City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001
The Visible City
Meeting the Makers
WORLD: Middle World
COLORS: Gray, green, yellow, brown
ELEMENTS: Earth, but all elements
TOTEMS: Cat, dog, spider, and all household pets
ARCHETYPES: Mortals, mythic heroes, physical man, nature spirits, elementals
POWERS: Physical change, career, home, money, divination, physical healing, past, present, and future lives, time travel
The middle world is the world of the here and now. It is the visible city, the physical world. The things everybody else can see are a part of the visible city. You live in the middle world. You work in the middle world. Time goes forward there, and you are bound by the laws of space and physics. The territory of this world has been mapped well by the scientists and philosophers of the world. This land can be measured by the physical senses, at least up to a point. Once you start stretching your sights to the levels below the subatomic, you reach the boundaries between the worlds. When you look deeply into the entire spectrum of energy, you reach another boundary of this dimension. Science is discovering this even now, but there are lots of places to play in the middle world. Our perception of reality, as always, is the key.
All time is the realm of the visible city. All time has far-reaching implications. All diviners, whether looking to the future or watching the past, work with the ethers of the middle world. Our perception of time is linear. Part of our perception is biological, but it need not be completely linear if we choose not to look at it in that way. We generally look at events as beads on a string. In reality, we are all in a big bowl of loose beads. The string exists only in our perception. Everybody’s string is different. Without the string, you can pick and choose any event in the bowl.
The physical world clouds our perception as well. There are many layers of it. Even within the bounds of the visible city, there is something hidden. Everything has a physical energy to it, but we can not always see it. Radio waves, electrons, and oxygen molecules all have a physical nature, but we do not see them with our physical eyes unless we amplify our senses with physical equipment, without which we can not see the more subtle aspects of physical reality. The same can be said for auras, chakras, and spirits. We can see such phenomena with our psychic eyes, amplifying our physical senses with psychic abilities. By opening our perceptions, we can see the invisible. By looking deeply, we can see the worlds within worlds and feel the unseen energy coursing around us.
EXERCISE 9 -SIDEWALKING
Take a middle-world journey in the visible city. This is a walking meditation. Yes, that’s right. Disregard incense, candles, tools, or anything else. It is just you and your favorite boots, or whatever you use to decorate your feet. Pick something comfortable. Start your experience walking down the streets where you live. You may be walking on the sidewalks, but, by the end, you will be walking between the sides of reality, or walking between worlds.
We have all taken walks to think about our lives. The walk clears our heads, a great prescription for the troubled mind. Here we are free from distractions, can find solutions, and come to decisions. Perhaps such journeys make us feel better by distracting us from the problems we have. This journey is a little different. Instead of thinking, or marching mindlessly, you are going to walk mindfully. You are going to peel the layers of the middle world, just to see what is beneath.
Begin your journey with a prayer to your gods and guardians to watch over you. You are not going to be doing anything dangerous, but you will be out in the city, and you never know what is lurking. Always be careful in the jungle. Reaffirm your protective shield in your mind, or perform the shield meditation (see Exercise 4, page 27).
Call upon your totem to build a strong relationship with it. Ask for the totem’s guidance. You feel or see it psychically on your walk, going before you, or alongside you. If you have difficulty perceiving it, don’t worry. As long as you ask it to be there, your totem will be present.
Before starting, pick a general path or direction—a destination and a general way to get there. You do not need to know specifics. It can be on streets with which you are intimately familiar, or on more unknown streets. Just make sure not to get lost. Keep a map in your back pocket if you feel the need. Preparation is a sign of a good sorcerer, but so is trust, so, first, follow your instincts, and carry cab fare. Then start your journey.
You can alter your appearance by dressing differently than you normally would. Wear your magical street garb—a special jacket, coat, or shirt. These garments can become your magical armor, your own ritual robes. Magicians wear robes to put themselves in a magical mind set, reserving special clothes for magical adventures. Such special sidewalking clothes can serve the same purpose. Wear them only when out walking like this. Soon, you will notice your perceptions wake up on all your walks.
As silly as it seems, entering a magical state is like playing pretend. Children enter these magical states all the time. Do you really think there is no one there when so many children talk to imaginary friends? I know that someone is talking back to most of them. You can play pretend even more by changing your energy appearance, much like an actor taking on a new role or guise. By pretending, you take on elements and images that are not physical, but that change your self-perception and other people’s perception of you. Such etheric masks are called glamours in Celtic traditions. They are usually used by the fairy folk to make the unattractive seem beautiful. Create a glamour to suit this new adventure and adopt it mentally. Imagine yourself in the role, and your energy will conform to your intent, as an actor does. You may start out feeling foolish, but as the journey progresses let go of your self-consciousness and really get into the new role.
Be mindful of your environment, and put yourself in a light trance state to make everything more interesting. Open up your psychic senses. Visualize your third eye opening up, letting you see the worlds between worlds, while still fully conscious and open in the physical world. You will see people and places in ways you have never imagined, but you will stay focused in the physical, not delving too deeply in the trance work. You will not have a shamanic journey, and will still be able to see cars and other pedestrians. You will, however, be seeing the things that cross into the middle world, now into your own personal visible city.
