Question
What do you do if a spell calls for letting the candles burn all the way down but for some reason you are not able to do so?

ANSWERS
Real easy. You go ahead and put out the candle, but with the visualization (as well as you can manage) and the specific intention that the flame remains lit on the astral plane. (This, by the way, is the same thing we do at outdoor rituals when the candles keep blowing out. They remain burning on the astral.)

If you have the opportunity later on, go ahead and relight the candles when you can, and let them burn down in stages. If there is a time limit beyond which you can't continue the spell (maybe the job interview is tomorrow and anything you do will have to be done before then), leave the candle set up if you can, and then after the deadline, symbolically snuff the candle and declare it burned down.

Then destroy it -- bury it or throw it into a fire.

If you can't leave the candle set up -- perhaps your roommate simply wouldn't understand -- wrap the extinguished candle in cloth (let any melted wax cool first!) and set it aside in a safe place until you can either relight it or until it's time to dispose of it.

And of course, there's another very effective way of dealing with the problem: Use smaller candles!

Karl

My teacher always taught me to take the candle (or parchment from the cauldron) and bury it under a tree with a gift (like fruit or something). Cover it with the dirt while saying a simple incantation (make one up to suit the prupose if you must) or the words of the spell you used. Make the sign of the pentagram on the dirt and walk away from it knowing the goddess hears and understands.
Blessed Be,
Sam

A spell is a spell is a spell...

I am assuming that the spell one is planning on doing is one that someone else wrote [it's unlikely that one would write a spell in which they knew they couldn't "finish the act" in one sitting and yet wrote it that way anyway]. Any/all spells can be reworked to suit time and need. If you don't have time to allow the candle to burn all the way down... then plan on relighting that candle over a period of three to several days until such time as the candle is done.

Another option [if you just can't stand the thought of spreading it over a series of days] is to use smaller candles. Yes, even a birthday candle will do the trick and it takes very little time to burn down.

Then there is the option of not using candles at all if time/circumstances is a limiting factor. Choose something else to set/send the spell... a stone, a stick of incense, knotwork, a gesture, a command. Seriously. No matter *who* wrote the spell... *you* are the one performing it, *you* choose the method/means by which it is *done*. :)

Blessings & Hugs,
Raven