Category Archives: Geomancy

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Occultism and Esoterism, Spirituality and Psychology

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Introduction Pt. 3

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Fludd discusses the mystical implications of using divination.

5. The Act of a True Geomancer Is Like a Movement of the Mind in Ecstasy, or Rather a Sort of Rapture, in Which There Is Prophecy

Rapture in general is called the abstraction, alienation, and illumination of the human mind, proceeding directly from God, through which prophecy is obtained.1

Thus also a certain kind of rapture and ecstasy is required for divination by Geomancy, which is not called the illumination of the mind directly emanating from God, but rather the act of gathering of the mind’s rays into a narrower place, that is to say, into the seat of the human body and its own home, so that through them the divining soul discerns the simple truth more clearly.2

As such, ecstasy is first of all required in this knowledge, that is, the abstraction of the rays of the mind from all external things or affairs, so that they are contracted within themselves: for in a great rapture of the mind and soul the rays are lifted up to the divine essence of God, or into the region of the mental world.3

Thus, even in this minor rapture of the human soul, the rays sent out from without, and scattered here and there, are recalled to their center, and are reflected in the mind, and thus man, who was formerly dark because of the diffusion of his own light, is now enlightened and glorious by the aggregation of the expanded rays.

In a similar manner, as we gather from the opinion of the learned men, on the third day of creation the rays created by the light scattered evenly throughout the sky, and all appeared in a dark manner, as if darkness were mixed equally with light, or night with day.4

But when, on the fourth day, all that light scattered everywhere was collected in the center of the solar body by a certain magnetic property, there was produced that glorious and worthy example of light, in which God himself is said to have had his tabernacle.5

We also see, for instance, that in a fortress equipped with a thousand soldiers, if the greater part of these soldiers, either for the purpose of preparing for defeat or for some other attempt, goes out and runs to and fro, then that fortification is rendered weak, and those who are left experience great fear.

But if those who had gone forth should return safe and sound, those who had been left in the stronghold recover their former confidence and their former hope, and putting aside all fear, they are in no way afraid of the invasions of the enemy, since that place is already well-furnished with warriors.

Here, therefore, things are in the same way with the bright rays of the human soul. For the human body is a stronghold or fortress, where the rays of the mind and the middle soul are likened to soldiers, of whom we may compare those who are sent out of the body to attend to foreign affairs, to soldiers running hither and thither outside the fortress, the absence of which renders the body less confident, and more insecure and timid, and weak in facilitating some noble and bright aim, such as divination, which is the best and highest thing.

We say, therefore, that the recollection of rays of this kind is the reduction of man’s internal nature from multitude to simplicity.6 As a result the soul, recalled from external meditations, and reflected and recollected within itself, renders a man, as it were, raptured and ecstatic, because he thinks of himself and within himself, he is only present to himself, oblivious of strangers, so that it appears to the ignorant that he is not aware of himself. when, in truth, he is now more than ever before.7

For he who neglects worldly things is sure to care for himself more, and he who withdraws himself from the multitude into himself seems to be most present to himself, since there will not be a great interval of distance between him and God.8

To such an attitude or disposition must he reduce himself, who endeavors to procure for himself the gift of future divination. For those thinking of externals divert the powers of the soul from the judgment of truth, so that the uncertainty of the geomancer is great in his judgment, or to be more precise, the truth in him will be as great as the variation of the soul from its unity.9 Indeed, in the multitude of things, tricks, vanities, and lies are concealed; in true unity and simplicity perfection, identity and unity [are found].

Let the soul therefore snatch from the Macrocosm that which is its own, given to it by the Creator in its creation, and internalize it into its own Microcosm, and let no one else enjoy what is its own.

By virtue, I say, of his own excellency, he is snatched from the world, and restored to himself and recollected, and clings to ecstasy, so that in his most refined mirror or spirit he may reflect not only worldly things, but also divine ones. For the more clarity he achieves, the more effective will be his visions and motions for prophesying the truth

6. About the Hidden Properties of Geomancy, and How the Soul or Mind Passes in Its Operation Through the Whole Nature of the Macrocosm

Nor is it right that those who are ignorant of geomancy should regard a series of points as mere lines, formed from the act of divination, since under these characters, the objects of the eye and the senses, many things, both spiritual and material, are concealed. Indeed, these series of lines comprise no less the idea of ​​the universe than the human body itself.10

In fact, although in man his body can only be seen from the outside, yet with spiritual eyes we contemplate his spirit and soul and mind inwardly. Of course, in the body we see the elements invisibly mixed in composition;11 in the spirit and soul we observe the ethereal nature, in the intellect and mind we observe the empyrean nature.

the same can be observed also in Geomancy, since readings consist of four lines of points, and we perceive that the four elements are concealed in it, that is to say, the element of fire under the first line, of air under the second, of water under the third, and of earth under the fourth. 12

Furthermore, in the figures produced by those series of points, the seven planets and the twelve heavenly signs are included, which can only be perceived by the eyes of the spirit.

Thus the figure of Carcer is attributed to Saturn direct and Tristitia retrograde: the figure Laetitia signifies Jupiter direct, Acquisitio retrograde; Rubeus denotes Mars direct, and Puella retrograde; Major indicates the Sun in a certain direction, and the Minor in retrogradation; although the astrologers deny the retrogradation of the Sun, because of its epicycle; Puer is given to Venus direct, Amissio retrograde;13 Albus is attributed to Mercury direct, Conjunctio when retrograde; the direct Moon is symbolized by Populus, the retrograde by Via;14 Caput Draconis is represented by a figure bearing the same name, and Cauda Draconis is represented by a figure bearing the same name as well.

So also those figures contain in themselves the natures of the twelve signs. For Acquisitio is of Aries in an abstract manner; Laetitia and the Minor of Taurus, Rubeus and the Puer of Gemini; Albus and Populus of Cancer; Via of Leo; Caput and Conjunctio of Virgo; Puella of Libra; Tristitia and Amissio of Scorpio; Caput of Sagittarius; Cauda of Capricorn; Major of Aquarius; Carcer of Pisces.

