The process of interpreting a Geomancy chart almost seems to split between two phases: 1. assessing the significators and their relationship (as discussed here) 2. interpreting the geomantic court. Some would even object to the order in which I give them, as, technically speaking, it’s the Judge that gives the answer.
The Geomantic Court is copmosed of the two Witnesses and the Judge. The two Witnesses represent the culmination of the process of development of the two sides of the Geomantic Shield (as discussed here)
Example of a Geomancy Shield reading, with the App Simple Geomancy
The right and left Witnesses (the right one is Albus, the left one is Caput) are the last product of the right and left sides of the Shield respectively. The Judge represents the overcoming of this duality into a final unity that takes everything into consideration.
We can easily liken the two Witnesses to the two pans of a scale, where arguments in favor and against are weighed. The fact that, from a technical standpoint, the Judge can only be a figure with an even number of points speaks to the Judge’s consideration of both sides. Keep in mind that there’s a total of 65.536 possible shields when we allow for all possible permutations of the sixteen mothers. But only 8 Judge figures are possible. Obviously, the Judge’s sentence can only be a general bird-eye view of the situation from the throne of Heaven, as it were. This is very different from the concrete and specific interrelation of the geomantic figures on the Shield.
As for the two Witnesses, as said, they are the culmination of the process of discussion that is carried out on the two sides of the Shield, the right side belonging to the querent and the left side to the quesited, or, alternatively, the right side being what pleads for the querent and the left side what speaks against his or her success.
Peter de Abano, interestingly, likens the right Witness to the planet the Moon separates from in an astrology chart, and the left Witness to the planet she applies to. This is largely in keeping with the attempt of Medieval magi to reduce everything to astrology. If you follow this school of thought, since in traditional astrology the Moon represents the flow of the chart or the flow of action in the chart, then the right Witness is the past and the left Witness the future. Personally, I tend to see the two Witnesses as belonging to the same timeframe, of which they highlight the up and down sides.
Some rules have been passed down to us for assessing the relationship between the Witnesses and the Judge. For instance, it is said that if the Witnesses are positive and the Judge negative, it shows that the matter is easier at the beginning but doesn’t end well, and vice versa if the Witnesses are bad and the Judge good.
In general, if we accept that the Judge is nothing more than the sum of the two Witnesses, and that the two Witnesses are the ‘for’ and ‘against’, then in a way the Judge is nothing more than a recapitulation of the Witnesses’ discussion, seen from a higher, more general level.
If we take the example of the Geomantic court above, where Acquisitio is the Judge and it derives from Albus as the right Witness and Caput as the left Witness, and if we suppose the question is about a business deal, then the right Witness argues that the querent has good business sense or a good plan, while the left Witness adds that it’s going to be hard at the beginning, while the Judge surmises from the discussion that, in general, the deal is going to be profitable.
Alternatively, if we take the right Witness as a symbol of the querent and the left Witness as a symbol of the quesited, the querent is still shown as a competent businessperson, while the quesited, i.e., the deal, is shown as a promising new start, while the Judge still rules in favor of the deal being good.
In the next article I will talk about how to reconcile the Judge and court with the other aspects of the reading.
Here’s a quick one. A friend of mine asked me if it was a good thing for her to join a certain rather well-known magical order. The order shall remain unnamed, as in case of a defamation lawsuit it wouldn’t be a good sight if I just waved a picture of a card spread under the judge’s nose as evidence.
Should I enter the magical order? A cartomancy spread with the Vera Sibilla oracle
The most obvious thing that caught my eye is the reversed Three of Spades (the Widower). This card represents secret sects, and it never describes them in a positive light. To be clear, a secret group is not in itself a bad thing. Nor is a magical order a bad thing in itself – I have been part of a couple and still am in one. But if the group you are enquiring about is represented by the Widower reversed it is NOT good.
That they perform less than positive acts is shown by the reversed Peacock. The Seven of Clubs indicates that they prey on people’s self-esteem and/or by promising honors. I could have added some cards to see if it also showed that they wanted some of her money – but it doesn’t really matter. The spread is clear: the querent has already had contacts with them and has been offered to join, or something else, like a ritual (I haven’t asked) but the querent would do well to stay away. This is not to say that they are charlatans, as the spread does not concentrate on this, but that they are people that are best kept at a distance.
As I have a mind to start talking about Tarot in the very near future, I wanted to start by sharing the main meanings I apply to the major trumps. These are just basic guidelines, as the majors have almost no bounds, so this list is not exhaustive. The meanings I use are not especially weird, and they tend to be very practical.
