When I was growing up, Catholic churches had arrays of votive candles in front of statues of the Blessed Mother and various saints. If you had a special intention, you'd slip your money (a dime was the standard donation for a small candle, an unfathomable amount--probably a quarter--for the large ones) into the slot in a metal box on the front of the rack. Then you'd pull a long wooden stick out of anothebox that was full of sand. You'd say a prayer, light the stick from one of the burning candles, then light your chosen candle and extinguish the stick in the sand. It was all very solemn and filled with mystery. The churches smelled sweetly of beeswax. It was a fire hazard. One of the side altars at my childhood church was badly damaged in a fire started by one of the votive candles. It seems also that this sort of devotion fell out of favor. Few Catholic churches in our area have votive candles at all. A few years ago, the church in our town installed electric candles. I'm actually not sure how they work, but I guess you put you money in the slot and one of the candles goes on for a certain period of time. To me, it lacks the mystique of real flame and beeswax. This is a picture of the new style "candles." I used a combination of
Smudge Stick and Accented Edges which seems to bring out the plastic element of the pseudo-candles.
