Urban animism

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So, prompted by a discussion I had Kenaz Filan on his blog, it got me to thinking about animism in an urban setting.
This is not really a new idea. There have been books before that brought up this concept, and based upon my own study of chaos magick, there is an intention of interacting with the metaphysical in whatever environment you are in. A communion with the spiritual forces and the spirits that occupy the urban landscape and yet so often the urban landscape is rejected while the people in it seek an escape to a “natural” environment. This, I think, is more of a reflection of the pastoral fantasy people carry in their head, that being in “nature” is better, closer to perfection, and more authentic. However, I see the urban landscape as a natural environment, created by the animal who needs it to live, namely, humanity.
Humans are a part of nature, and yet so often the works and creations of humans are dismissed as “man-made” and “unnatural.” Yet, so often it seems that it is forgotten that humanity is as much a part of nature as any other animal, many of which change their environment to make it more suitable for them. So in the cities and metropolises that humanity has created, we are participating in a natural environment that we have created to make it more suitable for us as a species, but also that other animals have adapated to living in these environments as well. These are the animals we live and are surrounded by on a regular basis, even though we don’t always recognize or even see them most of the time, but when some of them are seen, the illicit strong responses from humanity.
But not only the animals, but the landscape itself also has consciousness. Buildings, roads, cities, districts, vehicles, structural materials can all be seen as having a spiritual essence, and so a spiritual intelligence that can be communed, allied, fought or negotiated with, much as a spirit worker in any culture would have to interact with and being the herald and diplomat for the his community with their environment. Yet if often seems that the urban spirit workers don’t engage with the spirits of their environment, from the animals that also live in it with humanity, to the spirits that are connected to the homes and structures they live and work in, to the roads they travel, or even to the city itself. These spiritual intelligences are neglected, in favor of the pastoral mystique, of majestic wild animals far removed from the workers environments, animals that many of these workers will never experience first hand in their natural environment.
Of course the spirits of the land have become part of the spirits of the city that covers it. One could just as well connect with the spirit of Los Angeles, or seek the spirits that serve within it, such as Hollywood, Koreatown, or even Downtown LA. Within those are the spirits of buildings themselves, from the spirit that governs your home, to the office building you may work in all have spirits that can be cajoled, placated, and interacted with. Some might be very strong, old and wise, while others might be very young, and enjoy having the attentions of the local spirit-worker who brings them offerings to make them stronger, and so help her community.
Even more local and specific are the ghosts and lost souls that wander in the urban landscape. Often the older the city, the more ghosts there are, as stories are told of the house where people were died and they return and are seen, to the street where an old gunfight occurred. I was told by a friend once that the lost dead wander the alleys of cities, and thus to avoid allies at night as much as possible, otherwise you might find yourself with a companion following you. Of course cemeteries exist with the city, the places designated where people are laid to rest. The dead can be accessed there, although you might want to learn some of the rules followed by various cultures that are friendly with the dead on how to interact with them. But ghosts can be found in many other places across the city, as most older places have stories associated with them, and sometimes after building have been torn down and replaced, the ghosts of the prior building linger on, to continue to haunt the new building.
These are just examples of the many crossroads that spiritual beings make with humanity, and with the spirit-workers among humanity. Suffice to say that there is much to be experienced within the spiritual landscape of an urban environment. Wisdom, allies, aid can all be gained by connecting with the spirits around you, and as the spirits of the land and personal environment play a more direct role, they are spirits worth communing with.

Where the Hel have you been?

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Ok ok, I get it. I haven’t posted in a while. At first I was severely lacking for inspiration, then I was sick, and now I am just being lazy and creatively blocked since I just don’t know where to begin. I have been posting occasionally over at Hoodoo Crossroads, on topics related to the practice and application of Conjure, but things here have been, well, quiet. This heat wave hitting the Greater Los Angeles area just isn’t helping right now either, as it makes it too hot for me to think, or at least I feel that way.
Then there is also the work side of it. Having something to write about, because I am doing something, and I have been, it is just the process of coming to a better understanding to where I can express it clearly in words. No, it’s not a deep mystical experience but, as with all kinds of spiritual work, walking it and talking it isn’t always easy.