The Fool Instability, Untrustworthiness, Freedom, Unpredictability, Lack of ties or bonds, Irresponsibility, Innocence, Lack of foresight, Lack of planning, Doing things on the spur of the emoment, Surprise, Irregularity, Chaos, Things and situations that are not well-defined or that are not clearly settled, Nothing, Nothingness, Mistake, Error, Oversight, Mental issues, Originality, Creativity, Deep feelings in love that could be a flash in the pan because they are unsupported by effort, Unpreparedness, Going on foot, Walking
The Juggler / Conman / Magician Beginning, Child, Son or daughter, New, Small, Initiative, Doing, Action, Work, Job, Play, Game, Playing, Studying, Youth, Competence, Ability, Adroitness, Project, Being aware, Doing by hand, Creativity, Charm, Fascinating, Tricks, A thief or con artist, Charlatan, Lie, Things done with good or evil intent (depending on the other cards) but not by mistake, Things that are planned, Immaturity, Tantrums, A charmer
The Popess / High Priestess A mature woman, A serious woman, precise, knowledgeable, reserved, A wife, A mother, An older sister, A female boss, A female doctor or professional, A woman with a degree, Conscience, Spirituality, Study, Knowledge, Deep understanding, Faith, Someone who knows what to say and what not to say, Silence, Reserve, Secret, with bad cards a superficial floozy, A gossip, Dogmatic, Strict, Ignorant, Inimical
The Empress A younger woman, Active, Creative, Communicative, Unmarried or, if married, still very much in love, Action, Abundance, Love, A younger sister, A young mother, A daughter, A coworker, An employee, A boss that works together with her employees rather than staying shut in her office, Well-being, Sex, Fascination, Beauty, Expansion, Amplification, Increase, Growth, With bad cards can be wastefulness, etc., Spring, The Earth element
The Emperor A younger man, Active, Creative, Dynamic, Unmarried, In love, Son, Young father, Brother (younger), Action, Law, Politics, Durability, Willpower, An active boss, With great directive ability, A coworker, An Employee, Managing, Organizing (in general, he is the male counterpart to the Empress), with negative cards can be tyrannical or a young man in difficulty, etc.
The Pope / Hierophant / High Priest Broadly the male counterpart to the Popess: Older man, Father, Boss, Older brother, Religion, An interpreter, A communicator, An intermediary, Wisdom, Faithfulness, A teacher, A guide, Responsible, Knowledgeable, Trustworthy, A ritual of some kind (religious, magical, etc.), A man with a degree, A man wearing a uniform or serving some official function, An agency
Love / The Lover / The Lovers Love, Attraction, Harmony, Desire, Preference, Being attracted to one thing, one person, one option, etc. A deal, A handshake, Compromise, Commitment, Getting along, Affinity, Vocation, Inspiration, The family, A group of people, A meeting, appointment, date, etc. The public, Sociability, The social aspect of life, A partnership, Something done with other people, Beauty, Esthetics, etc.
The Chariot Movement, Activity, Advancement toward a goal, Journey, Travel, Car, Means of transport, Going, Being determined, Going in one particular direction, Career, A public uniform, Audacity, Overcoming obstacles, Moving beyond difficulties, Attacking or tackling and, with positive cards, Winning, Victory, Recognition, Ambition, Self-discipline, Doing, Acting, Enterprise, Knowing where you want to go and going, Enthusiasm, Quickness, Velocity (for good or ill)
Justice Justice, Fairness, Equilibrium, Stability, Contract, Union, Marriage or living together as an established family, Legal and bureaucratic issues, Buying and selling, The law, Tests, Evaluations, Documents, Papers, The middle way, Half, Halving, Cutting in half, Evaluating the pros and cons, Developing contacts, Creating ties with others, with negative cards it can show separations, injustice, etc.
The Hermit One, Lonely, Unique, Old, Past, A long time, Slow, An older person (60+), Difficulties, Slowing down, Lack of communication, Secret, Moving behind the scenes, away from the public eye, Serious, A master or teacher, Weakening, becoming old, weak, extinguished, Spirituality, High culture, Study, Research, Not kidding around, No sense of humor, Being dependable, Taking very small steps, Deep reflection and thought, A premeditator, Cold places, Places of retreat, Solitude, Not wanting contact, Stinginess, Marginalized, With negative cards can show not being self-reliant, and by extension also being hooked on drugs or alcohol, Inability to communicate, Winter
The Wheel of Fortune Transition, Change, The regular flow of life, Luck, Opportunity, Success, Money, Gambling, Winning, A trip, Travel, Change of place, Situations that resurface at intervals, On and off, The unblocking of a stagnant situation for better or worse, Protection from above, Fatality, Changeability, Instability, Small animals, Changing route, Opening of avenues, Partial, Sometimes, Part-time, etc.
Strength / Fortitude Strength, Power, Influence, Intelligence, Being capable of steering the situation, Overcoming, Willpower, Stability, Strengthening, Manipulation, Savoir faire, Control, A situation that is strongly desired, Self-control, Discipline, Sport, Physical movement, Materialization, The signing of papers (materializing their effect), Knowing how to resist temptation, Intelligence, Rationality, Wild animals, with negative cards it can show impotence, anger, etc.
