Urban Magick: A Guide for the City Witch

by Diana Rajchel

Uncover the Magick Hidden Between the Sidewalk Cracks

Engage with the urban landscape around you and harness its boundless possibilities for a thriving magickal practice. Urban Magick shows you how to connect with your city's diverse spiritual ecosystem and channel the powerful energy running through it.

Diana Rajchel invites you on an in-depth exploration of what it means to work with urban energies, providing a variety of spells for city life, techniques for working with spirits and elements, and exercises for boosting your creativity and energy. You'll also learn the purpose behind both ancient and modern cities, how architecture and population affect your magick, and how nature figures into city life. This remarkable book is your guide to not only the energetic and sacred pathways within your city, but also to your full magickal potential.

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Occult, Spirituality, Magick, Paganism, Magic

312 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2020

About the author

Diana Rajchel is the author of Urban Magick, a Guide for the City Witch, Hex Twisting: Counter Magick Spells for the Irritated Witch, and a few other books some magical folk might know.

She specializes in writing about witchcraft from a practical perspective and innovates on spells and folk practices, sometimes including explosives in her formulas.

She has 25 years of experience as a spirit worker, and her views on the paranormal often annoy ghost-hunters. ("The orbs are over there. No, THERE! ..that's not haunted, it's just a 7-11." etc.)

Diana is an avid reader, gardener, herbalist, and ghost-scolder. She also enjoys writing poetry designed to disturb most people at an open-mic event and spending time with her life partner and kids. A dog named Nora also believes that Diana is her very own pet DragonCat.

Reviews

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most witchcraft-related books focus on rural areas. These authors seem to operate under the assumption that the reader lives in the countryside or the suburbs.

In other words, there’s a dearth of instructional material for those of us who practice in cities. The techniques you see in more general occult texts can be adapted to urban living, of course.

But, very rarely does an author tackle the matter of city witches who wish to incorporate the city into their magic. There’s simply not a lot of published information about working with city spirits as opposed to simply tolerating them.

I currently live in Warsaw, Poland. Just prior to that, I lived in Krakow, and it was there that I performed what I now call the “Krakow Working” on the summer solstice of 2016.

In that rite, I sought a deep connection with the spirit of the city itself. With few resources at my disposal (not many books even acknowledge that cities have spirits), a lot of it was improvisation, but it remains one of my most potent workings to this day.

Afterwards, I still wished I could find more material on city spirits, and serendipity (well, Netgalley, anyways) led me to Diana Rajchel’s upcoming work on this very subject.

Diana Rajchel wrote Urban Magick for city witches like me. This book focuses on working with, rather than against, the complex metaphysical currents of the modern urban landscape.

It gives a great deal of attention to the spirits that dwell within our cities. I’d argue that it’s primarily a book for spiritworkers, albeit in an urban context.

If you’ve no experience working with spirits, you might want to hold off on picking up this book. Instead, start with some more general books to get the basics.

If you’re in an urban area, and are at least somewhat familiar with notions of genius loci, devas, and other such critters, though, this book will definitely be a welcome addition to your shelf.

Rajchel devotes quite a few pages to workings for justice, community-building, and plenty of other altruistic motives. She clearly recognizes that part of city life involves sharing our energetic space with our fellow humans.

Rajchel shows that spiritwork can and should be conducive to a harmonious existence amongst other city-dwellers.

Her book is one of several published recently which discusses workings for communal justice and equity. In our increasingly polarized world, this seems particularly timely and will likely inspire many magical activists.

I have to give this book five out of five stars, for its erudite and timely tackling of an oft-ignored topic in witchcraft and magical practice.

I think it’s just wonderful to read, and I await further books from this author. This is the book that I’d wished for when I was performing the Krakow Working, and will definitely inspire future generations of city witches.

[The Sassy Bookworm]

[Lora Milton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first came across the concept of the 'spirit' of a city in a book called Chaos Monkey, which is surprisingly absent from the extensive bibliography of this book, especially as the author mentions chaos magic a few times.

The book starts out with an explanation very similar, including going into the role the inhabitants of the city play in creating the collective feel of any given city. It then goes on with a lot of references to general magical knowledge and cites various well-known books on magick, but I couldn't see a connection between this and specifically urban magick until later on when some examples are given of spells you might apply to urban situations.

