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1 2   UER Forum > Archived UE Main > Urbomancy (Viewed 885 times) pandaemonium   |  |  |  Urbomancy < on 9/10/2003 7:22 PM >   I wonder if anyone here has ever encountered urbomancy. I've only just recently become aware of urban exploration, but I've done a great deal of it myself, albeit under a different name. Urbomancy is somewhat like guardianship - the magical symbiosis of a person with a particular natural area - except that it relates to cities... going, exploring, fixing, aiding, and so on. The main person I was working with has since moved to Chicago, but before he left he told me a great many stories about his relationship with Rochester, where he used to live... lights would change for him, etc. I wonder if anyone here might be interested in starting an urbomantic cabal or circle; I am in Pittsburgh, so others in the same area would be helpful, but a cross-country network would probably work also. If you're interested, please e-mail me in addition to posting here. travis-jason feldstein [email protected] Mochi  Location: West Jordan, Utah Gender: Male Stare deep into a kitty's nose.  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 1 on 9/10/2003 7:29 PM >   To be one-hundred percent fair, and only because I believe in a LOT of ... "not average" concepts and ideas, I'll tackle this one. To be fair, I believe a person CAN hold a personal tie to an area. Hell, that's why a ghost haunts a building, right? It's tied to the location where it died (or tied to a reason why it died, like object possession). Myself, well, lights flicker and turn off when I'm around. I don't know why, but they do. Mostly streetlamps, home lights, and the ilk. I'd nail this one down to either "urbomancy" or a strong electrical field around my body, being generated for unknown reasons... (My Matrix battery is bigger than YOUR Matrix battery... har har.) I tend to lean my reasoning to the latter of the two explanations, but honestly, who knows... Want a good comic book urbomancer? Look up Jack from the Image comic The Authority. He's personally tied to EVERY city on Earth, and can teleport from city to city, exhibit extraordinary powers while in a city, and "feel" a city, such as it's pain or fear (like when a city is getting destroyed or taken over, which happens a lot in that comic). I'd suggest picking it up, personally. Good shtuff. Well, that's my two bits, take it or leave it. I'd suggest jsut leaving where it is, and maybe it'll skitter away. >_< Mochi, as open minded as the next mind flayer... JESUS SAVES!!! (And then he redeems his tickets for free prizes!) Corporeal Punishment  Location: Lima Center, WI Gender: Male Welcome to your heart...  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 2 on 9/10/2003 7:55 PM >   I've been going through the whole "Lights shutting off and turning on" thing for a while now. I don't know what to think, except that in some circumstances it seems to be tied directly to my emotions. My mom can fry computers if she's in a bad mood; supermarket checkers won't work, etc.. My other theory deals with synchronicity but we won't go there just now.... On a side note, when I moved to Cambridge, WI, I went for a walk. I know exactly where I went, streets and all, and Cambridge is just too small to get lost in. Anyways, I wound up in an area I had never seen before or since. Bear in mind that the town is a mere mile long by about 3 miles wide. I've followed my exact route (and incidentally walked around the entire town) time and time again, but never found that place. All I remember is how beautiful the houses were and how peaceful the area was; it just had a really good feeling about it. There was no traffic and all the front lawns were manicured and landscaped and every one of them had those little lights along the walkway to the front door. I didn't see any people around and I don't think any house lights were on. The street was really long and had a long, gentle curve in it. Judging from walks I'd taken afterwards, it would have to have come out near the gas station. As it was, I kept following it until I reached a cul du sac and then turned around. It was winter and night when this happened. Suit by Armani...Balls by King Kong. "Please do not offer my god a peanut" Mochi  Location: West Jordan, Utah Gender: Male Stare deep into a kitty's nose.  