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

Surveying The Cities
Our Town

As each district has an energetic personality, so each has an overall personality coloring it. If you are drawn to a particular city, you resonate with its energy. On a higher level, you know you have a lot to learn from it. People either head toward the familiar, or they head toward what they desire to become. This can be an act of transformation. You hope to change by embracing the very thing you are not. Change by association. Many timid people head for the big city to gain more confidence, control, and power for themselves, and to increase their sense of self, their identity, and independence. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

I have only listed a few modern cities, because these are the ones I feel I can write about with authority. I have opened my senses and explored these areas. Some information has been gathered by friends and fellow practitioners across the country whose opinions I trust and value. As with everything else, you need to explore you own environment and find the energies and spirits who will work with you.

Boston, MA

Boston is a very historic city, the first hub of the New World. Though not ancient by any stretch, for America, its history runs deep, from the landing at Plymouth Rock and the initiation of Thanksgiving traditions, to the witch trials, the Boston Tea Party, and the cradling of the heart of the American Revolution. Many sites, museums, and monuments in the area commemorate these events and record their energies on the etheric level. Many different cultures have come here. Each has staked out its own community, bringing different energies to this setting. Boston still has a young energy to it, as a premier college town. Many modern initiations go on there, with students going away from home for the first time, coming to Boston, and drinking and bar-hopping for the first time. The music and art scene is alive and well in Boston and its outskirts.

Boston is right on the Atlantic Ocean, with a harbor opening to it. The Charles River divides Boston from its sister city, Cambridge. The element of water is the undercurrent for what has traditionally been a stoic community. Emotions run deep, but are often hidden under a veneer. Much of the Back Bay area was built on swamp and someday waters will reclaim it, thus the whole city is very magnetic. The streets are curved and jumbled. There are few direct, straight paths along which energy lines can flow. The vast majority of the city was organized around walking paths for animals, leaving modern urban planners little room for street parking. Through these winding streets the energy flows. The paths are more natural, following the contours of the land and vortex, even though it can be hell to drive there. For those resonating strongly with magnetic energy, Boston can be even more magical.

Burlington, VT

When you first arrive in Burlington, you see a quaint New England city. The drive there is beautiful, and the scenery inspires a strong wonderment of the natural power surrounding the place. The natural power is not disrupted or spoiled in any way. Because of this harmony, I’ve often thought of living closer to Burlington. The city itself blends the new with the old, with a cobblestoned marketplace filled with the latest shops. As cities go, it’s clean and neat, and the people are friendly. Its most striking feature is the lake. Lake Champlain has a lot of natural magnetic power just sweeping off it into the town. In fact, I would guess that the lake, not the town, is the center of the vortex. The city just grew next to the vortex. I’m sure the altitude has something to do with it as well, as the city is quite close to the mountains. I found it very easy to make magick by tapping into the natural ambient energy all around. Waves of energy come across the lake and bathe the city.

Cancun, Mexico

If you ever visit exotic locales, take the time to introduce yourself to the goddesses and gods of these lands. If you are doing magick, it’s only polite to make yourself known to the ruling lords and ladies of the land, even those who rule in shadow, in the secret layers or forgotten times of the culture. You can find yourself with allies in cultures you were never drawn to before. Even if you intellectually see all deities as extensions of universal archetypes, you are really opening yourself up to a new experience. While visiting Cancun, I did a meditation asking to speak with the Mayan and Aztec gods who were appropriate for me at this time. Later, I traveled the peninsula that comprises the tourist area of Cancun. On the inside of this projection is a large lagoon, on the outside, the crashing ocean. The dynamic flow of the energy from the still water to the waves required a short period of adjustment. Ultimately, I found it empowering-this mixture of water power and the hot Sun beating down. The energy of this place, and I think perhaps of Mexico in general, is a dynamic polarity between water and fire, goddess and god. Next, I visited the Mayan ruins of Talum, experiencing the energy of these ancient people and their beliefs. The city, perched over the ocean on cliffs had a distinct, timeless feel to it. Once I had acclimated to the energy of the land and the culture, my partner and I called upon the Aztec rain god, Tlaloc. The news reports predicted rain for the rest of our vacation. We asked Tlaloc to hold the rain back, respecting him and his authority over this province and power. I think he accepted our offering, because it was sunny until the day we left. At home, I lit a candle in his honor on my altar. It is great to cultivate divine friends and allies across the globe.

