Geomancy
Geomancy (from Old French geomancie 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. In West Africa, geomancy involves a mouse as the agent of the earth spirit. In China, the diviner may enter a trance and make markings on the ground that are interpreted by an associate (often a young boy).
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 unfortunately translated Feng Shui as geomancy, but this is an obvious 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.
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 (expensive in those days!) 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, and it was actually suggested to the Pope that it be integrated into Catholic teachings.
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.
Other uses
• 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 phenomia 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.
• 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/sorceror or druid/wizard characters.
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