As you walk around, your psychic senses may make you more mindful of other people’s thoughts and intentions. By looking at them, you may get “good” or “bad” vibes from them, perhaps more strongly than ever. My empathy gets stronger in the city, especially in subways. You can see auras, and know if someone is happy, sad, healthy, or sick. As you walk, you won’t be able to look at any one person for long, so keep going and look at many different people. Some will be closed off and others will remain quite open. Take a break from your journey, sit down somewhere discreet, and people-watch. Let the world pass you, as you soak it up with magical eyes.
Buildings will speak out to you. Each home has a spirit. By walking by or touching something, you can activate your psychometric powers. You can “read” the past, present, or future of an object. Touch is not always necessary to get this information, but it often helps. By walking by an object, you breathe its energy. You read the vibrations of the objects around you. City gods are speaking through the statues and sculptures. Be prepared for anything.
Go to various shops and look around, remembering that nothing is as it seems. Everything has a hidden story. Get a feel for each place you go. Make it a quest. You have to retrieve something from each place. Find simple tools to use in later ceremonies, like matches from a bar to light your candles, a magazine with the picture of whatever you desire to use in a ritual, and some good bread from a bakery to leave on your altar as an offering to your gods. Make it a small-scale adventure.
Look up at times, into the sky and between buildings. Look for the lines of power that cover the earth. These Earth grid lines, ley lines, or dragon lines (which may or may not all denote the same thing) flow in and around the cities. The vortex upon which the city is built is probably connecting to a lot of energy lines. You can feel them in your hands as you walk, or in your gut or solar plexus if you pass through them. Energy lines feel warm, tingly, hot, or cold. As you do several of these sidewalking trips, see if you can start to map out the lines of power. Mark them on a special magical map of your city. Mark special places that feel particularly powerful to you magically. These places make you feel good. Also, note places that lack power or feel malevolent to you. You will want to avoid these energies in ritual. This magical map will come in handy for later spell work.
Most energy lines go right through buildings, while other lines are disrupted by the concrete and steel. In some cases, steel beams can act as lightning rods for magical energy, grounding it into the earth. The city street grid may flow with some of the natural lines, since old roads often follow natural paths of power. Later, these paths are paved over, becoming the random lines in what is otherwise an ordered grid. Physical power lines from electric and telephone companies also disrupt the grid. They have their own brand of not-so·subtle power, making a second grid across the city. I think energy-line disruption is one of the reasons why cities have grown unhealthy for many, when they could have turned out differently. The next time you charge your protective shield, ask it specifically to protect you from electromagnetic and energy pollution. This harmful energy comes from power lines, television screens, computers, and most other electrical devices.
Besides energy lines and power centers, other hot spots include haunted areas and time loops. In some areas, you may feel a presence, especially if there is a strong historic element to a tragedy or death. If the public continues to visit, it can be difficult for the spirits to move on. Boston has a lot of historic spots connected to the Revolutionary War. Their energy is still highly charged. Ellis Island is another such place. You may have an eerie feeling, or get chills up and down your spine, when visiting such places. My father, who is not particularly psychic, feels this presence on Ellis Island and the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Astral sight reveals the spirits of those who have walked Earth, or other beings not in a human shape. Some hauntings are not even occupied by independent spirits. They are like time loops, in which an event was so strong that it was recorded into the energy patterns of the area. Every so often, like a bad record, the event gets played again. Visions of ghosts walking down the same stairs, again and again, and making no other contact, are an example of this. Ghost battles at historic sights, where people can swear they hear cannons or catch glimpses of that long-ago battle are another example.
Animal totems besides your own can appear to you in the physical or astral realm, with other messages and warnings. Certain messages or signs jump out at you as important. They may come in the form of street signs and billboards, where some words stick out as more important than the others. Take note of all significant events. Use you intuitive skills.
Spirit guides, or the guides and higher selves of other people out walking with you get your attention when you are in this state. When you are in a trance, even a light walking trance, you are “open” to these things and must be careful. Confirm that the influence is for your highest good before heeding these voices. If you do not feel love emanating from these beings as they give you a message, be careful. Remember that the difference between schizophrenia and shamanism is control. If you are uncomfortable, bring yourself to normal consciousness. If you have a hard time doing that, get something to eat. This will ground you, snapping you out of the altered state. Get a chocolate bar, a cup of coffee or tea, or a soft drink. Believe it or not, caffeine is grounding. It brings you back to the body, even if it leaves you a little strung-out.
If you reached your destination with no problem, you may be up for walking back the same way, retracing your steps, or walking back a new way. Or you may want to call it quits for the night and take a cab or bus home. If you are tired, you can walk back anyway, but return from your meditative state. Once you get home, sit quietly and think about your experience. Write it down in a magical journal. How did this open your perceptions? You may have to do this several times before you get over the feeling of being foolish or entering your normal walking mode, particularly if you already do a lot of walking in the city.