What are magical correspondences?
Magic, especially when it is worked through the law of attraction, works with the principle: "Magic is only real if you believe it is." That is the basis behind magical correspondences. Correspondences are symbols or representations of a desired outcome. Some people believe that certain correspondences are necessary for certain kinds of spells. For example, they would say something like, "You need Rose Quartz if you're going to cast a spell for self-love."
I believe that the correspondences, or spell ingredients, are relatively interchangeable. The important part is that you are able to tap into whatever though
t or feeling you are trying to channel in order to bring about your desired outcome. For a self-love spell, the important part is holding the intention to love yourself without any doubt, fear, or resistance, and truly feeling the emotions that come with it. If Rose Quartz helps you hold onto that intention and truly feel the self-love, then fantastic. But if you can achieve the same result with a rose, a poem, a drawing, a pink candle, a strawberry with honey drizzled on top, or simply with a thought in your head, then I say, "Why not?"
Once you remove the barriers from magical correspondences, then you can begin to play with them. Your spell goes from, "What ingredients do I have to work with, and what outcome can I get from them?" to "What outcome do I want, and what can I use in order to achieve that outcome?"
Finding a correspondence
So you're feeling a bit more comfortable with the idea of correspondences, but you don't want to have to think of any. Not to worry. There are a ton of resources for finding correspondences, most of which are sorted by theme or desired outcome.
The fastest and easiest source is the internet. You can search based on the ingredients themselves by adding "spiritual meaning, "magical properties," or "magical correspondences" after your items in a Google search. Or, you can search by desired outcome. Continuing with the example of a self-love spell, you would search something like, "self-love spell ingredients" or "self-love magical correspondences." You will likely find a ton of suggestions that differ, so take what you read with a grain of salt and, as always, listen to your intuition.
Another great source is books. There are a ton of books out there with lists of correspondences. Some cover only the correspondences of various plants, whereas others may only look into crystal correspondences, or colour correspondences. You can find books that cover the correspondences of many different categories, however you would be hard pressed to find a truly comprehensive list. Even if you did, I consider correspondences to be subjective, so you'd likely be mentally tweaking the list anyway.
The next important source is your own family. There is a reason why families from different backgrounds use different correspondences to achieve the same end result. Through their individual experiences, they develop their personal preferences for which ingredients to use. By continuing your family's traditions, you are including a little bit of generational magic into your spell. Even if your family is not particularly into magic, they likely hold some beliefs about some ingredients. If your grandmother swears by a concoction of ginger, lemon, and honey for curing colds, then you could use that same mixture for a healing spell, even if the spell is for emotional healing. You might add a drop of rosewater into the "potion" to represent the emotional aspect of the spell. The world is your cauldron.
Finally, and this is probably the best resource around, you can turn to your own experiences in order to discover the perfect correspondences for yourself. If peaches remind you of strength and empowerment because, once, you ate 3 peaches before a track meet that you ended up winning, then peaches are your perfect correspondence for strength and empowerment. Being in tune with your own beliefs and experiences will only increase the power of your spells.
Creating your own correspondences
The key to coming up with great ideas for correspondences is to let your creativity run wild. If you're creative enough, everything could be a symbol of something else.
A fun way to get better with finding your own correspondences is learning various types of symbolism. As you learn about the general symbolism or meanings of colours, numbers, letters, shapes, animals, insects, seasons, planets, and more, you can begin to combine them when the opportunity presents itself.
The more you work with correspondences, the more you see them in everything you look at. A spiderweb could represent working hard to build something. A feather could represent rising above drama. A pickle could represent transformation and longevity.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to choosing your magical ingredients. The important part is that they resonate with you and that they help you get to your end goal.
Using correspondences in your practice
Once you have your correspondences, whether you found them in a book or came up with them yourself, then you can begin planning your spell and actually casting it. Just like correspondences, spell work is subjective and is meant to resonate with the individual caster.
Your spell could utilize correspondences in a one-time fashion, either by putting them in a jar and disposing of it, burying them, burning them, consuming them, or giving them away.
Or, you could create a long-lasting spell by keeping the correspondences nearby and using them when you need them, or by keeping them in your car or on your person for protection. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It would be impossible to write a complete list of all possible spells, or even of all possible types of spells, because creativity is limitless.
The important takeaway here is that rigidity has no place in the world of magic. Creativity and flexibility are what truly make a spell magical. When it comes to choosing correspondences, don't let fear or self-doubt get in the way. Your answers are the perfect answers for you.