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potions-n-devotions · 11 months ago

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Welcome to Potions & Devotions, I'm your host Ash, and tonight's special is:

A glass of pinot grigio, a plate of espresso crusted asiago with strawberries, and a hill for me to die on.

Listen, I like a good white wine. I like a cheap white wine too. If I'm having wine, it's white, rosé, or it better have bubbles. And cheese, you can't go wrong with cheese. Asiago is tasty, and this espresso crust gives it a bold, earthy note that contrasts nicely with the strawberry. So, with that, I feel like chatting about correspondences. Now, I certainly could chatter on about the uses of white wine and espresso in magic. But I won't. Buckle up.

Correspondences in Witchcraft

Isn't it so nice to have correspondence lists? They're so convenient, and just make it so easy to throw together spells and shit, don't they? You can just roulette wheel your way down a list of items labeled "good for money" until you hit on a handful of items you have in your house.

Too bad things like culture, personal connections, local uses, and specific traditions impact how we use an item in magic.

A common example is green for money. Some folks will argue till they're blue in the face that green is always good for money spells, even if your country's money isn't green, because trees and nature and abundance or something. Did you know that in China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan the stock market uses green for declines and red for growth? Green is directly tied to loss of money in those situations. So even the supposed universal application of green for prosperity is bullshit.

But how am I supposed to learn correspondences as a beginner if it's all subjective?!?

Start studying and recording.

Now before someone jumps in and drags my ass through the digital mud for suggesting you read, because yes my neurodivergent ass knows it can be hard to read -especially dense information- you don't need to run out to your nearest university library. Study can include reading, sure. Heck, even start with those nifty little lists that all include quartz and canva graphics. But ask where that information is coming from, and ask if it's true for everyone. Then, ask if it's true for you.

If you don't have any other resources, those pretty little lists *can* be a tool for getting started. You can do better than just skimming those lists and nodding your head though.

For one thing, ask old people in your real life what they use different herbs and rocks and such for. They've probably got folk remedies, weird lore, and local superstitions to pass on. Do any of those resonate with you? Does Old Maggie saying "chili pepper will clear out your nasal cavity and fix a head cold" sound an awful lot like the nasty cold concoction your folks fed you when you got stuffy? Congrats, you just learned that chili may very well work as a healing item for you.

Write that shit down.

If you can, add a note about why, or where you learned it.

Another thing you can do, and this is more book heavy, is look up where different correspondences come from. Did that originate in European alchemy? Did it come out of pop culture? Did Crowley pull it out his ass and slap a "genuine witchcraft" label on it for marketing to Victorian esoterics?

Maybe you're finding a lot of stuff from English folk magic is making sense for you. Then you know to look more in depth at English folk traditions and see if there's more there that makes sense. Maybe you find which things you can disregard right off the bat. Maybe you get better at identifying appropriated practices that have no place on a list of witchy ideas for celebrating the new moon. It certainly makes you more knowledgeable about your own craft.

Does this mean you're going to be putting in more work and time than copying down lists? Hell yeah. Will it be more rewarding for your practice? Almost certainly. Is it worth your time? Idfk, only you can decide if it's worth it for you.

But if you find yourself complaining that there's so much beginner material, and nothing for advancing your craft, maybe, just maybe, it's time to start looking at things that aren't going to apply to as many people as possible. I'm not saying to throw out all the building blocks you picked up when you first got started. I'm saying to make them your own. Scribble all over them, cross out lines, write in the margins! Who says YOU need to use green in money spells?! Maybe it's time to try something else and start experimenting. Go wild. Question everything, teach yourself, and accept that growing might mean leaving behind all purpose lists.

Ya know what, I lied. I am going to talk about strawberries and espresso in magic. Since I keep talking about money spells, it's only right I share something from my own spellbook with you.

Espresso holds very strong connections to money and wealth for me. I grew up poor af. I always thought anything other than a plain black drip coffee was fancy. Hell, cowboy coffee was a treat I only got when we went fishing, and I thought for a long time that's what espresso was, just, tinier. When I got older I found friends who drank Americanos (espresso poured into hot water) and couldn't for the life of me understand how that was any different from a regular coffee, except the expected price tag. When I finally had an americano I learned I was wrong. It was a different drink, and I relished it! I also learned espresso wasn't just burnt coffee boiled too long and too high. It still held a place of almost reverence in my mind though. I felt guilty liking it because it's as much as a cup of diner coffee, and it could fill a thimble (exaggeration). In my mind it still occupies a space as expensive. As a luxury. As a sign of excess. So espresso is one of my most effective tools in money spells, with an added kick of being highly energetic and encouraging movement.

Strawberries represent wealth for me in a different way. Growing up, my Nan grew strawberries. It was always a fight against time, the elements, birds and bugs to harvest enough for more than a handful sized snack at any point in time. Sure, we'd get multiple handfuls throughout the season, but a whole basket full? Nah. And getting enough for strawberry shortcake? That was rare. If we were lucky, we managed to get enough berries for a shortcake during summer. My Nan would slice up the berries, sitting in the kitchen with a big bowl and a paring knife for what seemed like hours. Then she'd sprinkle sugar over the fruit and set it aside to macerate. She'd make the shortcake, letting it cool completely. She'd give us kids a bowl of heavy cream and a whisk and tell us to keep going until our arms were about to fall off. Strawberry shortcake was a treat. It was expensive. Not monetarily, but with the time and care that went into it. So strawberries always meant something to me about success, about victory. Because it felt like victory when I bit into that cake, topped with sweet strawberries and fresh whipped cream. To this day, strawberries mean I'm going to succeed. So when I want to know my endeavors are going to pay off, I add strawberries.

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