How to connect with the Spirits of the land when you live in a big city

This is my second blog about the struggles that Hekate’s devotees and practitioners living in big cities may experience along their spiritual and magical path. While the first blog was about connecting with Nature (if you miss it, click here to read it), this one is more specific and it is about how to connect with the spirits of the land when you feel like there is no land around you, just concrete. Trust me, there are spirits living around you, hidden everywhere, even under tons of concrete and modern buildings. And it is not important what you believe they truly are - if ancient spirits rooted in the land, saints inhabiting churches, egregores created by the passage and worship of countless people… - they are there and they may help you if you find a way to consort with them. So, the big question is: How can you connect with those spirits?

1 - Firs of all, you need to connect with the nature and the land of your city. If you can’t do it, give a chance to the tips I gave you in my previous blog. Once that is mastered, you can start feeling the presence of the spirits. To be aware of their presence you need to pay attention to little details. While walking around: 

• you may feel attracted to specific places and end up there every time, even without realizing it - to me it was a garden “calling me” first and then a cemetery and then the river… but it can be literally any place, even a supermarket!

• you may start noticing recurrent details - like letters and initials, addresses, figures, maybe connected to a specific place or to the name of a spirit (please study a little bit of the history of your city, especially the ancient one. This may give you very important insights and help you understanding a lot, if not about the spirits, at least about the people who live around you)

• when walking around, especially in green areas like gardens or parks, pay attention to the animals’ behavior - birds, squirrels but also bees or butterflies… whatever is moving may have something to tell you, especially if their behavior is somehow different. To give you a couple examples: notice if the animals pay attention to you back (and not just because you are feeding them); if there is an unusual gathering of little birds or butterflies…

• be especially aware of the subtle energies and how they move and change around you. Since this may be quite difficult to do in big city full of noises and lights, I usually recommend to start doing this in quiet places very you can actually focus and listen.

These are just few examples of activities you can do to feel the presence of the spirits. If you have any other tips, put them in the comment!

2 - once you are able to feel the presence of the spirits or you think that the spirit of a place is calling to you, it will be the time to dive deeper into the land. If it is possible, go to the very same place where you feel the energy/call, sit where (hopefully) no-one will disturb you and meditate. Visualize roots growing from your feet and descending deep down in the ground. Visualize how they interlace with trees’ roots or building’s foundations. Go as deep as you can until you feel the energy of Earth itself. Allow this energy to flow through you, up to the sky and down again. When you feel rooted, focus on the energy of that specific place. Learn to distinguish it from other energies and try to recognize and locate its source. You may not be able to find the source of the energy the first time. That is perfectly normal. Connecting with spirits may take a long time and perseverance is the key to success.

If it is not possible for you to do the meditation on site, you can do it at your home. In this case, before visualizing the roots, take the time to see, with your mind’s eye, the place you are connecting with. If possible hold in your hand a stone, some dirt, a candle, a piece of paper… you have taken from there if allowed. If you are trying to connect with the spirit of the city itself, visualize its main buildings and try to tune in with the city sounds and vibes. Be part of it.

Please note that you can follow these practices even if no place or no spirit are calling you. They are actually a great to start this communication on your side!

3 - when the meditation is done, leave a little offering and leave, paying attention again to any possibile message. If you don’t get any message, don’t feel discouraged. This is actually pretty normal: you are opening a communication, not asking questions (yet). 

Do this meditation often and when you are passing by the place where the spirit lives in, spend a little time to connect with it. Two minutes are more than enough to say hi, to exchange or donate your energy and let the spirit know you and your intentions. This is very important to build a good relationship. 

4 - When you are celebrating Deipnon, mind to prepare an offering for the spirits of the land too and mention them in your prayers. Ask Hekate to help you connecting with them. Who better than Her can help you and guide you in this task? 

5 - Keep doing something good (and practical) for your city and community. Spirits may not live in the material world but they are obviously connected (if not bound) to it. Acting in the right way to protect their land, to make it a better place, is no doubt something they will appreciate. Act responsibly and kindly towards their environment and they will act kindly to you. 

These practices helped me in opening a meaningful communication with the spirits of Paris. There are many other techniques you can use but I preferred to share with you my own personal experience. Again, if you have other tips for the community, share them in the comments.

A NOTE ABOUT OFFERING: dealing with offering in big cities is not easy and I will write a blog about that too. For now, avoid to bring food offerings around the city and live them unattended in green areas or crossroads. Spirits will be fine and happy with energy offerings, water libations, flowers, nice stones if you find them in a park and your effort to protect their land. If you want to do more, you may bring seeds or nuts for the animals to eat if that is allowed by the municipality. In this case, please make sure everything you are offering is non toxic for them.

A NOTE ABOUT SPIRITS. The spirits of the place may sometimes be quite elusive or shy but they are usually welcoming - unless you willingly did something very wrong towards their land. Therefore all the exercises described above, all aiming to connect with the energy of the land and the energy of the spirits, should be safe. Nonetheless, if you are just at the beginning of your path with spirits, learning some protective strategies or how to control your energy, how to block unwanted energy etc.. may be a good idea and there are plenty of good books about this topic. Consider to get one :-)