Purple Candle Meaning: How to Use Purple Candles in Your Spiritual Practice

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Purple candle meaning centers on wisdom, intuition, higher learning, spiritual growth, and divination. Practitioners often use purple candles when seeking knowledge, developing their spiritual practice, or working with divination.

Fun fact: purple isn’t actually a color in the rainbow. Our brains create the color when our eyes detect red and blue light at the same time.

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What Does a Purple Candle Mean?

Purple candles represent wisdom, intuition, higher learning, spiritual growth, and divination.

The spiritual meaning of a purple candle stems from centuries of cultural symbolism blending to create the magical color correspondences.

Purple is frequently used to empower spiritual connection, hidden knowledge, or practices intending to communicate with the otherworld or your unconscious mind.

What Does a Purple Candle Mean: image of a dark purple candle, with purple smoke against a black background.

The History of Purple Candle Symbolism

The color purple’s symbolism has origins dating back nearly 4,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows Minoans on the island of Crete were producing sea purple before 1750 BCE. It eventually spread across the eastern Mediterranean, and the Phoenician city of Tyre in modern Lebanon became famous for producing and trading it. This is where the name Tyrian purple comes from.

The area is famous for producing a wildly inefficient purple dye from murex sea snails. Estimates suggest it took roughly 10,000 murex sea snails to create one gram of purple dye. Purple fabric became incredibly expensive, so wearing it became a visible sign of wealth and social rank.

The Romans took it a step further by having their senators and high-ranking officials wear purple. Even Julius Caesar became known for wearing purple. Purple no longer communicated wealth alone. It represented rank, authority, and power.

These associations still continue to carry intentions and themes of royalty and authority. Occult traditions later included these into their own symbolism ideas. By the Renaissance, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa included purple among the colors of Jupiter in Three Books of Occult Philosophy.

Purple became even more closely associated with emperors when Constantine V (r. 741-775 CE) added a new chamber to the imperial residence in the Great Palace of Constantinople which was lined with porphyry, a rare purple-laced marble.

This room was used thereafter for royal births and gave rise to the phrase porphyrogennetos or “to be born in the purple” meaning the person had a legitimate claim to the throne. Finally, even in death, the emperor was distinguished by being the only person to be buried in a sarcophagus of purple porphyry.
Byzantine Emperor – World History Encyclopedia

Light Purple vs. Dark Purple Candle Meaning

Some modern witchcraft practitioners may say there’s a meaningful difference between light and dark purple. However, there’s no historically definitive belief or text indicating different magical intentions based on the shade of purple.

A purple candle meaning represents the symbolism of wisdom, intuition, higher learning, spiritual growth, and divination. I prefer to choose the shade of purple based on my mood, the shade that calls to me, what I think best reflects my intention, and what’s available to me in the store. Feel free to choose whatever color resonates with you!

Fun fact: Ancient Tyrian purple wasn’t lilac or the bright royal purple we know today. The dye produced several shades, but the most coveted was a dark red purple similar to the color of clotted blood.

Purple Candle Correspondences

Many of the correspondences originate with German Renaissance occultist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. In his book, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, he documented magical correspondences.

Agrippa connected planets with colors, numbers, plants, stones, and other symbols. In his system, purple is connected to the planet Jupiter. Many traditional purple correspondences are traced back to his work.

These associations aren’t universal. Feel free to burn your purple candle whenever you like. Including these correspondences adds layered symbolism to infuse additional energy into your spell or ritual.

Planet: Jupiter

Agrippa included purple among Jupiter’s colors. In his system, Jupiter represents prosperity, leadership, honor, authority, and growth.

Crystals: Sapphire and Amethyst

Agrippa included sapphire among the stones connected to Jupiter. In more modern practices, purple is connected to Amethyst. This is mostly due to its color and since it’s also symbolic of intuition and spiritual depth.

Day of the Week: Thursday

Roman historian Cassius Dio linked Thursday with Jupiter by the third century CE. Agrippa later associated purple with Jupiter, making Thursday a traditional day for pairing with a purple candle.