I did like some of her ideas for tuning into a new city. Again, the idea of walking the city to get the feel of it was in the book I previously read, but there were some new ideas as well. There's a long chapter about the history of cities in ancient civilisations, though Rome only got a couple of brief mentions, and some mythology loosely connected to specific cities.

The book talks about invoking energies of ancient cities but the author doesn't seem to feel you actually have to have ever visited these cities to do so. It wanders pretty far from working with the city under your feet, then offers rituals for connecting to ancient patron deities of cities you've never been to and somehow connecting that to your own city. It started losing my attention with some new agey ideas.

I got the feeling a lot of the digression was coming straight from the cited references, although in some cases it didn't ring just right. For example, the author mentions Marduk but leaves out the bull sacrifice Marduk requires.

It then goes into urban planning and the history of garden cities, and off to the realm of making your own astral garden city and spirit hunting.

The author did make a very good point that different parts of the city would engender different energies, for example, doing financial spells in a financial district and more sedate spells in residential areas. She describes a sort of psychic vampirism, collecting energy from the collective buzz of city residents and describes a little about energy manipulation, but assumes prior knowledge of magical cleansing and grounding.

A lot of exercises are given, though many like researching buildings or lurking in places that might bring the terrorist squad out to see what you're up to aren't likely to get many takers. Still, a few original ideas.

[amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so, I have never lived in a city.
My parents just are not city people.
Too chaotic, too cluttered, too anxiety inducing.
I’m 30 and can move to a city myself with my daughter but their hatred of cities seems to have been ingrained in my blood.
I mean I have lived and live close enough to major cities such as NYC and now Philly but oof anxiety...
I guess I’m saying I mainly picked this book up because the allure of city magick sounds absolutely intoxicating? You hear so much about the other kinds of magick especially rural magick but not so much about cities which seems so new fangled and modern but cities have been around FOREVER. I requested this book on Netgalley as soon as I could and I was not disappointed in the slightest.
Did you know there are city deities?
I sure as hell didn’t. And did you know that they’re more important and harsher? CHAOTIC.
Baby, I thrive off chaos.
This book explores the rituals that connects you ancient city deities which...I don’t know that you should do but uh, if you feel up to time traveling let’s do it.
Do you want to know what my favorite part of this book is?
Ghosts
I mean, of course it was.
What kind of city doesn’t have it’s ghosts?
And what kind of book doesn’t have a recipe for exorcising said boogiemen?

This book makes me feel all Fullmetal Alchemist. There’s talks of casting circles and creating shields...It’s a great guide and I do admit it’s somewhat out of my element but its a super interesting read. I don’t think I’d personally use any of the spell work myself but it’s a fun guide and definitely worth the read.

Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC. All opinions are my own.

For more of my reviews please check out my blog at aelilyreads.com

[Niki]

DNF @11%. It's absolutely not the book's fault, I never should have picked it up. This isn't my kind of book and I don't know why I thought I would be interested in reading it, because I'm clearly not.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, Urban Magick is a successful take on the individual wonders of magick within a city. I enjoy Rajchel's commitment to focusing on city life for magicians as a positive decision, and not a set-back that keeps them from participating in magick. Many people make "nature" the beginning and end of magick, and I'm glad this book doesn't harp on how living in a city "separates" us from that magick. Rather, Rajchel addresses all the unique ways in which city-dwellers have the opportunity to perform magick in new and unique ways. I'm grateful for this attitude, as well as her overall inclusiveness and thoughtfulness demonstrated throughout the book. She uses a very mindful tone in commenting how city life affects demographics differently.

I also very much enjoy the "I'm making all this up" sort of disclaimer toward the start of the book and that pops up again every now and then. Rajchel makes an excellent point that there isn't a ton of information on city magick already, and so a lot of the book is written through her own perspective, practice, and experimentation. I think hands-on research has become a bit of a lost art in the magickal community, and so I largely appreciate Rajchel's approach, which is to not be limited by what is already written in books. On that same note, Rajchel encourages others to do their own experimenting, and even notes not to be discouraged if we find "exceptions" to her rules, as every city and everyone's practice is different. Overall, I love Rajchel's attitude and voice throughout the book.

