Information about Geomancy

Geomancy (from Greek geōmanteia< geo, "earth" + manteia, "divination") from the eponymous ilm al-raml ("the science of sand"), is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground, or how handfuls of dirt land when someone tosses them. The Arabic tradition consists of sketching sixteen random lines of dots in sand.

In Africa one traditional form of geomancy consists of throwing handfuls of dirt in the air and observing how the dirt falls. It can also involve a mouse as the agent of the earth spirit. Ifá, one of the oldest forms of geomancy, originated in West Africa. In China, the diviner may enter a trance and make markings on the ground that are interpreted by an associate (often a young boy).

In Korea, this tradition was popularized in the ninth century by the Buddhist monk Toson. In Korea, Geomancy takes the form of interpreting the topography of the land to determine future events and or the strength of a dynasty or particular family. Therefore, not only were location and land forms important, but the topography could shift causing disfavor and the need to relocate. The idea is still accepted in many South East Asian societies today, although with reduced force.^[1]

Geomancy formed part of the required study of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late 19th century, and also survives in modern occult practice.

In the 19th century CE, Christian missionaries in China translated Feng Shui as geomancy, but this is a misnomer.

In recent times the term has been applied to a wide range of other cultic, fringe, and pseudoscientific activities, including Bau-Biologie. This article deals with geomancy in its traditional meaning.

Literary background

The poem Experimentarius attributed to Bernardus Silvestris (Bernard Silvester), who wrote in the middle of the 12th century, was a verse translation of a work on astrological geomancy.

Either Gerard of Cremona (c. 1114-1187) or Gerard of Sabionetta (Sabloneta), who lived in the thirteenth century, wrote or translated Astronomical Geomancy from Arabic into Latin. An original in Arabic is possible, as the traditional method of structuring a geomantic divination follows the direction of Arabic writing. There has been disagreement among scholars over which of these two men was responsible for this text.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "geomancy" appeared in vernacular English in 1362 (vernacular English at this time was the language of the lowest classes; Latin and French were the common languages of the middle class, gentry, and nobles).

Geomancy's first mention in print was Langland's Piers Plowman where it is unfavorably compared to the level of expertise a person needs for astronomy ("gemensye [geomesye] is gynful of speche"). In 1386 Chaucer used the Parson's Tale to poke fun at geomancy in Canterbury Tales: "What say we of them that believe in divynailes as ... geomancie ..." Shakespeare also used geomancy for comic relief.

It was explained as divination (in the same sentence with pyromancy and hydromancy) in the best-selling Travels of Sir John Mandeville (1400, ISBN 0-14-044435-1), as "geomantie that superstitious arte" in a book of alchemy (1477), and defined in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Philosophy of Natural Magic: Complete Work on Natural Magic, White & Black Magic (1569, ISBN 1-56459-160-3) as a form of divination "which doth divine by certaine conjectures taken of similitudes of the cracking of the Earthe." European geomancy does owe some of its valuations to medieval astrology (the "houses" for example).

In Ben Jonson's Elizabethan comedy The Alchemist, the character Abel Drugger is a practicioner of geomancy. Literary critic Brett Tingley wrote of this "the beliefs of Drugger reflect the common geomancy beliefs of the 17th century".

Western methodology

Geomancy in western tradition requires no instruments and no calculations; it is based solely on the human propensity for pattern recognition.

Diviners in medieval Europe used parchment or paper for drawing the dots of geomancy but they followed the traditional direction of notation (right to left) for recording the dots. Western occultism still defines geomantic technique as marking sixteen lines of dashes in sand or soil with a wand or on a sheet of paper. The dashes aren't counted as they are made (thus constituting a form of spontaneous divination).

The geomancer counts the number of dashes made in each line and draws either a single dot (for an odd number) or two dots (for an even number) next to the lines. The pattern of dots produced by the first to fourth lines are known as a figure, as are the fifth to eighth lines and so on.

Those four figures are entered into two charts, known as the Shield and House charts, and through binary processes form the seed of the figures that fill the whole charts. The charts are subsequently analysed and interpreted by the geomancer to find solutions, options and responses to the problem quesited, along with general information about the geomancer (unless the geomancer is performing the divination for another, in which case information is shown about the person the charts were cast for) providing an all-round reading into the questioner's life.

This form of Geomancy is easy to learn and easy to perform. Once practiced by commoners and rulers alike, it was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout the Middle Ages.

The four binary elements of each figure allow for 2×2×2×2, or 16 different combinations. As there are 4 root figures in each chart, the total number of possible charts equals 16×16×16×16, or 65536. The charts are also interpreted differently depending on the nature of the question, making it one of the most thorough kinds of divination available, and with only 16 figures to understand is extremely simple.

