City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001
Creating The Cyber Temple
Techno-Temples
Until now, we’ve talked about the Internet as a place to learn, exchange information, explore, and even build a community. One of the keys to building a community is to do things together. On-line chats and discussions suit most people of most interests, but those involved in magical communities know that celebration and ceremony play an important part in community. If you have no physical community around you, then the on-line community is the only place you have to do group ritual.
How can this be done? If people are not in the same room, the same physical space, can they really hold a ceremony? My experience tells me they can. I am fortunate to have a community on both sides of the computer. I’ve participated in wonderful loving group rituals with friends and family in the woods, on the beach, and in my parents’ backyard. I’ve also had the pleasure of being part of worldwide meditations and on-line rituals with people who understand and share aspects of me that those physically around me might not understand. They are very different and I don’t think I can equate them in any way, but both kinds of experiences have had meaning for me. The entire medium is ripe with magical possibilities. Since on-line rituals are a fairly new format, there is no real protocol for them. The sky is the limit, but the technology has some practical considerations for simplicity.
The first thing to decide is whether the ritual will be truly on-line or simply synchronized through on-line communication. If it is not on-line, usually an announcement is made—including the date, time (in several time zones, so those across the world know when they will be participating), and a basic format, including a group invocation to the powers and the intent of the ritual. Many worldwide “meditations” calling for peace during war times and to send spiritual support to those in disaster zones are popular. The information can be printed out and the ritual done quietly in a very introspective manner. Groups can gather at the appointed hour, or individuals can perform the ritual separately. Even when you work physically alone, you realize that others all over the world are echoing your sentiments, hopefully in synchronization. While this is going on, some groups can gather on-line.
Rituals on-line are usually done in chat rooms. There, everyone knows what is happening and when, unlike when they follow solitarily and blindly in a worldwide meditation. While in the room, you see the words cross your screen, invoking powers and energies. You know what each participant is saying and doing. You can choose your level of active participation, whether via the computer or through mental, emotional, and magical energy.
The steps in organizing any ceremony are similar, no matter the venue. Certain details should be decided prior to starting the ritual. The first problem to surmount in any ceremony, physical or virtual, is who will organize it. One of the reasons magical groups fall apart is lack of direction and organization. This is a fundamental need in virtual magick as well. Otherwise, people will be logged on with nothing to do. Is an individual or organization hosting this ceremony? If so, they are responsible for making those involved know the date, time, and all necessarily information to get into the chat room.
The next question is how to get this information out. Whom do you “invite” to this ritual? Is this “members only” for a mailing list or other group of acquaintances? Is it open to all who want to join in? If so, you can post the information on a mailing list, or to newsgroups and message boards, asking people to send the message out to their personal mailing lists of others who might be interested. Completely open circles can be difficult if someone who wants to make mischief and disrupt ceremonies comes into the room. Someone who disagrees with these beliefs and feels that all participating are damned souls could, potentially, be a very big problem. You may want to consider some sort of e-mail screening process by which those interested mail the organizers for the necessary information.
The next issue is to determine the purpose of the ceremony. Is it simply a celebration of community, or a specific act of magick? Is there a common goal, a chance to manifest things in your personal life, or a more altruistic goal for the world? None of these options is better than the other. They are just different. If there is a goal, it should be known to all who participate. Preparation work, such as preparing spells or intention, should be done prior to the ritual.
Is the ritual to be lead by one person or a small group, while the other participants simply observe actions on-line and lend spiritual support? Will everyone have a part in the ritual, even a simple response to invocations? Dividing the work makes everyone feel they are participating, instead of simply watching it on a screen. This builds a feeling of community. Will the ritual be written out word for word so that everyone knows what will be happening, or will the participants only have a general outline of the ritual and no specifics? Some prefer the mystery of not knowing what happens next, but I like to be completely prepared. If you are going to participate in rituals on-line, please learn to type quickly and accurately. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for someone to type out the next invocation of the ritual. Delays like that can slow the momentum of the ritual and diffuse the group consciousness. In many ways, learning to type is the first requirement of on-line ritual netiquette. If the ritual is completely written, you can simply cut and paste the text before sending it to the room. In this way typing is no longer a problem. Some rituals are completely free-form, letting all participants add whatever words and intents they desire. Such free-form rituals are wonderful in small intimate groups, but in larger groups they can become a bit messy.