Furthermore, Rubeus, Minor, Amissio and Cauda denote the element of Fire and the Southern part of the world; Laetitia, Acquisitio, Puella and Conjunctio denote Air and the Eastern part of the world; Populus, Via, Puer and Albus denote Water and the Northern corner of the world; Major, Caput, Carcer and Tristitia denote Earth and the Western part of the world.

Even deeper towards the center of the sky lies the empyrean spirit,15 which is the revealer of the future and the present, that is to say, the rational or intellectual collection of these figures and the worldly things contained in them.

From all this it is evident how purely and sincerely the intellectual spirit must be preserved from the inconveniences and harms of the flesh and filth, when from it the movement to produce the Geomantic points first arises, taking with it in a secret manner the natures of the heavenly signs, the planets, and the elements, and finally hiding all these under the number and in proportion to the points, like a certain treasure in a chest.16

If, therefore, we wish to open that chest, first to the elements, then to the planets and celestial signs, and finally to the boundary from which these movements originally flowed, we shall penetrate in the sanctuary of the mind, its will, in the mythotheque of the intellect, of the will, of the signs and planets; in the closet of the ether we shall find the act or execution of the mind; and in the storehouse of the elements, we shall find the effect of the mind’s will, reason, and act (all of which are contained and hidden under figures, as if in a chest).

From the aforesaid, therefore, it is evidently clear that, just as the prophecy of the inspired is the union of the divine mind with the human mind (whence it is the most complete and greatest, this species of prophecy), so also the prophecy of the uninspired sometimes happens, when the soul is united, with its rays drawn back to itself from the multitude toward its summit, that is, with the human mind, which, without doubt, if united with the soul and collected, can perform enormous things by itself, and can lead to the summit and a happy outcome.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. The words ‘abstraction’ and ‘alienation’ must not be understood in their usually negative sense. In Neoplatonism (and mostly in Plato himself as well), the dialectical method allows the spiritual seeker to climb up the ladder of being through a process that leads from the particulars of the material world upward and inward to unity with the divine. Ecstasy, which is the goal of Neoplatonic spirituality, literally means “going out of oneself”. This is the process of abstraction and alienation. ↩︎
  2. That is, prophecy stems from direct union with the divine and is harder to control, while divination (such as Geomancy) happens by focusing inward. ↩︎
  3. See Note 1. Fludd describes the Neoplatonic method of retreating inward and upward. ↩︎
  4. If the light is evenly distributed, no difference appears and everything is as equally dark as it is equally radiant. ↩︎
  5. In the Hermetic interpretation of Astrology, the Sun is a symbol of divinity. ↩︎
  6. Broadly speaking, the path of magic in all its branches (and divination is one of these branches) require an endless attempt at simplifying one’s life and one’s external nature. ↩︎
  7. This is a common theme in mystical and occult literature, and one of the great truths of our art. As we reach what some have called ‘superconsciousness’ we appear to be less aware, while in fact we exceed regular awareness. ↩︎
  8. The phrasing here is clearly very careful to avoid scandal. As for the words “caring for himself”, this is not to be understood as being egoistic. ↩︎
  9. that is, we are capable of seing the truth in the measure that our soul is unified. This is probably part of the reason why divining for oneself is especially difficult, since divination implies doubt about an external topic. ↩︎
  10. Here lies a great and central secret about all functional systems of divination: that their symbolic vocabulary is complete in itself, so as to be able to reflect within its permutations the truth of things to come. Here, Fludd compares the language of Geomancy to the human body, which is a symbol of the completeness of the universe. ↩︎
  11. He means the four elements, which were thought to be mixed to form the material bodies. ↩︎
  12. This is a reference to the fact that in Geomancy each figure is made up of four series of points, and each series is assigned to one of the elements. ↩︎
  13. compared to the usual attributions, Fludd switches Puer and Puella ↩︎
  14. The Moon cannot go into retrogradation. Usually, Populus is assigned to the waxing Moon and Via to the waning Moon. ↩︎
  15. with reference to the Aristotelean and Ptolemaic view of the cosmos. ↩︎
  16. This comparison is very much a consequence of Fludd’s Renaissance worldview, according to which Nature is replete with symbols. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Occultism and Esoterism, Spirituality and Psychology

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Introduction Pt. 2

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Fludd describes the importance of purification, meditation and other practices in preparation to geomancy.

3. How a Geomancer Should Prepare Himself, So That the Intentions of His Mind May Be Clearly Emitted, and May Be United With the Senses by Means of Reason

It is thanks to our senses that we can see the geomantic points. Then, we compare these same points to the celestial [bodies] and the elements with our imagination.1 Finally, the hidden virtue, both of these points and of the figures arising from them proceeds from the correctness of the intellect, both active and passive,2 and consequently from the mind.

From all this follows that the human body must be regulated and governed in such a way that its more intellectual part may not be drowned by too much intercourse with the flesh, or become dulled, and that the imaginative or fantastic spirit may not be rendered dull and impure.3

Therefore, before this work is approached, let our fantastic spirit be clean, pure, unmoved and untroubled by cares, so that it may be made worthy of being trusted by the mind and intellect. Thus, such a spirit, most suitable for divination, will receive the light of the rays of the mind without any hindrance, and will depict the objects of truth in a mystical manner, as if in a mirror, and will cause the sensation and movement of the body to proceed exactly and to the degree to which the effect of the mind itself tends.4

When, therefore, we are safe and healthy in body, and not disturbed in mind, not weighed down by food or drink, not suffering from want or poverty, and not ruled by any vices of lust or anger, let us enter into this area of ​​prophecy. Let him also who wishes to use this art keep his spirit pure, both by quiet and religious meditation, and by moderate and temperate diet according to nature.5

This preparation is necessary for him who desires to foretell the truth of future things, either by the geomantic art, or by any other method, since without it no one can access true divination, for he who is languishing in a fantastical spirit6 will not attain the desired end, but will judge confusedly and indiscernibly.