Astrological geomancy

Because traditional Western geomantic divination was so dependent on astrological technique, it was often referred to as astrological geomancy. Although documents from the 12th century explain the theories and methodologies of this type of geomancy, it was more recently popularized by occultist Franz Hartmann in his book The Principles of Astrological Geomancy.

Astrological Geomancy at Renaissance Astrology

"The Astrological Origin of Islamic Geomancy" (PDF)

Trivia

• More recently, geomancy has been used as a practicing form of fantasy-style aggressive magic in the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy III (NES), Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics. In these games, "geomancers" are powerful sorcerers who use the earth's power in battle, conjuring natural phenomena such as earthquakes and tornadoes to combat their foes. Geomancers are very similar to Elementalists, another common fictional type of wizard.
• Geomancy also appears in other computer role-playing games including Bard's Tale 3 (as player characters) and World of Warcraft (as non-player characters).
• Two characters in Harry Potter, namely Dumbledore and Hagrid, bear the names of two complementary geomantic figures - Albus and Rubeus respectively. Two other geomantic figures, Caput Draconis and Fortuna Major are used as passwords for the Gryffindor Tower.
• In the MUD game Lusternia by Iron Realms Entertainment, the Geomancers are a Guild where the members use powers of earth for their skills, and can control large tracts of ground as their magical demesne.
• In the Dungeons & Dragons game, the Geomancer is a Prestige class which mixes arcane and divine magic and is typically taken by druid/sorcerer or druid/wizard characters.
• In the custom map of Warcraft III, Dota (defense of the ancients) there is a character who goes by the name of Meepo and is a geomancer.

References

1. ^ Peter H. Lee and Wm. Theodore de Bary eds, Sources of Korean Tradition Volume 1, New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

See also

• Sacred Geometry
• Geomantic figures
• Ley lines
• Geobiology
• Dowsing
• Places of power
• Religion in China
• Biodynamic agriculture
• Mid-Atlantic Geomancy (MAG)
• The American School of Classical Feng Shui
• John Steele
• Paul Devereux

Further reading

• Jaulin, Robert (ethnologist)
• La Mort Sara, Paris, 10/18, 1971 (1967)
• La Géomancie, Paris, Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'homme, 1988
• Géomancie et Islam
• Pennick, Nigel (occultist)
• Beginnings: Geomancy, Builders' Rites and Electional Astrology in the European Tradition
• Sacred Geometry: Symbolism and Purpose in Religious Structures
• The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Living in Harmony with the Earth
• The Sacred Art of Geometry: Temples of the Phoenix
• The Oracle of Geomancy
• The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Man in Harmony with the Earth
• Greer, John Michael (occultist)
• Geomancer's Handbook [1]
• Earth Divination, Earth Magic
• Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy supposedly by Henry Cornelius Agrippa (occultist); Kessinger Publishing ISBN 1-56459-170-0

A geomancer is a practitioner of geomancy, a method of divination.

Geomancer may also refer to:

• Geomancers, a group of fictional comic characters
• Geomancer, a class of character in the Final Fantasy series
• Geomancer, a book by author Ian Irvine

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Divination (Greek μαντεια, from μαντις "seer", anglicized in the suffix -mancy, see also mania
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Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (or, more commonly, the Golden Dawn) was a magical order of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, practicing a form of theurgy and spiritual development. It was probably the single greatest influence on twentieth century western occultism.
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In ancient times as well as today, Feng Shui, (風水) pronounced in English as [fʊŋ'ʃweɪ] ("fung shway"), was known as "Kan-Yu" which means 'The Law of Heaven and Earth.
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Bernard Silvestris, also known as Bernardus Silvestris, was a Medieval Platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century.

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Gerard of Cremona (Italian: Gerardo da Cremona; Latin: Gerardus Cremonensis; c. 1114 – 1187), was a Lombard translator of Arabic scientific works.
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Pyromancy (from Greek 'pyros', fire, and 'manteia', divination) is the art of divination by means of fire.

History of pyromancy

Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it is quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination.
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Hydromancy, including noting the ripples, color, ebb and flow of the water]]

Hydromancy (from Greek Hydro, water, and Manteia
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Jehan de Mandeville", translated as "Sir John Mandeville", is the name claimed by the compiler of a singular book of supposed travels, written in Anglo-Norman French, and published between 1357 and 1371.
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The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature.
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The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to "knowledge of the hidden".^[1] In the medical sense it is used commonly to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g. an "occult bleed.
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