oh gosh, those tall pillars would be something else if they were beeswax (although rather depleting of resources at that scale). We only use beeswax candles at our house, We often spend hours sitting around the table drinking wine and talking and I love pressing the wax down around the edges of the candle to keep shaping it as it melts. I was just given a huge candle that smells like chemical apples and is in this gorgeous jar, I am sure it was very expensive but I stuck it in the garage so that my husband can use it for fire starters or something outdoors because I'll never use it.
Humans are such strange creatures, looking to others to make things right through confession and candles sources rather than looking within. I wonder if that will ever change.
RE: Buddhist Rains Retreat: Shedding Light On The Symbolism & Natural Medicine of Candles