The Hanged Man Suffering, Blockage, Stillstand, Sacrifice, Confinement, Prison, Hospital, Not acting, Being still, A bond of some kind, with good cards it can show a positive bond (e.g., being committed to someone or something), Down, South, Below, Digging, Falling, Broken, Rotten, Suffering, Impotence, Inability
Death Death, Sharp change, Mortality, Ending, A short trip, Elimination, Unavoidability, Something that cannot be walked back, Point of no return, Destruction, Fatality, Danger, Discouragement, Gloomy thoughts, Sadness, Inability to accept change, Corruption, Alteration, Sharp instruments
Temperance Temperance, Moderation, Patience, Waiting, Tolerance, Adaptability, Giving and receiving, Avoiding extremes, Meeting halfway, Purity, Clean, Cleaning, Honesty, Angels, Spirituality, Protection, Gentleness, Respect, Consideration, Sincerity, Truthfulness, Male and female together, Mixing, Two in one, Duality, Education, Health, Healing, Conciliation, Inaction, Lack of activity, Indolence, Unemployment, Autumn
The Devil Evil, Antagonist, Opposition, Obstacle, Force, Energy, Great power, Magic, Strategy, Cunning, Being in chains, Strong chemistry, Fatal attraction, Great business, Big corporations, Stress, Enmity, Being very worried, Being forced to do something, Dictatorship, Subjugation, Vice, Sin, Addiction, Excess, Darkness, Dark, Blood, Illegality, Crime, Swindle, Jealousy, Possessiveness, Sexual attraction, Sex, Betrayal, Cheating
The Tower A place, A home, A building of some kind, Explosions, Explosive energies, Fire, Crumbling down, Ending, Closure, Departure from the old, Destruction, Crisis, Loss of name, Fragility, Things that suddenly don’t seem as strong as they used to be, Boldness, Anger, Sudden onrush,
The Star / The Stars Hope, Future, Serenity, Things clearing up, Truthfulness, Honesty, Purity, Art, Beauty, Gift, The Air element, Wind, Sky, Above, Over, Up, High-mindedness, Idealism, Promises, Guidance, Inspiration, Meditation, Harmony, Solution, Positive ending close at hand, Fulfillment of wishes, Pregnancy, Generosity, Shooting for the stars, Optimism, The soul, An investment, Influx of money, Getting back dividends or money you loaned, etc.
The Moon The night, Darkness, Silence, Not talking, Disappearing, Secret, Falsehood, Lies, Keeping in the dark, Water, Lake, Sea, Ocean, Dampness, Fantasy, Intuition, Mother, Mom, Maternity, Femininity, Clairvoyance, Influence on the world or on people, Worry, Preoccupation, Sadness, Disappointment, Depression, Gloominess, Refusal, Saying no, Negativity, Changeability, Inconsistency, The realm of shadows and of the dead, Mary mother of God and other lunar entities
The Sun The day, Light, Clarity, Visibility, Intelligence, Father, Fatherhood, Manly energy, Twins, Clarity, Truth, Discovering, Discovery, Finding, Clarifying, Explaining, Reaching the truth of the matter, Rationality, Logic, Experts, Knowledgeable people, News, Novelty, Renewal, Beginning, Gold, Money, Wealth, Success, Heat, Warmth, Love, Feelings, Happiness, Faithfulness, Sincerity, Glory, Visibility, Success, Self-confidence, Summer, Summery or hot places (beaches, etc.), Poetry, Literature, The realm of the living, Life, Jesus and other solar entities
Judgement / The Angel Information, News, Letters, Calls, Communication, Emails, Sociability, Social contacts, Contacts in general, Announcements, Inspiration, Feeling called, Leaving the old life behind, Coming out of the old, Renewal, Return, Reconciliation (but with negative cards definitive ending), Healing (but with negative cards it can signal death), A definitive turning point, Family members, Music, Hearing
The World Everything, All, Total, Full, Filled, Full-time, Fat, Obese, The Whole, Complete, Large, Big, God, Totality, The Soul of the World, Paradise, A situation that is complete in itself, such as a full family, a marriage or stable partnership (usually one that already exists), A company or firm, Glory, A wreath, A ring, Completion of a project, Completion of a journey (e.g., graduating, tying the knot, etc.), The querent’s country, A country in general (with some other cards a foreign country and foreign lands in general), A city or the querent’s city, The world out there, A perfect picture, A picture or image in general, The population, Masses, Crowds
This post is part of my Notes on Divination series.This gets somewhat philosophical and is rough and not organized, so bear with me.
I already talked about the limitations of free will in divination. Undoubtedly I will need to talk a lot more about it in the future. For now, though, I want to discuss the other side of the coin, namely predestination.
Predesination is the idea that the future is predetermined. This is already vague, because the way in which the future is supposed to be predetermined changes based on the particular view: the way in which a flower necessarily follows from a seed is not the same way as the ending of a movie necessarily follows its beginning. No matter how many times you rewind, Baby Jane always snaps. She cannot do otherwise, for her life has been scripted and it plays out from beginning to end according to the script.
In the case of the seed, although there are contingent factors at play (for instance, the quality of the soil or the amount of water it receives) we are talking about a form of internal necessity. Baby Jane’s life, though, is determined by external factors: she is nothing more than what the author of the book and those of the movie wanted her to be.
The question is: could Baby Jane understand that her life is so predetermined, if someone told her? Let us suppose that the writers had added a scene where she consults a diviner and has her fortunes told to her. The diviner is a good one, and correctly tells her what is going to happen to her, her sister, etc.
