Chart foundations
The idea
Each candle summarizes open, high, low and close for one interval. Its body shows the open-to-close move; wicks show excursions beyond it. A candle pattern is a description of price behaviour, not a promise of the next candle. The same shape can have different meaning in a trend, range or illiquid session.
A worked example
A long lower wick near a prior low records rejection within that candle. It does not show whether new buyers will persist after the close.
Try it yourself
Describe five candles using only what their OHLC values establish, then separate observations from predictions.
A mistake to avoid
Naming a pattern and treating its label as a complete trade plan.