Urban Shamanism consists of the Application of ancient techniques within the context of a modern paradigm. We assume that just as nature has spirits and guides, the city has also developed its own spirits and guides. You don’t need to hug a tree or meditate inside a cave to get magical results.
A spirit guide can be a pigeon, a cat, a dog, or any other animal that has a good time on the streets. Even a homeless man can be. Instead of going into a trance with an Indo-American drum, try it with the static of the T.V
City Magic believes in Animism. Animism is believing that all things have a spirit. Native American religions are a good example. A raven exists, therefore it has a spirit with which you can communicate, either the spirit of that specific raven or the spiritual archetype of all ravens. This can be applied to anything, for example IXAT is the God of Taxis.
Humans tend to give spirit to an object or a place when we begin to personify them, we give it anthropomorphic attributes and we even speak to it. For example, you have a car that you have driven for years and have created an emotional attachment to it. When it doesn’t turn on quickly, we talk to it, rub our fingers against the board, or even offer it something in return. That is animism.
Just as many magicians try to connect with Mother Nature, the urban magician must connect with the City. He treats the City as an entity of its own.
Each City has a Mythical Twin. The key to urban magic is to gain access to this twin. The best way to do it is:
A. GOING OUT TO THE STREET A LOT.
The City always has a lot to offer but we completely ignore it. Every street, every sign, every sound is trying to communicate something to you. Visit streets that you never frequent, take a good look at the streets you walk every day and you will see that there was a message on them that you had not seen. Many of us come pre-programmed to only see certain things in the city, take a good look at all the details.
B. LEARN FROM THE HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE CITY.
Every City has a story about its foundation, the people who created it, the meaning of its name, etc…. all these data can be important clues to the way the City behaves. Currently each city has small subcultures, important sites and historical areas, these data must also be analyzed.
C. FIND ZONES OF POWER.
If the City is an entity then it must have places where energy accumulates. This derives from the idea of the 7 chakras. The chakras are power centers within the human body that are located along the spine.
Cities also have zones of power and it is the duty of the urban magician to begin to find them. Shopping centers or Parks are important energy points, each magician also has personal power zones, places that attract his attention for no apparent reason and where he can recharge his energies. Just as the black wizard can feel comfortable with demons but the white wizard cannot, you will find Zones of power that may be comfortable for many but not for you. If you analyze the points where you feel comfortable you will find a little more about your own energy and relationship with the city.
Once you have these data, entering the Mythical Twin of the city is simple, you just have to put all the data into a reality tunnel where they can be worked on as something “true.” A person who enters the Mythical Twin does not see buses but metallic beasts transportation, animals are spirit guides, the subway system is arteries, etc …
DIVINATION METHODS
MediaMancia: The premise behind this technique is the following:
1) The Universe / God / The Gods / Something / (insert preferred deity or higher state) is constantly trying to tell you important things.
2) He / She / They / That use Images and Slogans from the media as a way to contact them.
You just have to adjust to the moment (eg, calm down and focus your mind on work), ask a question and look for the answer in your surroundings. Keep in mind very very well that anything that stands out IS important and IS significant.
TVMancia:
1) Forget everything you have read / heard / thought about TV. Get into a state of mind where the only thing you’re going to see is people inside the box. Don’t think of them as actors. Stop the concept of falsehood on TV from taking over your mind. You are about to consult a language box.
2) Change channels whenever you feel like it is necessary. Write down or memorize what is relevant3) The more you see the better (I did it for 20 hours). Drink lots of coffee. If you smoke then smoke a lot.
WORK WITH ENTITIES (INVOCATION / EVOCATION)
Note: invocation is the “conscious identification with a complex entity” while evocation is the “use of simple entities with which identification is avoided.” Today invocation can be called metaprogramming and evocation can be called neurosomatic action.
TOTEMS
A totem is a supernatural object, being or animal, which in the mythologies of some cultures is taken as the emblem of the tribe or the individual. In other cultures they are called guardians or guides. You may already have contact with an animal or object in the city, but remember that the more guides you have, the easier it will be to work with the city.
