Tag Archives: Fortuna Major

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Book II Pt. 5

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Fludd discusses the meanings of Puer, Puella, Fortuna Major and Fortuna Minor.

Puer

in the First House, hope, marriage, the cheerful manner of a child, who loves nothing but to sing and spend time with music and the company of women.1
In the Second House, profits in commerce, good fortune, good profit, company of women, reception of debts.
In the Third House, joy on account of brothers and neighbors, charming and cheerful neighbors, a good journey, a good dream, and delightful news.

In the Fourth House, fights, no acquisition of the desired object, refusal of the thing that one desires, water.
In the Fifth House, joy, good children, news and letters, good news, pleasures, love, delights with women, musical instruments.
In the Sixth House, good servants, foolish women, children born from fornication, good animals, and long or prolonged illnesses.

In the Seventh House, evil and foolish women,2 fornication and bad company, marriage of children.
In the Eighth House, death and disease.
In the Ninth House, a journey by land, false belief, lewdness of the church.3

In the Tenth House, litigations over women, or for servants, or children in judgment or before a judge, (being in) the service of some master.4
In the Eleventh House, joy, luck, good love, love of women and men due to lewdness.5
In the Twelfth House, victory, a bad man, dangers, prisons, the failure of that which is equired about, good animals, strong and bad enemies.

In the Thirteenth House, joy and profits come from great people, letters, news, life, joy and travels.
In the Fourteenth House, danger but later a good end, drinking well, eating well, news and love.
In the Fifteenth House, temperance, profit in all things, and the completion of goods.6
In the Sixteenth House, all good.7

Note, when this figure is in the first house, it signifies a young man, handsome, and of good looks, with a fine beard, luxurious, fond of instruments and music, monks, hypocrites, and scholars.

Puella

In the First House, happiness of friends, food, having children, lewd and licentious words, lying, full of superfluous speech.8
In the Second House, profit, a tendency to extravagance.
In the Third House, love of relatives, good company, good relatives, much talk, weariness on the journey, and sometimes robbers.

In the Fourth House, profits in works of love, from father and mother,9 from inheritances, small fruits, talk, lewdness and dishonesty in the house.
In the Fifth house, happy children, news, letters, delights, superfluous words about lewdness, love of women, liars, and cowards.
In the Sixth House, evil women, disease of slaves, profit from animals, slaves (who are) full of boastful and lustful speech, diseases, that is, ulcers, swellings, bruises and the like.

In the Seventh House, marriage, profitable partners, women’s joys, many talkative and lustful women, harlots and dishonest women who touch others without merit.
In the Eighth House, the death of parents or sisters, inheritance from the dead, many words, the death of slaves in a foreign country.
In the Ninth House, profits on the way, sagacity, a man who loves joy and cheerfulness more than prayers and divine worship, dreams, news without much merit, good understanding in one’s teaching, singing, disturbance for the church.

In the Tenth House, happiness and profits on the way of one’s lord,10 good master and duties, but much talking done before.
In the Eleventh House, good friends, profit from slaves and beasts and good fortune, much talk, lust and fornication.
In the Twelfth House, talkativeness, profits from beasts and servants, enemies full of quarrels, beasts quite good.

In the Thirteenth House, profitable journey, profits from some lords.
In the Fourteenth House, good luck, profit from danger.
Note, when this figure is found in the First House, it denotes a man having a small body, and a short neck, a large head, teeth badly arranged, a fine intellect.

Fortuna Major

In the First House, thoughts of kings, treasures, old men, a man of good life, good fortune in all matters of profit and honor of the seeker, steadfastness, good hope.
In the Second House, wealth, profit, and especially from animals, a rich man, good luck, acquisition, joy, sense of gain.
In the Third House, good journey, but a little delayed, a good brother, good and rich relatives, a good dream, good news, joy, profit.

In the Fourth House, a good estate, the acquisition of the inheritance of great lords, treasures hidden in the earth, a good house, great advantage in all things stable,11 a good end, a good father and mother.
In the Fifth House, good children, good news, good letters, good love with wife, security of heart,12 change and honours.
In the Sixth House, long illness and pain, good animals, good servants, faithful and stable.

