If you must leave your home and you don’t wish to blow out the candle, simply put the burning candle on a heat resistant plate, and place the plate with the candle in the kitchen sink, away from combustibles.īayberry ( Morella pensylvanica) ready to harvest ©Susan Vinskofski, To invoke the custom, it’s important that the candle not be blown out once it is lit, but that it is allowed to burn down completely. There is a folk custom that burning a new bayberry candle on Christmas Eve, or in some locations, New Year’s Eve would bring health and prosperity. Bayberry is also used for other herbal uses. The practice was time-consuming and bayberry candles took too long to make, for them to be practical for everyday use, so the candles were only used for special occasions. The pilgrims extracted the wax from these berries to produce fragrant candles for special occasions, like Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve. However, bayberries or wax myrtle grow in the maritime climate of the east coast from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas. When the pilgrims arrived on the East Coast of North America they depended on animal fat for lighting. “A bayberry candle burnt to the socket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket.” New England Proverbīayberries were named so because the pilgrims found them growing along Cape Cod Bay, in New England. Due to price, they are best for special occasions. Bayberry candles are a sweet scented, vegan wax that can be naturally and sustainably harvested.
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