Table of Correspondences - Wine

[Jim Eshelman]

I realized recently that I'd never composed a Table of Correspondences mapping wines to the parts of the Tree of Life, and this could be really useful, as well as interesting. The one contribution I know of in this area is the Aurum Solis (Denning & Phillips) lists of wines for each planet in Planetary Magick. My approach is different from theirs.

I thought I'd let everybody witness me building it up.

[Jim Eshelman]

Seven grapes make up about 90% of all the wine consumed in the world - either as varietals or as parts of blends. These makes a natural basis for attributions of the seven planets, and it's a well-balanced set.

One natural division is red vs. white - an intensely alchemical division. (There is, of course, a category of "other," primarily rosés). The chief alchemical distinction is that the White elixir is lunar and feminine, and the Red elixir is solar and masculine. (In certain formulations, these switch, but it's the root idea I'm going with; and it follows a cultural trend of women tending more toward whites in the aggregate, and men toward reds.) If we correlate the single most produced red in the world, and the single most produced white in the world, the veritable king and queen of wines, with the Sun and Moon, we get the first two entries in our table:

Sun (Tifereth) - Cabernet Sauvignon
Moon (Y'sod) - Chardonnay

Before continuing with the other five most-consumed wines on the planet - Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah - I want to cut to Hakh'mah and Biynah. (I really love this one....)

Cabernet Sauvignon is the child of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Therefore, these two wines should be attributed to Tifereth's parents. Indeed, the fit is decent. The ancient power of Cab Franc is quite suitable for Hakh'mah, including its subtlties of pepper, violets, and deep red fruit. Sauvignon Blanc expresses the diverse sides of Biynah, e.g., the moist and the dry - her Loire and Bordeaux styles being starkly different. They are generally more austere than Chardonnay. (PS - Cooler climate Sauv Blancs will need to be attributed to Teyth as well, given that they typically are pale golden with a bare tinge of green, and have a distinctive nose of cat pee.) - There is much more I could say about Sauvignon Blanc and Biynah - the goddess encounters - but I leave that to other explorers to uncover on their own.

And these, as with Sun and Moon, give us another Red and White root-pair for the Supernal parents, the roots of Fire and Water.

As for the other four planets:

Mercury (Hod) - Riesling. Flexible, adaptive, nearly as versatile as Chardonnay, as Mercury is nearly as adaptable and versatile as the Moon. (Understand that I'm thinking of the high-acid Rhine and Finger Lakes varieties and the intentionally long-fermented Dry Rieslings of California, that show incredible fruit depth - not the sweet, sugary, more typical Californian Riesling that is the worst example of what our abundant sunshine can do.)

Venus (Netzach) - Pinot Noir (especially, but not exclusively, the Dijon clones). The essence of love and sensuality, of full bouquette and intense femininity. (Some of its best clone catalogue numbers are even among the greatest of feminine numbers: 3, 15, 667, 777; and Pinot Gris has a 156.) It is one of the most ancient of wines, as Venus, in some senses, existed long before even the Old Gods. (Its relatives and special forms - such as the abundant Burgundian rosés - fit other Venus expressions.)

Mars (G'boorah) - Syrah, especially the warm-climate varieties but, more generally, all of them. Powerful, masculine, pounding with their power, a serious red for serious red drinkers. (A close second would be Zinfandel, though - with its greater mobility and spicier pepper, probably better suited to Peh than to G'boorah.)

Jupiter (Hesed) - Merlot. Difficult to separate in its history from the wine attributed to the Sun and, in its own right, besides the typical deep purple color, a wine often marked by excesses of softness. The grapes themselves are softer, mushier, and the wine (often described as "Cabernet Sauvignon with all the good stuff taken out") offends only by the extent of its inoffensiveness. (However, stepping outside the "big 7," one can't think of Jupiter without thinking Sangiovese, a name that literally means, "Jove's [Jupiter's] blood.")

This leaves only Mal'khooth and Kether.

