City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001

Meeting the Makers

REALITY IS MUTABLE. That is one of the basic facts of magick. Magick makers have this unique view of reality. This particular viewpoint is what makes them extraordinary in what others perceive as a mundane world. Shamans and witches see the world for what it really is-an illusion. The Hindu myths call the illusion the Maya. Breaking through the Maya to find oneness is the goal of the spiritual seeker. Other paths and traditions understand the many worlds and dimensions interacting with ours. By understanding the cosmology of reality, you understand where the different powers reside.

Many reality maps exist. You can use systems like the Norse World Tree, Yggdrasil, the Kabalah, the seven rays, or the twelve dimensions. They all work well if you resonate with them. Systems of mythology runes, tarot, sounds, and colors relate to them, and are used as a system of correspondence in magick. The basic shamanistic concept of reality has a middle world in which we reside, an upper world, and a lower, or underworld. The World Tree, a cosmic axis, is the connecting force between them. Trees are traditional in European groups. Mountain and butte imagery is more familiar in the Native American and Australian aboriginal faiths-a stone reaching up to the sky and rooted deep within the earth. Or, if you live in a city, the three worlds are connected by the most obvious image of a skyscraper.

The skyscraper is the perfect vehicle for connecting the realms (see figure 3, page 77). As a tall, multistoried building, the structure exists in the middle world. The main entrance is on the ground floor. You start any journey from the middle world. The tower itself reaches toward the sky, to the starry realms of the sky gods. The foundation of the building is deep in the earth, and connects the building to the city’s tunnel and maintenance systems. Some see the construct as a world engine or world machine, keeping the universe moving in the right place and time. For our uses, I think the tower image, like the tarot card, reaching high to the heavens, is more conducive to shamanic work.

The image of the skyscraper is so evocative. Each has a steel skeleton, with beams and bars holding it together like a cross between the human skeleton and the exoskeleton of some giant insect. The structure is so powerful, practically defying the laws of gravity. In their own way skyscrapers can be as impressive as many ancient wonders. They have their own modern magick.

Even though American skyscrapers originated in Chicago, I cannot think of them without evoking images of the New York City skyline, where each building is taller and grander than the next. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the twin towers of the World Trade Center immediately form in the movie of my mind. Now tall buildings exist all over the world. Each is unique, with different characteristics and quirks. The styles, from neogothic to the more modern, bring a certain response from us. Some may be scary, evoking primal feelings. Those are the best images for your shamanistic travels.

Through the skyscraper, you can travel to these other worlds by a shamanistic elevator, counting the floors you pass, as in a meditative countdown. This technique is used in hypnosis to regress someone into the past, or into past lives. Each floor represents a different time period. Some adventurous practitioners choose to climb the astral elevator cables through the shaft that runs up the building. Others journey in the stairwells, the dangerous caverns and tunnels connecting the levels. The traditionalist can try climbing the outside of the building, like climbing the branches of the World Tree. I see my favorite childhood superhero, the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, as a shaman when I picture someone climbing up a building.

Figure 3. The Worldscraper.

Imagine, in your own worldview, your own image of a skyscraper running through the three worlds. What would it look like? The Worldscraper may be shiny and new, glass and steel reflecting the dimensions upon itself like living liquid silver. The building may look archaic and abandoned, with broken windows and elevators that fail to go all the way to the top. This may be an aspect of your beliefs about the universe, your unconscious bleeding through into the images you see. One reality flows effortlessly through the others. Incorporate the image into your personal mythology and use it as your vehicle for dimensional travel. Then learn the three realms. It is here that you will find the city’s power and helping spirits. Here reside the unseen makers and masters of the worlds upon worlds. Spirits, the etheric and astral worlds, form a template for the physical world. Its actions affect us as we affect them. Each one has power over different areas in our lives. As you travel on your power quests, your totem will often guide you.