Similarly, when we are filled with wine, our imaginative spirit, as if submerged in noxious vapors, hides and distorts the glory and truth of the rays of the mind, no differently than a thick cloud, or the earth raised in the middle of the air region, shields the glory of the sun from the eyes of the beholder, and produces a refraction of its rays. In this manner falsities will appear instead of truths, and in the very portion of the cloud the objects of the sun will be seen changed into an iridescent or multi-colored substance, and many phantasms will appear in the air, which are not such as they appear.7

Hence they say that the vassals of Amphariaus,8 as Philostratus testifies, ordered one who wished to divine future things, and to receive the oracles of God or of the mind, to abstain from food and wine for a whole day, or even for three days, if this could be conveniently done.

Thus we read that Ezra and Daniel, and even Moses himself, before they came to God, abstained from their wives for three days and washed their clothes: and so they did all this, at the command of God himself, of which we read Exod. 19 and Ezech. 44.9

And so also must he who desires to devote himself faithfully to this form of divination, be delighted not with carnal intercourse, but with spiritual union, not with wine, but with the light of the mind’s milk, not to be lavished with worldly riches, but with the infinite affluence of the divine intellect, not with junk, but to be filled with spiritual food.10

In an old French manuscript on occult Geomancy I found a confirmation of the above in these following words: “Before you get to the projection of the Geomantic points, I would like you to understand that they are not counted. Indeed, if you do this, nothing good or profitable will result from it, since this is knowledge based on the soul, and therefore the number of points is to be found in the will of the soul, and in no way be established according to the appetite of your senses.

It behooves him, therefore, who undertakes this work, to begin nothing, unless his heart is at peace, and his conscience is whole and healthy, and his spirit and soul are not troubled by any disturbances, so much so that he would not even wish worse for another than for himself.11

Finally, having been prepared in this way, let him trust in God, the teacher of knowledge, and beseech him with prayers, that by the power of that knowledge he may reveal to him the truth; having therefore carefully completed these things, it will be necessary to proceed immediately to the projection and arrangement of the points, etc.”

This author in no way disagrees with our opinion, but rather, on the contrary, seems to agree exactly with it.

4. It Is Not Sufficient for Divination That the Body and Flesh Should be Well Ordered. It is Also Necessary That the Rays of the Internal Soul Be Gathered Together

As concentrating a force generally increases its strength, so also it begets great weakness when it is dispersed.12 Thus we see that the rays of a candle in a confined room illuminate a place in a wonderful manner, since the narrowness of the place compresses and contracts the rays emitted by the flame to each other, so that they have a greater power in illumination. However, if that candle is placed in a larger room, its light is greatly weakened and darkened, because of the dispersion of its rays in a wide area.

In the same way, then, the soul (whose candlestick is the human body) spreads its rays in this or that business, nay, in infinite external things, for example, in lawsuits and legal affairs, in the art of medicine, in the care of family matters, in pain and sadness over a lost cause or the death of a friend, in anger or some unexpected adversity, in some art or knowledge and others of the like, or if he is also affected by the intercourse of concupiscence, the vice of drunkenness, the indulgence of gluttony, or other temptations of the flesh, he will be very weak and have little power to illuminate the body.

But truly, if all these soul-rays are reduced from external affairs to the internal economy of the Microcosm, and are drawn back to their center from the multitude, the force of the soul will be united, and that body, which was formerly dark and gloomy because of the rays, will be illuminated in a wonderful way, and thus the prophetic power in man will be far more effective than it was before.13

However, this reduction of the expanded rays of the soul into one cannot take place without the purification of the body, which is done in the manner mentioned above. As a result it is necessary above all things for him who wishes to claim the name of truth in Geomancy, that his soul should once again turn and reflect its scattered rays upon itself; since the chief virtue of this science consists in the illumination of the soul, in so far as true things are seen in its divine light, as in a mirror of truth, and are explained by the external observation of points in a mystical way through the guidance of the soul that turns its attention to this.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. By using the correspondences of the figures. ↩︎
  2. The concept of the ‘intellectus agens’ or Active Intellect is key to Neoplatonist spirituality both in Europe and in the Arab world, and has many similarities with some kabbalistic concepts. Generally, the Active Intellect was a universal form of intelligence that is not confined to one’s individual nature. Whether Fludd is referring to this or simply to the more active faculties of the human soul is unclear to me. The gist of his argument, however, is that the occult sciences, including Geomancy, rest on the highest principles, which makes them hard to access when one is not pure. ↩︎
  3. Imagination is depicted here as a valid aid to understanding, as long as it is in its pure form and not just mere fancy. ↩︎
  4. To put it simply, the body and the lower faculties of our nature must be ruled in such a way that they move in unison with the higher. Once this is accomplished, divination may take place successfully. ↩︎
  5. Old medicine was of the idea that an appropriate diet could only be prescribed based on one’s nature. There was no one-size-fit-all. As for meditation, Fludd is unlikely to refer to those forms of meditation that entered into the Western consciousness thanks to theosophy’s Eastern dabblings, and that have become commonplace today. The West used to have its forms of meditation. ↩︎
  6. possibly meaning someone who gives in to their fantasy without ruling it appropriately ↩︎
  7. It is impossible to read this passage without being reminded of Plato’s myths, especially that of the cave. ↩︎
  8. Possibly Amphiaraus, the mythological seer. ↩︎
  9. Here Fludd interprets passages from the Bible as episodes describing some higher form of divination. In a way, this is very true. ↩︎
  10. Here Fludd proposes a series of alternatives to ‘lower’ forms of pleasure that may seem rethorical at first, but on closer inspection aren’t. Such ‘substitutions’ are typical of many occult training curricula. ↩︎
  11. Ill-wishing is part of the things that weigh the soul down. ↩︎
  12. The same pressure applied on a wider surface disperses it. ↩︎
  13. This process of ‘unification’ is the same that has been typical of Neoplatonism since (at least) Plotinus, and which has been described, within a Christian context, by the German mystics (Meister Eckhart and his disciples) who described the Seelengrund (ground of the soul) as the point of contact of the individual soul with the universal presence of the divine. Fludd, living at the end of the Renaissance and its exaltation of humanity, gives us a slightly less mystical version of this idea, one geared toward increasing one’s knowledge through occult practices. ↩︎
astrology, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Playing Cards, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