The first time you become involved in an on-line group, particularly if the group has been running before you joined, it’s probably best to take a more passive role in the ceremony to learn how things work.
Once you have the technical information—how, where, when, the ritual format, and who is responsible for what—the more magical aspects of the ceremony can be contemplated. For many, the on-line ritual experience consists of simply sitting in front of a screen and watching messages appear. If your own experience starts out that way, do not be discouraged. In some ways, to have a very magical experience on-line, you must be even more skilled at visualization and energy work than for physical rituals. The true heart of the experience is multitasking, being able to do more than one thing at a time.
Most of us visualize and “see” with our eyes closed, usually in a dark room. Sometimes, a candle is lit and incense burning. These are great tools to set the mood for off-line and on-line magick. Continue to use them if you already do. The idea of typing during a ritual, and looking at a screen during a ritual, seems distracting to most. How can I close my eyes and “be there”? If you can multitask, the answer is simple. While you have your eyes open, you are still aware, in your mind’s eye, of being someplace else. You are aware of part of your energy being projected across the cosmos, or, even better, across the Internet, to join with your fellows in the ceremony. The visual experience may not be as strong as a deep trance with closed eyes, but the feeling of being with these people in a sacred space is more important than anything else.
If someone is doing the majority of the ritual duties, the actual words of the ceremony can include guided imagery, much like a guided meditation, so that all participants can focus on a particular image to connect them, to add to a collective thought across this virtual circle. Having members visualize a network, a web of light connecting them, is helpful. If you are doing a variation of the magick circle ritual, members can visualize the circle going from member to member. A list can be created determining who is “standing” next to whom in this virtual circle. The order can be based alphabetically, on the order of entering the chat room, or even on geographic location, if people desire to share such information.
Guided imagery can also include creating a virtual temple. Much as guided meditation can create an astral temple, a home base so to speak, in which a coven can meditate, do dream work, and connect during ritual. Techno-mancers can create virtual-space temples, through collective imagery. Each member of the group adds thought and power to the collective image. It can be dismissed and dismantled after the ceremony, to be built anew, or kept together for future works. In many ways, it is just as with more traditional shared spaces that exist on the astral plane, but growing from seeds planted on the Internet. Once created, these spaces are accessible by all members, both when on-line and doing ritual, and in more meditative and dream states.
The last hurdle to surmount is the mechanics of spell work. If your intent is not a simple community celebration, but magical work with a goal in mind, you need a vehicle to focus the group, raise energy, and send out the intent. This is not an easy task for an on-line community. First, as a group or as the leader of the group, determine the goal of the spell. Is there one individual spell, or does everyone get to do their own? If it is individual, everyone could write out his or her intent (prior to the ritual) in a similar format. When it comes time to do the spell work, each person can send the intent to the chat room for all to see. Everyone can then focus on it and visualize the goal. The order can be determined before the spell. If you are using the circle imagery, simply go around the circle. Some practitioners accustomed to releasing an intent in traditional rituals through burying the intention slip or burning it may need an action to release the spell. One innovative way around this virtual problem is to send an e-mail to a “dummy address,” one set specifically to receive such spells at the end of the ritual, thereby launching them out into the cosmos, literally launching them into the Internet. Many Internet Service Providers let one account owner set up several mail boxes. Others, search engines like Yahoo.com, for instance, let you have free e-mail addresses. You could devote one specifically to this use.
For group spells, having a common symbol on which to focus is very effective. Use the techniques in chapter 7 to find or create an appropriate symbol. You can use graphics programs that draw and paint to create the symbol as a computer file. In this way, you can work on your magical skills as well as your computer and design skills. The symbol can easily be shared by posting it to a Web page and having all members go to the page prior to the ritual and save or print the graphic. The symbol can also be shared by e-mailing it to every individual in the group in a common file format, usually as a JPEG or GIF file. Most browsers can read these types of files with no problem. Graphics programs usually give you a SAVE AS option, under which you can choose an appropriate format. Most applications can open JPEG and GIF files.
