Luck Candle

Unknown

ca. 2016

Glass, paint, wax

21 x 6cm

Purchased in Kensington Market, Toronto

Personal collection

This candle represents the hope that individuals can have for the future. Traditionally, these tall luck candles can burn for 7 days in prayer, sometimes surrounded by other objects or offerings in a shrine, across systems of belief. With some candles labeled and meant to bring luck, they can also be used to wish for money and love.

Wishes and hope seem to be in high demand over the past few months, although this candle may not have any to offer. With its wax completely burned, someone has already exhausted any relief it could have provided. This candle serves a sentimental purpose, it exists as an object of faith, to support a prayer and call for response. Whether or not the burning of this candle was beneficial is known only with its owner, someone who placed their faith in something more powerful than themselves, someone who put their trust into an uncertain outcome.

Looking forward, we will be relying on the contents of our homes. that we have collected for their various reasons to provide comfort, hope, and relief. Objects like this candle that have been entrusted with prayers and faith are now in the spotlight. Although ordinary objects of faith are routinely depended on, we have entered a period in which our typical methods of prayer may be altered, with our personal belongings increasingly invested with significance and value.

MacKenzie Anderson