Correspondences, Law of

Correspondences, Law of

The law of correspondences refers, primarily, to the notion—widely accepted in occult circles—that everything in this world is the manifestation of some spiritual principle. The expression “as above, so below” partially articulates this idea. Because the premodern world believed that celestial bodies were spiritual (or at least semispiritual), the law of correspondences was invoked to explain astrological influences. The ancient notion of correspondences is sometimes equated with the modern idea (derived from Jungian psychology) of synchronicity. However, synchronicity applies to any meaningful coincidence—not simply to parallels between events “above” and events “below.” Synchronicity also does not carry the same metaphysical connotations usually associated with the law of correspondences.