Unanswerable Questions

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Not every question is fit for divination, and as diviners who get approached by people, discernment and, if necessary, gate-keeping is among our rights and duties. I say this not because I want to feel part of a superior caste of priests, but because our practice should be informed by two great principles: the well-being of our querents and the honor of our art.

It is perfectly fine to ask questions out of mere curiosity or for fun, but the ultimate decision on whether a question shall be put to the cards rests with us. I, for one, have dodged more questions about controversial politicians in the last couple of weeks than in the last couple of years altogether, largely because the question, when boiled down to its essential meaning, was “Is it true this politician I hate is a spawn of Satan?”

Such questions are unanswerable not merely because they are idle, but because they are ultimately unverifiable: unless you are that politician’s cleaning lady you have few ways of verifying my answer. Furthermore, consider this: if my answer is anything except “yes, you’re absolutely justified in your hatred,” the person is going to be inclined to dismiss my answer as superstitious nonsense. Why, then, whould a positive answer be of any value?

But unanswerable questions are not just those that belong to the “is it true that my particular preferences are absolutely valid and I don’t ever need to question them?” category. Some are more tragic. Recently I got asked something heart-breaking: “Is my life still worth living?”

No matter how we slice it, THIS is an unanswerable question, which doesn’t make it a meaningless string of sounds. On the contrary, it is a clearly formulated cry for help. As someone who has been struggling with depression since my teen years and has gone dangerously close to the edge on more than one occasion, I resonate strongly with it. But the fact remains that divination is not the tool to solve this issue.

I refused to open the cards on this question, obviously, but suppose I had, and suppose that, predictably, the cards had shown me the absolute mess that is this person’s life: does this make their life less worth living?

There is no answer. In this case, not because we cannot verify the details (I could easily point at the cards and say “your career is in shambles and your family life is a museum of red flags”) but because the reality of the situation has no bearing on the answer. Worth is subjective. The exact same set of circumstances that might drive someone to walk into a lake with stones in their pockets would be taken by someone else as life throwing a little challenge their way.

Therefore, in this case the question would translate as “What is your personal opinion on what makes life worth living and do you think I still meet those criteria?” I don’t think anyone would be foolish enough to even consider taking such a responsibility for themselves.1 It is much wiser to talk to the person, encourage them to open up and direct them to an appropriate source of (medical) help.

Again, though, the fact that the question cannot be answered does not imply that there isn’t a deep, real, visceral experience behind it. It is just that divination is not the way to go. It is like asking a pair of scales to measure whether you are pretty.

MQS

  1. Furthermore, people in a seriously distressed state are especially prone to esoteric influences, and would to better to avoid them, even if it’s just a simple card reading ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Occultism and Esoterism

Introduction to Abano’s Geomancy – Who Was He?

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The modern mind is used to neat distinctions and a more or less monolithic theoretical scaffolding where everything finds its little place. To our sensibility, what belongs to natural science does not belong to literature or art, let alone to astrology or occultism. Though some eccentrics try to straddle the gorge, within the current worldview they must remain what they are: eccentrics. This is largely a consequence of the evolution of science away from the mother root of philosophy and the triumph of the technical-scientific worldview. It is neither a good process nor a bad one: it is what it is, but it hasn’t always been this way.

Pietro d’Abano, who lived between the XIII and XIV century, was, like many of his time, an encyclopedic learner. This was certainly easier back then, when owning a couple of dozens books was considered a marvel and the hyperspecialization typical of our contemporary organization of knowledge hadn’t yet taken place.

The extent of Abano’s involvement in occult practices is not clear. The famous grimoire Heptameron (Book of the Seven Days) is traditionally attributed to him, though it is, in actual fact, an anonymous work. What we do know is that his knowledge of languages allowed him to study many authors (like the Averroes or Ibn Ezra) who had considerable influence on the later development of magical theory, though this influence is still little understood by contemporary occultists.

We also know that he taught a number of subjects ranging from medicine to astrology, and that he was a very adept astrologer. This is not a unicum in the history of science. Astrology was one of the few forms of divination that was, if not tolerated, at least not as consistently persecuted as other branches of occultism in the Middle Ages, largely due to the fact that a reasonable argument could be made that the astrological influence of the planets was a natural consequence of how the cosmos was believed to work according to the Platonic-Aristotelean view accepted by the Church. It was simply not always practical to distinguish astrology as astronomy from astrology as divination, though attempts were made.

Finally, Abano is the subject of a number of urban legends. For instance, he was brought before the inquisition twice, largely due to his immense erudition. Once he was acquitted, the second time he was condemned. Unfortunately, he died in custody before the sentence had been pronounced, so the tribunal ordered his body exhumed and burned. But they dug up an empty grave, since a friend of the philosopher had gotten to his body first. This fact alone was enough to cement in people’s mind the image of Abano as an ominous magus and necromancer whose body was capable of disappearing from the grave.

As for the present book on Geomancy, it is not a stretch to think that someone as versed in astrology as Abano should be interested in this form of divination, which, at least in Europe at the time, was reduced as much as possible to astrological principles. The treatise is divided into four books: in the first, Abano explains the principles and astrological correspondences of geomancy; in the second, he discusses the meanings of the various houses and the principles of geomantic perfection; in the third, he gives examples of the meanings of the figures in the houses; in the fourth, he talks about the good or bad fortune of the figures depending on which figures they derive from.

