City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001
Techno-Shamanic Tools
Tools of the Trade
The tools of the trade are not restricted to the ritual tools of modern folk magick and arts and crafts. Reach out to the shamanic realms and all the devices that help lead you to the shamanic realms. Traditional practitioners use drums, rattles, blindfolds, chanting, and sacramental concoctions. You can use all of these techniques and tools, or any of them to which you are drawn. Experiment with modern rattles and sound machines, the new tools of the trade, as we have discussed in previous chapters. Here are some of the modern tools in a bit more detail.
Drum Machines, Sequencers, and Synthesizers
With the advent of electronic music, you can have a whole band within a box. A drum machine is a device that re-creates electronically recorded drum and percussion sounds and preprogrammed rhythm patterns. You can choose different drum sounds, assign them to a pattern, or link several patterns together. You can even make entirely new beats. You control the tempo and balance. This mix can create shamanic trance music for the Industrial Age. Depending on how musically savvy you are, you can create a chain of complex primal rhythms, and you do not have to be a musician to do it. So much of it is preprogrammed, that a musical novice who just knows what he likes when he hears it can program the rhythms. A sequencer is a device similar to a drum machine. It can program beats and rhythms for drums, and for other instruments as well. Usually, sequencers contain a range of other instruments, from violins and cellos to electric guitar, piano, oboe, flute, and organ. The preprogrammed patterns contain chord changes for particular styles of music-funk, rock, country, and techno. You can also program your own original music or record your own melodies by playing an electronic instrument connected to the sequencers. The preprogrammed styles make sequencers easy to use, but this requires a little familiarity with music. Synthesizers are machines that let you electronically record a sound and manipulate it to make it sound different, often otherworldly. Many synthesizers have a keyboard interface and contain either a drum machine or sequencers that lets you compose your own recordings. They have the widest range of capabilities, but require the most knowledge.
With the desire to learn and some time to experiment, a good sequencer or drum machine can be an asset to the magical practitioner. You don’t have to worry about finding someone to drum for you. You don’t have to listen to the same CD or tape over and over. Each track can be created with a magical intent in mind, to fit the mood and goal of your journey. This is magical music, without the need to learn a new instrument. Don’t get me wrong. As someone with a degree in music performance, I feel learning an instrument is wonderful and rewarding, but if you really want to journey and not play, then electronic music may be the road for you. This is an art form in itself. The electronic rhythms are conducive to city magick. I’ve used a Yamaha QY-10 sequencer that I bought in college. It is as big as a VCR tape and comes with headphones. It’s fun and easy to use. Since then, I’m sure other models and brands have come out that incorporate advanced technology. Keep it simple, however, and get something you will understand and use.
If you are musically inclined and ambitious, good-quality 4-track home studios that allow you to record entire songs and mix live recordings with electronic instruments are relatively cheap. You can have your own power song recorded for any magical journey.
Stereo, Walkman, and Tape Recorder
These are the musical tools for the 21st-century shaman. Through them, you can play trance-inducing music that sounds like Tibetan monks chanting, tribal drumming, sounds of nature, white noise, taped meditations, personal affirmations, and rush-hour traffic recordings. All of these things may not be practical or even possible to have in your living space when needed. The CD and tape player bring them to you. A large supply of prerecorded material can be found, or, if you are so inclined, you can make your own.
Television and VCR
The television has already been discussed as a potential altar site. As a medium, it connects us to the world, albeit selectively. Not only can we watch images on it and feel a connection to them, but, through the VCR and video tape, or even a video camera, we can trap these images in an endless loop for our ritual purposes. The white noise of static can also be used to distract our conscious minds during trance work. Just be careful if you are a crystal collector. If you keep crystals on your television, as silly as it may sound, you run the risk of overloading the set. I’ve heard of it happening to the electrical devices of many careless crystal collectors.