No Fixed Moon Phase

There isn’t a moon phase historically assigned to purple candles. In my practice, I choose a moon phase aligning with my spell or ritual’s intentions. For example, the waxing moon is connected with growth, planning, and action.

Number: 4

Agrippa connected Jupiter with the number four and gave the planet a four-by-four magic square. Since he associated purple with Jupiter too, four can be paired with a purple candle through their shared Jupiter connection. This comes from Renaissance planetary magic, not modern numerology.

Deities: Jupiter and Zeus

Purple is associated with the planet Jupiter, named after the Roman god. Practitioners may also connect purple with his Greek counterpart, Zeus.

Herbs and Plants

Basil, Mint, Violet, Oak, Olive, and Mace (Nutmeg)

Agrippa listed these plants among those associated with Jupiter along with the color purple.

Element: Air

Agrippa included Air among the things associated with Jupiter. This gives it a connection to the color purple. However, other magical systems use different elemental color correspondences, so Air isn’t a universal element for purple candles.

Tarot: Wheel of Fortune

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn connected this card with Jupiter through its Qabalistic correspondence system. Jupiter’s associations with fortune, growth, and changing situations fit the symbolism of the turning Wheel. Since Agrippa linked purple with Jupiter, the card and candle share a Jupiter connection.

Planetary Hours: Jupiter

Astrologers during the Hellenistic period combined Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian traditions and divided daylight and nighttime into twelve planetary hours, assigning each to one of the seven classical planets. The exact time changes by date and location, but Thursday’s first hour after sunrise belongs to Jupiter. Since Agrippa associated purple with Jupiter, some practitioners choose to burn a purple candle during a Jupiter hour.

Incense: Mace (Nutmeg)

Agrippa listed mace among the plants associated with Jupiter.

Zodiac Signs: Sagittarius and Pisces

Astrologers during the Hellenistic period connected Jupiter with Sagittarius and Pisces. This system developed from Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian traditions. Since Agrippa later associated purple with Jupiter, both signs share that planetary connection with purple.

How to Use Purple Candles in Witchcraft

In witchcraft, the color purple symbolizes the intentions of wisdom, intuition, higher learning, spiritual growth, and divination in the spell or ritual you’ll be performing.

For example, you might light a purple candle before reading tarot cards, interpreting a dream, meditating, or making an important decision. Some witches burn a purple candle to remember a loved one who passed.

Colors are symbols and visual reminders of your intended outcome in witchcraft. If you’re a beginner witch, I highly recommend spiritually grounding or meditating quietly to visualize a color or symbol you believe best fits your spell or ritual. Remember, there is no right or wrong choice; whatever resonates with you will work.

I wrote a detailed article on Candle Magic to help beginners master the basics with step-by-step video tutorials if you’d like to learn more.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Choosing a Purple Candle

Before you choose the color purple, think about what outcome you want to accomplish. Here are a few questions to help you decide for yourself. These are just examples; please don’t think they’re strict rules.

If your spell or ritual is meant to:

Gain deeper wisdom or knowledge before making an important decision
Strengthen your intuition
Support your tarot, oracle cards, runes, pendulum work, or another form of divination
Honor the wisdom of an ancestor, mentor, or loved one who has passed away.
Reflect on a life lesson you’ve recently experienced
Better understand a recurring dream, sign, or symbol
Connect with your unconscious mind through shadow work or journaling

Can You Use a Purple Candle for Protection?

Yes, you can use a purple candle for protection. Purple is excellent for spells involving spiritual protection, wisdom, intuition, or good judgment. It’s very useful to recognize harmful situations, strengthen boundaries, or decide who and what deserves your trust.

There’s also some historical support for this idea. German Renaissance occultist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa associated purple with Jupiter, and his Jupiter magic included protection from enemies and enchantments. You might burn a purple candle when asking for wisdom about who to trust, setting spiritual boundaries, or using divination to spot a problem.

Purple Candle Meaning: How to Use Purple Candles in Your Spiritual Practice

What Does a Purple Candle Mean?

The History of Purple Candle Symbolism

Light Purple vs. Dark Purple Candle Meaning