Talk:Votive candle

Image change

I changed the second image of candles here because the candles in it were very similar to those pictured in the first. While I'm not well-versed in the types of votive candles used in ceremonies in the eastern hemisphere, in the United States and much of Latin America, you'll frequently see candles of the nature pictured in Image:Votive candles.jpg, which tend to be more colorful and often include words and pictures on the glass container. The new image helps to better represent that. Tijuana Brass 00:08, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't think these are normally called votive candles, but they are certainly Novena candles. They are burned for the 9 days of a Novena in the Catholic church. In Santería and other Yoruba-based religions they are extremely common. Similar candles, but without the Catholic iconography, are used in Wiccan magick for 7 days, thus their common name of "Seven Day Candles". I am not as strongly versed in their use in the Catholic Church as in the other uses, but I definitely recognize candles dedicated to Saint Michael (Chango) and Our Lady of Caridad Del Cobre (Oshun) among the more traditionally popular images. I would recommend reverting the picture. NightBear (talk) 14:47, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

NPOV tag

Going over this article, it has been written in a way that defines votive candles in somewhat narrow, exclusive terms -- it feels like I'm reading the individual experience of a couple of people rather than a good description of the many forms which I've seen these candles take. To give some examples, the first section, which is Catholic-centric, doesn't necessarily outline how I've seen candles used in all Catholic churches. The third part, which seems like an evangelical aside (and appears to be mostly OR), is more instructive than encyclopedic. And I see no description of the role that votives play in Latin American religion, which is unique from Anglo churches.

I'll try to clean things up a little in the near future, but in the meantime, I've added an NPOV tag to inform readers that the description given here is flawed. Tijuana Brass (talk) 05:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC) . The statement that one should choose to be a Chatholic because it is the right religon for all is clearly pushing someones own personal opinion.

Judaism

There is no discussion of votive candles in Judaism. Shabbat candles, holiday candles, Hannukah candles and yahrzeit candles are all votive... 75.3.229.144 (talk) 03:34, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Feel free to add a section about Judaism if you have referneces. Tarheelz123 (talk) 22:34, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Should this really have four different stub tags? It seems like one general tag would suffice, since it currently needs additions for several different religions. --y halo thar (talk) 18:50, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Methodism

Why was the Methodism section removed? I know for a fact that UMC parishes use votive candles on during their liturgy for All Saints Day. --Willthacheerleader18 (talk) 11:52, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

I readded the section. --Willthacheerleader18 (talk) 02:59, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Need specifics to help the ignorant (me)

How long do prayer candles burn? Who blows them out, and when? If a prayer candle is blown out too soon, does the prayer not come true? If you tell someone what you prayed for, does that invalidate the prayer? After you light all the prayer candles you need, do you light an extra one "to grow on"? --Captain Infinity (talk) 00:43, 27 January 2013 (UTC)