Geomancy

Geomancy generates sixteen figures, each a stack of four rows of one or two dots, from a process of counting down to odd or even, then reads them ruled by a planet and a sign, placed into a sixteen house chart structured like an astrological one. Judged by where a figure falls and its dignity there, a geomantic reading is a terse verdict on what is favored, closer to a judgment than a portrait.

History

Geomancy, ilm al-raml, "the science of the sand", is documented in the medieval Arabic world as a method of generating sixteen figures from rows of marks made at random in sand or on paper and reduced by counting odd or even down to single or double dots. It reached Latin Europe through translation beginning around the twelfth century, and the Latin names for the sixteen figures still used today, Via, Populus, Fortuna Major and the rest, come directly from that translation tradition rather than from a later European invention. The practice was taken seriously enough in Renaissance Europe that both the occult philosopher Cornelius Agrippa and the physician and mystic Robert Fludd wrote substantially on it, placing it alongside astrology as a respectable divinatory art of the educated class.

Because each figure is generated by binary odd or even outcomes at four levels, sixteen possible figures, it sits historically as one of several independently developed divinatory systems built on powers of two, alongside the I Ching's trigrams and hexagrams and the tarot's own structure, a cross-tradition pattern worth remarking on rather than a claim of shared origin.

A Sample Of The Sixteen Figures

• Via, "the way", change and travel, ruled by the Moon.
• Populus, "the people", crowds and collective movement.
• Fortuna Major, greater fortune, a strong favorable figure.
• Fortuna Minor, lesser fortune, help that arrives with a cost.
• Puella, "the girl", grace and attraction, ruled by Venus.
• Puer, "the boy", impulsive energy, ruled by Mars.

How A Reading Is Constructed

Rather than casting a birth chart, this report item works from the rulerships above and the dignity grid the tradition judges each figure by once it is placed into one of the sixteen geomantic houses. Because the sixteen houses map onto the same twelve astrological houses plus a repeating handful, a figure's house placement, not a planet's sign, is what a geomantic reading judges strong or weak, which is why the method yields a terse verdict on what a moment favors rather than a rounded character portrait.

Where To Read More

• ViaVia, "the way": change and travel, ruled by the Moon.
• PopulusPopulus, "the people": crowds and collective movement.
• Fortuna MajorFortuna Major, greater fortune: a strong favorable figure.
• Fortuna MinorFortuna Minor, lesser fortune: help that arrives with a cost.
• PuellaPuella, "the girl": grace and attraction, ruled by Venus.
• PuerPuer, "the boy": impulsive energy, ruled by Mars.