What makes this book an interesting read for any student of geomancy is that it confronts us with a way of reading the Geomantic Shield that is not typical of how geomancy has been rationalized in the late XX and early XXI centuries. This is in itself worthy of consideration, especially because it proves beyond doubt that the distinction between Shield Chart and Astrological Chart is artificial and only serves to complicate matters. Furthermore, Abano’s interpretation of the figures affords us a rare glance in the workings of the mind of an adept of geomancy, by whose example we can derive solid principles for interpreting our divinations. Abano’s examples are therefore not meant to be taken as the last word, but as a contribution to our study of the interrelation of the Geomantic figures.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Occultism and Esoterism

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Introduction Pt. 1

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Fludd discusses how we may know that geomancy works, and why we should consider it a science of the soul.

1. The Science of Geomancy is the True Act of the Intellectual Soul

Before we speak of the properties of geomancy and of divination from the east (to be discussed later in a separate book), we think that it is appropriate to deal with its essence here, which we will clearly illustrate with sufficiently probable reasons.1

If we consider the origin of this science, we will certainly perceive that it is a very occult and internal science,2 wherefore it is that common men, paying attention only to their senses, habitually blather that this art is merely accidental, foolish, and empty, and has nothing of value to it. In reality, men endowed with a strong imagination are able to grasp the reason of this secret knowledge, and to behold or perceive it with their spiritual eyes, since its consideration passes the limits of ordinary reason.3

In fact, if we try to account for the effects in this science, the work will surely be arduous and painful. Indeed, who, even among the commoners, would not regard him as a foolish man, who, upon seeing a servant carrying out the commands of his master, would wish to inquire about the master’s secret plan and intention and, wanting to know and explore them from that servant, he would directly answer thus: “My Lord usually commands this or that; so, however, that he does not in the same way indicate the account of the mandate to his executors or servants.”4

Thus we receive the feeling of life in a wonderful manner from the higher planes,5 while, however, as to its source, vehicle, and reason, men usually only reason from the effect by conjectures, and do not know or have anything certain. Similarly the divine mind produces wonderful effects in man and acts marvelously, while, however, the obstacle of the flesh and the mind prevents us from correctly knowing the reason of these actions. The mind therefore acts upon the intellect, and the intellect patiently fulfills the acts of its ruler, and yet the principal cause is hidden in the center of the mind, that is, in the divine word.6

Similarly a Lord hands his money to his servant, that he may take it to such and such a city: yet the servant does not understand what his Lord intends to do with such money, since the reason is hidden in the heart of the Lord. that is, of the mind. Thus the intellect and reason impel the imagination to bear and carry the impressions of its king, that is, the mind.

In a similar manner the servant puts his master’s money into the cart, so that he may carry the master’s burdens into the visible world; and in this way also the horses draw the cart to the city. Yet in the meantime reason or imagination or sense do not understand the intention of the mind any more than a servant or a cart, or the horses perceive the secret and hidden will of their Lord. However, human reason can conjecture better than imagination or sense,7 just as even a servant may in a certain way imagine and conjecture to reach the conception of his master, if he wishes to have nothing certain.

From these considerations it is evident, therefore, that just as we cannot know God except a posteriori,8 so also we do not perceive or understand the mind or the reason of its actions, except from the effect. Moreover, from its effect, the Artists9 understood that this knowledge was true and admirable, inasmuch as by means of it the future and the present, even the unknown things of the past, were discovered in a wonderful divine manner.

But if fools wish to penetrate to the center of this act, that is, to the unity and the point of the mind itself, they will indeed waste their time, since there is a level beyond reason and understanding, to which no one can ever reach, unless he takes off his bodily abode: it is sufficient, therefore, that we know the monk by his tunic, and the art by its effect.

And so this knowledge is divine, because it allows one to divine, which is close to prophecy, because through it the mind, by its own power, performs, although weakly, that which it is accustomed to perform at other times (but more powerfully and clearly because of the multitude of higher rays coming to us at the same time) united and conjoined with the divine mind.10

And hence, considering it in the proper manner, we see that the human mind is of the same essence of which the divine mind is, since it usually performs the same to a lesser degree as it performs in a greater one: for a greater power produces a greater effect, and consequently a smaller one also a smaller effect.11

Man’s mind, being at the receiving end of the divine rays, if only it is preserved from the harm of the body and flesh, and is not clouded by darkness, or is not affected by the allurement of the senses,12 can pour out its prophetic power into a sensible effect, and perform miracles, the effects of which are indeed unaccounted for. It is no more possible to account for this, than it is possible to recognize the nature of prophecy itself.

2. Why Geomancy Is Considered an Absurd and Silly Science Among the Ignorant

Those who are ignorant are wont to esteem this knowledge of the soul absurd and ridiculous, since they think that it flows out and proceeds from points made by the movement of the hand.13

But the wise and the learned could answer them easily that there is nothing certain, nor any constant resolution in the mind of man, to execute this or that thing, or to set out to seek this or that place on such a day, and yet that the mind of man is somehow made up, and man accomplishes this regardless of all hindrance.14

Therefore, even though the movement of the hand, constituting points corresponding to the disposition of the mind in its certain number and proportion, appears to accomplish nothing in the projection of the points,15 yet many things are concealed under the multitude of points: namely, the prediction of the soul itself, driven by the ethereal and elemental vehicles of the Microcosm, as far as the twelve signs, the seven planets, and the four elements,16 and their powers are hidden under such points.

For as the mind and intellect could not descend into man without the aforesaid vehicles of the Macrocosm, so also nothing real and essential proceeds from the mind, as from its origin, except through these means.

