Correspondences are a very Pagan thing, mostly because much of our religion is about aligning the symbols we use externally with those that resonate within. “As above, so below” is our law and we are constantly looking for better, more accurate symbols to use when manifesting our desires and creating our realities.
The Spellcaster's Reference is a great source book for one Witch’s list of symbols. I’m not always a fan of lists and tables put together by others, but I am a fan of not having to re-create the wheel every time I do a magickal working. Having a place to reference commonly used symbols saves me time and often gets me thinking deeper about what I want to use to express my private magickal language.
The information includes planets, elements, and plants and is divided by the year (seasons, astrological timing, months, days and hours), other cycles (lunar, daily, annual solar), and a directory of auspicious timing for various endeavors. This last section is the most useful; it’s an easy to use guide and collects all the information the author lays out elsewhere.
Of course, every reference guide needs to have a label attached: this is one person’s system of symbols and may or may not be accurate for you.
So, with the caveat that I don’t recommend you use it without thinking it through, The Spellcaster's Reference is recommended.
~review by Lisa Mc Sherry
Author: Eileen Holland
Weiser Books, 2009
pp. 248, $16.95
Holland also wrote The Wicca Handbook, which we reviewed in December 2008.