Chicago, IL

Chicago is the classic windy city, and can be thought of as ruled by the element of air. Air denotes intellect and the power of the mind. Ideas are moved forward, and Chicago has brought to fruition a lot of ideas, being a major manufacturing center. The ideas of the mind are given physical shape. This city is also a major architectural center, home to the Sears Tower, and a pioneer in the upward growth of cities. In some ways, Chicago is the first archetype of the urban Mecca. After the Chicago fire, the city, when rebuilt, was one of the first to have a fire department and to replace wooden buildings with stone. Most cities have followed suit.

Even though Chicago is noted for wind, the element of water plays a strong role in its development. The wind comes off Lake Michigan. Even though the port is used mainly for shipping, the element of water, as represented by the lake, aids in making a connection to the realm of emotion and the heart chakra.

Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong started as a British colony and, while under British rule, developed into a world capital of industry and finance. The magical correlation I discovered here was the aspect of high town and low town, paralleling the mythical images of the upper world and underworld. The main city of Hong Kong, the upper-world model, is the Mecca. The streets are clean and everything is very modern. In many aspects, it rivals New York City, which I didn’t expect. The area, for all its urbanization, has an almost pristine quality to it. Even the poorest and oldest sections have a feel to them quite different from American slums. The peninsula of Kowloon was the low town, the underworld. I know that my tourist’s view of the open markets and shops just skimmed the surface of the social world there. I think if you looked hard enough, you could possibly get anything, legal or not, there. The upper world, Hong Kong proper, was very Westernized. English was a main language. In Kowloon, Cantonese was the main language. Although many people spoke English, there was more symbolic communication transpiring. I don’t judge one as better than the other on the basis of language and culture. I enjoyed Kowloon immensely and, in my mystical travels, I enjoyed the underworld. My point here is to remark on the widely different worlds separated by a short ferry ride—a modern incarnation of Charon, the ferryman of Greek myth, taking the dead and brave heroes into the underworld of Hades.

Honolulu, HI

To me, Hawaii has always been one of the most magical places in the world, even when I didn’t really know what magick was. There is an energy there that is apparent to all who visit. Some debate on the purity of each island and, although I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the big island of Hawaii, which I’m told has the most mana, the Hawaiian equivalent of prana or life energy, the islands I’ve visited seem very vibrant with life force to me. The energy comes from the fiery volcanoes mixing with the ocean water to create new earth, as the gentle trade winds flow over the islands. Perhaps it’s the balance of the four elements that makes it so magical for me. Some feel the islands are the remnants of the enlightened continent of fabled Lemuria. Everything seems so alive, but at the same time like a story-book fantasy, from the looming volcanic mountains to the crystal-blue waters of the coast. The vegetation, even in the more urban areas like Honolulu on the island of Oahu, is breathtaking. Also on Oahu is Pearl City, and, more important, Pearl Harbor. Travels to the memorial of the sunken U.S.S. Arizona truly give you a connection to the spirit world. The feeling is very palpable, mystic or not. You can feel or sense things trapped in the ethers in this place. My father, who is not what one would call psychic, could feel the presence. Modern pagan interest has brought Hawaiian magick and myth to greater notoriety. Some of my students have taken a liking to the volcano goddess Pele and work with her, even though they have not physically traveled to the islands.

London, England.

London, the capital of the United Kingdom, resides it a very magical land. Not far from this metropolis are some of the most ancient mystery sites. Many consider this place a hub in the energy grid of Earth. The countryside is marked by standing stones and such powerful structures as Stonehenge, Glastonbury Tor, Avebury Circle, and the carved chalk hills. The power lines cross the hills and valleys and seem to converge in these places. The city itself was founded by the Romans as Londinium, on the banks of the River Thames. The modern city houses everything under the Sun, from manufacturers to museums, and royal palaces, financial districts, monuments, and institutions of higher learning. London is another quintessential archetype of the urban Mecca, containing each facet of city life and built on ancient power. I have found that most magical practitioners who visit there either enjoy London immensely or have tremendously odd experiences. They report feeling “dizzy” or not quite grounded in the body while on the trip. All experiences, even the most mundane, become adventures in sidewalking, in which visions, ghosts, and strange sensations occur.

New York City, NY

To me New York is one of the most magical cities. When I think of the word “city,” I think of New York. This land needs to be seen to be believed. When I first took a bus there, at age 17, I couldn’t believe the skyline. The place did not look real to me. The magick comes in the form of hopes and dreams manifesting, music, art, and modern thought. I know that view tends to downplay crime, pollution, muggings, and murders, but so be it. Within the city are many modern miracles and achievements of man. From the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, to Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park, they evoke the wonderment humanity is capable of creating. Each of the neighborhoods and boroughs has its own cultural and energetic flavor. The magick there is patchwork, like a quilt. In the city’s center, Central Park, you have what some would argue is a small forest—a place of enchantment and danger, the mythic forest of fairyland where you can be blessed and cursed. If you need to reconnect with the land while living in the city, go there.