This movement is therefore not accidental, inasmuch as it proceeds from the human soul, which is the complete essence of man,17 and acts essentially and by itself, unless it is hindered by the accidents of the flesh and the senses.

In this way we also say that the mineral nature of lead and iron tends in its essence to the nature of gold: but by accidents, that is, it is hindered by impure sulphur, so that it cannot reach the goal set by nature.18

But the ignorant will reply that such impediments always happen to the body, because of the impurity of the flesh and the error of ignorance. This, then, should at least be granted: That the more the rays of the mind are impeded in their motion by the pollutions of the body, the more the effect of its action is weakened, just as when a cloud is interposed between our eye and the solar rays, so that the rays cannot penetrate to our sight, and hence their manifest effects are removed.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. As will be seen shortly, Fludd says his reasonings are “sufficiently probable” because there cannot be true certainty in this science, though this is not, for him, a negative thing, but rather a feature of its mystical origin. ↩︎
  2. “scientiam valde occultam et internam.” The word ‘occult’ here is probably to be simply understood as ‘hidden’. ↩︎
  3. The word ‘imagination’ here is not to be mistaken as ‘fancy’. Imagination is treated as a valid aid to understanding. ↩︎
  4. This sentence, like many in Fludd’s writings, is exceedingly convoluted. The metaphor of the servant carrying out the master’s order runs through this section. In this first instance, the general sense (provided my translation is correct) seems to be that asking for proofs about something too mysterious in the same way one would ask for them in everyday matters is useless. ↩︎
  5. literally “from the superior things”. The translation “from the superior planes” probably sounds a touch too modern, but it clarifies the idea. ↩︎
  6. This sentence cannot be understood without reference to Fludd’s Neoplatonic view of the world, which, like all forms of Neoplatonisms, sees the universe as a series of spheres of emanation which find their correspondence in the microcosm of man. The universe, like humans, finds its center in the divine. ↩︎
  7. That is, we can arrive at probable conjectures, even though we cannot be sure. ↩︎
  8. ‘a posteriori’ is a philosophical term which means, broadly speaking, that we know something from its effects in our concrete experience, rather than from abstract logical reasoning (‘a priori’) ↩︎
  9. Probably in reference to the ancient geomancers. ↩︎
  10. Divination, therefore, is but a step down from prophecy. The reference to ‘rays’ is Fludd’s way of conceptualizing our relationship with the Divine, as if the divine world sent rays to us, and the more we receive of these rays, the more we approach God in his power and ability (such as seeing the future). ↩︎
  11. Again, this is to be seen within the context of Fludd’s Neoplatonism, whereby the Microcosm of man is like a small replica of the Macrocosm and, indirectly, of God. ↩︎
  12. Neoplatonism’s relationship to the material world of senses is ambivalent. Generally speaking, the material world is seen as the last emanation, and therefore as a final concretization of the divine worlds above it. Therefore, it is good in so far as it comes from a divine source, but it is seen as corrupt because, being the last stretch of being before the abyss of nothingness, in it the perfection of the divine plane is obscured, both in nature and within humanity (through bad behavior). ↩︎
  13. That is, the ignorants believe that geomancy’s powers reside in its exterior signs rather than in the inner chain that links those signs to the divine source. ↩︎
  14. This metaphor seems a bit obscure. Possibly, its meaning is that, just like our external behavior is inconstant and unpredictable, and yet the mind manages to force us to accomplish clear results, so the inner mechanism that makes geomancy work can create meaning in a bunch of hand gestures and lines and points. ↩︎
  15. The points are those traced during the ‘inspired’ section of a geomancy session. ↩︎
  16. All these are the universal symbols that allow us to derive meanings from the geomantic figures. ↩︎
  17. The human soul is not a random fragment of life animating a body. It is a universal power which is found whole within each of us, and is impeded in its manifestation by our imperfect nature to various degrees. ↩︎
  18. This paragraph is a reference to the alchemical and chemical beliefs of the time, and similar statements can be found in many alchemical texts. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Occultism and Esoterism, Spirituality and Psychology

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy, Translated and Annotated / Index

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My translation and comments on Robert Fludd’s Animae Intellectualis Scientia seu Geomantia (The Intellectual Science of the Soul or Geomancy). Please note that I am no professional translator of old texts and sometimes I had to paraphrase. Feel free to leave comments or contact me on how this project could be improved. The translation and commentaries are copyrighted to me, so please ask for my permission before using it.

Introduction
Part I – Geomancy is an Act of the Soul
Part II – Preparing to Divination, the Hermetic Way
Part III – The Mystical Presuppositions of Divination

Book I
Part I – Anecdotes on the veracity of Geomancy
Part II – How to Prepare to Divination
Part III – Basic rules on projecting the points
Part IV – Filling out the geomantic shield

Book II
Part I – Elemental and astrological attributes of the figures
Part II – The Houses
Part III – The First Four Geomantic Figures
Part IV – The Second Four Geomantic Figures
Part V – The Third Four Geomantic Figures
Part VI – The Final Four Geomantic Figures
Part VII – When the Same Figure is Found in Two Houses

MQS

astrology, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Occultism and Esoterism, Philosophy, Playing Cards, Sibilla della Zingara, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies And How to Avoid Them

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A couple of weeks ago I received a message about the question of whether we, as readers, risk causing self-fulfilling prophecies with our predictions. For instance, if I tell a querent that the relationship she is in is going to end, I may end up causing the break-up. What follows is a slight elaboration on my response.

First off, we need to recognize that some things we can change or at least improve, others we can’t and they will happen regardless of what we do and what a reader tells us. Most people who go about their life with their brain switched on can recognize this. It is only when we get into delulu territory and body-mind-spirit-section pseudomysticism that we encounter people who deny the existence of unavoidable happenings.

On the other hand, sheer fatalism is also a gross misunderstanding. Consider simply this fact: if two people X and Y are exactly the same and go exactly through the same life experience, except that X also uses divination or consults a diviner, this is enough to tell them apart.