That being said, I did often find myself yawning through the middle sections. There are very daunting sections on the history of cities that, while informative, are quite a mental trudge to get through. The pacing of the book seems to be a huge struggle for Rajchel. Some sections seem to fly by, often feeling unfinished, whereas others go on forever and made it difficult to stay focused. I think Rajchel is missing a lot of "connective tissue" to really make the mundane history of cities properly line up with her points about magick. I often found myself a little lost and wondering, "Ok, but what does this have to do with magick?" and feeling like that question could have been answered a little more thoroughly in some areas.

My last gripe with Urban Magick is mostly a personal opinion about magick and witchcraft. There is a little bit of "the chosen one" trope throughout. This interesting trope we normally see in fictional books has a tendency to leak into real-life witchcraft, and it's one of my biggest pet peeve's with the spiritual community. There are multiple times Rajchel mentions an atheist she knew who she claims was a "city priest without knowing it" and even admits how upset he'd be if anyone ever said this to him (so why call him that in a book?). I find this mindset to be cringe-worthy at best and unethical at worst. She repeats the sentiment with the fact that city priests can only be chosen by the city, which I find to be a huge can of (gate-keeping) worms at which I can only roll my eyes. I understand the idea of being "called" to a city, but I really dislike Rajchel's language around "being chosen." To me, it removes agency and choice, both for practitioners and non-practitioners, and I think it's irresponsible to include in the book.

I lied: my very last complaint with this book is the casual use of the word "smudge." Though I'm unsure of Rajchel's heritage, I think the use of the word "smudge" without a clear definition of it (and how it differs from regular "smoke cleansing") is just largely irresponsible and frustrating in 2020. When so many people still believe the words are interchangeable, the publisher and author should know better than to use it in such unclear context.

At the end of the day, I applaud Rajchel for what might be considered her stand-alone debut (though she's written for some Llewellyn series alongside others) as an author in the spiritual community. I look forward to seeing what other insights she ends up contributing to my bookshelf.

[Carrie (The Butterfly Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that each city has its own spirit? Neither did I until this book. There's a lot in here and even some spells. I think city magick users will be pleased. As for me... I just... I fell asleep to this book for three nights on end. I did finish it but nothing to me really stuck. Sorry!

I was given this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Diana Rajchel]

Obviously, I can't rate this book. I also try to limit reading reviews because I try to abide by internal guidance rather than external expectation when I write. What I would like people to know about this book - or what people may need to understand to get the most out of it - is the following:
1)Urban Magick uses ritual in a performance art style. You go, you be weird in public, you do get a spiritual experience out of it if your brain works this way (and not everyone's does). If people ask you about the weird, you tell them it's performance art.
2)I really hope people try out what they learn in this book. The more you engage with your environment - any environment - the more you can make it a better place for yourself.
3)This book is intended as a subvert way of rewriting power structure. Given how this year has gone, I thought some folks might really want to know what.

[Alexandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really what I expected. There is some exercises/rituals that you can do but more talking about the urban environment more than anything - to me anyway.

[Alan D.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It as a amazing reading! Different, explicative and innovating. There are several new ideas and proposals I am eager to work with!

[silly_finney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me nearly six months to finish because it is so dense and filled with so much information. The beginning of the book went a lot into the history of cities and urban planning (was hard not to wonder the entire time what my brother would think), which is such an important cornerstone to the information and helps illuminate why knowledge of city movement is so important…but damn was not my jive and hard for me to understand. A lot of it went over my head.
The second half dives more into magickal practices that the day to day urban living witch can use and it was really interesting! Never thought much about how movement in cities (traffic, public transit, pedestrian areas) can be good supplies of energy. Just a totally different way of thinking about cities. This book was so different than I imagined, but I am really happy I read it. Especially enjoyed the parts about protection and spiritual hygiene.
@Fidel, you should read this.

[Jon Xavier · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but occasionally frustrating read. There’s really still not enough written about urban spirits in general, I think because there’s a big overlap between people drawn to animist spirituality and attitudes that are anti civilization or at least oriented toward “nature”, whatever that means. So just at the level of presenting cities and civilization as something that can be spiritually active, there’s a lot of value in this book. But if you are interested in incorporating the magic of the city you live in, you might be a little disappointed. The bulk of the book is taken up by a kind of urban planning 101 style introduction to movements that have shaped city design throughout history. I didn’t find this to be very enlightening from a spiritual standpoint, in all honesty, and it’s too basic a gloss to really appeal as a history — if this sort of thing is interesting to you, you probably already know more than this. If this was just a single chapter talking about how cities are shaped by their history, that would be one thing, but it’s a major part of the middle of the book.