The island of Manhattan is a strong phallic symbol, the heart of a fertile masculine Earth vortex, celebrated by the native people long before the arrival of the Europeans. For the most part, its strong, straight lines run up and down, directing the energy and current. It is surrounded by two rivers, symbols of the life of the goddess, the lifeblood of Mother Earth. The whole area is reminiscent of ancient mysteries like Isis and Osiris by the Nile.

The very act of moving to the Big Apple has been like an initiatory journey for many of my friends. Some find what they are looking for. Others discover what they seek to be elsewhere.

Los Angeles, CA

I have a bit of a negative bias toward Los Angeles. I was there as a child, when my sensory perception and psychic skills were pretty much dormant. It didn’t bother me. I wasn’t crazy about it, but it was okay. When I returned as an adult on a business trip, however, I experienced a very strong reaction. I felt that many of Earth’s grid lines collapsed and grew weak around Los Angeles. I’m not sure why. If it related strictly to pollution, I’m sure many other cities would have the same effect on me. Los Angeles is on the Pacific Ocean, and, although oceans tend to be more magnetic and healing, the Pacific Ring of Fire tends to be more electric and masculine. Those qualities may have something to do with my response, along with the shifting fault lines. On the positive side, I found Los Angeles to be a strong spot in which to work with spirits. Perhaps the weakening of the grid opens up communication with other dimensions. Mediums and psychics may gather there for that reason. I found more spirits and allies popping up out of the woodwork, often at inopportune times. Here, more than ever before, I found the need to be discerning about the spirits with whom I worked. Use your judgment when working with unknown beings. Ask if they come in unconditional love and for the highest good. Use love and laughter with them. Dark spirits will think you are mocking them and will soon tire of you. Affirm your protective shield daily, if not hourly, in LA, for both spirits and other dangers.

Montreal, Canada

Montreal, built on the island of the same name in the St. Lawrence River, has some unique properties as an energy center. The city sits, for the most part, on this island, but spills out to some of the adjacent islands and partially onto the mainland as well. It is a city almost surrounded by flowing water, making it a very magnetic site and a good place to work with the element of water and the principle of flow. It is Canada’s leading port, but the harsh winter can bring problems with ice. At times, the energy does seem a bit stuck or frozen in the area. The area is also dominated by the volcanic Mount Royal, extending some fiery and electrical aspect to the city. As a foreigner, what seemed so remarkable to me on my visit was the cleanliness of the city and how, unconsciously or intuitively, the people respected each other and the power of the city, honoring it quite a bit more than was characteristic in American cities.

New Orleans, LA

Though I must admit that I have never visited New Orleans myself, I’m a great fan of the contemporary gothic authors who base many of their stories in this wonderful city. A discussion of magical cities would be remiss not to mention New Orleans and I have loved the opportunity to talk to those who have practiced there. New Orleans is the place of gentleman death, a little underworld within the world. Since the city is prone to taking on water, being built in swamp lands, the graveyards are often built above ground, with stone crypts, a constant reminder of mortality. The dead hold a particular charm here. The entire city is permeated with the dark world energy-very watery, magnetic, and working well with the images of the dark devouring Mother Earth, instead of the more benign Mother Nature image. And this is a land of magick. Voodoo traditions are common here, both out in the open and keeping to the shadows, and have been for a very long time.

Salem, NH

Although my hometown would hardly qualify as an urban Mecca, I felt the need to include it for myself. In the northeastern area of Salem is America’s Stonehenge, a mysterious megalithic site on a scale much smaller than England’s Stongehenge. Its construction is tentatively credited to a Native American culture or migrant European tradition. No one knows for sure, but many artifacts have been found there. Like its British counterpart, it has many energy lines that intersect at its center, and these lines cross throughout the town. I’ve had the pleasure of attending workshops and conducting rituals there. With your psychic senses or divining rods, you can find the lines running throughout the complex. They flow throughout the town and surrounding areas. There are energy lines everywhere. Some areas are more concentrated than others. You can probably find them in your own town as well, if you are determined enough to look. Place the intent to find Earth energy lines into your diving rods and walk around your block. See if they cross anywhere. Those places may indicate high concentrations of energy and a potential line or crossing of lines.