Psychic

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Definition of psychic
1: of or relating to the psyche

2: lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force

3: sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding

Definition of psyche

[Greek psychē]
a : soul, personality
b : mind 2
Origin of psyche
Latin, from Greek psychē soul

-From Merriam-Webster

For a long time, I have avoided the word psychic. It was a word that I felt never applied to me, mainly because I don’t see dead people, I don’t read minds, and I don’t know the whole of a person before I even talk to them. But I do have gifts, gifts that do make me sensitive to extraordinary or spiritual forces. It is from those gifts that I sought out to magic and to study all its forms, and I am on the spiritual and magical path that I am on.

Lately, I have been pondering what it means to be psychic. This is a term that I see often, usually in relation to being a reader, ie “a psychic reader”. The popular connotation seems to be one where people have great expectations of someone who claims to be psychic. Readings a persons mind, knowing almost everything about them, and vivid exacting predictions of the future are the most well known examples of what people expect from a psychic, at least if they have never been to one. Of course, all of this is suppose to happen the instant the client walks into the room and sits down to the table where the psychic reader is plying their craft. As many ads for readers indicate, there is a slight promotion of these traits, at least to attract clients, from regular ones to one-timer who come out of curiosity or desperation.

Looking at the definitions of psychic, and the words it is derived from, the potential of being psychic is a completely different thing. At least by one meaning, psychic and magic could almost be exchangeable words, as they both are nouns relating to phenomena that lies outside the sphere of physical science and knowledge. As an adjective, psychic can take many forms. Sensitivity to nonphysical or supernatural influence, or an extraordinary sensitivity can relate to many things. It isn’t always about being able to read minds, see the future, or knowing information without physical access. Sometimes it can just be an innate sense to danger, or a sense of what action to take, either to insure success or just have a fortunate day. That same sensitivity could relate to the root word of psychic, the word psyche. As psyche means soul, personality, or mind, a psychic person could just as well be someone whose soul, personality or mind is perhaps one of their stronger qualities. That greater talent in psyche might cause one to seem to be the other kind of psychic. As the strength of your soul, mind, or personality, gives one the ability to perceive with extraordinary sensitivity, or to originate things from a non-physical source.

At least by that meaning, almost everyone is “psychic” as many people seem to tap into moments where they are aware of, or connected to influences that come from a nonphysical source. It is those who are gifted with connections above and beyond the infrequent and mild sensitivity that some people feel that are more renowned, and sometimes more haunted by their gifts. I have met a few people who have told me of childhoods lived in fear, from going out in public where the thought of every person they encounter is made clear to them, from happy people, to scary thoughts of neighbors. Another who has difficulty sleeping throught the night because it seems every ghost (and I mean by that a spirit of a deceased human) comes visiting them, drawing attention to itself for some unknown reason. Many of these people just want a normal life, and so they never develop those gifts, but their gifts never decrease either, except through numbing the senses, often through alcohol, drugs, or other additive and destructive behaviors.

Of course, forever every one person haunted by psychic gifts, it often seems that there are more with very slight gifts who are trying to develop and improve them. I can’t say I have ever met someone who managed to work their slight gift into great gift, but I have seen plenty of people make the best of their slight gift, and turn into something useful and practical, which served them well, and helped make their lives better. I think, that is of course, one of the great keys to being a really great psychic, as within any talent, gift or interest. It can only improve with practice and application. Much in the same way that Einstein wasn’t a genius, but yet he revolutionized the science of physics, and how people understand the world through physics, so can a person with average gifts, become a great and recognized psychic, reader or spiritual worker.

Psychic?

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Definition of psychic

1: of or relating to the psyche

2: lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force

3: sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding

Definition of psyche [Greek psychē]

b : mind

2 Origin of psyche Latin, from Greek psychē soul

-From Merriam-Webster

For a long time, I have avoided the word psychic. It was a word that I felt never applied to me, mainly because I don’t see dead people, I don’t read minds, and I don’t know the whole of a person before I even talk to them. But I do have gifts, gifts that do make me sensitive to extraordinary or spiritual forces. It is from those gifts that I sought out to magic and to study all its forms, and I am on the spiritual and magical path that I am on.

