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Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book IV Pt. 2

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Abano discusses the various meanings of Via, Populus, Caput and Cauda when deriving from various figures.

Via

From Via and Populus, its meaning is weakened, but quickened.1
From Acquisitio and Amissio its efficacy is mediocre in every question.
From Major and Minor it means good luck, but it is still mediocre.
From Laetitia and Caput, it means good luck and success.

From Tristitia and Cauda it means misfortune in the question at hand, and it is very strong in its malice.
From Albus and Puer it is mediocre good luck.
From Rubeus and Puella it shows a mix of good and bad, but it brings about the thing quesited.
From Conjunctio and Carcer it means good luck, stability and firmness in all one asks about.

Populus

From Populus and Populus it means stability, getting one’s wish, copious amounts.
From Acquisitio and Acquisitio it means great good luck, great acquisition of what one wishes, usefulness.
From Amissio and Amissio it shows good luck, and being venereal and lascivious.
From Major and Major it means fortune, stability, great gain, honor.
From Minor and Minor it means mediocre good fortune.
From Via and Via it means weakness in the thing enquired about.
From Caput and Caput it means good luck, usefulness.
From Cauda and Cauda, it means great misfortune.

From Albus and Albus it means good effect, good outcome especially in watery things and womanly or white things.
From Rubeus and Ruveus it means excessive evil, war, loss of blood.
From Laetitia and Laetitia it means good luck, happiness, honor, easily getting what one wants.
From Tristitia and Tristitia it means great misfortune, long lengths of time, difficulties and problems, enmities.
From Conjunctio and Conjunctio it means good luck, getting one’s wish, good for marriage and partnerships.
From Carcer and Carcer it means great good luck in everything, melancholy and difficulties, anger, discord, infirmity, prison.
From Puella and Puella it means good luck and fortune, firmness, usefulness, getting one’s wish.
From Puer and Puer it means war, fighting, discord, good for merchandise, mediocre gain, good for marriage.2

Caput

From Populus and Caput it means great firmness, good outcome.
From Acquisitio and Albus it means great good luck, getting one’s wish.
From Amissio and Puer it means misfortune, loss, difficulties.
From Major and Rubeus great good luck, mediocre gain or honor, good fortune.
From Tristitia and Conjunctio it means good luck and gain, but with delay and difficulties.
From Cauda and Carcer it means misfortune and tragedy.

Cauda

From Populus and Cauda it means misfortune, long illness, difficulties, weakness in getting one’s wish.
From Acquisitio and Puella it means good fortune, firmness, usefulness in mobile things.3
From Amissio and Rubeus it means misfortune and grave danger.
From Major and Puer, it means misfortune under the guise of gain.

From Via and Tristitia it means misfortune in getting what one wishes, and long-lasting difficulties.
From Caput and Carcer it means mediocrity, good for virtue and honorable things, otherwise loss.
From Laetitia and Conjunctio it means mediocre fortune, but gain from merchandise.
From Albus and Minor, it means good luck and freedom from difficulties, but mediocre gain.4

MQS

Footnotes
  1. One of the reasons this Book IV is interesting is that it affords us a look into how old geomancers derived meanings from the interaction of figures. Unfortunately Abano’s process is not always clear. Furthermore, it is not clear whether Abano means what I have written (namely, Via’s meaning is weakened but quickened) or if he is saying that Via’s meaning is weakened more than any other figure. I have chosen my interpretation based on this logical argument: that Populus tends to accentuate the meaning of the figure it interacts with, and Via is weak and quick, so in interacting with Populus it would become weaker and quicker. ↩︎
  2. Generally speaking, it seems the effect of Populus is that of accentuating the meaning of the figures it comes from (‘lots of…’). However, some interpretations are not clear, for instance Carcer and Carcer meaning great good luck. Note also that Populus is the only figure that Abano explains in full, giving all possible combinations. ↩︎
  3. It seems here that the two positive figures rub off on the otherwise foreboding Cauda. ↩︎
  4. Again, the two positive figures it comes from seem to bring out the best in Cauda, according to Abano. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book III Pt. 9

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Here Abano talks about the meanings of Caput Draconis and Cauda Draconis in the various houses.

Caput Draconis (The Dragon’s Head or North Moon Node)

Caput Draconis in the first house means good luck, noble people, wise people, leaders, captains, honor, dignity, a prelate.1
In the second it means good success, gaining wealth or dignity or money.
In the third it means noble brothers and sisters, lucky siblings, good through them, isolated gardens2, pleasures.

In the fourth it means good for the parents, inheritance, buildings, cities, citizens, noble people, good end to an issue.
In the fifth it means science, good children, gain and help through them.
In the sixth it means good servants, faithful servants, good officials, grave infirmity, melancholic infirmity,3 long fevers.