In the Seventh House, a good marriage, a good and chaste and prudent woman, great wealth, conquering one’s enemies, both in legal proceedings and in battles, strong and stable enemies,13 good in commerce, receiving one’s desire in other countries, the gathering of men and women.
In the Eighth House, rich enemies, riches from the dead, profits in a foreign country; where it is noted that this figure is good, but the house is terrible.
In the Ninth House, good journeys, though slow, good dreams.

In the Tenth House, good judgment, good decision in the place where the figure is duplicated, peaceful kings and kingdoms; a peaceful and firm state of the lords, the acquisition of one’s desire, reward and lasting honor from the lords.
In the Eleventh House, good fortune, noble and faithful friends, profits in trade, good hope of riches from the king and prince, joy and happiness.
In the Twelfth House horses, good and useful animals, a long and dangerous imprisonment, a dangerous disease, long debts, long tribulations, strong enemies14, evil for journeying.

In the Thirteenth House, a good journey and good fortune, acquisition from the king, absence, happiness in riches and joy.
In the Fourteenth House, deliverance from diseases, escape from prison and debts, good luck, sudden riches for the absent, good company, good friends and security in hope.
In the Fifteenth House, a good judgment, a good end, a good outcome for joys, and if it comes from good Witnesses, it will give the petitioner security in all good things, and the good is witnessed in the place (in the chart) where the figure is found.

Note, when Major is in the First House, it means an old man, a merchant of precious cloths, affable, of average stature, well dressed, good hair.

Fortuna Minor

in the First House, goodness, a good journey to princes and lords, a rich and fortunate man, also a king,15 a prince, a leader, a man of great authority, knowledge, good animals, a good and humble wife.
In the Second House, the acquisition of a house by a master or a great man, and indeed without effort.
In the Third House, good brothers, and wealth and profit from them, good neighbors, good knowledge and good faith, good travels, especially by sea, a good woman.

In the Fourth House, treasures of kings or magnates, good journeys to parents, noble inheritance, and acquisition of inheritance.
In the Fifth House, good children, good news, a good journey towards children, joy and comfort, useful journeys,16 pleasures and delights of nobles.
In the Sixth House, the insults of kings and princes and their injuries from other lords,17 as well as victory from them, fear of losing their dominion or kingdom, proud servants.

In the Seventh House, a good woman, beautiful and rich, but it will be doubtful that she will be destroyed by foolish love, murder committed by a great man, denotes to one’s son a noble marriage and good travels.18
In the Eighth House, the death of kings, or the fear of kings, so that he who has become a problem may fear them, and if Rubeus is found in the Seventh House, death due to loss of blood, it is not good to go out of the country or to travel, for imprisonment or violent death are to be feared.
In the Ninth House, a good journey, a good relationship with kings or superiors to obtain favor, a faithful man, of good faith and God-fearing.

In the Tenth House, a good king and a ruler with good virtues, victory, good for migration by sea and making journeys, the acquisition of property from a prince or king, acquisition thanks to the love of judges, profit and honor.
In the Eleventh House, good hope, good friends, good fortune, good company, good fortune in beasts and servants.19
In the Twelfth House, good animals, coming out of prison, poverty for the petitioner due to that, where the figure is duplicated, and especially in the Tenth House, it denotes the loss of the kingdom to the king, either due to himself or his children.

In the Thirteenth House, profits on the way, and receiving one’s wish from some lord.
In the Fourteenth House, a long life, good fortune, and profits in the business one hopes for.
In the Fifteenth House, a good result in all good things, a good end, good company, honor and glory.