Lately, I have been pondering what it means to be psychic. This is a term that I see often, usually in relation to being a reader, ie “a psychic reader”. The popular connotation seems to be one where people have great expectations of someone who claims to be psychic. Readings a persons mind, knowing almost everything about them, and vivid exacting predictions of the future are the most well known examples of what people expect from a psychic, at least if they have never been to one. Of course, all of this is suppose to happen the instant the client walks into the room and sits down to the table where the psychic reader is plying their craft. As many ads for readers indicate, there is a slight promotion of these traits, at least to attract clients, from regular ones to one-timer who come out of curiosity or desperation. Looking at the definitions of psychic, and the words it is derived from, the potential of being psychic is a completely different thing. At least by one meaning, psychic and magic could almost be exchangeable words, as they both are nouns relating to phenomena that lies outside the sphere of physical science and knowledge. As an adjective, psychic can take many forms. Sensitivity to nonphysical or supernatural influence, or an extraordinary sensitivity can relate to many things. It isn’t always about being able to read minds, see the future, or knowing information without physical access. Sometimes it can just be an innate sense to danger, or a sense of what action to take, either to insure success or just have a fortunate day. That same sensitivity could relate to the root word of psychic, the word psyche. As psyche means soul, personality, or mind, a psychic person could just as well be someone whose soul, personality or mind is perhaps one of their stronger qualities. That greater talent in psyche might cause one to seem to be the other kind of psychic. As the strength of your soul, mind, or personality, gives one the ability to perceive with extraordinary sensitivity, or to originate things from a non-physical source.

At least by that meaning, almost everyone is “psychic” as many people seem to tap into moments where they are aware of, or connected to influences that come from a nonphysical source. It is those who are gifted with connections above and beyond the infrequent and mild sensitivity that some people feel that are more renowned, and sometimes more haunted by their gifts. I have met a few people who have told me of childhoods lived in fear, from going out in public where the thought of every person they encounter is made clear to them, from happy people, to scary thoughts of neighbors. Another who has difficulty sleeping throught the night because it seems every ghost (and I mean by that a spirit of a deceased human) comes visiting them, drawing attention to itself for some unknown reason. Many of these people just want a normal life, and so they never develop those gifts, but their gifts never decrease either, except through numbing the senses, often through alcohol, drugs, or other addictive and destructive behaviors.

Of course, forever every one person haunted by psychic gifts, it often seems that there are more with very slight gifts who are trying to develop and improve them. I can’t say I have ever met someone who managed to work their slight gift into great gift, but I have seen plenty of people make the best of their slight gift, and turn into something useful and practical, which served them well, and helped make their lives better. I think, that is of course, one of the great keys to being a really great psychic, as within any talent, gift or interest. It can only improve with practice and application. Much in the same way that Einstein wasn’t a genius, but yet he revolutionized the science of physics, and how people understand the world through physics, so can a person with average gifts, become a great and recognized psychic, either as a reader or spiritual worker.

Weal and Woe

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A while ago I picked a book about Afro-cuban divination, a system called the diloggun. A neighbor of mine is a practitioner of Santeria and after having witnessed him conduct a reading, and spending time with him I became curious about the whole process and methods. It is a wonderfully simple and yet complex system. Simple because the actual physical process is not that complicated, complex because of the depth with which the diloggun can read, Unlike the average tarot card reading and methods that seem to be based upon that, where the card and the layout is the beginning and the end, the diloggun start with determining a number, and then a number that follows that, and then determining whether that number comes with ire (blessings) or osogbo (misfortune). Following that determination is then where the blessings or misfortune comes from, and how it can be further strengthened (ire) or how it can be lessened or avoided (osogbo). It was the concepts of ire and osogbo that appealed to me strongly, as something that seems to be missing or forgotten in most contemporary divination. Even a lot of contemporary books on modern divination usually tend to put a helpful or positive spin on things that are unpleasant, undesirable or just plain bad or harmful. This seems like a grave disservice to me, but it often seems hard to determine whether the reading being given is really coming with good or with evil. Often times it seems like the default way of doing this with Tarot and systems like it is to interpret all reversed cards as being in some way negative. I have found through personal experience, that this is not the case in the majority of situations..

