The Correspondence & Safety Grimoire
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Correspondences mapped to what a shop can actually keep in stock, plus the safety pages this trade has needed for years — what is really safe in a candle, in water, in salt and in sun, with sources — and the Wheel of the Year as a buying calendar. Six pages.
For witch, pagan and metaphysical shops
The Correspondence
& Safety Grimoire
Correspondences mapped to what a shop can actually keep in stock, plus the safety pages this trade has needed for years: what is really safe in a candle, in water, in salt and in sun — with sources, not vibes.
Correspondences by intention
| Intention | The stones customers ask for | Formats that sell |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | Black tourmaline, obsidian, smoky quartz, hematite, jet | Tumbles, chips for jars, pocket stones, pouches |
| Banishing & cutting | Obsidian, black tourmaline, black onyx | Points, tumbles, chips |
| Cleansing & clearing | Selenite, clear quartz, plus sage and palo santo | Wands, plates, stick 10-packs, bundles |
| Love & self-worth | Rose quartz, rhodonite, garnet, carnelian | Hearts, tumbles, bracelets, kits |
| Abundance & luck | Citrine, pyrite, green aventurine, jade, tiger's eye | Clusters, tumbles, money-jar chips |
| Divination & intuition | Amethyst, labradorite, moonstone, obsidian | Pendulums, spheres, runes, points |
| Grounding | Red jasper, hematite, smoky quartz, black tourmaline | Palm stones, worry stones, tumbles |
| Rest & dream work | Amethyst, lepidolite, moonstone, howlite | Tumbles, pouches, bedside pieces |
| Communication & truth | Sodalite, lapis lazuli, blue lace agate, kyanite | Tumbles, bracelets, pendants |
| Courage & will | Carnelian, red jasper, tiger's eye, garnet | Tumbles, bracelets, candle tops |
| Grief & endings | Apache tear obsidian, rose quartz, smoky quartz | Pocket stones, pouches |
| Home & threshold | Black tourmaline, selenite, clear quartz | Larger raw pieces, plates, points |
Traditions disagree, and a good shop says so. Where two sources conflict, the honest answer at the counter is “several traditions use it differently — here is the one I work with.”
The sixteen stones a shop should not run out of
Ranked by how often they are asked for across shops like yours, with the format that sells fastest.
| Stone | Asked for | Best format | Notes for the counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black tourmaline | Protection, grounding | Tumbles, chips, raw | The single most-requested stone in a witch shop |
| Amethyst | Rest, intuition, sobriety work | Tumbles, clusters, points | Fades in strong sun — keep it out of the window |
| Rose quartz | Love, self-compassion | Tumbles, hearts, bracelets | Does not fade, despite what the internet says |
| Clear quartz | Cleansing, amplifying, all-purpose | Points, tumbles, clusters | The default answer when someone is unsure |
| Obsidian | Banishing, scrying, shadow work | Spheres, tumbles, chunks | Volcanic glass — edges can be sharp when raw |
| Selenite | Cleansing, altar tools | Sticks, plates, bowls | Never wash it. Gypsum dissolves |
| Citrine | Abundance | Tumbles, clusters | Nearly all commercial citrine is heat-treated amethyst |
| Pyrite | Money work | Chunks, tumbles | Corrodes in damp air — keep it dry |
| Labradorite | Divination, glamour | Palm stones, spheres | Angle it to the light or the flash is invisible |
| Moonstone | Cycles, dreams | Tumbles, bracelets | Reliable at gift price points all year |
| Carnelian | Courage, creativity, fire | Tumbles, runes | Popular for Beltane and candle work |
| Red jasper | Grounding, endurance | Tumbles, runes, palm stones | Cheap, hard, forgiving — good starter stock |
| Smoky quartz | Grounding, protection | Points, tumbles | Strong sun can lighten it over time |
| Green aventurine | Luck, growth | Tumbles, bracelets | Spring seller; sits well beside plants |
| Lepidolite | Calm, rest | Tumbles, palm stones | Soft and flaky — not a pocket stone |
| Sodalite / lapis | Truth, speech | Tumbles, bracelets | Lapis is porous; keep it away from perfume |
A first order for a new shop
Four tumbled lines by the bag (black tourmaline, obsidian, amethyst, rose quartz) · two chip grades for jars · one selenite line · one pendulum 3-pack · one cleansing bundle 3-pack · a pack of pouches. That is roughly $300 at listed prices — the point where shipping is free and the 365-day exchange begins.
Crystals in candles, properly answered
The honest position, because the internet has none: stone is not flammable. The National Candle Association's warning about embedded objects is aimed at flammable additions and explicitly excludes non-flammable items such as metal and stone. That is not the end of the question, though — anything sitting in a melt pool changes how a candle burns.
| Placement | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Chips pressed into the top wax, clear of the wick | Safest option | Decorative, removed before the burn reaches them, no effect on the flame |
| A ring of stone around the wick, set back | Test first | Fine on a wide vessel, risky on a narrow one where the melt pool reaches the glass |
| Stone suspended through the wax body | Test first | Changes burn rate and heat distribution as it is exposed |
| Anything in the wick path | Never | Interferes with the flame, can overheat the vessel, can crack the stone |
| Soft, dyed, coated or fractured stone | Never | Heat pops fractures and destroys treatments; selenite is heat- and water-sensitive |
The test burn — do this before you sell the design
- Burn one candle of the exact design, start to finish, on a heat-safe surface, never unattended.
- Watch the first four hours: does the flame stay under about 3 in (76 mm)? Does anything smoke or spit?