In the seventh it means honorable women, good marriage, good company, gain from noble people or from women and thanks to them.
In the eighth it means inheritance, goods gain from the dead, usefulness through women and noble people, gain through war and by violence against life, being beheaded.4
In the ninth it means honoring God, ecclesiastical dignity, religious people, noble people, good journeys, delay in coming back but with good results, a messenger with bad news, messenger bearing news of legal issues, ingeniousness in a noble science.

In the tenth it means the king, the emperor, the lord, a magistrate, dignity, honor, good regents and orators, noble people.
In the eleventh it means noble soldiers, captains, dignity, sublimation5, succeeding one’s lord, faithfulness, valor, good luck.
In the twelfth it means noble inheritance through the mother, honorable things for [or through] women, few enemies, weak enemies, certainty, fame.

In the thirteenth it means journeys, messengers, a king, lords, usefulness, gain, honor, dignity, friendship and good recoglientia.6
In the fourteenth it means coming back from a journey with dignity and mirth and gain, letters, positive answer, honors, dignity, usefulness.
In the fifteenth it means a good end to the question and strong hope.7

Cauda Draconis (The Dragon’s Tail or South Moon Node)

Cauda draconis in the first house means evil disposition of the querent or of the quesited, fear of death, being murdered.8
In the second it means wealth gain through illicit means, theft, violence.
In the third it means iniquity against siblings and relatives, remains, retaliations, killings on the streets.

In the fourth it means loss of inheritance, evil lands, evil people, betrayals, false rumors, destruction of a city or fortress.
In the fifth it means evil children or women, loss of children, danger during childbirth, loss of blood.
In the sixth it means evil servants, runaways, grave illness, bodily fluids, killing, desperation, damage.

In the seventh it means a harlot, vile marriage, evil company, unfaithfulness, betrayal, violence, enmity.
In the eighth it means fear of death for [or through] women, rumors, freedom from prison and from illness, loss through women, being killed, loss of blood and flobotomia.9
In the ninth it means being forced on a journey, loss, danger of death, toil, changing one’s religion, evil or false religious people, evil Christians,10 evil messengers, death during a journey.

In the tenth it means an evil lord, traitors of one’s country, iniquitous judges or orators, overthrowing tyrants, loss of dignity, destruction of one’s kingdom.
In the eleventh it means wrongful succession, betrayal, violence, rebellion, death of one’s lord.
In the twelfth it means hidden enemies of the kingdom, machinations, treason against one’s lord, assassinations both public and private, violence.

In the thirteenth it means betrayals during a journey, hate from noble people, the absent party doesn’t come back.
In the fourteenth it means toiling for gain and honor, bad luck, hatred from underlings and very evil enemies, overcoming one’s enemies,.
In the fifteenth it is the worst of all, eccept for doing evil things.11

MQS

Footnotes
  1. Possibly due to the Moon’s North Node connection with beginnings and with increase, as well as the connection of the term ‘head’ with leadership. ↩︎
  2. The text seems to say “giardini solati”, and I am not sure if it means isolated gardens or gardens in the sun or something else that escapes me. The connection with gardens is clear, as the Third House rules neighborhoods and therefore what’s around the house. ↩︎
  3. Illnessess were traditionally categorized based on the prevailing humor. ↩︎
  4. This is another excellent example of how to read the meaning of the figure into the meaning of the house. Caput Draconis is the head, and the Eighth House rules death, thus giving beheading (death by losing one’s head). Of course much depends on the question and the rest of the Shield. ↩︎
  5. This is not clear. ↩︎
  6. An archaic Italian word of whose meaning I am unaware. ↩︎
  7. Caput cannot be the Judge. ↩︎
  8. It is usually said that Cauda being in the First House is enough to break the figure. However, here Abano gives us coherent interpretations. Most of them are very dramatic, but it’s the principle that counts and needs to be assimilated. ↩︎
  9. A term belonging to the vocabulary of Medieval medicine. I do not know what it means. ↩︎
  10. Probably to be interpreted as evil believers in general, nowadays. ↩︎
  11. Cauda cannot be the Judge. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

Caput Draconis / Dragon’s Head (Geomancy Figures)

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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)

HousePossible Meanings
FirstPositive, taking initiative, going, doing, starting something, good luck
SecondIncome, new income stream
ThirdNews, important information, help from siblings
FourthBuying real estate, help from the father
FifthFun, pregnancy, conception
SixthLong illness, good servants
SeventhNew relationship, lasting bond
EighthBeing shielded from danger, gain from other people
NinthConversion, signing up for a course, good at learning, spiritual evolution
TenthNew job, lasting stability in one’s career
EleventhNew friends, realization of hopes
TwelfthLong prison sentence, safety from occult enemies
ThirteenthQuerent has initiative, something has already started
FourteenthQuerent lacks initiative or needs to exert it more, there will be a new beginning
FifteenthCaput 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

MQS