There are spells, rituals and exercises, but I found them a little uninspiring. They’re heavily based in energy work, which is not an approach that really speaks to me, and can basically all be characterized as “go somewhere that’s interesting in the city, make an offering and meditate to get to know its energy and spirits.” Which is… fine… I guess. It’s good advice for any kind of animist practice but also seems a bit obvious. Again, if this was one exercise to base your practice around it would be one thing, but we get many different rituals that basically amount to this. I was hoping for more discussion of the kinds of materia you can find in cities, different sources of city energy and what they’re good for, the special kinds of spirits you find in cities as opposed to in “nature”. Instead we get a lot of visualization exercises. That’s great if you’re already pretty psychically sensitive and can easily visualize things. But if that is the case, you probably don’t need this book.

[Heidi’s Zee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magische inzet voor de stadscontext — het boek heeft de voorspelbare Llewelyn-woordigheid, maar tikt wel alle boksen af.

Het friste iets op, bracht schaduwen onder ogen en verbond me met de stadsgeest (voorbereiding). De magie is niet sterk, maar biedt goede bruggen.

“City spirits like attention, and that’s good because inattention in dense populations can endanger you. So, if you go out into the city, plan on total engagement.”

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[Because] city magic is simultaneously ancient and forgotten and modern and experimental, it demands curiosity", serves as a wonderful central theme to the book's lessons, and structure.

By the third paragraph, the author mentions The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle, one of my favorite books on the subject of encountering the magical in a metropolitan context. Albeit, the author, and I interpret the content differently. The very subject is a great antidote to the stereotypical rutal exotic so often forced upon readers as an ideal place for the supernatural. The great grimories are certainly a testament to the fact sorcerers are perfectly fine within city limits.

City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells, and Shamanism, and Urban Primitive were written nearly 20 years ago. This author treats the subject as a magical path entirely outside a religious framework, an animistic one that acknowledges the spirit of the city itself, allied local spirits, and the spirit of the land itself. She delineates the various approaches to such spirits, be it as a Civic, Chaotic, Hearth/Home, or Priest Path. The latter being the author's direction. A limited -although very interesting - account of city planning's models over time offers a layered portrait by which one can examine one's own city design.

The exercises inclubed assist one in achieving connection in energy to these spirits of place, the animals, and the elements. Spirits such as the tallest building, the roadways, the city beneath- the settlements there previous to the city, the city center, traffic hubs, neighborhoods, vacant lots, building ruins, razed buildings, public art, water ways, and.........; to name a few. Then, on to discover, and explore the Nature in the city. Further, the author recounts one's power, and challenges in the personal environment be it one's neighbors, housemates, and one's home iself- where each space contains specific, intentional energy as sanctuary, and battery. The penultimate chapter offers a collection of spells suited for the city. The extensive bibliography includes mostly online resources, and print sources.

Intermixed with these exercises, are instructions for proper spiritual, and physical preparation, and care after the Work is done. There are cautions given to those that may have sensitivies in certain areas to avoid specific practices. Also, as working with such a diverse community of people demands, the author is very aware of the benefits, and detriments of modern urban living. She takes time to point many of these conflicts out so one may seek to alleviate, or assuage the burdens. This is a Work that expects social awareness, and engagement- at some level.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel focuses on connecting to the cities we live in and visit on a magical and spiritual level. She talks about becoming a city priest, focusing on harnessing the energy of the city not only for your own personal development, but also for the betterment of the city on a whole.

Diana looks at using the city's natural energy centers, it's parks/meeting places/transit systems and landmarks to amplify and direct your practice. She discusses how to better connect and immerse oneself into the city's energy and spirit through exercises and spells. This was the section of the book I enjoyed most. As a city dweller myself I could relate to the feelings of power and connection Diana was describing when I experienced those moments in my own life.

There was also a deep dive into the history of city living and how it's developed over human history. This was less magic based and more cultural and historical. I found this section of the book less interesting personally, but it was still easy to follow and interesting.