- Touch the vessel: uncomfortably hot glass means the design is wrong, not the wick.
- Check whether stone ends up in the melt pool as the level drops. If it does, redesign.
- Confirm nothing re-ignites after you put it out — that is the Canadian regulatory line for candles.
- Write the result down. It is what you will want if a customer ever asks.
What to use on candle tops
Quartz-family chips (clear, rose, amethyst), jasper, agate and carnelian — hard, solid, untreated, cheap by the bag. Tiny and extra-small grades sit in the surface wax without unbalancing the candle. A 100 g bag tops a lot of candles.
Water and elixirs
The International Gem Society's guidance is blunt: avoid making potions with toxic gems. This is the one page in this document where being wrong actually hurts someone.
| Never in drinking water | Why |
|---|---|
| Malachite, azurite | Copper-bearing and soluble in acids — rated high toxicity for dust and ingestion |
| Cinnabar | Mercury sulfide. Not negotiable |
| Realgar, orpiment | Arsenic compounds |
| Galena | Lead sulfide — safe to hold, dangerous if ground or swallowed |
| Selenite, halite, angelite | Not toxic — they dissolve. Selenite at roughly 2 g/L; salt at about 150× that |
| Pyrite, chalcopyrite | Sulfides that corrode in water and damp air |
| Anything dyed, coated or unidentified | You cannot assess what you cannot name |
The indirect method — teach this in the shop
Put the stone in a sealed vessel (a small jar, a sealed vial) and stand that vessel inside the water. Nothing leaches, nothing dissolves, and the method works for every stone including the toxic ones. If a customer wants moon water with malachite, this is the answer that keeps them safe and keeps the sale.
Salt
| Fine in salt | Keep out of salt |
|---|---|
| Quartz family, obsidian, jasper, agate | Selenite and gypsum (soluble) |
| Hard, non-porous, undyed stone | Pyrite and sulfides (corrode) |
| Rough and raw pieces you are not precious about | Polished surfaces you want to keep polished — salt pits them |
| Porous stone: lapis, turquoise, howlite |
Sun
GIA notes that amethyst and citrine colour can fade with prolonged exposure to intense light; kunzite fades with heat or strong light; some fluorite fades, and celestite's blue is photosensitive. Rose quartz is described by GIA as generally stable — the widespread “rose quartz fades” claim confuses it with the much rarer crystalline pink quartz.
What a spell jar actually costs you
Fill in your own wholesale prices. The point is not the exact number — it is knowing it before you set a shelf price.
| Component | Typical | Your cost |
|---|---|---|
| Chips, 15–30 g | A 1 kg bag fills roughly 30–60 jars | |
| Bottle or jar with cork | Your packaging supplier | |
| Herbs / botanicals | Pennies per jar at bulk | |
| Wax seal or ribbon | Optional, high perceived value | |
| Label and card | Print at home or in a batch | |
| Your time | Per jar, at a real hourly rate | |
| Total cost | ||
| Retail (× 2.5–3) | Round to a price that reads right on your shelf |
Kit-building, the same maths
| Kit | Contents | Cost | Retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket protection kit | Pouch + black tourmaline + obsidian + card | ||
| Beginner altar kit | Selenite stick + clear quartz + candle + card | ||
| Divination starter | Pendulum + pouch + printed guide | ||
| Sabbat kit (seasonal) | Two stones + herb + candle + card | ||
Pricing sanity check
- Impulse band: $6–$15 — single tumbles, chips by the scoop, small pouches.
- Gift band: $20–$45 — kits, jars, bracelets, pendulums. This is where a witch shop makes its money.
- Statement: $60+ — spheres, large points, skulls, one-of-a-kind pieces.
- If everything on your shelf is one price, you are leaving the gift band empty.
The wheel, as a buying calendar
Ontario shipping runs 2–5 business days, but the obvious stones sell out because every shop wants them the same week. Order dates below build in that reality.
| Sabbat | When | What moves | Order by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samhain | Oct 31 – Nov 1 | The peak. Obsidian, black tourmaline, skulls, divination tools, kit supplies | Late September |
| Yule | ≈ Dec 21 | Gift sets, clear quartz, pouches, boxed collections, stocking tumbles | Early November |
| Imbolc | Feb 1–2 | Candles and candle supplies, selenite, clearing tools | Mid January |
| Ostara | ≈ Mar 20 | Pastels, rose quartz, amazonite, moss agate, growth themes | Late February |
| Beltane | May 1 | Carnelian, garnet, love and fire work, market season opens | Early April |
| Litha | ≈ Jun 21 | Citrine, sunstone, festival and outdoor market stock | Mid May |
| Lughnasadh | Aug 1 | Abundance stones, pyrite, harvest kits | Early July |
| Mabon | ≈ Sep 22 | Amber tones, tiger's eye, balance themes — and Samhain prep | Mid August |
Moon cycle, for the smaller rhythm
- New moon — intention-setting stock: clear quartz, journals, candles, kits.
- Waxing — growth and abundance: citrine, pyrite, green aventurine.
- Full — the busiest retail night of the month for many shops. Cleansing tools, selenite, charging plates.
- Waning — banishing and release: obsidian, black tourmaline, smoky quartz.
4.8★ from 6,939 verified buyers · ships from Ontario with no customs or brokerage · free shipping over $300 CAD · 365-day exchange on orders of $300+ · no tarot decks, oils, bowls or lamps, and we will always tell you so
Stock the shop without the border
Crystals, chips, wands, pendulums and runes from Ontario, with no minimum order and approval in about a business day.