Instead of typing your intention during the ritual, you can simply send the sigil out to the group prior to the ritual and tell them to focus on the symbol at the appropriate point in the ceremony. Some feel strongly that everyone should know the intent behind the symbol, making the magick more powerful, while others truly feel that detachment from the outcome is more effective. Although, truthfully, I’ve found detachment a very effective tool, I have a hard time participating in a magical goal of which I am not completely aware, unless I trust the creator implicitly. Follow your own preferences and intuition in such matters.
EXERCISE 26 - ON-LINE RITUAL
This is a sample of an on-line ritual. Use it as a guide, outline, or inspiration when doing your own. Even for the most experienced traditional magick practitioner, the idea of on-line rituals can seem overwhelming. What is second nature in the physical world becomes awkward in the cyber world. This exercise is written more like a script, with words that can be typed and shared in a chat room. The ritual can go exactly as written, or it can be shared to allow for personal touches, creativity, and spontaneity. The visual cues can be a specific part of the ritual, or shared only in the preview sent to all members, assuming that all will visualize these things without re-typing them in the chat room.
For simplicity’s sake, I’ve divided the roles into leader and participants. The role of the leader can be further subdivided between a small group, at the discretion of the group. This ritual is based on the magick circle.
LEADER: Everyone take a few moments to calm and center themselves. Light any candles or incense you like. Take out any ritual tools or crystals that you would like to have near you. Take a few deep breaths and focus your attention on the task at hand.
LEADER: We create this circle across the Web to protect us from all forces coming to do harm. We ask that only those energies coming in perfect love and perfect trust, in complete harmony with our magical intentions, enter this circle. We create a sacred temple beyond time and space, between the worlds, where our magical intentions will manifest. So mote it be.
PARTICIPANTS: So mote it be.
LEADER: Visualize the circle of light moving across the Web that connects us all. Feel yourself connected by the ring of light, stretching across the world to envelop all members, stretching across the world.
LEADER: To the north, I ask the element of earth and watchtowers of the north to be with us, to guard, guide, and witness this magick. Hail and welcome.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and welcome.
LEADER: To the east, I ask the element of air and watchtowers of the east to be with us, to guard, guide, and witness this magick. Hail and welcome.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and welcome.
LEADER: To the south, I ask the element of fire and watchtowers of the south to be with us, to guard, guide, and witness this magick. Hail and welcome.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and welcome.
LEADER: To the west, I ask the element of water and watchtowers of the west to be with us, to guard, guide, and witness this magick. Hail and welcome.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and welcome.
LEADER: We invite all spirits who come in a manner correct for our intentions. We invite our personal Gods, guides, and guardians.
PARTICIPANTS: (All can individually welcome their personal patrons by typing their deity or spirit’s name.)
LEADER: In this space, we create a temple. Our work today is prosperity magick and the temple is filled with the colors green, blue, and purple, to bring abundance in all our lives. The temple is filled with the finest of luxuries, gold and silver fixtures, fine silks, and all the modern conveniences you could desire. Everything you desire is in this temple.
LEADER: As we do our spell work, each member, in order, will send the group his or her intention for prosperity and manifestation. As a group, we will all add our energy for a few moments, visualizing the outcome while we work in this temple together.
PARTICIPANTS: (Each person, in order, sends his or her intention to the chat room.)
LEADER: We release all these intentions to manifest for our highest good, harming none in the process. So mote it be.
PARTICIPANTS: So mote it be.
LEADER: Everyone take a few moments to ground themselves and bring themselves back to center.
LEADER: We thank and release all beings who have been with us, to aid us in our work.
LEADER: To the north, I thank and release the element of earth and watchtowers of the north. Hail and farewell.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and farewell.
LEADER: To the west, I thank and release the element of water and watchtowers of the west. Hail and farewell.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and farewell.
LEADER: To the south, I thank and release the element of fire and watchtowers of the south. Hail and farewell.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and farewell.
LEADER: To the east, I thank and release the element of air and watchtowers of the east. Hail and farewell.
PARTICIPANTS: Hail and farewell.
LEADER: We release this circle across the web of life to manifest our spells. So mote it be.
PARTICIPANTS: So mote it be.