In working with the runes, I began to ask if the reading or individual runes within the reading are coming with weal (blessings, fortune, benevolence) or woe ( hexes, misfortune, malevolence). The basic method I use for this is to pull another rune and see if that come out upright or reversed, without considering the meaning of the rune itself, at least in most cases. This was fairly accurate, giving an indication of when the action of influence of a rune or reading. The only difficult part was in dealing with runes which do not reverse. There are 13 runes in the Anglo-Saxon/Northumbrian Futhorc that appear the same when you turn them 180 degrees. I found the answer in understanding the nature of these runes, their essence is one that is fixed. Some of these runes will always indicate weal, others will always indicate woe, and a few are also variable, requiring further opening up, but indicating the workings of fate are sealing this and that it may not necessarily be easily changed or come about in a familiar way.

One of things that I have come to understand better from using this process is that just because a rune is reversed, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a bad or unfortunate thing. While often in books on runes the reversed form is called the myrkstave, and giving indications of negative or unwanted influences. I don’t necessarily agree with that any more. A reversed rune in a reading with weal is that influence is more in their absence. In a reading with woe, the things indicated may not come (if they are desired) or is better avoided. Tiewaz reversed with woe gives a good indication of avoiding any kind of legal problems, government or law enforcement, so buckle your seat belt, don’t forget any documents you might need and don’t sass the bureaucrat behind the desk. Feoh reversed with weal often seems to be an indication when other people are spending their wealth on you, without you spending any money, and just enjoying the pleasure of their company. The normal upright meanings become better applied through this process as well. Thurisaz with weal might be an indicator that some direct and unpleasant action is called for fortune to smile upon. Berkana with woe is an indicator that you should not expect any healing or nurturing during that time period, and possibly to be suspicious of people who do seem over eager to be that way. You might also want to be careful in all dealings with women, and possibly avoid their company as well. The interplay of weal and woe within the meanings offered by the runes opens up greatly and can help the reading deliver it’s message more certainty.

It seems appropriate in using the runes to see how the changes of weal and woe, the fluctuations of luck, a concept that was important to the Northern European cosmology and it’s interaction with fated occurrence, but the fortune or misfortune that may occur inbetween. It seems to be a concept that carries to this day, in showing how an unfortune situation can be the journey to great fortune, while seeming fortune can bring only loss and bad luck in the end.

Year’s Renewal

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So, at the beginning of last year, I took up the practice of posting a rune for each day of 2010. I might not have succeeded in doing it every day, but darn well near it. So, now, I am going to bid adieu to that posting, and perhaps move in a new direction, although I am not sure exactly yet what that direction will be.

To conclude this, I will post about the rune for 2011.

Jera

Jera is the letter J

Anglo-Saxon rune poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruitsfor rich and poor alike

Jera is the rune of the year, summer, and of the harvest. It is one of the non-invertible runes, as it looks the same whether you turn it up or upside down. I tend to think of it as being constant in that way, as it always brings good things with it, although it is not always quick to manifest. Part of the understanding of Jera is that is demands patience, dedication and work. Just like plants don’t immediately sprout from seeds and become full grown, so to does any worthwhile harvest come about without time to mature develop and become full formed. While it is maturing, it needs to be fed, nurtured, and tended to, receiving adequate light, water, and nutrients. Some of what you desire might also require unusual things, like prolonged darkness, or exposure to cold, or assistance in stripping away the protective seed coat, in order to help germinate the plant.

December 30, 2010 – Ior

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Ior

Ior is the dipthong “io”

Anglo-Saxon rune poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Ior is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;
it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness
Ior indicates a certain ease and comfortability in ones space, whether that is a home, just in your personal space in a public setting. There is contentment that permeates this rune, even as you move through your environment, shifting from one extreme to another. Externally, there is an expression of moving between boundaries, or even that boundaries are shifting, perhaps caused by your actions. While you maybe comfortable in these changing times, others may not be

December 28, 2010 – Shtan

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Shtan

Shtan is the “sh” sound

There is no rune poem for shtan. It is a Northumbrian rune.

Shtan, stone, signifies foundation, permanence, and the eternal. Like stone that can withstand centuries, while the lives of men and other living things rise and fall and change about it. Today, particularly it is a foundation to lean on. It’s particular effect is one of boon or fortune, lending support when so much is happening, or perhaps has fallen away from you.

December 27, 2010 – Uruz

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Uruz

Uruz is the vowel sound “u”

The aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle

Uruz indicates strength, power, and achievement. It is also a rune for healing, as it gives strength and vigor to the body, mind and soul. If you have been battling with illness or disease, you might find that it is lifting today, as you regain your strength.