Does this change things? The answer, in this case, is no. It doesn’t change anything, because the fortune teller’s scene has also been scripted and plays out for the same reason every other scene in the movie plays out. From an external standpoint, the meeting with the diviner would be no different than any other part of the movie. It would be just another link in the chain.
The Fatalist
But this is not how divination works in real life. In real life, we don’t have the privilege of an external poit of view from which to witness our existence in the same way as when we watch a movie. We can watch a movie because we are not in any meaningful sense part of it.
But we are part of life. We are part of the flow of existence. More specifically, we are that section of existence that is capable of reflecting on existence itself, or, if we want to get trippy, we are the section of existence through which existence reflects on itself: we are existence’s self-consciousness.
This has enormous consequences on our freedom. Let us suppose someone tried to argue that our life is predetermined by a kind of external destiny that uses us like sockpuppets in the same way a character is written by a writer.
The first and most important consequence is that the very fact that they are saying that we are predetermined would itself be predetermined. That is to say, the person does not believe that we are predetermined because it is true that we are predetermined, but because he or she has been written as a fatalist.
Of course, the person in question would like to argue back that they are a fatalist because it is true that we are predetermined. But in defending this view, what they are truly saying is “everything is predetermined, except me when I argue that everything is predetermined.” This is obviously inconsistent: a theory–any theory–must be consistent with its own uttering. But fatalism cannot be truly uttered without incurring self-contradiction. The moment one says “Everything is predetermined,” they place themselves outside of the destiny they try to describe.
This happens for a subtle reason. Consciousness is inherently the place of freedom. It would take me a whole treatise to discuss this (and maybe I will write one at some point) but to be concise, we cannot be conscious of something without placing ourselves outside of it and beyond it. If I am conscious of this pen or this flower, this pen or this flower are the object of my attention, and I am the subject. No matter how strictly connected subject and object are, they are not the same, and when they are, there is no consciousness.*
If you read a few paragraphs back, I said that we are essentially existence’s self-consciousness. This means that through us existence perceives itself as its own object. Furthermore, in being conscious of itself, existence moves beyond necessity, exactly in the same way that any person (even a fatalist) places themselves outside of their own fatalism by being conscious of it.
In the next blog post I will discuss more closely how the ideas I just presented impact divination.
MQS
* I know that mystics like to argue that the subject-object distinction is artificial, but I’ll leave this for another post. My short answer is that without duality, unity is barren, while without unity, duality is inconsistent and inconceivable.
Geomancy, like astrology, sets up a system of correspondences between houses and life sectors. In all cases, we use the first house to represent the querent. If the question is asked by the querent about themselves, this is enough. If the question is asked by the querent about someone else’s life, then the first house will be irrelevant, but admittedly, in most cases people ask about themselves.
In order to divine meaningfully with geomancy, we also need a quesited, that is, a topic of discussion. This will be represented by another one of the twelve houses, as discussed here. Once we have the querent and the quesited, we need to see what happens to them.
A first indication is given by the geomantic figure that occupies the respective houses. This can shed light on the querent’s and quesited’s current state or qualities. But this is not, in itself, good enough to predict that something will or will not come to pass. Something can be very good in itself, but if it doesn’t happen to me, it is of no great consolation.
This is where geomantic perfection comes in. We call geomantic perfection the way the querent and quesited relate to each other, allowing things to come to pass. In the vast majority of questions, we desire to obtain something, which involves coming into contact with that something. Geomantic perfection allows us to come into contact with it. It is to geomancy what aspects are to traditional astrology (more or less. I’ll come back to it in the next article)
There are four forms of perfection: occupation, conjunction, mutation and translation. Not all medieval handbooks describe all four, but I have found that they all work.
Occupation
Occupation is the simplest and strongest form of perfection. It occurs when the querent and the quesited are occupied by the same figure.
Example reading. App used: Simple Geomancy
Let us suppose the querent asks whether he will manage to buy a house he has seen, or whether he will meet with his father during the holidays. The querent is symbolized by the first house figure. The quesited is symbolized by the fourth house figure. In this case, both are Puer, so we can say that the first and the fourth house are connected by Occupation. There is a strong connection. In most cases this is good. It can also signify that there is perfect union between querent and quesited.
Conjunction
Conjunction is next in line in terms of strength. Conjunction happens when the first house figure (the querent) is also found in a house adjacent to that of the quesited, or vice versa if the figure of the quesited is found in a house adjacent that of the querent. This is the standard definition that has come to be accepted. In the old manuscript there are some variations (for instance, it seems that Abano did not accept the twelfth house as adjacent to the first.) In my experience, the standard definition is good enough.
Example reading. App used: Simple Geomancy
Using the same figure as before, let us suppose that the querent asks whether he shall meet with a friend, or a brother, or whether he shall go to a party. The first house is still represented by Puer. Puer moves to the twelfth, where it is adjacent to the eleventh, the house of friends. It also moves to the fourth, where it is adjacent to the house of brothers (the third) and to the house of parties (the fifth).
