The problem with correspondences
Beginner witches, listen up.
When I started practising, one of the first things I did was put correspondence lists into my grimoire. Or, I tried to. You see, correspondences are individual. To some extent, they’re based on history, folklore, mythology and medicine - but they’re also highly personal. You can look at ten different correspondence tables for the same herb, and depending on the herb, you’ll get similar answers - but you can also get highly divergent ones. The result? I ended up writing 5-20 different correspondences for a bunch of herbs and crystals that I had never even heard of. Do I remember them now, 7 years on? Hell no.
There’s a few problems with this:
You don’t know which source to trust.
Sources may totally conflict.
You don’t know why those correspondences are listed.
You won’t know what you can and can’t swap out of a spell.
Correspondence tables often don’t provide sources or reasoning.
You may not have those associations, so they may not actually help you.
Correspondences are tools. They help you to focus your intent in your craft. What’s the point in getting the “right” colour, herb, crystal, element, and moon phase for every spell when you don’t understand why you’re using them, or they don’t help you focus your intent?
So, what’s the solution? Figure out your own correspondences.
This doesn’t have to be difficult! Let’s say I’m doing a spell because I have a cold. For me, being sick is associated with soup, lemon, orange, honey and ginger - because my Nan used to make me a hot drink with the last few ingredients in it. So maybe I’ll make that drink, or maybe I’ll make soup with fresh ginger in it. I’ll stir the pot widdershins first, to “banish” the sickness (because I associate counter clockwise with banishment or getting rid of something), then deosil to “bring” or “grow” my health (because those are my associations for clockwise). See? Easy!
Okay, so how exactly do you come up with correspondences?
Well, some of them are pretty immediate. Think associating mistletoe with Christmas, or plants in your area that only bloom at certain points of the year. You can also consider:
history, mythology and folklore: throughout history, there have been associations with certain plants, colours etc. that you can read up on. Some examples include associating purple with wealth or success because the dye for purple clothing was highly expensive (Roman emperors wore it) and associating rosemary with remembrance, as mentioned in Hamlet.
medicinal properties: even if you aren’t interested in herbalism, you could include plants with medicinal properties in healing spells.
local associations: this is pretty likely to cross over with history and folklore, but considering local associations is important, too - especially since associations in world history and mythology may not apply to you and your path. You might also have certain associations with “local” in a general sense (see my post about food correspondences below).
cultural associations: think “pumpkin” for October, even in countries where aren’t particularly common. Are there any cultural associations that you have with particular things? (These may be some of your “stronger” associations.)
personal associations: what’s your personal experience? Did you fall into a rosebush as a kid, so you’d rather associate roses with pain than with love? Did your first crush give you a green handbag, so green is a colour of love for you? What do you find comforting?
These aren’t the only aspects to consider, but it’s a starting point. Depending on the type of correspondence you’re looking for, you could consider other aspects, too (like farming calendars for month associations and seasonal foods).
This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with using or posting correspondence lists - I’ve posted some myself. They can be really useful - but be aware that those are someone else’s correspondences, not yours, and they may not work the same way for you as they do for someone else - and that’s okay! You have your own resources and your own experiences, and it’s your craft.
I hope this helps! Check out my other posts about coming up with your own correspondences:
How to correspondence: food & herbs
How to correspondence: when to spell
