{"id":12655,"date":"2022-03-19T18:29:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T00:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12655"},"modified":"2022-03-19T18:29:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T00:29:39","slug":"your-candles-actually-are-good-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12655","title":{"rendered":"Your Candles Actually Are Good for You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Does keeping the porta-altar near the desk make me healthier?<\/p><\/div>\n

I find that having a candle burning on my desk helps me to focus. That goes back to when I was 17 or so.<\/p>\n

A few years later, I declared myself Pagan, which meant that I could have all the candles that I wanted!<\/p>\n

“Homes with candles burning brightly are filled with sexy wood nymphs nightly,” said Al G. Manning, an occult teacher and author most prolific in the 1960s\u20131980s.<\/a> (I can’t remember which book that was, Helping Yourself with White<\/em> Witchcraft<\/a>?)<\/p>\n

In our “witches of Manitou<\/a>” period, M. and I used to eat dinner regularly by candelight or illuminated by a Victorian kerosene lamp. Were we making ourselves healthier? Who knew?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, with the passage of time, more of the electric lights in our houses went from incadescent bulbs to the curly fluorescent ones to low-wattage LED bulbs. Good for saving energy, but not for your health?<\/p>\n

There are some voices in the “health and wellness” crowd saying that melatonin is a powerful antioxident and that most people are not getting enough. Sure you can take melatonin supplements \u2014 many people do so to help them sleep, and if you do that, take them earlier in the evening, not just before bed.<\/p>\n

But the best way to get melatonin is not through a pill, they say, but through exposure to sunlight and also infrared and near-infrared light. The new energy-efficient light bulbs do not produce as much of that spectrum as the old incadescent bulbs did.<\/p>\n

Here is the argument, with quotes from various websites.<\/p>\n

Two forms of melatonin exist in the body \u2013 circulatory (produced by the pineal gland), and subcellular (produced inside the cells and mitochondria); the majority of melatonin in the body is subcellular.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or from another site:<\/p>\n

Over 50% of [the] sun\u2019s energy is infrared; campfires, fireplace, candles, and incandescent lights also emit infrared light, as do infrared saunas and lasers<\/a><\/p>\n

Antioxidants can be produced from exposure to the sun!<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a therapy, being outside in the environment, in nature, and being exposed to sun, is extremely important, probably just as important as eating healthily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infrared light has the ability to penetrate the skull and access the cerebral spinal fluid, a reason why those with Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia especially should get more sun.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My take-away is that sunlight is best, and you need to be out in it as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Sunlight exposure also results in the production of serotonin and beta-endorphins, which promote mood enhancement and relaxation, relieve pain, and boost immunity. There is also evidence that vitamin D itself may help regulate the production of both serotonin and melatonin<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And candles, fireplaces, woodstoves, etc. are also good. So light ’em up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I find that having a candle burning on my desk helps me to focus. That goes back to when I was 17 or so. A few years later, I declared myself Pagan, which meant that I could have all the candles that I wanted! “Homes with candles burning brightly are filled with sexy wood nymphs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[418,368,125,18],"class_list":["post-12655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-candles","tag-healing","tag-health","tag-nature"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-3i7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5132,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5132","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":0},"title":"Candles and the Eco-Witch","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Homes with candles burning brightly are filled with sexy wood nymphs nightly. As best I recall, that was a couplet from one of Al Manning's books. I never met him, but from his how-to books and particularly his early-1980s autobiography, Eye of Newt in My Martini, I get the impression\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"witchcraft\"","block_context":{"text":"witchcraft","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=witchcraft"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.partylite.biz\/imaging\/resize?fileName=\/productcatalog\/production\/en_US\/product\/1342048967653P95477-FH12-1.jpg&height=274&width=250&quality=0.85","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=92","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":1},"title":"Now It’s Candles","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"As one of those people who always liked candles, I hate to admit this, but it seems to be true. Burning parafin-based candles indoors might be bad for you. But how many candles are too many? From the linked risk-analysis paper: \"These results support the conclusion that the public health\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9820,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9820","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":2},"title":"You’re Using Too Many Cards and Other Tarot Stuff","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The title of this post was inspired by a recent post by Thorn Mooney on Oathbound: \"The Celtic Cross is Kind of Terrible.\" Near as anyone can tell, the Celtic Cross comes out of the assorted Golden Dawn materials and was propagated (if not totally invented) by A.E. Waite in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"divination\"","block_context":{"text":"divination","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=divination"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/too-many-cards.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/too-many-cards.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/too-many-cards.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=584","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":3},"title":"Candles for PagansI like candles.\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Candles for PagansI like candles. So did my mother, a life-long Episcopalian. To her, I suppose they suggested gracious living. She died ten years ago, and M. and I still have not used up all the candles that she left behind.Ever since our handfasting, we have been pretty well \"out\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3354,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3354","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":4},"title":"Quick Day of the Dead Instructions\u2014And How Things Change","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Monday a notice popped up in my university email: It's time to build an altar for the Day of the Dead. (And do it in the correct, traditional manner!) Several professors of Spanish have organized an altar-building event in the student center for a number of years now. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3391,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3391","url_meta":{"origin":12655,"position":5},"title":"The Campus Day of the Dead, 2011","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As planned,\u00a0 I stopped by the Student Center on Wednesday to check out the Day of the Dead altars. No Vlad the Impaler altar this year! No altars to firefighters or Victorian writers either. Apparently Chicano Studies conformity was enforced, with Catholic Campus Ministries stepping in as a co-sponsor as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"Day of the Dead altar to Marilyn Monroe, CSU-Pueblo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MarilynMonroeAltar_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12655"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12733,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12655\/revisions\/12733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}