Note that if the querent moves to meet the quesited, it shows effort or interest on the part of the querent, while if the quesited moves to meet the querent the opposite is true. Of course, this needs to be interpreted: if the illness moves to meet you it doesn’t mean that the virus is besotted with you–it just shows that it comes to you easily. In a relationship reading, the figure that moves to meet the other is the one who is more interested or in love.
Mutation
Mutation happens when the querent and the quesited both move and end up meeting somewhere else in the chart.
Example reading. App used: Simple Geomancy
Let us suppose that the querent asks whether he shall meet with the girl he likes. The first house figure, Puer, moves to the twelfth and the seventh house figure, Rubeus, moves to the eleventh. The two houses are adjacent, so the two shall meet. Mutation indicates meeting in a third place or, depending on the question, it can show mutual effort. The houses where the figures meet can also shed light. For instance, in this case it is likely they will meet at a friend’s house (eleventh) or in some remote hidden place (twelfth).
Translation
Translation is the last form of perfection. It happens when a third figure is found in a house adjacent that of the querent *and* that of the quesited, so as to form a bridge between them.
Example reading. App used: Simple Geomancy
In this case, we have no translation to the first house. However, if we suppose the querent asked about the relationship between his father (fourth house) and his mother (tenth house), then we find that Puella forms a translation between them, being in the fifth house (adjacent to the fourth) and in the ninth (adjacent to the tenth). Translation usually shows the involvement of a third party. In this case Puella could show the influence of a woman or girl.
Prohibition
Prohibition is the absence of perfection. This is the most common way a chart has to tell us we won’t get what we want or, more broadly, that there is no connection between querent and quesited.
Example reading. App used: Simple Geomancy
Let us suppose the querent asks about the possibility of getting a job he applied for. There is no contact between first house (querent) and tenth house (quesited): no occupation, no conjunction, no mutation and no translation. The querent is unlikely to get that job.
Final Notes
Sometimes a figure passes into an unrelated house. This can add context and information for good or ill.
Perfection shows contact. It doesn’t tell us whether the contact is good or bad. In the example about the querent’s parents, if we suppose that the querent asks whether his parents will divorce, the translation by Puella may show that someone will convince them to stay together. However, if the translation were made by Cauda, it could show a mutual agreement to end the marriage.
The Court must always be taken into account, although we will discuss it in another article.
In the previous article I started talking about free will and prediction. There I talked about some factors that influence our freedom of decision.
Another incredibly important aspect is information. We orient ourselves by interpreting available information. If our free will were absolute, our knowledge of how the world works and how we move in it would not matter, because we’d be able to reach any result regardless of the initial conditions.
This is patently absurd, yet it is maintained by some diviners (appropriately, those who are incapable of deriving specific information from the divination process). It kind of reminds me of one of the definitions of God in the Book of the 24 Philosophers, where it says that God is that whose will is equivalent to his power and knowledge (or wisdom).
This was a fancy way of saying that God’s every action is always exactly the right one at the right moment because the fact that he wants it is the same with the fact that it can be done and also the fact that it is the right thing to do. This may be very true of God, and if we conceive (as I do) that the divine is immanent in the world, it is also true of humans, but only in so far as they understand themselves as limited fractions of this whole process. In so far as we crave things and don’t know how to get them, this view of the world is fairly deceiving, especially if you plan on charging people who expect to be given reliable information.
From a more mundane and practical standpoint, we have limited knowledge (or wisdom) and this always changes from moment to moment. As our information changes, so do our decisions. This has nothing to do with “destiny”: if we did not adjust our behavior to match our knowledge we’d already have died out. It is about survival.
The First Spread
Here’s an example. As I mentioned in my journal section, my husband and I are looking for a bigger home. We had eyed an apartment some weeks ago that seemed perfect, and upon visiting it, we were even more convinced to buy it. Some days ago I asked the tarot if we would be able to buy it.
“Will we be able to buy the apartment?” Tarocchi di Layla, design by Elisa Scerrato
As can be seen from the cut (Strength and Justice) we were very determined (Strength) to buy (Justice).
The opening of the spread repeats the statement by showing that we are gung-ho about buying the apartment (Stars and Chariot) but that we are not considering everything (Moon) as we head toward the handshake (Lovers)
The second line shows the clarifying (Sun) intervention of a woman (Empress) who will bring certain less than pleasant aspects to light (Devil). The result is that my husband (Pope) will lose all interest in buying (Hanged Man)
This is exactly what happened. Two days after I did this spread, my husband came home and told me that one of his friends from an Enneagram group he is in has some experience with real estate and could help us decide. We set up a Zoom meeting with her, where she went through the apartment’s documents with us and raised some serious red flags we had completely missed that would have turned buying that apartment into a financial and bureaucratic nightmare. Needless to say, my husband (and I) lost all interest after that.
As you can probably guess, nobody forced us NOT to buy. Nor did destiny force our hand. In fact, we probably could have gone on with the deal, and fairly quickly (Strength + Justice in the cut of the first spread can signify a signed contract). But we would have been idiots.
