Several years ago Blackwolf the Dragonmaster, my Mage and Emissary, declared me
an Urban Barbarian. I could not argue with him: I honored primitive traditions, had a loose concept of 'home' and decorated
myself with tribal tattoos, scraps of pelt, bits of leather, an occasional feather and as much metal as I could comfortably
integrate. I had always thought myself as a modern-day barbarian adventuring in an urban setting, but an Urban Barbarian?
Shortly
thereafter I discovered a brilliant tome by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein, The Urban Primitive:
Paganism in the Concrete Jungle, that enriched the metaphor and anchored it securely to my reality.
It validated what l had discovered about the nature of a city's chaotic energies and
the hordes of dead who habitually haunt dark streets and tall buildings. It confirmed my suspicions regarding the tutelary
spirits that govern certain spheres of urban activity. It expanded what I knew of tattoos, piercings and ritual costuming.
My totems spirits now include Seagull and Sparrow.
And I acquired new warrior skills and potent magicks. The concept of junkyard sorcery
was new to me: constructing fetishes and golems out of discarded toys, relying on gumball machines and cracks in the sidewalk
for oracular guidance...
The Urban Primitive is a fun book full of weird yet practical
wisdom. It is certainly a MUST HAVE for those walking any Urban Path.
