Customer Reviews

City Magick

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the most relevant and timely books out today, Christopher Penczak's City Magick serves to prove that natural spirituality and paganism can be practiced and enjoyed deep in the rush of the urban jungle. Penczak has taken city life and opened it to the energies and rhythms of a "different" way of life for practitioners of magic.

With simple language and rich tones of personal experience, Mr. Penczak explains sources of energy, symbols and details of a magical life surrounded by concrete. He teaches us how to use limited space more efficiently for temples, altars and magical storage. Drawing on details from urban life, we're shown how the simple uses of tools, herbs, stones and graffiti sigils can bring us closer to a co-relationship with our environment. He introduces the reader to "Neon Devas and Electric Gods", beginning a new and refreshing open dialogue for those pagans who must or by choice, reside in cities.

Covering such subjects as "metropolitan spirits, urban magic, tools, language of the street, techno temples" and much more, this book delves deep into the heart of the city to unearth the powers that lurk there, waiting to be summoned. Included in the volume are twenty-three good illustrations and twenty-seven practical and simple exercises to enhance your magic and spirituality, while making your home within the steel and glass of an urban environment.

If you reside in a city, this book is a must-have. It will help alleviate the notion that magic can only be effective in a natural setting. Feel "at-one-ness" with the beat of the urban heart. Connect with your surroundings. Use the energy around you to strengthen and enhance magic. Practice urban magic and embrace the pulse of city-life.

I have been practicing and studying Wicca/Paganism, Tarot and many other tools of Divination for seven years now and this is by far the best book I've laid my hands on. Maybe it's because of the way he writes, the fresh new look and the way of thinking he has on the subject. I am getting very, very irritated from all the fluffy commercialized books I keep seeing and the tacky stuff people do like teen spell kits, velour covered love spell books and whatever else they can think of to take advantage of the fact that Wicca/Paganism is a fast growing path. Anyway, enough of that. Sorry but I had to say it but to let you know his book is not like that at all. It is clear (to me) that this book is not for beginners but for intermediate to more experienced practitioners of the Craft but it's not hard to digest at all. Excellent!

This book is a phenominal piece of craft lierature. It brings paganism from the forest into the concrete jungle. As an avid Techno-mage, I have found it informative, useful, and pleasing. I would recommend this book to any practitioner who lives in the city, and can't always get to a forest or a stream to perform their rituals. I have already tried many of the exercises in the book and have found that they have really opened my eyes to the spirit of the city. I look forward to reading this book many, many times in the future.

...and beat me to it also LOL! Honestly folks, he could not put it better and I know I can't but wanted to second that review wholeheartedly. I am still reading City Magick and could not agree more with his review. This book is what I have been looking for, both consciously and subconsciously, for some time. It is useful, practical, and above all- REAL LIFE for most of us living in cities. I no longer feel guilty that I can't go out and do the things in "A Witch Alone" by Marian Green or many of the "get back to nature or you are not a 'real witch'" type of thought process books, sorry but I have to work and live and cannot just pick up and move to the country, that just does not work for me and is not likely to anytime soon. I've always hated to hear or get the idea from other books or teachings that my Craft is less "worthy" or respectable or whatever as compared to others who are able to live differently than I by choice or chance. I really appreciate the author's support and change in tactic, thought, etc. This book poses none of that country-dweller-necessity garbage and truly empowers us city witches and magick users. If you live in the city or feel disconnected from your Path because of it, get this book now. I've learned more and had my eyes opened more in the first half of this book alone than in a dozen of the other "witchy" or otherwise magickal books I own. Simply wonderful, thank you Christopher Penczak!

'City Magick' by Christopher Penczak is one of the most enjoyable, original and inventive books on witchcraft/magic that I have read in quite sometime. In clear, concise terminology Penczak walks us through the urban landscape finding magical potential in all we encounter, proving once and for all that the three R's; Reality - Rapture - Ritual, applies to the bright city lights of the concrete jungle just as much as the moonlit natural surroundings of our quickly disappearing rural habit.

Spirit is everywhere, we only have to learn to discern its presence and make the connection. Embrace the metropolition spirits and the new urban temples where they dwell. Penczak is wonderfully adept at pointing the way, as well as providing the tools of the trade to make sure we're successful in this magical journey of discovery!

My Highest Recommendation!!

Having been raised in a rural area, it's taken some effort to adjust to living in the city. Granted, Portland is pretty green, with a lot of parks in the city proper. However, I've also lived in places where it wasn't so easy to get to greenspace. While I was somewhat aware of the magic of manmade objects and creations, I wish I'd had this book around to give me some extra ideas--I definitely would have coped a lot more quickly!

Penczak does a great job of taking basic (and some intermediate) magical practices and making them relevant to the land of concrete and steel. From an absolutely wonderful section on the sometimes neglected urban totem animals, to a recreation of the tree of life as a skyscraper (complete with mental picture of Spider-man as a shaman), he demonstrates that the concepts often found in green nature-based practices can also be adapted to more "artificial" environments. And that's one of the really beautiful things about this book; it reminds us that even though the components may have been altered somewhat, everything came from nature and is subject to it. Of course, Penczak doesn't ignore the fact that manmade creations have done harm to nature, both green and otherwise. However, he offers a realistic resource for those who do choose to (or must) live in an urban area.

There's a nice dash of Chaos magic in here, too. I thought his variations on sigils were wonderful, especially those appropriating graffiti. It's proof that subversion is pretty well universal, and the graffiti that's used to mark territory or deface public property can also be taken and reworked for personal magical purposes. And he has a nicely flexible perspective on deities and other denizens, particularly those of pop culture, the modern mythology of the city. I add bonus points for open-mindedness!

Overall, this is a great book, especially for someone who's still getting their feet wet in magical practice but thinks s/he has to be out in the middle of a field. As I said before, the basics are covered, but there are plenty of suggestions for expansion into intermediate territory. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I have some ideas for the next time I'm out wandering in downtown Portland.

I purchased this from a local outfit, mainly because it seemed different from the other fair I was used to seeing. This assessment was correct. I am no novice when it comes to working with magick or within the neo-Pagan community, and I've found the information to be accurate (which is more then I can say for most books I've read). The way Christopher presents in the information is straight forward and humorous in a lot of spots, which is something not a lot of authors do.

He presents his views on certain subjects in a way I can not find fault with and gives some interesting insight into how to work within the concrete canyons of our society. Awesome stuff here.

This is the thing if you live or work in a city (or just near one) you NEED this book. Most of us cant get out in a "wild" area each Sabbat. Though I must say it tends to have a few "Fluffy Bunny" momments, but almost ALL the authers do that now. Over a all it is a fresh look at old ideas, a must have.

This is my second copy as the first was borrowed and never returned. It is clear and well written and I am glad to have it again.

It seems that recently every single author I love is somehow into chaos majick and postmodern occultism. So I gave this book a chance. The concept sounded nice, after all.

Well. You can start thanking me. I've suffered this book, so you won't have to.
Basically, this is everything your mom warned you against when she pointed out those awful new age cooks at you. Simplistic, pollyannish, improbably "let's put everything occult we've heard of together and shake" completist, unsubstantiated and so on.

The central concept is: if you do every illogical thing the writer matter-of-factly states, you'll be magical. Which, the author warns, might well be just self-delusion.

Oh well. You could have gone mad without any magical benefit. I guess this is better, after all.