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 3 on 9/10/2003 8:15 PM >   Are you familiar with crossroads, MC? Please respond ASAP. >_< Mochi, my feyometer is going through the roof! JESUS SAVES!!! (And then he redeems his tickets for free prizes!) Asher Archive  Pikachu Gender: Female  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 4 on 9/10/2003 11:19 PM >   Oh my shite! It's fucking cool that there is finally someone else down with that sort of thing on this forum. I posted about Urban Magic(k) a few months ago and was only flamed. -_- So god damn lame. At any rate. I've never heard of what you're talking about called 'urbomancy' but I've heard the basic ideas -- which are very much the same as Urban Magic. I don't live anywhere near you, I just wanted to say that you're very ejeet. By-the-by, are you into sigils in the city? What of the relationship that Robert Pirsig talked about as the city being a Giant? I was going to post about that last night! I am getting all McKenna vibes. I hope that makes some sense. :/ kowalski   |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 5 on 9/11/2003 12:02 AM >   C'mon Asher, you didn't *only* get flamed in that other thread : ) I have a relationship with a certain star in the city. By aligning myself and other objects with it (usually telephone lines), I can make the bus I need appear from around the corner. I don't know what else we can achieve together, that's all I've tried so far. Beyond that, when I listen to my brain the right way, I can act in perfect symbiosis with the transit system, making the right decision on where to meet the bus, which bus to meet, etc. even when the decision is realistically a complete toss-up. Only local transit though - GO Transit always does everything in its power to kick my ass even when I've made a perfect local trip to get to the station on time. I can feel the wisps of things small and big moving through the empty spaces of drains and buildings. When I try to sleep while in a particularily stressed out mood, I can hear the myriad conversations and sonic entertainments of the neighbourhood around me, all layered one on top of the other and played in a sort of fast forward so none of it can be understood. Monarch butterflies flitter through suburban forests and the heart of the city when I need to know that things are okay. Frost  Location: K.Dot Gender: Male No beer makes Frosty go..something something..(Taz: Crrazzy?)..Dont mind if I doo!  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 6 on 9/11/2003 1:56 AM >   This sounds exactly like basic magic that anyone into some sort of pagan belief would practice. The relationship between everything is based on energy, and we all contain a piece of the universe, so of course we should be able to modify things and feel things that would otherwise seem inanimate and unalive to the average person. It's basic magic, our energy can be used, when focused properly to modify the outcome of things. Change the environment so-to-speak. I always tap into energy sources no matter what town I'm in. I can change stoplights (I really need to be in the right mood though--certain moods and I can't do shit), I've made traffic get the hell out of the way without hesitation (and no I wasn't tailing them) and when I'm in buildings, I can feel it "breathing" and I can see things from the past when it was a fuctional site. Anyways, cool stuff, too bad you're so far away. Why is marijuana not legal? Why is marijuana not legal? Its a natural plant that grows in the dirt. You know what's not natural, 80 year old dudes with hardons. Thats not natural, but we got pills for that. We're dedicating all our resources to keeping the old guys erect but we're puttin people in jail for smoking something that grows in the dirt. Ben  Noble Donor Location: Mojave Desert Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 7 on 9/11/2003 4:40 AM >   Quoting Ninj's ironic comment: Oh god. Asher Archive  Pikachu Gender: Female  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 8 on 9/11/2003 4:58 AM >   Posted by Wikkit Quoting Ninj's ironic comment: Oh god. I think Ninj would have meant it in much less dimwitted and intolerant manner and more of a cool undertone. But that's just me and I'm really tired. Stochastic Probability  Location: Barrie Gender: Male Yeah, well, keep it down, okay?  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 9 on 9/11/2003 6:51 AM >   Hm, don't know how much interest this would bring, but this is an interesting site, though in my opinion, some of the terms are a little too cliche'd for my taste. This is a fascinating topic, so more on this would be appreciated. http://www.lazurite.ca/citymagick.html "People say that you'll die faster than without water, but we know it's just a lie, scare your son, scare your daughter" Shatter  Location: K/W Downtown Gender: Male 'I can get in there, i just need a coke, some chewing gum and a stick of tnt...'  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 10 on 9/11/2003 8:23 PM >   from my background in magic and things spiritual, i'd have to start by agreeing with k-os, but it extends a bit more into something akin to collective consciousness when it comes to cities and communities in general. essentially all humans are magically attuned, but just like ones ability to read or do basic math, it must be learned and developed to achieve greater things from ones 'sixth sense'. so, when you have any large gathering of people, you have the potential to lay down a kind of weave, a layer of psuedo-consciousness that reflects the overall emotional and mental state of the people who live there. this is why certain buildings and part of cities have certain feelings, and the older the part