What Is Geomancy? An Ancient Art of Earth Divination

Geomancy — literally "divination by earth" — is one of the most mathematically elegant oracle systems ever devised. Born in the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula over a thousand years ago, it spread through medieval Europe where scholars considered it a sibling art to astrology. At its heart, geomancy is a binary system: 16 figures composed of four rows of single or double dots, generated through a process that transforms randomness into structured insight.

The 16 Geomantic Figures

Each geomantic figure consists of four lines, and each line contains either one dot (active/yang) or two dots (passive/yin). With four binary positions, there are exactly 2⁴ = 16 possible figures. Each has a Latin name, an elemental association, and a planetary ruler:

• Via — The Way (all single dots) — pure movement, the road, transition
• Populus — The People (all double dots) — community, passivity, crowds
• Fortuna Major — Greater Fortune — success, power, inner strength
• Fortuna Minor — Lesser Fortune — fleeting success, external aid
• Acquisitio — Gain — obtaining, accumulation, profit
• Amissio — Loss — releasing, letting go, diminishment
• Laetitia — Joy — happiness, upward energy, optimism
• Tristitia — Sorrow — sadness, downward energy, heaviness
• Caput Draconis — Head of the Dragon — beginnings, thresholds, entering
• Cauda Draconis — Tail of the Dragon — endings, exits, release
• Conjunctio — Conjunction — union, meeting, crossroads
• Carcer — Prison — restriction, boundaries, isolation
• Rubeus — Red — passion, anger, raw power
• Albus — White — purity, wisdom, contemplation
• Puella — Girl — beauty, receptivity, harmony
• Puer — Boy — aggression, rashness, boldness

How to Generate Figures

The traditional method is beautifully simple:

1. Focus your question. Geomancy works best with clear, specific questions.
2. Make random marks. Without counting, tap a stick into sand or make dots on paper — four separate rows of random marks.
3. Count each row. If the row has an odd number of marks, record one dot (●). If even, record two dots (● ●).
4. Read the figure. Your four rows form one of the 16 geomantic figures.
5. Repeat three more times to generate the four Mother figures.

In Chaos Tarot, the casting engine generates the four Mothers using cryptographic randomness, then computes the entire shield chart algorithmically — the same mathematics, wrapped in neon circuitry.

The Shield Chart

Geomancy's true power lies in its derived structure — the shield chart:

1. 4 Mothers — Your initial random figures (the seed)
2. 4 Daughters — Derived by transposing the Mothers' rows (reading across instead of down)
3. 4 Nephews (Nieces) — Each computed by adding pairs of Mothers and Daughters line by line (odd + odd = even, even + even = even, odd + even = odd)
4. 2 Witnesses — Computed from pairs of Nephews
5. 1 Judge — Computed from the two Witnesses — the final answer
6. 1 Reconciler — Computed from the Judge and the first Mother — resolves ambiguity

From four random inputs, the system generates 15 interconnected figures. The shield chart is a self-contained argument, a logical derivation from chaos to judgment.

Geomancy vs Astrology

Medieval scholars mapped the 16 figures onto the 12 astrological houses, creating a hybrid system called astrological geomancy. But geomancy does not require knowledge of astronomy. Where astrology reads the positions of celestial bodies at a specific time, geomancy reads patterns generated from the querent's own random actions. It is a divination of earth, not sky — intimate, embodied, and immediate.

Start Your Geomantic Practice

Geomancy rewards precise questions and mathematical thinking. If you appreciate systems, binary logic, and structured derivation, geomancy may be your ideal oracle. Explore all 16 figures in our geomancy guide, complete with shield chart breakdowns, elemental associations, and the orange-glow procedural renderings crafted by the Geomantic Architect.