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Pagan in the City

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    #1

    Pagan in the City

    Hi all! I'm new to the forum, and I was inspired to join by what I think is a kind of spiritual fatigue... hopefully some of you can help me out.

    I moved to the city centre just over a year ago now. It's great in terms of getting to work, getting to the shops, access to all those modern human things everybody needs. But recently, I've been feeling very grey. My partner and I are calling it 'pagan in the city syndrome' - that horrible longing, like having a stale soul. I'm a very nature-based person and recently, I find myself hating all the concrete and the coffee shops, and just desperate to get away. Neither my partner nor I drive, so zipping out to the mountains is beyond our reach.

    So I was wondering - are there any more pagans in the city out there? How do you guys combine a city life with a nature-based spirituality? Does anyone have any tips or ideas to refresh me? I'm going mad in this flat!

    (Tried going to the park yesterday with my runes - it was crammed full of screaming kids, ice cream vans and drunk football fans... mistake.)
    Tags: city, fatigue, modern, tired, urban
    #2
    Re: Pagan in the City

    there is a massive amount of nature within the cities themselves, thats the beauty and power of life its everywhere. maybe in time you could learn to see the the beauty in the lights of the buildings in the skyline. feel the pulse and thumb or the cities heart in the people and vehicles moving along the roads. feel the joy and the love of those screaming children in the park.

    i think its more the peace and aloness of the country your missing. hmmmm do you have a balcony or a roof area you have access to? plant a shed load of potted plants and shrubs maybe get hold of or make a miniture waterfall put up bird feeders and stuff. bring the wild life that is in the city to you hope that helps. if you want idea's for roof gardens or such ill be happy to help i like designing small sancturies

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Pagan in the City

      Hello and welcome! I live in an urban sort of area, but in the more residential neighborhood...and, by the water, so we have lots of beaches...also a number of parks, historic sites, etc...so...I'm not sure what advice to give you, I've never had a problem finding green space.
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
      sigpic

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        #4
        Re: Pagan in the City

        When I was living near the city I would have plants in my place to make me feel more in touch with nature and would make regular trips to a near by park (which was beautiful).
        There is something pagan in me that I cannot shake off. In short, I deny nothing, but doubt everything. - Lord Byron

        Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher. -         William Wordsworth

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Pagan in the City

          I'm not sure where you're posting from, so my experiences may differ somewhat. But I did live right in (ok about half a block away) from the city center of a major suburb of London for 3 years, and for a long time it was painful. I couldn't drive, busing was pretty limited, and I was afraid of leaving my flat by myself to boot.

          I've found that if you go out later in the evening, there are fewer people. Kids are already settling down for the night, parents with them, teens are either hanging out with friends at home or hitting up the shops, etc... After 7pm tends to be a safe bet. Parks should be much more suited to some time to mosey around after that time.

          There also doesn't need to be a single park or space you go to. Sometimes even a vacant parking lot in a somewhat quiet area will work. I'm pretty much nocturnal, I don't often go out during the daytime to do get my fix (partially because of work demands too).

          The other thing is to remember to look up. And I do mean up, as in at the sky, stars, moon, whatever draws you. They are the same there as wherever else you have been and both spaces see them as they are. To me, that would draw the reality of my situation (that it was a temporary time and place and it would pass, but some things would never change no matter where I went).

          Beyond that, like was mentioned before. Bring plants into your home.

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Pagan in the City

            Originally posted by Brigantian View Post
            So I was wondering - are there any more pagans in the city out there? How do you guys combine a city life with a nature-based spirituality? Does anyone have any tips or ideas to refresh me? I'm going mad in this flat!
            On one hand, I try to have a connection to nature, the more rustic kind of nature. I love to be outdoors.
            But on the other hand, I recognise my reality. I am a suburban/urban, middle-class American. The city, the streets, the parks, the shops. They are just as much my environment as the woods and streams. The city is a habitat in its own right; it has its own rhythms, its own cycles, its own wildlife. And many gods and goddesses pertain to the city, as many as pertain to the farmlands or forests or seas or rivers. I never really thought of the city as being like that until I took an Environmental Biology class a couple semesters ago; and it really changed my perspective. I see paganism as not just focused on traditional concepts of nature and rustic agrarianism, but as a way of life that connects you with your habitat--whatever it may be.

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              #7
              Re: Pagan in the City

              I grew up surrounded by the forest but recently moved to one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the US for educational reasons and the feeling you described is precisely what ended up reminding me of my spiritual connection to nature. It was very much a classic case of not realizing that I had something until it felt like it was being taken away from me. That is not to say that there isn't nature to connect to where I am but it certainly feels...pruned​.

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Pagan in the City

                Try finding the city gods, the city spirits, as Louis said. They evolve, just as we have. Perhaps you can learn to work with them
                ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

                RIP

                I have never been across the way
                Seen the desert and the birds
                You cut your hair short
                Like a shush to an insult
                The world had been yelling
                Since the day you were born
                Revolting with anger
                While it smiled like it was cute
                That everything was shit.
                - J. Wylder

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Pagan in the City

                  Originally posted by Heka View Post
                  Try finding the city gods, the city spirits, as Louis said. They evolve, just as we have. Perhaps you can learn to work with them
                  That is a good suggestion
                  There is something pagan in me that I cannot shake off. In short, I deny nothing, but doubt everything. - Lord Byron

                  Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher. -                   William Wordsworth

                  Comment

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