How do YOU use correspondences?

[linabeet]

It's overwhelming, the vast number of systems out there comparing the cards to just about anything. I am fascinated by them but not sure how to grasp them.

The curiosity I have, is how people use these systems in their readings or studies?

Do you make your own connections or follow an established system? What do they do for you?

Thanks

[sapienza]

Really interesting question and one that is quite hard to answer. I have over the years worked with quite a few different systems and the whole time have tried to somehow come up with the 'perfect' system that was right for me. In many ways I have done that, I have my own astrological correspondences for the majors, I incorporate some mythological correspondences, I use the Golden Dawn meanings for the minors but also Etteilla's meanings. But also, it depends on what deck I'm using. When working with the Thoth for example, it IS a system in itself and so I usually just go with it as it comes. If I'm using an historical deck then I apply my own systems and correspondences with numerology etc.

Over the years bits and pieces have just fallen into place. It's good to try working with one system for awhile and see how it works for you. You'll take on board what resonates and discard the rest, and gradually you'll build up your own system and it will just work.

I guess using correspondences in your studies helps to expand how you interpret each card. I always think of tarot as having many layers and each system adds another layer to how the cards may be read when doing readings.

Best wishes.

[nisaba]

Originally Posted by linabeet

The curiosity I have, is how people use these systems in their readings or studies?

The short answer is, I don't. I've been studying occult stuff since about 1980 and Tarot since the seventies, and I probably have forgotten more than most people know about many, many systems of correspondences.

But I don't consciously *use* them at all in readings. I don't think about them. However, on a subconscious level, they probably enrich everything I automatically say about a card.

I often think that people who *consciously* use stuff like - say I Ching or Kabbalistic correspondences, or colours, or something, make their references in readings to them sound forced and uncomfortable. Internalise the knowledge, then don't refer to it, and it will deepen your readings without making them stilted.