And note how skewed my question was: we were completely besotted with the place, so I asked if we would be able to buy it, not if it was a good idea to buy it. The tarot clearly overrode my question and told me that certain unknown facts would surface that would influence our decision. Note also that the tarot did not say that we should not buy (my experience is that divination reflects reality, not what reality should be). The tarot said that we would change our mind.
The question is: were we destined to change our mind? Well, it is complicated, and the complication arises from the fact that the moment of divination is a very special moment, where spirit reflects on itself through the diviner. I will need to come back on this issue in more detail in some future articles.
The thing is, though, that we were not forced to change our mind: we simply realized it was the smart thing to do. Sure, you may say, if we had been more gullible, or if the apartment had completely blinded us out of our wits, we would have gone on with the deal anyway and regretted it later.
But being gullible or not is neither a choice nor an imposition: it is part of one’s being, at least to an extent, even if it is originally a learned behavior. The tarot simply computed the available information, both that which we could change and that which we had no control over, added the information about who we are at our core, and came to the conclusion that someone like my husband and I, in such a situation, would probably change their mind upon receiving better data.
The tarot predicted our behavior in the same way your mom who knows you are obsessed with chocolate icecream can predict you had chocolate icecream for dessert after dinner with your friends: it is a prediction based on knowledge of your nature and of the available information. The difference between your mom and the tarot is that the tarot (like all oracular forms) has a wider and deeper view of reality. The Tarot is, in a way, like a cosmic botanist who knows a red rose bush will sprout from this or that seed, even though this knowledge does not force the rose to be red. It is simply part of its nature.
The Second Spread
By the way, today before writing this article, I did a second spread just for kicks (the tarot is very tolerant of my shenanigans) to ask if that apartment was seriously off the table, as I am still a bit in love with it. Here’s the result
“Is the apartment really off the table?” Tarocchi di Layla, design by Elisa Scerrato
In the cut we have Death and the Wheel: definitive change (the Death card can never be undone, just like real death). The spread itself is even more blunt. The Devil and the Moon show hidden dangers, and the contract, signified by Justice, is blocked (Hanged Man) thanks to a woman (Popess / High Priestess). Note how much more concise and harsh the spread is compared to the first one: it’s as if the cards were saying “Dude, really, knock it off already…”
Side note: I don’t know exactly why my husband’s friend came up as Empress in the first spread and as Popess in the second one. My best guess is that the tarot didn’t want me to get confused in the first one: if she had come up as the Popess, I would have linked her to the Pope, and would not have interpreted him as my husband, but since in the new spread neither I nor my husband show up, the cards were free to use a more natural significator for her.
In the Sibilla section of this site I posted some spreads that may also be used with playing cards. One type of spreads is generally used for broad readings without a specific focus. I must confess I don’t often use these spreads myself when reading for others (especially the 21 card spread which I will cover in another post), although I have found them invaluable for a quick glance into my own future.
A typical general spread is the cross spread. The disposition of the cards, after shuffling and having the deck cut by the querent, is as follows:
4 – 9 – 14
2 – 7 – 12
1 – 6 – 11
3 – 8 – 13
5 – 10 – 15
Cross spread for cartomancy with playing cards
The center of the spread (cards 1, 6, 11) indicates the querent’s present situation, or something that is happening that is very important to them. To the querent’s left (2, 7, 12) is his or her recent past. To the querent’s right (3, 8, 13) is his or her future in the next month or so. Above the querent (4, 9, 14) are his or her thoughts or something they are aware of, while underneath (5, 10, 15) shows something the querent doesn’t like or doesn’t know.
This spread is general, but I am sure it can be adapted to answer broad questions (“Tell me about my career”). It can also be used to investigate a person the querent is interest in knowing about (“My friend’s been behaving strangely lately…”)
One variation of this spread consist in shuffling the remaining cards again and dealing out an additional three cards for the further future or for the “answer”.
Here’s an example. I asked a friend of mine if we could do a spread for her as a demonstration and she graciously accepted. Here’s what came out.
3♣ – 3♥ – 9♣
J♥ – A♦ – 4♠
8♥ – 6♠ – 8♠
K♠ – 6♦ – A♥
7♠ – J♠ – 7♦
Example of a general cross spread with playing cards
It is never a good idea to start talking immediately, especially when the spread is general. It is always better to simply let your eyes absorb the cards as a whole.
Still, it is quite evident that the central heap is rather problematic, as it shows illness. This is not the querent’s own illness, but that of a relative (Eight of Hearts). This is confirmed by the future cards, where there is worry in the house, with the King of Spades in this case as the doctor. The querent’s grandma needs some minor surgery, it turns out, but given her age, her family is understandably concerned. Fortunately there is no indication of great difficulties, let alone bereavement.
The querent’s thoughts, however, are occupied by the desire for a lasting love union (upper fan), which however she doesn’t have, considering the past fan (blocked news concerning romance).
The bottom fan is difficult to interpret, as it doesn’t appear to link up with the others. It is very possible that, in her life in general, the querent doesn’t feel seen or appreciated (the Seven of Diamonds is money, but also rewards, broadly construed) and she feels unlucky.
