NationMaster - Encyclopedia: 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. A geomancer is a practitioner of geomancy, a method of divination. ... For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation). ... SOiL was originally a five piece rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, founded by Shaun Glass, Tim King, Tom Schofield, and Adam Zadel. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Sand (disambiguation). ...

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). A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... IfÃ¡ is a system of divination that originated in West Africa among the Yoruba people. ...

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. The 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. ...

In the 19th century CE, Christian missionaries in China translated Feng Shui as geomancy, but this was incorrect. The Lords Prayer in Chinese language. ... Fēng Shuǐ (風水 – literally, wind and water pronounced fung shuway), which may be more than 3000 years old, is the ancient practice of placement to achieve harmony with the environment. ...

In recent times the term has been applied to a wide range of other occult, fringe, and pseudoscientific activities, including Bau-Biologie. This article deals with geomancy in its traditional meaning. A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

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. Bernard Silvestris, also known as Bernardus Silvestris, was a Medieval platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century. ...

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. Gerard of Cremona (Italian: Gerardo da Cremona; Latin: Gerardus Cremonensis; c. ...

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). The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century Decades: 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s - 1360s - 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s Years: 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 - 1362 - 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 See also: 1362 state leaders Events Under Edward III, English replaces French as Englands national language, for the... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...

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. Chaucer redirects here. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... Shakespeare redirects here. ...

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). Pyromancy (from Greek pyros, fire, and manteia, divination) is the art of divination by means of fire. ... Hydromancy (from Greek hydro, water, and manteia, divination) is the art of divination by means of water. ... Jehan de Mandeville (Sir John Mandeville), the name claimed by the compiler of a singular book of travels, written in French, and published between 1357 and 1371. ... Cornelius Agrippa, as portrayed in Libri tres de occulta philosophia. ...

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". For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... David Garrick as Abel Drugger in Jonsons The Alchemist by Johann Zoffany. ...

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). For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ... 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. ...

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 Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

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. This article discusses the number Four. ... In mathematics, an element (also called a member) is an object contained in a set (or more generally a class). ...

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. Franz Hartmann (1838 - 1912) was a German physician, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author of esoteric works. ...

Trivia

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References

Encyclopedia > Geomancy

Contents

Literary background

Western methodology

Astrological geomancy

Trivia

References

See also

Further reading