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is another magical city, nestled by one of the most beautiful natural bays in the world, but teetering, as well, on the edge of a powerful fault line. Here, a polarity of energies is at work, the giving mother ocean and the unforgiving San Andreas Fault. This sometimes-volatile mix has made this land to be a center of creativity, arts, and tolerance, a pioneering city in the dawn of the Age of Aquarius. San Francisco was the home of such unusual groups as the Bohemians in the 1890s, the beat poets of the 1950s, and the hippies and flower children of the 1960s. The city was the womb of these brief, but revolutionary, social scenes. Even now, it is regarded as one of the most tolerant and accepting places in the world, hosting movements in civil rights, particularly gay, lesbian, and transgender rights, woman’s rights, and public acceptance of pagans. I think the dominance of the watery bay marks a loving and accepting nature of feminine, motherly energies.

The city itself is marked by its diverse cultures and districts. Its maze of streets is lined with unusual architecture and office buildings. The city definitely has its own character, matching its unique population. The skyline is distinguished by the Transamerica Pyramid building, America’s own pyramid right on the West Coast. Pyramids, by their very shape, are a place of power, magick, and initiation. Razor blades placed in pyramids do not get dull. Fruits stay fresher, more energized, in a pyramid. Many healing tools are charged in pyramid structures. You can buy or make miniature pyramids from copper tubing, wire, or glass. All the ancient cultures built pyramids and mounds, from Egypt to Central America. Although not in the perfect traditional shape, perhaps this pyramid can be used in such a way. By visiting it, you can tap into your own pyramid-power experience, and judge its benefits for yourself.

Seattle, WA

Seattle is the largest city in the American Northwest. Named after Chief Seattle, a peaceful Native American chief, this city lies on the hills between two bodies of water, Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Not far from the city there are mountains all around. The Northwest is on the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a ring of volcanic and seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific. Mount Saint Helens, a once-dormant volcano that erupted as recently as 1980, is located there. Seattle is known for its rain, but according to a friend living in the area, that reputation has not been as well deserved in recent years. Perhaps this unusual balance of energies, of elements, makes the Northwest so attractive and magical. Seattle has a bustling pagan community, of organized groups and many solitaries, probably inspired and drawn to the beautiful landscape all around them. A key signature of the city is the Space Needle, reaching up to the heavens like a modern-day futuristic Tower of Babel.

Sedona, AZ

Some argue that Sedona is the New Age capital of the world, with all the good and bad connotations that title carries with it. The town is booming with tourism, growing by leaps and bounds. People seem as attracted to the Native American cultures and ruins and the breathtaking red-rock cliffs as they are to the New Age classes and vortex tours. Like all cities built on energy sites, Sedona is no exception, but individual vortices have been located and isolated, each with different properties. There is one near the airport and another by Bell Rock, along with many others. Some residents feel these are some of the most powerful vortices in the world. People travel there to do ceremonies, meditate, and chant, and hoping to learn about Earth’s energy field. Many tour guides genuinely know what they are doing and go to these sacred sites with reverence. For others, it’s just another job. A friend has actually speculated that all these visitors have energetically polluted and clogged the vortices. New Age centers and shops have sprung up to cater to the spiritual seekers who come to the vortexes. Again, some are genuine, others less so. Friends have complained that those who come to Sedona are so involved in the New Age that they tend to shun pagans, witches, Druids, and ceremonial magicians. I didn’t experience that myself, but I could see it happening. Sedona is a special place, and Native American prophecies have centered around the world’s different people coming together in this land of red rocks. You can’t drive through the rocks without truly feeling the touch of the divine running through you in their beauty.

EXERCISE 27 - MEETING THE CITY

If you have been following these exercises, you probably have a fair idea of the urban energies around you. Start this exercise by making a list of all the qualities around you, where you live. You can restrict these qualities to your particular neighborhood and district, or use the entire city. Write out the qualities of the area, personalizing them, personifying them. Do they feel feminine, masculine, or androgynous? Do they evoke an archetype, a parental or godlike figure? Does one of the classic four elements dominate the environment? Take all these things into consideration. You should then have a fair idea as to the personality of the city, or at least of the face it chooses to show you.

Now create your own meditation, similar to those in Exercises 10 and 11 (see pages 86 and 91), but instead of choosing a particular location, let the location choose you once you enter the image of the Worldscraper. You may end up in the hidden world, the sky city, or the more visible middle kingdoms. Use the tools and talents you have gathered through this work and start with the intention to meet the spirit of the city, a personification of the energies you are using. During the shamanic journey, you may actually meet a being or find yourself in the presence of its energy. Many will know this being or energy already, since it pervades the entire environment. Communication can be verbal, visual, or intuitive. Make friends with this energy as you would with any other spiritual ally. Cultivate this relationship while working with city magick.

End the meeting and complete the conversation, as in any other journey. Bring yourself back through the use of the Worldscraper image, exiting in the middle world and returning your awareness back to the physical.