1. Begin to look at an object or city animal that appears randomly in everyday situations (leafing through magazines, changing channels, walking down the street, surfing the net, in dreams, etc …)
2. Once you have found him, you must begin the relationship process. If it is an animal then try to find it and stare at it (not necessarily in the eye but it is recommended) until you receive some kind of sign of approval or denial from it. Touching it is important (they don’t count hungry dogs while you’re eating a hamburger). If it is an object then contemplate it for long periods of time to see what kinds of images, ideas or situations arise in relation to it.
3. Once you have familiarized yourself with the totem you can start working on it. Search about their symbolism, their history, and their behavior. Create a sigil, mantra, logo, t-shirt, or whatever you can use to call it.
4. The next step is quite simple, apply the sigil, mantra or whatever you have chosen as the link and try to evoke it (that manifests itself before you) or invoke it (that it manifests within you). For example, let’s say your totem is a cat and you need to call it to solve a problem, an evocation of a cat may result in a song playing on the radio about cats for some reason (read the lyrics for the answer), a picture of a cat in a magazine with the answer or the physical manifestation of a cat in the street (follow it or observe its movements to find the answer). An invocation would place you in the “mindset” of a cat: stealthy, autonomous, aware of any movement, hygienic, etc …
GODS
A God is the supreme being of a Closed System, the one who has total control and management over it. The God of this Universe would have total control and management of it while the God of the corner bar is the one who has total control and management of it (generally he is the owner of the bar but according to this definition sometimes a drunkard can replace him) .
The following are some of the gods (entities that dominate a certain quality) that we have found, feel free to add others as you locate them within your cities.
Ineoria – the goddess of neon, spirit of illusion and direction. Beautiful and fragile, she lives within small spheres or on pillars. She is a light in the dark but offers no shelter. She shows the way but does not interfere with it. She is a goddess of mixed signs, truths and fictions. She cannot be touched by human hands.
Groghuh – the spirit of garbage. Like Ixat (god of taxis) Groghuh is a keeper of secrets. Things already discarded, things lost. He has a huge treasury in every city. They are like medieval dragons. He often manifests himself as a drunken bum with dirty clothes and rotten teeth. He finds beauty in the mundane, magic in the ordinary. He gives shelter and friendship to those who have nowhere to go.
Cthaaanhiss – spirit of the traffic. A strange god who lives in the coming and going of traffic. He is the smoke, traffic lights, traffic jams and shortcuts. Just as he causes traffic jams he can also remove them or shorten the time between two points. His behavior is irrational, he is liquid, he does not stay still. Silence is the death of this god.
Ixat – the god of taxis. Knowledgeable of secrets, mobile of people. Ixat knows all the secrets that taxi drivers know. He knows all the secret locations of every city, he has been to all of them. Ixat has secretly dominated Chtaaaniss through some unknown pact. He moves through traffic with ease but only if he wants to. He obtains the information from him through whispers and confessions so his information is not totally reliable.
Celgos – the god of cell phones. He is the Hermes of modernity, he communicates whatever whenever and wherever. Little by little he has been collecting believers and today we find his faithful servants in every corner of the city proclaiming the word of his lord. If you need to find a cell phone in the city then Celgos is the god to call.
These gods can also be evoked or invoked in the same way as a totem, although we warn that it is difficult to control an invoked god, so be careful with the entity you are going to call.
VARIOUS TECHNIQUES
Use Graffiti as Sigils. You can create your own sigils and place them on the wall of a fairly busy street. Another technique is to create a ritualistic site bounded by sigils, for example: placing a sigil in a square area 5 blocks around would create a zone of power within that area.
The symbology of the four elements is present everywhere. Use it at Will
Fire: Desire, Will (A cigarette, a song, anything that generates activity).
Water: Feelings, emotions (Drinks in general: coffee, alcohol … each one activates certain emotions).
Air: Communication, Logic (Cell phones, small talk, magazines).
Earth: Matter, Stability (The money in your pockets, the clothes you wear).
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