the completion of the ceremony, not a single piece should have gone to waste, not even the slightest stubs from the candles. What to do with evidence of use secret knowledge? Every sorceress knows about this. They are carefully buried in secluded places.

Church candles

Only church candles are used to cleanse and protect the home and property. Many monasteries have candle production. In such places they work with prayer on their lips and the name of God in their heads. The element of fire promotes cleansing from anger, hatred, and spiritual contradictions. Under no circumstances should the cinder be thrown away. It is also not recommended to store them at home. They have already completed their mission. The question arises, what to do with the cinders? church candles? These items are returned to the temple. Nearby there are always special boxes for cinders, where everything that remains from the luminaries is stored.

Present time. How are candles used now and what to do with the cinders from them?

IN modern world There were an incredible variety of ways to use such an ancient light source.

Household candle. The most common and cheapest light source during a power outage. It is given the simplest shape and unassuming color. Available in almost every home.
Table candle. In production, they try to give them a beautiful aesthetic shape: cone-shaped, twisted or figured. Used to add color to an event. Romanticism is already unthinkable without such an attribute. It is believed that the stub of a candle, in front of which a marriage proposal was made, must be saved. It will be an amulet that preserves family relationships and strengthening life.

Made in tablet form. They have a compact appearance and are cast into an aluminum housing. Used for heating teapots. Creative and romantic individuals find many more uses for them. They are inserted into decorative lamps and used in aromatic lamps.
Gel candles. The most aesthetic and decorative. They are colorless, transparent and do not emit odor when burned. They are given the most beautiful images. The type of such a product depends only on the imagination of the creator. There is probably no such person who would not at least once try to create his own miracle. Take any decorative bottle and add any material to the bottom: various shells, beads, figurines, flowers, slices of exotic fruit. The wick is inserted. Afterwards, everything is filled with gel, and your own work of art is ready.

Street candle. Intended for outdoor use. Outdoors during a picnic or at the dacha. Pyrotechnic additives are often added to such products. Then the combustion is accompanied by sparks, stars and lights of different colors.

People believe that under no circumstances should you throw away even the packaging of consecrated items. Of course, it is best to discuss any questions regarding the ritual side of religion with your partner. If there is no such mentor, you will have to seek advice from more knowledgeable Christians. As a rule, objects that have fulfilled their purpose are collected and then given to the purifying fire. It is recommended to collect ashes, ash and everything that remains after burning and then bury it in the ground. Moreover, the burial site should not be disturbed by either people or animals.

Candle behind the images

The cinders from church candles are handled differently. They are burned along with other waste, or stored behind the images. Most believers return the collected cinders to the shop. In the temple they are either burned in a special oven, or melted and poured into the cheapest candles. Many cathedrals have special boxes for collecting cinders.

You can rarely see such boxes in city churches and cathedrals; the thing is that novices or mothers most often put away the candles themselves in the evenings after the service, regardless of whether they burned out or not. The collected candles are recycled, because almost all parishes have not only church shops, but also workshops. The novices also clean the glasses on the candlestick from spilled wax; they usually do this with the help of a small spatula and a brush, which they use to brush off the wax. It is not customary to collect it.

Maundy Thursday tradition

However, it is still customary to burn candles to the end. There is no rule against lighting a candle more than once. And when it burns out, you can put a new one there. In large towns, for example, many parishioners light a candle in the church, and then, after the service, extinguish it and take it home. This custom arose a very long time ago. IN Maundy Thursday Orthodox Christians gathered for all-night prayer, during which the Thursday prayer was lit. She was endowed with truly mystical properties. On Friday morning, the lit candle was carried home, in every possible way protecting the flame from wind and bad weather. If the candle goes out, trouble will certainly happen, but if you managed to keep the fire and light the lamp from it, there is nothing to fear this year.

With this candle, the owner walked around the entire house to protect its inhabitants from the machinations of the evil one. So, the candle stub was kept all year, until next Thursday, lighting the fire on the biggest holidays or the most difficult times. On the eve of a new holiday, paper was lit from the flame of a cinder and the stove was lit with it, consecrating the entire house.

Midnight came again and, as always, a dense bluish fog descended on the sleeping village. A belated traveler, who accidentally finds himself in these places, tries in vain to knock on the gloomy, black windows of the miserable dilapidated houses of the village residents. And he has to admit that during his entire short stay in this godforsaken area, not a single living creature caught his eye. But he could swear that while driving through this village during the day, people appeared on the road and even frail cows with withered udders that did not yield milk were moving around here and there. Cursing the residents for their callousness, the traveler, depressed by the hopelessness of reaching someone for the night, moved to the bus stop, hoping to somehow spend the night in a wretched and cramped bus waiting booth, closed on three sides. As long as the full moon was shining, it could be seen (even the electricity was turned off in this village, or maybe there was none at all).

Having reached the stop, he somehow sat down on a shabby, torn wooden bench, surprised that with only one bus stop, the residents did not keep it in proper order. And they chose this place completely unsuccessfully - opposite the ancient cemetery. Behind the low fence, fallen and warped tombstones were visible, from the silhouettes of which one could guess that they were at least a hundred years old. Collapsed, unkempt tombstones covered with old moss evoked unpleasant thoughts about the frailty of life. So, indulging in gloomy thoughts, he began to gradually fall asleep, which was wrong on his part, since through the sleep that heavily pressed him to the bench, he did not hear a quiet groan, and then the rustling and noise of some kind of fuss.

He woke up only to the cry of a night owl. He hated this heartbreaking cry since childhood. Despite the fact that he slept for only a short time, this cry and recent experiences brought him out of his state of sleep with a terribly beating heart. Not understanding anything, he looked around in fear and finally, having come to his senses and realizing where he was and who was making these unpleasant sounds, he cursed with relish and looked at his watch with regret. The time was about two o'clock in the morning. With trembling hands, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket, which contained only one cigarette. Once again cursing himself for forgetting to stock up on smokes during the day, he clamped the cigarette between his teeth and began looking for matches. From his pocket, along with the matchbox, he also took out a candle stub, which he did not even remember how it got to him. Without thinking twice, he threw away the candle and lit a match. Bringing it to the cigarette, his gaze accidentally fell towards the cemetery and, continuing to automatically light the cigarette, the following picture was revealed to his gaze...