In European geomancy, the places occupied by the figures in the Shield are assigned the meaning of the houses of an astrological horoscope. I have no idea if this corresponds to older Middle-Eastern practice or if it is a European innovation. Certainly, if Astrology hadn’t been attached to Geomancy by the Arab magi of old (which it probably was), it got coupled with it as soon as it reached Europe, since Astrology was not only extremely popular–it was also the only method of divination that was not unanimously frowned upon by the church, the reason being that it was perfectly embedded within the shared understanding of how the cosmos was thought to factually work, so that the anticipations given by astrology could be defended as being just part of how life worked and, therefore, scientific (in the old meaning of science). Astrology was indeed often condemned, but it was hard to condemn it without condemning a lot more stuff that the church liked.

The Geomantic Shield, therefore, got assigned the meanings of the astrological houses. As far as I can tell from reading the old manuscripts, the difference between the Shield chart and the square astrological chart was not very marked–if at all. Most manuscripts assign the meanings of the houses to the Shield itself, without bothering to turn the Shield into an astrological chart. This is even true when they describe the modes of perfection. A few manuscripts do show the astrological chart at one point or another, but only to remark on the similarity with the Shield chart.

I may be wrong, but I get the sense that the distinction between Shield chart and Astrological chart was only emphasised following the Golden Dawn’s reshuffling of the houses by following Agrippa. Basically, the GD (again, following Agrippa) assigned the four Mothers to the angles, the four Daughters to the succedent houses and the four Nieces to the cadent houses. This is in line with the old occult fascination for making up bogus secrets to get people interested in your person. People needed to keep occupied, in a world where Monopoly hadn’t been invented yet.

It is also in sharp contrast to the old practice of following the numerical order of the figures (First House = First Mother, Second House = Second Mother, etc., shown in the image above) Note, furthermore, that in the old practice, the Witnesses and the Judge were usually considered normal houses (often called the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth houses.)

The meanings of the houses, as said, correspond more or less to those of a horary chart. You will find that not all sources agree. Here’s a good start (it’s not exhaustive, but it’s something.)

House	Figure	Attributes
First	1st Mother	The Querent, Querent’s Body, Appearance, Mind, “Here”
Second	2nd Mother	Querent’s possessions, Moveable Goods, Money, Assets, Sustenance
Third	3rd Mother	Siblings, Neighbors, Letters, News, Communication, Rumors, Short Trips, Regular Journey, Lower Education
Fourth	4th Mother	The Father, The Parents in general, Old Relatives, Lineage, House, Property, City, Castle, Buried Treasures, Fields, End of the Matter
Fifth	1st Daughter	Joy, Mirth, Fun, Festivities, Clothes, Children, Pregnancy, Art, Self-Expression, Sexual Activity, Harvest, Messengers, Diplomats
Sixth	2nd Daughter	Sickness, Trouble, Toil, Difficulties, Surgery, Small animals (pets, goats, sheep, etc.), Servants, Employees
Seventh	3rd Daughter	Marriage, Partnerships, Partners, Public Enemies, Other People, The Public, Thieves, “There”
Eighth	4th Daughter	Death and the Dead, Money from other people, Dowry, Fear, Failure
Ninth	1st Niece	Long Journeys, Pilgrimages, Church, Spirituality, Higher Education, Faith, Teachers, Courses, Higher Knowledge and Skills, Church People and Prelates, God
Tenth	2nd Niece	The Mother, Honor, Ascension, King, Emperor, Government, Job, Profession
Eleventh	3rd Niece	Friends, Help, Money from the Government, Wishes, Hopes, Fortune, Luck
Twelfth	4th Niece	Evil, Secret Enemies, Addiction, Prison, Curses, Hexes, Large Animals (Large Cattle, Horses, etc.), Impotence to act
Thirteenth	R. Witness	The Querent, The Querent’s side, What’s in Favor of the Querent, The Past
Fourteenth	L. Witness	Opposition to the Querent, The Other Party, The Future
Fifteenth	Judge	Answer, Ultimate Development of the Question

Note: All images are from the App ‘Simple Geomancy’

MQS