Correspondences. Certain herbs and certain colors often have ties to certain spells or intentions; practically every beginning Wicca page on the Net has a list of them.

My view on the subject is a little bit different. I think every person has a different feeling about correspondences, although many people agree on many herbs, and these personal differences should be thought of as perfectly valid. If you disagree with my interpretations, let me know--I'll be glad to add your feelings about the subject to this page.

For instance, some Wiccans use a white candle for a healing spell. I use whichever color strikes me as being best for that particular person's healing. Blue is also a favorite healing color. Some see it as the spirit color, whatever that means.

Now, for the most common correspondences of color:

Red is generally associated with fire, so it extends to such things as creativity, passion, lust, and protection. It's the color of blood, which leads some to associate it with healing, or with menstrual blood. Root chakra.

Pink is generally accepted as a good color to associate with love spells. I happen to agree with that. Beeswax, however, also work nicely for candles used in love spells. Pink can be a healing color, or a color for beauty, or to honor the Goddess, especially Her as Venus. It's also the pride color for gay men, making it useful for anti-homophobia spells.

Orange is a solar color, associated with the sun, and often with the God and masculinity. Sometimes the sun is viewed as female, and solar energy corresponsingly becomes more feminine. Again, creativity is associated with this color, as is strength and personal power. Stomach chakra.

Yellow/gold is definitely solar. I consider gold a good color to use in love, healing, or wealth spells. Gold candles can be used to respresent the God, or the Crone. Solar plexus chakra.

Green is an earth color. It's the color of vegetation, so it can be used in rituals to honor Nature. It's also the color of money. Protection is associated with earth colors, so you can use green in a protective rite. Stability. Heart chakra.

Blue is a water color, associated with emotions and purification. Often used for healing. It can represent the psyche. The ebb and flow of the tides may represent the tides in a person's life, or the cycles of a woman's body. Throat chakra.

Indigo is a color associated with spiritual or mystic powers, scrying, and visualization. Third Eye chakra.

Violet is often seen as an earth color, representing the Crone side of the Earth. Crown chakra.

A chakra is an energy-point along your body: there's the root (genitals), the stomach, the solar plexus (which some people regard as a minor point and may be left out of some traditions), the heart, the throat, the third eye (in the middle of your forehead), and the crown of your head. A favorite meditation of mine is to count down the chakras, and by the time I reach the root chakra, I'm in a meditative state of mind.

Gray/silver is associated with the Goddess, particularly the Maiden, or a moon goddess. It's often associated with scrying/divination.

Herbs are a bit trickier for correspondences. Many of them have several uses, such as basil: I use it for wealth spells, love spells, and peace spells.

I'm studying herbalism in my own haphazard way, so I often recall the medicinal uses of a plant when I'm working with it.

The following are my purely subjective opinions. If you have any comments about them, say so. If you find another herb feels right for your purpose, than for heavens' sake, don't feel obliged to stick to my list--just make sure it isn't poisonous. I have a tendency to only list the herbs I've worked with or have heard a lot about. You can get many of these in the spices aisle of your grocery store.

For love (that all-encompassing subject that so many spells seem designed to attract), I recommend lavendar, rose, basil, carnation, tulip, hyacinth, orange, rosemary, apple blossoms, lilac, and any other particularly romantic flowers. Remember to do love spells only intended to bring love in general into your life. Manipulative spells are a bad business, and you won't get any help from me with them.

For lust, I recommend cinnamon, cloves, and any other particularly firey herbs. Use lust spells with caution and listen to your better judgement.

For wealth, I recommend basil, sage, thyme, that plant (its name escapes me) whose leaves look like coins, dill, patchouly, and pine. The best way to use a wealth-spell is in conjunction with something like an effort to get a job, a raise, or a promotion; mingle magic with action.

For peace, sage, coriander, fennel, carnation, lavendar, and any other plants that have particularly peaceful attributes. Goldenseal may work for that, but I haven't used it, so I wouldn't know for sure.

For protection, pine, sage, mullein, the rowan tree, juniper, cloves, a four-leaf clover, cinnamon, and possibly myrrh. (Myrrh is actually a temporary painkiller, as is the oil cloves exude when bruised.)

For invisibility, the legend goes that you can carry fernseed, or toss a handful of fernseed across your reflection in a pond. I recommend using these in conjunction with a Look-Over-There or Who-Me? spell, in which you concentrate on creating a psychic shield around you that deflects eyes away from you.

For psychic powers, you can use mugwort with caution--small amounts of mugwort shouldn't pose a problem to the best of my knowledge, but be careful, because it does contain a neurotoxin. Lavendar, rosemary, clove, and honeysuckle can also be used.

For purification, you can "smudge" yourself with the smoke of burning sage--waving it over your body to ritually cleanse yourself--in the style of Native Americans, or you can ritually sweep your space of negative energy with a consecrated broom. Quite honestly, this is one category I don't have much practice in. I suggest you experiment with it.

Some medicinal snippets: a catnip tea compress on your forehead can help relieve a headache. Pretty much any kind of tea is good for you. Chamomile tea is soothing, peppermint tea is a digestive aid, and rose hip tea is a good source of vitamin C. For more about herbalism for medicinal purposes, do a search under "homeopathy".

There are undoubtedly things I am forgetting. If you notice one, or would like more information about anything, please let me know.