This spread, as can be seen, is short and quick, and should ideally only be used as an “opener” to break the ice, before moving on to specific spreads.
Name of the Figure: Cauda Draconis (Dragon’s Tail); sometimes called Outward Threshold Element: Fire Planet: None, Moon’s South Node (some say also the malefics, Mars and Saturn) Sign: Sagittarius Quality: Exiting Fortune: Bad
Cauda Draconis is the less lovable sibling of Caput Draconis. Like its counterpart, Cauda is not traditionally associated with any planet, although some classics say it belongs to the malefics of astrology, namely Mars and Saturn. However, in itself, Cauda is connected with the Moon’s South Node. Technically every planet has nodes, that is, points where they cross the Sun’s ecliptic. However, in traditional astrology, only the Moon’s nodes are considered, as the Moon’s connection with the journey of life is said to begin with the North and end with the South Node. Visually, the symbol of Cauda is said to show a series of steps leading away from a threshold, symbolizing the sense of ending.
Illustration of the geomantic figure Cauda Draconis, Dragon’s Tail
And ending is indeed one of the main meanings of Cauda. Ending is not necessarily bad. When you want to get rid of an illness, or really anything, Cauda can be positive, if not easy. It also shows quick, sharp change, so it can bring stagnant situations to an end.
Still, Cauda is mostly unwelcome in most readings. It can indicate the end of a relationship (or that a relationship won’t start). It can show unemployment and loss of money. It can announce difficult interpersonal relationships all around.
Due to its connection with the bad side of life, Cauda is one of the figures that, traditionally, prompted geomancers to break their figure and abandon divination if it shows up in the first house. Don’t do it. Just because Cauda is in the first house doesn’t mean your querent is a psychopath. Cauda is a challenging figure. It can simply mean the person is going through challenging times, that their life is changing dramatically and they have lost the plot.
Common Keywords: Ending, Loss, Abandonment, Evil, Quarrel, Evil intentions, Disruption, Letting go
Cauda Draconis in the Geomantic Houses (these are only examples. Use context to guide your interpretation)
House
Possible Meanings
First
Dangerous person, Person in danger, Person who is going through hell, Person who is ending something
Second
Loss of money or items
Third
Quarrels among neighbors or siblings, Bad news, False rumors
Fourth
End of lineage, Death of father, Eviction, Loss of home
Fifth
Danger though excess, Loss of pregnancy, Questionable pastimes
Sixth
End of sickness (but if the chart is bad, it could end with death), stay way from your servants
Evil religion or way, Inability to learn, Atheism, Materialism, Loss of faith
Tenth
Being fired, Loss of employment, Revolution, Coup d’etat, Death of mother
Eleventh
End of a friendship, Fights, Quarrels, End of hope
Twelfth
Escape, Freedom, Death of large animals
Thirteenth
There was upheaval, ending, disaster, the querent is capable of letting go
Fourteenth
There will be upheaval, ending, disaster, the querent is unable to let go
Fifteenth
Cauda cannot be Judge
Possible meanings of Cauda Draconis in the various Geomantic Houses. Note that this is not meant to be exhaustive, and it only serves to jog your interpretive muscles
This post is part of my Notes on Divination series.This gets somewhat philosophical and is rough and not organized, so bear with me.
I have been playing with the idea of writing a book on the philosophy of divination. In fact, I have been playing with ideas for a lot of books on occultism, but I need to start somewhere. This is the first in a series of articles on such topics. Don’t take the following as an organized treatise–it is more like a random gathering of thoughts.
It’s impossible to be self-aware diviners without sooner or later stumbling upon the question of free will, the two most simplistic options being that we have complete free will and therefore divination is not about the future or that we have no free will at all and everything is predestined. I will argue in another article that both options actually prevent meaningful prediction.
Often people talk about “compatibilism” that is, the idea that prediction and free will can be seen as compatible. This is all very well, but it means nothing unless one explains how. Inevitably, explaining it requires one to clearly define the space alloted to both. Here I talk about all things that limit our choice, while in a future article I will talk about the limits of prediction.
Firstly, we need to acknowledge that when it comes to divination, it is not at all clear that we talk about prediction. After decades of New Age nonsense, divination has largely been relegated to the uttering of ‘inspired wisdom’, wisdom apparently being the consolation prize for those that can’t look at reality for what it is.
People who usually manage to compose their faces in a mask of sanity abandon all commonsense as soon as they pick up a tarot deck: you create your own destiny, you can do whatever you want. Well, you don’t. This is provably so. We cannot treat people as if they were bundles of free will floating in empty space. People come from specific backgrounds and have specific problems, idiosyncrasies and preferences that dictate their course.
You may be free, for instance, to choose between vanilla and chocolate, but if you hate chocolate you’ll probably pick vanilla. This is often seen as part of people’s free choice, but if we think about it for a second, it is actually a limit to personal freedom: an inner disgust toward something leads you toward something else without you being able to control it.
