This is a set of elemental candle holders that I made for use in public ritual, provided here as an example of how you can make your own candle holders easily and inexpensively. Each candle holder cost a total of about $6 in materials. The same basic process can be used to make a shielded candle holder with any artistic or metaphysical motif you want.

I started with a 5″ glass globe like you might find at a crafting store, floral decor store, home decoration store, upscale party and wedding supply store, thrift store, etc. I needed a set of five identical globes, which proved problematic, so I ended up ordering a set online. Any glass vase or decorative bowl will work as long as it has a sturdy base and a large enough opening to be able to get your hand inside.

Decorate the globe however you wish. If you don’t feel artistic, you can buy clear, printable decals and make your design in a computer. I used Sharpie oil-based paint pens. They are easy to find, draw very well on glass, are durable, and clean up with rubbing alcohol. Just make sure you finish each section of your design in one sitting, because after it cures (about 24 hours) it is harder to remove.

I specifically wanted three pentagrams on each globe, in colors representing the elements. I find it all but impossible to freehand a decent circle on a rounded surface, so I created stencils using paper. If you don’t have a drafting tool to help you draw a circle, you can print one out on your computer or use the edge of a glass or other cylindrical object. The stencil had to be cut into a doughnut shape so I could get it evenly taped onto the rounded surface of the globe.

If you look through the center of the pentagram above, you can see three radiating lines. These were my guides for placing the stencils at even thirds around the globe. I placed the very center of the base of the globe at the intersection of those lines, and then placed the stencil centered on the line.

The stencil also has five marks where each of the points of the pentagram should be. I freehanded the lines of the pentagram, and no, it didn’t go perfect every time. If my line was messed up, I wiped it up with rubbing alcohol and tried again. It cleaned off extremely easy while the paint was fresh.

After removing the stencil, I emboldened and cleaned up the lines. I added additional lines to create a woven appearance on the pentagrams, and created a break in the circle at each point so it would weave into the pentagram. If I messed anything up, just a little rubbing alcohol, and try again.

Once all the globes were painted, I let them dry overnight and then baked them in the oven at 350ºF. I put them on a sheet pan and placed them in a cold oven (placing them directly in a hot oven might work fine, but it also might shatter your glass), and then turned on the heat. After the oven came up to temp, I set a timer for 30 minutes. When the timer was up, I turned off the oven, opened the door slightly, and let them cool completely before removing them.

Opinions online are split as to whether or not baking this kind of paint helps with durability, but no one said it would hurt durability, so I decided to use the bake method. If you don’t want to bake your Sharpie, let it cure for at least 24 hours before washing or using it. It is not dishwasher safe, and can be chipped off, so if you need to wash it, do so by hand with a soft sponge or cloth.

The baking did slightly change the colors of the paint. The red in particular changed from a very true red to slightly magenta, but it still works great for my purposes. If you want to bake, and precision in your color is important, test your colors on some glass you were going to recycle before decorating your actual candle holder.

You can technically just drop a tealight into the bottoms of the globes as-is, but they tend to slop around and not look finished. So, I purchased a set of votive candle holders from IKEA. They cost me about $1.50 each. They have even cheaper clear glass tealight holders, but the square shape wasn’t right for the aesthetic I wanted, so I went with the more expensive holder. I specifically wanted clear glass, but any pre-made candle holder small enough to fit into your globe will work.

I glued the votive holders in place using E-6000, but there are a large number of suitable glues on the market. Just make sure it is something that is designed to hold together glass and whatever your interior candle holder is made out of, and that it is clear or otherwise unobtrusive in appearance. You don’t want to go to the effort to decorate your globe, only to ruin the look of your finished candle holder with ugly glue puddles. Follow the instructions on your chosen glue, and give it time to cure before you do anything else.

Add any other internal decoration you want (provided it won’t catch fire from heat and proximity to candle flame), and you have a finished candle holder.

In making my elemental candle holder set, I was very symbolically deliberate in my choices. I want to emphasize the interrelation and interconnectivity of the elements, and the fact that no element can exist without the others, so I includ representations of all the elements in all the candles, and used color alone to indicate which element is being called. I specifically did not include any symbology attaching the elements to particular genders or directions, as those associations have never made sense to me. Elemental traits can be found in all humanity with no respect to gender. All elements can be found in all directions, and proximity to elemental energies is determined by your location, rather than some arbitrary absolute of cardinal direction.

• Each globe is clear to represent spirit.
• Each globe contains air within itself.
• Each globe has a candle for fire.
• Each globe has colored stones for earth.
• When in use, each globe has water in the bottom.
• The colors alone specify the element being called:
  • White = Spirit
  • Yellow = Air
  • Red = Fire
  • Green = Earth
  • Blue = Water

The shape and configuration of the globes mean they may be placed on any flat surface, carried safely in your hands, and there is very minimal risk of wax mess or accidental fire starting, even if the globe is tilted or dropped. After just two uses I already have some white wax dripped inside the votive holders, but that doesn’t bother me. Even if it were to slosh onto the rocks, it wouldn’t hurt them.