Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences: A Comprehensive & Cross-Referenced Resource for Pagans & Wiccans (Llewellyn's Complete Book Series, 4) by Sandra Kynes

Cross-referenced and indexed. Organized by category and subcategory, so you can come at a question from either end: what corresponds to Venus, or what does rose correspond to.

Very broad coverage. Plants, minerals, animals, deities, zodiac, moon phases, days and hours, ogham, runes, tarot, elements, numbers, chakras, and colors.

It explains the reasoning. Kynes treats correspondences as a way of thinking rather than as arbitrary lists, and shows how to build your own.

• Author: Sandra Kynes
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
• Part of Llewellyn's Complete Book Series
• SKU: BLLECOMC

Correspondences are the grammar of Western magical practice: the system of associations that lets a candle color, a herb, a planet, a day of the week, and an intention all point at the same thing. Their authority comes from tradition rather than from nature, which is worth knowing, and different sources disagree with each other freely. Cunningham and Agrippa do not always match, and a good practitioner learns to hold several systems at once.

What makes this book more useful than a bare list is that Kynes takes correspondences seriously as a way of thinking, and gives you the means to construct your own where the traditional ones do not fit. That is the honest position: a correspondence works because it means something to you and to the tradition you are working in, not because it is written down somewhere.

1. Keep it where you plan workings, not on a shelf across the room.
2. Look up from either direction: by intention, or by the material you already have.
3. Cross-check it against your other sources, and notice where they disagree.
4. Build your own correspondences where the tradition is silent, which the book shows you how to do.
5. Write down what you settle on, so your own system stays consistent.

• Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham: the standard herb reference, to cross-check against.
• Living Wicca by Scott Cunningham: for the solitary practitioner building a system.
• Blank Journal: to record the correspondences you settle on.
• The Big Book of Candle Magic by Jacki Smith: colors and candle correspondences in practice.
• Parchment Paper by Espiritu: for the petitions the reference informs.

What does it cover?

Plants, minerals, animals, deities, zodiac, moon phases, days and times, ogham, runes, tarot, elements, numbers, chakras, and colors, cross-referenced throughout.

How is it organized?

By category and subcategory, indexed both ways, so you can search by intention or by material.

Why do sources disagree about correspondences?

Because their authority is traditional rather than natural. Cunningham, Agrippa, and the folk sources often differ, and part of practice is deciding which system you are working in.

Can I make up my own?

Yes, and Kynes shows you how. A correspondence works because it means something within a tradition and to you, not because it is printed somewhere.

Is it for beginners?

It is a reference rather than an introduction, but it is very usable from the start and tends to be the book people keep longest.