of town, the stronger the feeling. i haven't been able to test this on a location more than 400 years old, so i can't speak for everywhere, but even in cities like toronto, there is a 'vibe'. mind you, i don't usually agree with the vibe coming from toronto, but i think that has to do with the fact that i'm more attuned to the natural world and too much concrete and low level electromagnetic fields give me a headache. Combine the residual leftover feelings from people with the electromagnetic fields i spoke of and you have the mess that is most cities. it is possible to pull off magical effects at a much stronger effect than your used to by tapping into this underlying vibe, but you have to be careful not to let it corrupt your own natural energy flow. think of it as drinking way too much coffee. anyway, you've all hit it all on the head of the nail in my opinion, and i'm especially interested in the 'lining up the star and making things happen.' that strikes of some serious high magic, kowalski, have you read up on this stuff or is it just a personal thing you do? "So is it just me, or does the current situation in the United States seem like a bad 'B' movie?" Avatar-X  Alpha Husky Location: West Coast Gender: Male yay!  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 11 on 9/11/2003 9:42 PM >   I'm not sure exactly what you guys mean, however let me take a stab... In the summer, I go out for nightly rollerblade excersize trips. Just outside Exhibition Place, there was this one streetlight which always seemed to go off just as I passed it. I thought maybe it was the various electronic devices I had on me (cell phone, camera, flashlight) or something similar. Not being one to put too much faith in such sillyness, I decided to investigate. I sat near the night for a short period of time. As I watched, the light went on and off randomly, every few minutes. One easy explanation to streetlights turning off by themselves is understanding how they operate. When it gets dark enough, a light-detecting sensor switches a circuit to turn on the streetlight. Some streetlights are badly designed, such that the light from the streetlight falls onto the sensor, causing it to constantly turn on and off. There have been many stories about streetlights going off as you get near them -- search for it on www.snopes.com for the real story. huskies - such fluff. The Dark One  Location: Montreal, Quebec Gender: Male Twist  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 12 on 9/12/2003 2:12 AM >   I have a street light down the alleyway from my house sometimes seems to randomly turn off and then back on during the night. My theory is that since they're so bright, but designed to be long-lasting, steetlights wear out in other ways than your standard bulbs. The heat these things generate might actually bend the metal in the socket to the point where it bends and kill the circuit. After it's cooled down, it bend back and the light turns back on. Of course, you can alse get your 'at the end of its lifetime' fluorescent bulbs that'll seem to try to give you a seisure. Heh, does anyone here remember The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, where Thor has fun screwing with the street lights? [last edit 9/11/2003 9:12 PM by The Dark One - edited 1 times] *** MsMaul was kicked by MsMaul (I didn't eat enough bagels!!!!111) Curious_George  Location: Cambridge Gender: Male Straight outta New Bedlam  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 13 on 9/12/2003 5:48 AM >   Being a Christian I don't really believe in having a spiritual relationship with myself but I do believe that one can have a "relationship" with a building or drain on a more emotional level. If your not sure of what I'm talking about, it kinda follows the friendship and intimacy principle of human relationship, but is between the explorer and the explored. I know that Ogilive is a like a friend to me because I've visited it so many times and it was the one who first got me going into it. I've had such an awesome time in the place that everytime I see it, my heart kinda races and I remember the smells and sights all over again. Also, if you explore the building throughly you begin to almost personify it, even furthening the bond between building and explorer. Sorry if this doesn't make much sense, but I'm really tired. Akamu  Location: Richmond, VA Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 14 on 9/12/2003 6:51 AM >   Well, for the hell of it, I DO remember Doug Adams. Too bad he died rather abruptly, although it was entirely appropriate for him. I was actually expecting a lightning bolt, but a heart attack is random enough. A shame, really, even though I can't remember what Thor was trying to do...something about a girl, I think...damned alcohol... Ben  Noble Donor Location: Mojave Desert Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 15 on 9/12/2003 5:22 PM >   Please don't bring Douglas Adams into this, he definitely wouldn't beleive in this junk. -- Ben, previous operator of douglas-adams.com RevSM  Location: South Central Texas  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 16 on 9/12/2003 6:03 PM >   Posted by Wikkit Please don't bring Douglas Adams into this, he definitely wouldn't beleive in this junk. -- Ben, previous operator of douglas-adams.com Maybe, but he might have made fun of it in his witty and hilarious way. Tetanus for Breakfast! http://www.shatteredshutter.com Chud  Try a 211, you'll just get 187'd...  