The fact that X knows about what is going to happen in advance is enough to make him a different individual, which in turn is enough to change the nature of his fate, because our ability to change a situation is contingent on our knowledge of what the situation truly is. Even if X cannot change a certain fact in any meaningful way, but knows about it enough in advance that he can make his peace with it, the same event Z won’t be the same if X’s attitude toward it changes, because X is part of the event that takes place in his life, and so if X change, the event changes. Even if X cannot bring himself to accept Z, his knowledge of Z is enough to change Z, because X with knowledge of Z is not equal to X without knowledge of Z.

Fate patterns are a difficult topic to tackle without a previous sound philosophical and occult discussion, and I plan on starting that discussion at some point, once I’ve organized my notes. For now, it suffices to say that we, as readers, can play a rather important role in the querent’s life if we are consulted at the right moment.

Yet, this doesn’t mean that we are capable of empowering querents to always turn their life around, and I don’t even think empowering is our mission: our mission is to provide information. On a number of occasions, especially when I was less experienced, I gave querents the wrong prediction on purpose because I didn’t want to disappoint them, even though the cards were clearly negative: Yes, you’ll get the job, yes the relationship is going to last and be wonderful. But it didn’t happen. 

On some of those occasions you may even think that because I didn’t bring up the negative aspects, the querent wasn’t prepared to tackle them, so my not bringing them up may have been just as bad as another diviner handing out negative predictions willy-nilly. That’s because I wasn’t able to give accurate information.

It is nice that some things can be changed even if some things can’t, but unfortunately we don’t always know which is which. Therefore, we must also recognize that we have a degree of power over our querent just by virtue of using odd, mysterious counters to give our predictions, and we must not abuse this power. 

Whenever possible, we should either frame our predictions as potentials and/or accompany them with positive suggestions. These suggestions, though, must ALWAYS be based on what the oracle describes, never on vague self-help platitudes. Sometimes (many times) it is best to highlight critical points so that the querent can become conscious of them (e.g., “you know, this relationship is headed down a pumpy road. You should address x, y and z if you want to try to make it work”) while avoiding drastic predictions unless necessary.

Furthermore, we must never frame our predictions in such way as to take away all hope. It is not our right to do so. Deluding and disillusioning are the two capital sins that we must avoid, even though striking the right balance is sometimes hard. There is plenty of space between being a pushover to our querent’s wishes and being an insufferable sassy tough-love prick.

If there are positive aspects to a situation, we should emphasize those and try to put them at the center of the querent’s life so that they can address the negative points more positively.

Finally, we ought to always remind our querent that diviners are people and are therefore fallible. In a world where doctors, lawyers, judges, scientists and bakers can get things wrong it would be absurd to expect diviners to always be right. Always encourage the querent to take your predictions as an additional input. 

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book IV Pt. 4

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Abano discusses the various meanings of Tristitia, Laetitia, Puer and Puella as they derive from other figures.

Laetitia

When from Populus and Laetitia, it means luck, gain, especially in large [or great] things.
When from Acquisitio and Puer it means gain, merriment, especially in changeable things.
When from Amissio and Albus it means luck, but with mediocre gain.
When from Major and Puella it means fixity, gain and good luck.

When from Minor and Rubeus it means mediocre gain or honor or good luck.
When from Via and Caput it means gain, honor, positive change.
When from Cauda and Conjunctio it means misfortune, evil, but incapable of doing all it wants.1
When from Tristitia and Carcer it means mifortune, difficulties and problems.

Tristitia

When from Populus and Tristitia it means misfortune, danger, evil.
When from Acquisitio and Rubeus it means fixity and misfortune, except in in things lascivous or feminine.
When from Major and Albus it means luck, gain and honor with firmness.2
When from Minor and Puer it means better3 luck in every question.

When from Caput and Conjunctio it means great fortune, gain and stability.
When from Via and Cauda it means mediocre luck, difficulties, problems.
When from Laetitia and Carcer it means a good deal of luck, but with more problems than positive things.4

Puella

When from Populus and Puella it means infirmity, lascivousness, luck, gain.
When from Acquisitio and Cauda it means mobility, mediocre luck.
When from Amissio and Tristitia it means good luck after much toiling and difficulties, gain in venereal5 things.

When from Via and Rubeus it means misfortune and anger, rumors, change, damage.
When from Albus and Carcer it means gain, good luck, firmness.
When from Conjunctio and Puer it means fortune in everything, luck.

Puer

When from Populus and Puer it means gain, good luck, change.
When from Acquisitio and Laetitia it means gain, honor, mirth, goodness in everything.
When from Amissio and Caput it means good luck, bood in easy things and in seeking pleasure.

When from Major and Cauda it means unfortunate change, damage.
When from Via and Albus it means useful variety,6 fortune, good change.
When from Carcer and Rubeus it means major misfortune in everything, loss.
When from Minor and Tristitia it means fortune, some kind of gain, strife.

THE END

MQS

Footnotes
  1. It is not clear wheter Abano means that the person won’t be able to do all he or she wants, or whether the evil signified by this combination is not all-pervasive. ↩︎
  2. In this case, it seems that Tristitia’s role is to solidify the good fortune signified by the two figures it comes from. ↩︎
  3. ‘migliore’ means ‘better’, but it’s unclear better than what. ↩︎
  4. These two meanings might be hard to harmonize, though maybe not impossible. ↩︎
  5. That is, in things ruled by Venus. ↩︎
  6. It is not always clear what Abano means when he talks about variety, firmness, changeable things, etc. ↩︎
astrology, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Playing Cards, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

In Divination, If You Can’t Name, Describe!

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I had a conversation with a reader of this website, and he told me that the main obstacle in learning how to read the cards is that he can’t put the meanings of the cards together to form a clear picture of the situation. The example he used was that it may be hard to tell a querent that they are at risk of getting fired, when in fact the cards may be predicting a fight with a coworker or a demotion, or some other work-related problem, but not a firing.

