When I first started learning about Wicca, I wrote down everything I could get my hands on. I had pages and pages....and pages of notes and correspondence tables and it wouldn't be until years later that I realized it wasn't working for me and I needed something more personal.
So many times we are tempted to lose ourselves and take on the teachings in a book or from a teacher as law. We don't stop to think if this information resonates with us and helps us feel closer to the God and Goddess.
Yes, there are specific properties of things that hold true to every person, but there are also personal properties of things that we need to discover for ourselves.
Now lets take the Sabbats as an example. If you live in Alaska and are learning weather from someone in Egypt, there's going to be some slight differences. One thing I have told people and will reiterate until I'm blue in the face is the purpose of properties and correspondences is to get you to your higher state of consciousness and closer to the God and Goddess where you can move mountains. If someone tells me to use the color orange for healing and orange, to me, does not seem like a healing color or it represents something negative to me, the whole time I try to use it I will be distracted by my personal feelings towards it and that takes away from my focus.
Going back to the Sabbats, one thing that you will find when doing your own studies is that you will get several hundred different answers about what colors (just to name one thing) correspond to a specific Sabbat. Now, if you are in a coven and especially if that coven follows a certain tradition, you will follow what they tell you to do, unless it's not specified, which is fine if that's what you want and what works for you. If you're solitary like me and follow no tradition, or if your coven allows you to chose correspondences for yourself try this exercise:
I just did this exercise myself today and found it refreshing.
You can use this as a meditation or just something random to do.
On a piece of paper, make a list of each Sabbat and it's date, leave a line in between each one.
Now start with the first Sabbat, think about what time of year it's during, what season it is, what you see most, what immediately pops into your head when you think of this time of year. What colors stand out to you?
(There is no wrong answer here, do not be afraid to let your mind wander and consider possibilities, uninhibited by what you've been told before)
Write these colors down (I suggest at least two).
Repeat with each Sabbat.
Try using the colors you wrote down for you altar decorations and color correspondences for each Sabbat this year and journal your results.
I guarantee you will feel more in tune with the season and what you're celebrating. I also guarantee that you will have better results if you perform a ritual and you will be able to focus more.
If this does not happen, revisit this exercise because something is holding you back. Maybe you weren't being honest with yourself, maybe you're still thinking about what you have been told in the past. It may take a few tries for some, and only one for others. It may even change! And guess what...that's ok.
So, if you have a few minutes today, sit down and try this (I even googled pictures with key words to help me out when I did it). Don't forget to record what you find out.