Free Will and Destiny
In other words, your choice, which is theoretically open to everything, is already limited by a number of psychological hangups that push you around like a sock puppet. That is a limit to free will in my book. Divination may very well be used to delve into these issues and to widen your options. In fact, it is a very good use of divination. But we cannot use divination to do so if we don’t first acknowledge that our options are limited, sometimes severely so.
But preferences are just one kind of limit. Another one comes in the form of ( the much reviled in spiritual circles) objective reality. If you are in a blind alley, know no martial arts, have no means of self-defense and an armed thug is walking toward you, that’s a pickle you can’t meditate or visualize your way out of.
This is not to say that you’ll inevitably lose. Maybe the dude is drunk and collapses to the ground as soon as he stumbles on that banana peel; maybe you are very good at talking and you persuade him to let you go by striking the right note; maybe a falling bit of debris from a ramshackle building takes care of him.
All this (and more) is possible. But the objective fact that you are in the blind alley in a less-than-desirable situation instead of sucking on a Capri Sun on your way to Hawaii imposes certain limits (just as this latter scenario imposes other limits)
The example above is situational, but our whole life is a series of determining factors that limit our trajectory. Look back on your personal history and you’ll probably be able to see traces of many, many past situations that still accompany you to this day, for better or worse. Even past choices become hard, unchangeable facts once enough time passes. You cannot, for instance, ungraduate from that useless gender studies degree in order to pursue a STEM subject. Although you can divorce, you cannot unmarry the person you married. Although you can abandon your child, you cannot unbirth it.
We could go on, but this point is clear enough: at any given moment in time we find ourselves shaped by a series of objective, subjective and intersubjective factors that limit us and our possible trajectory.
The delusional New Age view that we are the product of our current decisions does happen to stumble upon a little bit of truth, though it mischaracterizes it. It is true that, in so far as we abstract from ourselves and we move toward the universal, we peel backs layers of individual conditioning and we move toward the unconditional, however you may choose to call it (God, Being, One, Reality, Ensoph, etc.)
But there is a catch: moving toward the unconditional means not just letting go of our limits, but also of the aims that would lead us to want to overcome those limits as, however we may understand the unconditional, it is not conditioned by this or that choice. The fact of the matter is that free will may very well be the substance of reality, but in so far as it is the substance of reality it is not the substance of my limited whims.
In practice, therefore, the idea of unconditional free will is untenable from the standpoint of a diviner, as abiding by it renders the divination process futile, however we may understand it. This is not to say that complete determinism fares much better, as I shall show in the next article.
Name of the Figure: Caput Draconis (Dragon’s Head), sometimes called Inner Threshold Element: Earth Planet: None; North Node (some say also the benefics, Venus and Juputer) Sign: Virgo Quality: Entering Fortune: Good
Caput Draconis, like its counterpart Cauda, is a special figure in the geomantic family. These are the only two that are not canonically assigned to any traditional planet. Instead, they are given to the nodes of the Moon, i.e. the points where the Moon intersects the Sun’s ecliptic. These were held in exceptionally high regard in traditional astrology, at least from Arab astrology moving forward (but apparently also in Hellenistic astrology, though their function there is debated.) Caput Draconis, the North Node, is usually said to be expansive and broadly positive, or at least augmenting. The symbol of the geomantic figure is usually likened to a series of steps leading toward a threshold.
Illustration for the geomantic figure Caput Draconis, the Dragon’s Head
Some say that Caput is associated with the two benefics of traditional astrology, Venus and Jupiter. More specifically, though, Caput is not automatically a good figure. It often represents an onrush of new energy, indicating everything new or everything that starts afresh.
More generally, it is associated with everything that develops, grows, becomes more stable and certain. This, of course, is a double-edged sword, as not everything that is stable is good for us. Often, Caput shows the impossibility to get rid of something, even if it is bad for us. It shows long illnesses, for instance.
Often, however, Caput is in fact a positive figure. It represents things coming to us, and as most questions get a positive answer when something comes to us, Caput is mostly a welcome figure.
Common Keywords: Arrival of new situations, beginning, fresh air, new enterprises, dynamic energy, development, deepening, stabilizing, long-lasting
Caput Draconis in the Geomantic Houses (these are only examples. Use context to guide your interpretation)
House
Possible Meanings
First
Positive, taking initiative, going, doing, starting something, good luck
Second
Income, new income stream
Third
News, important information, help from siblings
Fourth
Buying real estate, help from the father
Fifth
Fun, pregnancy, conception
Sixth
Long illness, good servants
Seventh
New relationship, lasting bond
Eighth
Being shielded from danger, gain from other people
Ninth
Conversion, signing up for a course, good at learning, spiritual evolution
Tenth
New job, lasting stability in one’s career
Eleventh
New friends, realization of hopes
Twelfth
Long prison sentence, safety from occult enemies
Thirteenth
Querent has initiative, something has already started
Fourteenth
Querent lacks initiative or needs to exert it more, there will be a new beginning
Fifteenth
Caput cannot be Judge
Possible meanings of Caput Draconis in the various Geomantic Houses. Note that this is not meant to be exhaustive, and it only serves to jog your interpretive muscles