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 17 on 9/12/2003 7:04 PM >   Don't panic Nobody will not agree with the Russians, ever on anything. -Kimmo Malabaristo  Location: Eau Claire Wisconsin Gender: Male  |  |  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 18 on 9/16/2003 12:10 AM >   Posted by Shatterforce so, when you have any large gathering of people, you have the potential to lay down a kind of weave, a layer of psuedo-consciousness that reflects the overall emotional and mental state of the people who live there. I've noticed this in my forced-christian upbringing. A group of people doing the worship thing, focus their collective energy on the same thing. So they say things like, "I can feel the holy spirit working here today," even though it's that collective that they're feeling. I think people tend to bellittle the human mind and attribute such things to the power of god. For some reason that's easier than accepting what we can be capable of. Krenta  Location: Saint Paul, MN Nope, wasn't me.  |  Re: Urbomancy <Reply # 19 on 9/16/2003 1:27 AM >   Being a practicing Wiccan, I suppose I have a few odd beliefs... and a few I'll share. I think that people can develop a definite relationship with their surroundings, given the right conditions (like willingness, for starters). I've experienced glimpses of this, but have never achieved the all-out epiphany of symbiosis... Regarding the "streetlight phenomenon"; I'd only known of this among other pagans/neopagans; it comes up a lot in late-night conversations after rituals, in my experience, and there's no clear consensus of it's significance, if any. My personal theory is that either it's some sort of magickal phenomenon with open-minded people, or it's a naturally occuring event that happens all the time but is only noticed by open-minded people who pay attention to their surroundings. I personally notice it much more after rituals, or at other times when I'm magically imbalanced; perhaps it's "excess power" flaring off or something. ;) Oughta ground 'n' center more often. I've long felt that age gives objects a certain intrinsic "power". I think this is part of the appeal, magickal or not, that people find in very old objects. I have a couple of pottery bowls from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) which even utterly "mundane" people are oddly fascinated by, even though they're not much to look at. Ditto my one-pound chunk of Eocene coprolite. I don't see why the same can't apply to places; certainly a very old concrete tunnel seems more fascinating, more interesting than a brand-new one. I was in Phalen Creek over the weekend with Mr-X and Wikkit, who lit a 100' or so stretch of the tunnel with more than four dozen tea-candles... The end result was amazingly, awe-inspiringly beautiful. It was pretty much a religous experience. I don't think the effect could be replicated in a building or tunnel that was, say, only ten years old. Part of the ambience and experience was the obvious age. I was present for something similar with candles in a cave in Minneapolis, a city with which I have no affinity whatsoever, and the result was, while just as visually impressive, somehow less (emotionally? psychically? magickally?) rewarding... but that might just have been my aching back. I would say, without further evidence, that part of the appeal in Phalen Creek was the fact that we were under *my city*, not terribly far from my home, a city with a distinctly different "vibe" than Murderapolis, er, Minneapolis. Re: the power of masses of people; this is something that has long fascinated me. Both mass/mob psychology, and the power a group of people can produce amaze me. Anyone who may have been to an open Pagan ritual might know what I'm talking about; the sheer power-energy-magick in the air, almost visible, raised by a few hundred people in similarly joyous states of mind that leaves you tingling and wandering around with a grin plastered on your face. It would be amazing to try and pull something like that off in an underground tunnel or cave. I wonder how many/what percentage of urban explorers have inclinations towards/believe in magick? I'd expect a higher-than-average level, just because UEr's tend to be more open-minded and less in the mainstream, for whatever reasons. I'd also expect a higher level of bi/homosexuality, for the same sorts of reasons. But that's just me talking... Have Speed Graphic, Will Travel. UER Forum > Archived UE Main > Urbomancy (Viewed 885 times) 1 2   All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire. 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