Divination is an art in itself, and it does require practice and patience. For the first couple of years after being taught cartomancy, I couldn’t put two card meanings together to save my life, even if it was obvious. I still remember my teacher’s dismayed expression when I couldn’t tell her that “talking” and “work” meant, quite obviously, “talking at work or talking about work”. Yes, it is obvious, just like it’s obvious that you first put one leg forward and then the other in order to walk, yet it takes us time to learn.

There are plenty of reasons why divination is hard, and lack of talent is only rarely an issue. Most of the times, we are simply experiencing the same hardships we would face when learning a new language, and most people can learn a second language if they put their mind to it.

Furthermore, I find that we often feel the need to overperform in order to convince the querent we are not frauds, and we do so by wanting to give them an absolutely accurate, unambiguous and immediately recognizable picture of the future. Of course, it would be nice if every divination session was as clear, but we are limited beings and we must be grateful for what we can do with the hand we are dealt (quite literally).

What do you do if you want to say ‘apple’ in a foreign language but you just can’t remember the name? You get creative and go back to the language’s building blocks: you describe the apple. “A round, red thing to eat.” This may sound weird and it is a bit vague, as there are other round red things we can eat, but it does help you narrow down the thing you want.

The same happens with divination. Sometimes we just can’t put the building blocks together into a single unambiguous picture (“you are at risk of getting fired”). But we can always describe what the cards are telling us: “I see some potentially upsetting circumstances surrounding your career.”

This is very vague, but it’s a start. Once we have narrowed down the topic, we can look for cards and combinations that give us additional clues: “These upsetting circumstances seem to involve a man, possibly a boss, who causes you trouble, and as a result I see the potential for some money problems.”

This is still not unambiguous: there are plenty of events that fit the description, e.g., being fired, being demoted, being assigned to an unrewarding task, a boss being replaced by another one that is so terrible the querent chooses to quit, etc.

Yet in spite of only describing the outline of a situation instead of naming it specifically, this is already very helpful to our querent, because we are giving them rather specific information they can use in preparing for difficult times ahead in their career.

We can also come up with a number of likely scenarios that fit the description as examples for our querent, and often they will help us fill the blanks (“Oh right, there’s that new project coming up no one wants to take on” or “Oh right, my boss has been talking about relocating for some time now”)

Note, also, that it is perfectly acceptable to voice our insecurity to the querent: “It is something between X1 and X10, and it seems to me like X1 to X3 are more problable, but I could be wrong”.

Once the prediction has come to pass, it is always possible to go back and see if perhaps we couldn’t have been more specific. This is a very important part of learning: there’s always something we miss, some turn of phrase of the cards we have misread or some meanings we have misapplied or even forgotten.

Still, the aim of divination is to provide help to people, not to impress them, and we are of service in the measure that we can point them in the right direction. If we can’t give them precise indications on the path ahead, “Between North and West, but more West than North” is good enough.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book IV Pt. 3

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Abano discusses the various meanings of Albus, Rubeus, Conjunctio, Carcer depending on the figures they come from.

Albus

When from Populus and Albus it means love of women,1 good luck in everything, especially in feminine things.
When from Acquisitio and Caput it means excellent good luck, stability, love, gain.
When from Amissio and Laetitia it means changeability, variety, and its effect is strong.2

When from Major and Tristitia it means positive stability, mediocre luck.
When from Minor and Cauda it means change, variety, mediocre luck or gain.
When from Via and Puella it means good luck, change.

Rubeus

When from Populus and Rubeus it means danger, misfortune, loss of blood, tears.
When from Acquisitio and Tristitia it means misfortune, loss.
When from Cauda and Amissio it means weak fortune, problems in everything.
When from Minor and Laetitia it means variety, mutability, mediocre luck.
When from Via and Puella it means changeability, misfortune, loss.

When from Albus and Conjunctio it means well, positive things, honor, stability.3
When from Puer and Carcer it means mutability, misfortune, except in war.
When from Conjunctio and Albus it means positive things, succession, some difficulties, bad outcome.
When from Puella and Carcer it means stability and positive outcome

Conjunctio

When from Populus and Conjunctio it means good luck, gain, getting one’s wish.
When from Acquisitio and Major it means great good luck in everything.
When from Amissio and Minor it means bad luck, but good outcome in the end.4

When from Via and Carcer it means mediocre bad luck, but inclining more to bad than good.
When from Caput and Tristitia it means stability, fortitude, great troubles, honor, gain.
When from Cauda and Laetitia it means problems, mediocre honor.

Carcer

When from Populus and Carcer it means major troubles, long-lasting issues, delay in obtaining freedom (from prison).
When from Acquisitio and Minor it means good outcome, gain.5
When from Amissio and Major it means misfortune, loss.
When from Conjunctio and Via it means bad luck, tragedy in everything.

When from Caput and Cauda it means misfortune, trouble, loss, problems.
When from Albus and Puella it means luck, gain, honor, mediocre stability.6
When from Rubeus and Puer it means grave danger, misfortune, loss, fights.
When from Laetitia and Tristitia it means misfortune, prison, troubles, loss.

MQS

  1. We usually assign women to Puella (and Venus) but in many old texts Mercury (and therefore also its figure Albus) is often described as more female than male, possibly by simple virtue of not being masculine. ↩︎
  2. This sentence is actually rather obscure. ↩︎
  3. Why Rubeus should indicate these things is beyond my understanding. ↩︎
  4. Possibly because Minor alters the loss into a final gain. ↩︎
  5. While it is clear it derives from positive figures, it is unclear then what Carcer’s contribution to the meaning would be, except that maybe it crystallizes the good luck, making it last. ↩︎
  6. I do not understand how Carcer can indicate honor. ↩︎