A Slight Discrepancy..., and what am I to do? Options

Greetings,

As the title would suggest, I have found discrepancies in nearly every source on magical correspondence, I have thus far checked. Most will agree about the symbols of the elements and zodiac but few will agree on the Planets- the number, angles, hour, exc. will all differ wildly between sources. This trend is especially true of herbal correspondence; I have yet to find two sources that agree on more then ten or so- many will contradict each other out right.

Yet for some reason it all still works. Regardless of which set of correspondence I use, it seems to work most of the time. The results would indicate that the correspondence does not matter, and the effort I'm exerting is what counts. Can this be true, or is there some method to the inconsistencies that allow it to function despite the errors.

Thanks,

I was afraid that would be the sort of answer I would receive.

The correspondence itself is intended to provide a link to a specific energy - that of the elements, the planets, etc. These energies are accessed from the universe with no regard to location, timing, etc.

Is there a way to become more familiar with the nature of the energy, so one may work with the particular kinds individually, indecent of the correspondence? Or will I, through practice and time, gain this knowledge?

I was afraid that would be the sort of answer I would receive.
Is there a way to become more familiar with the nature of the energy, so one may work with the particular kinds individually, indecent of the correspondence? Or will I, through practice and time, gain this knowledge?

All you have to do is pay attention.

if you study one preffered correspondence symbol, and meditate on it's energy, you can gain some familiarity that way. learning to work with multiple energies at once without the symbols is when it gets tricky, but that's like learning to think about more than one subject a once - just takes a little brain exercise. it does come about naturaly with time if you want it to, but there's noting wrong with putting a little willful practice into it.

Try working with the astro glyphs. That's what I did to start with planetary energies, since they were so prevalent as correspondences - do such and such a thing on the day of mercury, use the energy of venus for love spells, etc. - the glyphs are really basic, but if you see the connection, then it'll work. You can also evoke spirits from each of the spheres if you are more comfortable working with entities, they can 'introduce' you to the energy, if that makes sense.

I think there's a thread somewhere on working with elemental energies, as well. it'll take some digging up. Pretty much everything can be accomplished with just familiarity with the planetary and elemental energies, there are few traditions that reference energies outside of those. Spirits, angels, etc., are within the realm of energies as well, though - for instance you don't have to actually evoke, say, buer from the goetia in order to work with his energy, and it is a specific 'blend' that has been codified into a single energy for a specific set of purposes.

peace