City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001
The Elements in The City
Urban Magick
The traditional elements are omnipresent, and have been with us since the start of life. We have recognized their physical representatives in the most basic of ways, hearkening back to earlier, simpler times. For those of us living in the hustle and bustle of the technological world, however, the elements are still ever-present. Their forms are hiding in the unfamiliar, but their power is with us all the time. Though the forest, jungles, and mountains are far away, the actual elements are all around us, always. You just need to know where to look for them. By recognizing this, you can reconnect with the elements and honor the sacred in all your life. The more we connect to the sacred, the more we will simplify our lives and create more balance with our world.
Earth now comes in the body of the city. Structure and form come from the buildings, the homes of people. Like the Neolithic cave dwellers, the element of earth, although redistributed, provides shelter from the outside world. It gives us homes, places to do our daily work, centers for storytelling, and areas for games. All these things are well-loved by the people, then and now. Our structures are a bit more specific than the all-purpose tribal caves, but each brings a fond memory. Remember the house where you grew up, the local theater where you saw your favorite movie or play, and the arena where you first went to a game or concert. They are not unliving structures, but places of happiness. Each has character. Love of the earth element comes to us now in the form of cut stone, brick, concrete, and steel. I’m not saying our structures shouldn’t be built in harmony with the environment and use ecologically sound principles. They should, and I feel we are moving toward a partnership, rather than a war, with the environment. Older houses seem more in harmony, because they were more of an artistic endeavor rather than strictly a money-making proposition. Old houses tend to have more character, but once any house is occupied, it takes on a character. Spirit energy from the inhabitants animates it, interacting with the natural ambient energies of the structure. In many ways, it comes to life. It acquires its own personality. The spirit of your home is a great ally in magick work, much as the spirits of the forest and grove have traditionally been. It is only a small step from recognizing the spirit of your home to acknowledging the spirit of everyone’s home, and, eventually, of the entire city.
A miracle of modern cities and towns is their ability to provide water wherever you are. Most civil districts are formed near a supply of fresh water, such as a lake or river, but technology can bring life-giving waters to those who would not normally have easy access to them. With running water and plumbing, towns can materialize in desert regions. The city is a network of waterways, connecting remote places. The water system links the wealthiest man in the financial district to the poorest family in the projects. Plumbing is a nice metaphor for life, both good and bad. We are all connected, even if we do not know it or recognize it. We are connected by water. We are connected by the common bonds of emotion and feeling. The two may never physically meet, but if the water supply is polluted or disconnected, it affects both the rich businessman and the poor family.
The presence of water can also be felt in the mist rising from the harbors of seacoast towns. Water vapor eventually collects to form rain clouds. The rain falls down upon everyone, city and country folk alike. Water is all around. I find the spirit of water in the glass buildings around us. Believe it or not, glass is a liquid. It is an incredibly slow-moving liquid, but a liquid nonetheless. Glass relates to the emotional aspect of water. Sometimes it is crystal clear, and other times, clouded. In the right light, glass is reflective, like a contemplative nature. It can be rounded and smoothed, easy to handle, or broken, jagged, and sharp, like an argument.
Air is the breath of life, and highly valued in a city potentially filled with pollutants like car exhaust. Air is another way in which we are all connected in the urban Mecca. We all breathe the same air, just as we all use the same water. Air is a very direct connection. A portion of the air you breathe out in a crowded subway train, I breathe in.
This element contains the very life-force energy in the material plane-prana, mana, or shakti. Whatever you choose to call this energy, we draw it in with each breath. Our energy bodies metabolize it as our physical bodies extract oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Cities have a different, and somewhat lower, level of prana than other places. The higher the prana, the easier it may be to feel healthy and make magick happen. City dwellers go to the country to recharge their psychic batteries, relax, unwind, and feel refreshed because they absorb more life force there.
Prana does exist abundantly in the city, if you know where to look. City prana is not as obvious as in other places. It flows in and out of the streets, but is often blocked by buildings and doorways. In an effort to improve the energy balance of our homes, Feng Shui is making a comeback. Feng Shui is an Asian art of placement for the interior and exterior of a dwelling, placing it in harmony with the beneficial forces. Feng Shui is a complicated art that goes beyond the scope of this book. If you would like to discover more about it, particularly in a more Western vein, I suggest Earth Design: The Added Dimension, by Jami Lyn (Earth Design Inc.), and Gaiamancy, by Maureen L. Belle (White Doe Productions).