Mal'khooth is the blend - the heart and soul of traditional wine making, the intermingling of the many in a harmonious unity. Of these, the Bordeaux wines rank foremost for Mal'khooth, though the idea of blends in general is expressive of Mal'khooth. (These may be of either a white or red variety.) A secondary attribution to this s'fiyrah would be "earthy" wines overall, such as mature Pinot Noir.

And to Kether go sparkling wines in general and, as the crown of crowns, Champagne.

[Jim Eshelman]

This is the main part I have developed. The remainder could be fleshed out and tweaked, with this as a starting point. I'll provide a table below with a few early thoughts. I'll sit comfortably on the attributions above, and more adaptively on any others added below.

Kether - Chapagne (and, more generally, sparkling wines).
Hakh'mah - Cabernet Franc.
Biynah - Sauvignon Blanc.
Hesed - Merlot. Sangiovese.
G'boorah - Syrah (Zinfandel).
Tifereth - Cabernet Sauvignon. (Grenache.)
Netzach - Pinot Noir.
Hod - Riesling (Pinot Blanc).
Y'sod - Chardonnay (Pinot Grigio).
Mal'khooth - Bordeaux & other blends.

Alef - Gamay. Beaujolais and carbonic style wines in general.
Beyth - Riesling.
Gimel - Chardonnay.
Daleth - Pinot Noir, especially its Rosés. Semillon, Viognier.
Hé - Roussanne. Viognier.
Vav - Cinsault. Mourvedre.
Zayin -
Heyth - Malvasia Bianca.
Teyth - Sauvignon Blanc.
Yod -
Kaf - Merlot, Sangiovese.
Lamed - Viognier?
Meym - Pinot Blanc, Vermentino.
Noon - Marsanne.
Samekh - Red Malvasia, Sangiovese.
A'ayin - Negroamaro. Mourvedre. Non-vinifera native American grapes.
Peh - ZInfandel, Primitivo, Cabernet Pfeffer (Syrah); Etna Rosso & volcanic wines in general.
Tzaddi - Petite Sirah.
Qof - Pinot Gris, Roussanne, Marsanne.
Reysh - Cabernet Sauvignon. Grenache.
Shiyn - Grenache.
Tav - Petit Verdot. Dornfelder. (Sauvignon Blanc.)

Some I still want to catalogue (in addition to reconsidering some of the above): Aglianico albarino, Amarone della Valpolicella, Arneis, Barbaresco, Barbera, Barolo, Brunello di Montipulciano, Dolcetto, Dornfelder, Gavi, Gewurztraminer, Greco, Gruner Veltliner, Lambrusco, Lemberger, Malbec, Montepulciano, Muscat, Negrette, Passito, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Pigato, Soave, Tempranillo, Teroldogo, Touriga Nacional, Valpolicella,

[Gnosomai Emauton]

The various fortified wines might be a good match for Yod, aging in the darkness, guided to correct maturation of flavor only by the knowledge of tradition.

Great list!

[Saeptus]

Consumed alcohol for the first time in 4 years recently. Haven't had any since I discovered my spiritual side. A little bit helps loosen you up (maybe helpful with digging deeper?), a lot feels like a total emergence with "all that is". That part totally sucks, so I really find no use for the stuff! I kind of wanted to see what kind of idiot I had left in there (just like Gurdjieff's parties ).

I'm admittedly have no experience with Magick accept involuntary things I've experienced, maybe these substances would be helpful with ritual.

[Jim Eshelman]

I made several small additions and adjustments to the minor parts of the list.

[ThelemicMage]

I'm interested in how you attribute the keys of the kingdom with high-grade Puerto Rican rum.

Wanted to type this a month ago but was not drunk enough to ask.



Hail Eris!
All Hail Discordia!!

[Jim Eshelman]

Rum is made from sugar cane. That mandates Venus. When I think high end & Puerto Rican, I think Ron Barralito 4 star. It's amber color is Netzach in the King Scale but deeper.

So I guess I'd go with Netzach, with secondary attribution to Reysh for the amount of Lesser Mysteries sunlight it embodies.

[ThelemicMage]

Thanks, Jim.

An interesting subject, indeed.

Hail Eris!
All Hail Discordia!!