VESTA CANDLE BURNS & READINGS
Let’s Shine a Light Into Your Life
Divination is found in all civilizations and cultures around the world, both ancient and modern. It’s a part of our psyche and a part of our societies. Whether through the cryptic sayings of a revered oracle or the readings of an online astrologer, we seek to know the unknowable and to discover the answers to life’s most pressing questions, from romance to finances. To the ancient Romans, divination wasn’t as much about predicting the future as it was about looking for signs from the gods to determine their divine will… which perhaps amounts to something similar. Because if the gods will it, if the Fates will it, it will be. They therefore had very strict methods of performing divination.
Candle reading—studying the wax flow of a melting candle—is another form of divination, and it is used in various cultures and capacities. The method that I use is unique. It arose from my work as an author of historical fiction on Ancient Rome and particularly the Vestal Virgins: This was the priesthood of women tasked with keeping the goddess’s sacred fire burning in her temple.
My Candle Burn & Reading Method
While writing my novels on the Vestal Virgins, I quickly recognized that the priestesses would have had a very formal and ritualized way to divine the will of the goddess by reading the movement of the eternal flame in the temple’s hearth, as well as the shifting of the wood and even the smoke that rose up from the fire. Yet because so much of what they did was performed in secret within the inner sanctum of the temple, and because any documents outlining this process would have been lost or destroyed in antiquity, we do not have any primary sources detailing this method.
To bring the Vestals and the temple to life, I therefore had to come up with one. To do so, I did a deep dive into the practices and principles of ancient Roman religion and emerged with a structured method of fire reading that was based on this information, one that I believe conforms to the methodology the Vestals would likely have used. That done, it was a fairly simple matter to transfer this “ancient” methodology to candle burning / reading.
Relax and Reflect by Vesta’s Flame
My method doesn’t just incorporate ancient rituals and practices. It also taps into the natural allure of fire. No doubt you feel it when you look into a flame… the sense of comfort and wellbeing, the beauty of the flame, and the pull toward self-reflection.
Fire is the symbol of the soul. It’s the symbol of eternity. It’s the oldest form of spiritual expression known to humankind, and for as long as we’ve gazed into the flame, we’ve wondered about the mysteries of life—not just Life in the largest sense, but also our own lives. We are faced with questions about our past, present and future. It’s those questions that my method of candle reading can help you reflect upon and answer.
Getting Started
You can learn the basics of my Vesta candle reading method in my book Divining Your Life: Candle Readings with the Flame of Vesta.
Whether your questions are big or small, serious or irreverent, Vesta’s illuminating flame can help you tap into your own intuition and discover the answers.
The All Gods Candle Burns on this site can also help you dive a little deeper into the various aspects of your life, from love to career, while you relax and watch Vesta’s flame.
However, if you want me to do a Vesta Candle Burn on your behalf, I’d love to.
My Vesta candle burns are done according to my strict method and are delivered in a custom video format. You provide the focus of the burn and the aspects of your life you want me to focus on. I perform the ritual and send the final video to you. At that point, you have the option of booking me for an optional 20-minute phone chat to discuss my observations, and how you might want to interpret the final burn / reading within the broader context of what is happening in your life.
A Special Flame
In addition to the antiquity-inspired method I use, one that has religious and historic merit, I perform all my candle burns by the light and heat of an old and special flame.
My passion for all things Vesta and ancient Rome started back in 1989, the first time I visited the Roman Forum as a young person. There, I came across a woman burning a candle before the ruins of the Temple of Vesta. It was she introduced me to this beautiful ancient religion, and even gave me her hand-poured candle as the “best souvenir of Italy.” I still have it. And every March 1st—the date the Vestals renewed the sacred fire in the temple—I honor their memory by lighting my “Vestal” candle. While it burns, I scoop out a bit of the melted beeswax and transfer it to the base of the wicks I use in my candle burns / readings. So when you receive your custom Vesta Candle Burn video, you know that the flame you see is a special one.
My “Vestal” candle, its white glass container showing a resemblance to a Vestal’s stola. Here, I am scooping out a bit of the melted beeswax with a wooden wick.
Here, I am adding a smudge of the old melted beeswax to the base of the wicks I use for my candle burns / readings.
If you want to learn more about this, and my personal experience with this ancient tradition, you can visit the Spread the Flame page.
What a Vesta Candle Burn Can Do For You
A Vesta candle burn can help you gain insight into a problem, question, area or aspect of your life. It can help you put your life—past, present and future—in perspective. It can help you find peace, understanding and inspiration. It can help you reflect upon and decide what actions or non-actions are in your best interests, so that you can have the future you were meant to have. It can broaden your awareness of how connected your “modern” life is to antiquity. It can relax you, comfort you and bring you hope. It can fill your home with the light, warmth and spirit of the sacred flame.
It cannot predict the future and it cannot tell you what to do. The first is a secret that belongs to the Fates alone. The second is a task that is yours alone.
Ordering a Custom Vesta Candle Burn
Getting a custom Vesta Candle Burn is a bit of a process… it isn’t as simple as just clicking / paying / receiving. This is a special process, one that I always perform according to my strict protocol. I do this out of respect for this tradition, but also because I want your candle burn to be as authentic and meaningful as possible.
If you wish to receive a custom Vesta candle burn (video download), plus optional 20-minute phone chat with me, I ask that you visit the All Things Vesta Store where you can read more about it and initiate the process if you wish to proceed. There is some back and forth involved, some thought and patience, so it isn’t for everyone. But if it is for you, you can rest assured that I will put my heart and soul into the final product for you.