We must learn to align our bodies to the beneficial forces and be more connected to pranic energy. Meditation to quiet the mind, the realm of air, is a start. Slowing yourself down allows you to see the patterns you are in, to relax, and to move toward balance. Breath-control exercises and meditation are very helpful. Much like Exercise 3 that runs energy up and down the chakras, pranic breathing exercises create a flow of energy with the intent of love and healing. Energy is drawn in through the top of the head and the bottom of the spine, joining the energy stream in the heart and spreading the energy out through the body. The effect, if not the technique, is akin to combining the Middle Pillar ritual mentioned previously, with the Circulation of the Body of Light exercise. Both are techniques practiced in ceremonial magick traditions. For easily accessible instructions on these rituals in their traditional forms, consult Modern Magick, by Donald Michael Kraig (Llewellyn).
EXERCISE 12 - PRANIC BREATHING
Start with the simple meditation technique of Exercise 1 (see page 17). If you like, continue on to Exercise 2 (see page 20), opening the chakras, and Exercise 3 (see page 25), spiritual protection. These are not mandatory for this exercise, but they are helpful. Once you feel the flow of energy from pranic breathing, you can easily reproduce the effect without being in a meditative state. You remain calm, but alert, and simultaneously connect to the life force of your environment. I have often practiced it while driving to work.
Breathe deeply and pay attention to your breath. Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you breathe. Feel the rush of air down your windpipe. Feel your lungs expand and contract.
Visualize the cord or tube running out from your spine, grounding you to the earth. As you inhale, imagine that this tube is a straw, sucking up pranic energy from the earth and the environment around you. As you inhale, you draw it up through the tube and into your spine. A physical sensation, warmth, or tingling usually accompanies it.
Continue paying attention to this sensation. The deeper you breathe, the higher the prana will rise along your spine, through the chakras. Your goal is to reach the heart chakra with a full breath.
Once you feel comfortable drawing prana from below, visualize the tube extending up from your crown, in alignment with your spine, and reaching up to the sky. With each breath, you draw prana from above. Again, the goal is to reach your heart with one full breath.
Once you feel secure drawing prana from above, alternate the breath. First draw prana from below to your heart. In the next breath, draw prana from above. Repeat. Feel comfortable with both areas.
Now draw prana simultaneously from above and below, making it join in your heart. It fills the heart chakra with life force. Do this for a few moments to get comfortable with both the sensations and the visualizations.
Continue as above, but on exhalation, visualize the prana from your heart expanding to fill your body. You are saturating your cells and energy body, your auric field, with life force. Feel your temperature rise slightly, your body come to life, and your metabolism quicken. You are healing and cleansing your own body.
When this process feels complete, simply stop paying attention to the sensations and images.
Your body may continue to breathe prana without your direction. This is good. A yoga teacher of mine said that the yogis told her, “a wise man breathes through his feet.” This is a variation of that phenomenon.
Since pranic breathing is not an ingrained response, we usually need to jump-start it frequently, just as we correct other breathing patterns. If you notice your deep breathing in meditation, you know your normal breathing is pretty shallow. It gets deeper the more you meditate and breathe deeply, but, in times of stress, we go back to our ingrained behaviors. It is the same process when drawing in the fires of life.
Fire is the energy of life, and cities are busting with energy. Energy and excitement are all around, but the energy is literally surrounding the buildings and streets. Power lines, electrical wires, streetlamps, neon signs, and household lights bring the illumination of the day. Theirs is the light of inspiration and spirit, shining into the dark. Darkness is no longer binding. Light as bright as daylight is available at all hours. Readers, writers, and workers are no longer confined to the daystar’s hours. As a trade-off, however, from these urban outlets, we can no longer see the stars of the night sky. They are obscured by our own earthly illumination. New cycles and seasons are found by those not bowing to the daylight god.
Wire is the new conductor, bringing volts of power to every structure. Electricity is power. From the lightning bolt to the electric blanket, the flow of electrons is most similar to the burning flame. In my own mind, I see this force as its own separate element. The power is so primal, it’s amazing that we have ever learned to harness it. Like the wood fires of other places and times, electricity and gas are used to cook meals, heat homes, bring illumination, and dispel fear of the unknown. The representatives of fire are all around you in your home. Electric light fills your dwelling, reconnecting you to the source of your astral light, spirit itself. Please don’t shy away from natural sunlight, however. Like firelight, electric light does not contain the full spectrum. I think it’s healthy to walk in natural light each day.