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Fludd explains how a full geomantic shield is derived from the initial four mothers.

Of the Production of the Other Figures in the Geomantic Shield

It must be noted that from the said mothers,¹ who constitute the first four figures of the geomantic shield, four daughters, constituting the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth figures, arise, taking separately the parts of all the mothers. In the previous example we take from the first figure / . / from the second / . . / from the third / . / from the fourth / . . / And thus these four parts, joined together, generate the first daughter occupying the fifth house, namely, the figure called Amissio. From the mothers’ shoulders the second daughter is born occupying the sixth house, from the legs the third, from the feet the fourth.

But first the niece is derived from the two first mothers, for her head is fused from their two heads, etc. And this is a general rule: that where two heads, shoulders, legs, or feet joined together produce an odd number, namely three, they produce a single; but when they are even, they produce two points. For example: since we find only three points in the aforesaid heads of the first and second mothers, we therefore express the head of the first niece who occupies the ninth house with a single point.

In the same way, since the mothers’ shoulders produce an equal number, therefore also the shoulders of the first niece will consist of two points. Equally, her legs must also be composed of the same number of points, and her feet will have only one point for the above reason. For this reason also, the second niece is fused from the third and fourth mother; the third niece from the first and second daughter, and the fourth and last from the two and last daughters.

In the same way, two Witnesses are produced from four nieces, just as a Judge is produced from two Witnesses. Finally, the sixteenth, the last figure in which the whole shield is summarized, is made up of the Judge and the first mother. And in this manner the whole geomantic shield and its houses must be filled, from which the judgment in this art is to be taken.

Footnotes

1. Referring to Book I, Part 3. This section requires no commentary, as it describes the usual technique of deriving the full shield from the initial four figures. ↩︎