Candles glowing late in the night under clouded skies, releasing the scents of vetiver, cedarwood and camphor in small cosy curls of warm air like breath, paired with the rich bite of bitter chocolate and red wine . . .
This post comes late, on the heels of my usual blend of business and laziness, just as January's hybrid of hibernation and work chases the chaos of the holidays. Twelfth Night, also called Epiphany or 3 Kings Day, officially ends the holiday season on January 6th; but for me, Severus Snape's birthday on Jan. 9th is the extra holiday that officially abuts the weeks of jollity and makes the transition to the deep winter magic of Capricorn season.
Alas, that same Capricorn work focus coupled with other projects and distractions is one reason I celebrated Severus's day late and over a span of many days!
In a way it's better. Jan. 9th is merely the kick-off day; just as every Saturday is a "Severan" and Saturn-related day, as Chapter 8 and the entire Book 6 can be seen as his, so can the whole Capricorn month or January itself be Snape's.
It helps to have a special space set up for it, which may sound extreme; but this is the archetype-set that revived me again after losing a parent, influenced over a third of my life and, no doubt, changed it irreversibly for the better. Fictional or not, Snape has touched millions of lives, even those who didn't swallow the Potter pill in its entirety, or moved on.
One reason for the lateness was that I wanted to pour a special candle for the occasion. It takes a block of time, and I get home from work at 11 p.m. But I finally managed one using older scrap candles, of a nice rich green color, complete with a scent blend of essential oils mixed in that I felt would suit Severus:
A Scent for Severus
I've wanted to make a Snape-related scent for awhile now: something dank and earthy, of herbs and dungeons and smoke, tinged with the acid tang of chemicals, of camphor and thujone; this will probably be the first of many scent experiments.
I ended up with three candles, actually: the specially-poured candle, a black one, and tea light in the diamond-pane candleholder that has for many years now been the "St. Severus" altar holder but which also has ties to my mother's spirit, since I inherited it from her.
Officially celebrating included putting away the Yule altar (see first pic) beforehand: As much as I like Yule, there comes a point at which I just feel ...done. One night shortly before this, I even had a dream about being done with the Yuletide bit! The way was then clear for full-on Winter and introspective Severus energy.
I had a special "feast" of 100% cacao (the bitterest it gets!) pure chocolate, but with a bit of rainbow chip birthday icing (because it's a birthday, and just to hear his sneering disapproval of the frivolous sugar in my mind), along with a cup of red wine. There are also cookies to be made --- I never seem to find enough time to bake all the holiday cookies I want.
Blessed birthday, my animus Severus. May you continue to inspire me to greater lengths and heights --- in discipline, if nothing else, since thanks to you I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
Troubleshooting.
The special candle burns with a tiny flame, due to the wax pool drowning the wick; I believe it's a case both of overly dense, dye-rich wax and a wick size that's too small, suited to a narrow taper rather than a wide votive. But the little flame is cute; it's pretty much the smallest measure of fire that can exist and still be open flame!
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