Ideas on Using Household Items in Your Magical Workings

When doing magical workings, many people find it easier to structure their rituals or spells based upon magical correspondences -- the concept that everything has a signature, of sorts, that connects it to symbols and meanings. For example, if you wanted to do a working related to money, correspondences might include the colors green and gold, as well as herbs such as basil and pennyroyal, and stones like emerald and lodestone.

To truly be effective with magic, however, you should learn to find magical correspondences all around you. One exercise we did here on the website was the Magical Mondays series, in which readers were given an ordinary item and asked to come up with magical uses for it. This encouraged folks to think outside the box, and see the magical in the most mundane things. Look at it this way - our ancient ancestors didn’t have catalogs or websites to shop from. They had to create and harness magic using simply what they already owned and what they could gather, nothing else. Let's take a lesson from them, and consider some magical correspondences of the things you might find around your home.

Air: Feathers, fans, incense
Balance: Scales, batteries, weights, magnets
Beauty: Flowers, seashells, birds, the moon, dolls, cosmetics
Children: Teddy bears, toys, peanut butter and jelly
Courage: Lions, armor
Earth: Coins, dirt, salt
Employment: Doors, business cards, corporate logos, dolls dressed in career-wear, beehive or bees
Fertility: Baskets, cups, bowls, cauldrons, eggs, baby dolls, baby clothes or shoes, lunar associations
Finances/Money: Wallet, purse, coins, dollar signs
Fire: Candles, lighters, stoves or ovens, fireplaces, dragons
Gambling/Games: Dice, playing cards, game tokens or poker chips
Healing: Reiki symbols and other energy work symbols, candles, medical supplies
Intuition: The moon, mirrors, doors and windows
Legal Issues/Court Cases: Scales, hammers,
Love: Hearts, roses, harps and other string instruments, apples, seashells
Pets/Animals: Dog biscuits, pet supplies like a bowl or collar
Protection: Iron nails, fences, gates or walls, arrows, rope or chain, dragons, sweet gum balls
Sleep: Pillows, sheep, doll beds, moons and stars
Strength: Acorns, arrows, shields, swords, heraldry, eagles or other predatory birds
Water: Cups, bowls, seashells, sinks or bathtubs, rain boots
Wisdom: Owls, eyeglasses, serpents

by: Patti Wigington