Candle safety during the holidays.

 Dear Readers,

This may seem a plebian and off topic post for this blog but it carries a very important reminder. A blogger I follow on another platform almost had a house fire because of a candle getting out of control. As I know that many of you, like myself, will use candles in ritual and for various other purposes, I just wanted to remind you to be safe with them.

Basic Rules for Candle Safety:

• Trim your wick to less than 1/4 inch from the wax
• Always burn your candle with supervision
• Keep all flammable objects well away from the candle (this includes overhead clearance)
  
• Make sure that your candle is out of reach of children or pets
• Do not burn a candle that has less than a half inch of wax left in the jar
• When extinguishing a candle, make sure it is FULLY out when you leave it - no smoke, no glowing embers. If it has either, it can reignite easily.
• Burn your candle on a level, stable surface this way there's no chance to hot wax tipping and going all over the place (It's a real pain to clean wax out of carpeting, just to warn you from my own derpy experience.)
• If you are using an electric fragrance warmer, treat it was a lit candle.
• Wait for your melted wax to fully cool and harden before transporting or disposing of your candle.
• Keep your candles well away from your Yule/Christmas tree. If that tree is the slightest bit dried out it is a MAJOR fire hazard. If you want the effect of candles on or near your tree, use the LED electric candles. 
• Keep your sleeves and such clear of the candle flame and the area above it. (Almost lit a sweater on fire because I wasn't paying attention, don't be like me on this one.)

Candle safety is important all year round. But it seems to pop up as a bigger issue during the holidays. This friendly reminder is partly for myself because I will do foolish things from time to time because I'm distracted (like that time I almost lit my sweater on fire).