All together a good read.

[Atlas · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, but I rounded up to five because I sincerely enjoyed this book more than a lot of the witchcraft books I’ve read in the past!

If you are someone who lives in an urban area, doesn’t/can’t connect as well to nature on a regular basis, or is just interested in a new and interesting way of looking at magick, I highly recommend this book! As a city dweller, I took a lot from it, both on a philosophical level as well as practical for my own craft. It is gender-neutral throughout, takes disabled and disadvantaged people into account when describing spells and rituals, and doesn’t fear-monger about the inevitable elements of living in a city.

My only problems are really the use of the term “smudging” and the chakra system, but I’m aware some are more comfortable with these than others. Aside from these, however, I cannot recommend this book enough to anybody who may be practicing in a city.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I see a book about urban magic, I get so excited. Living in a rural or country setting, it is somewhat easier to get supplies, feel the spirits and communicate with the world around you. Spirits are everywhere and many are the same all over and some are different. How do you practice in a city with no privacy or soil or anything? It's easy if you know how. This book sets you on your way to learning about things around you. Need soil to bury something in? Flowerpots work well. Listen to the sounds around you. What do the buildings whisper to you? Magic is where you find it. This book should be read and on every shelf. Embrace the world around you and feel the magic flowing. I received this book from Net Galley and Llewellyn Publishing for a honest review.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Believe it or not, I absolutely love anything to do with witchcraft, and this didn't fail. A valid dissection of how magick works throughout the city, and things you can do to encourage the spirits and help heal your area, along with a really decent history of how cities were actually formed! Very up my alley, though I'm unsure how useful this would be to one whose only interest is the witchcraft side of it.

[Juniper Karlsson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it to mostly be talking about city environments rather than what magic can be performed in the city. There are a few spells that resonated with me but I had a really hard time getting through this book at all. It talks a lot about spirits so if you don't work with spirits I wouldn't bother. I also think that it's a problem when any author recommends smudging as it is a from a closed practice. But that is, of course, just my opinion.

[Annalisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be most thorough in its explainings of the workings of magick. It tells us what magick is and is not. Where we may find the spirits. Most importantly the laws of magick. Thrir are also explainings as to the how to casting of spells. This book was most enjoyable and very informative.

[CR · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in the city and want to learn more about magick then I would totally recommend this book to you!! It teaches you how to walk with your eyes open in a world full of buildings and noise. I loved how it teaches you to practice your way with your surrounds and not trying to just escape your city. Learn to transform your city to your advantage and be spiritual in the city you love!

[Tasha Driver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected a book on spells and rituals witches can perform easily in a city dwelling. While there is a little of that, this book ended up being so much more than I anticipated. Focusing on the soul or spirit of an individual city, the author takes you on a journey into how a city-dwelling witch can incorporate that into their magic. It is a very well organized book that any type of practitioner can pick up and learn a lot. Though I live in a semi-rural area, there was much that I could take away from this book. It even inspired me for numerous aspects of my Urban Fantasy series.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read as I live in a city and it was interesting to read about the spirit of the cities and the spiritual experience of a city dweller.
I like the style of writing and I think this book is full of food for thought.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know magick exists everywhere and I do live in a midsize city, but I really couldn't get into this book as much as I had hoped. Nothing inherently wrong with it, just not for me. I am positive that other interested folks will find plenty to use in here. I am inspired a bit by it, just not enough.

I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Anie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Rajchel's perspective is incredibly interesting and valuable (how often do people on this path really engage with cities and city life?), and she has a lot of really interesting ideas and suggestions. Definitely worth it for anyone on this path and living in a city.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested until she mentioned smudging and I haven't picked it up since then. Magic with a k is never great either.

Not to say that there isn't good content in here, which was worth two stars for me, because of my particular interest in the topic.

[Alisha Kendrick-Pradhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly repetitive and not specifically relevant to my spiritual practice, but provided interesting rituals and perspectives on how to connect with a City. I enjoyed passages encouraging readers to unpack biases towards people living in the city.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urban Magick is a thought provoking book at times, but I really enjoyed it. It also contains some spells and rituals, which was neat.

[Paige Ovanisian]

eARC provided by Llewellyn Publications via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. RTC!

[Em Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. Not quite what I was looking for.