Geomancy

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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 form 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 intrepreting 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 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.

Contents 1 Literary background 2 Western methodology 3 Astrological geomancy 4 Trivia 5 References 6 See also 7 Further reading

[edit] 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".

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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 tornados 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 characters - Albus and Rubeus respectively. Two other geomantic characters, 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.

[edit] References

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

[edit] See also

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

[edit] Further reading

• Beginnings: Geomancy, Builders' Rites and Electional Astrology in the European Tradition by Nigel Pennick
• Sacred Geometry: Symbolism and Purpose in Religious Structures by Nigel Pennick
• The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Living in Harmony with the Earth by Nigel Pennick
• The Sacred Art of Geometry: Temples of the Phoenix by Nigel Pennick
• The Oracle of Geomancy by Nigel Pennick
• The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Man in Harmony with the Earth by Nigel Pennick
• Geomancer's Handbook by John Michael Greer [1]
• Earth Divination, Earth Magic by John Michael Greer [2]
• Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy supposedly by Henry Cornelius Agrippa; Kessinger Publishing ISBN 1-56459-170-0