Note, Minor in the First House signifies a king or queen, a handsome and brave man, clothed in scarlet, who likes to travel often, covered with gold.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. Puer and Puella are the two most confusing figures in traditional texts. Here we find mixed together attributions that, in contemporary geomancy, have been attributed to one or the other. ↩︎
  2. Fludd seems to attribute Puer to women, and since the Seventh House is the house of enemies, it causes the women to be evil. ↩︎
  3. Here seems to emerge the typical sexual theme that some today attribute to Puer. ↩︎
  4. Possibly meaning being subservient to another. ↩︎
  5. Possibly indicating homosexuality. ↩︎
  6. Puer cannot be the judge. ↩︎
  7. This is possibly the only time that Fludd discusses the Reconciler (also knwn as Judge of the Judge) ↩︎
  8. Similar traits are assigned by others to Puer. However, let us also not forget that in those times, sometimes women were considered deceitful by default. ↩︎
  9. Note that typically the Fourth House is assigned to the father and the Tenth to the mother. However, when considering one’s parents in general, they are both Fourth House matter, since the Fourth is the house of the family and the home. ↩︎
  10. “In via de Domino”. I don’t understand what this means. ↩︎
  11. Major is considered one of the most stable figures. ↩︎
  12. The heart is often assigned to the Fifth House, and Major gives steadfastness. ↩︎
  13. In this interpretation, the power of Fortuna Major is in favor of the enemy, ruled by the Seventh House. ↩︎
  14. In the Twelfth House, Major causes prison sentences to be steadfast, that is, long. ↩︎
  15. Fludd seems to attribute worldly honors more th Minor than to Major. ↩︎
  16. I don’t understand the connection to journeys. ↩︎
  17. possibly due to the negative effect of the house. ↩︎
  18. Much of what is said here is hard to understand logically. ↩︎
  19. The connection with animals and servants is odd. ↩︎

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book IV Pt. 1

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Here Abano begins a discussion of how the genesis of each of the figures from other two figures can modify their meaning.

Since one is not only supposed to consider the springing of the figures from one place to the other, but also their origin and generation one from the other,1 an esposition of of the meanings of each of the figure depending on the figures it is born from is in order, without forgetting the inherent meaning of the figure, as well as that of the querent’s and quesited’s, and those figures in the angles, and those conjoined to them.

Acquisitio

From Populus and Acquisitio: recovering one’s losses or recovery from damage; gain, profitable journey.
From Amissio and Via: dishonorable journey, but useful, recovering something lost.
From Fortuna Major and Conjunctio: good luck, mediocre gain, and [it is positive for] the thing asked.
From Fortuna Minor and Carcer: love between husband and wife,2 and [it is good for] the thing asked.
From Puella and Cauda Draconis: gain, usefulness in things of merchandise, and gain from difficulties.

From Puer and Laetitia: gain from minerals, gain from merchandise.
From Tristitia and Rubeus: fortitude, stability in everything, good outcome, victory, loss of merchandise.
From Conjunctio and Fortuna Major: good luck, mediocre gain.
From Carcer and Fortuna Minor: usefulness; kings and lords, noble people.
From Albus and Caput Draconis: good luck in material things, loss of objects.

Amissio

From Populus and Amissio: loss, trouble, good luck for the ill and the imprisoned, good for traveling.
From Acquisitio and Via: damage, trouble, loss, the lost or stolen thing is not found, vain friends or servants.
From Carcer and Fortuna Major: trouble, problems, little gain.
From Caput Draconis and Puer: good luck in things connected with women; in other questions, gaining what one wants results in damage.
From Rubeus and Cauda Draconis: misfortune [or accident], injury, fear, fighting, trouble, damage, illness.

From Conjunctio and Fortuna Minor: loss of animals, lots of trouble, desperation for the thing lost.
From Albus and Laetitia: freedom from illness or prison, the absent party will come back, white clothes, mobile things, quick ending.
From Puella and Tristitia: poverty, vile things, trouble due to secrets, desperation, mirth, luck in debauched things.
From Fortuna Major and Carcer: recovering the lost or stolen thing.3

Fortuna Maior

From Populus and Fortuna Maior: luck in everything, getting what one wishes to get, but with delay.
From Carcer and Amissio: being very lucky and obtaining what one wants, but with difficulties.
From Albus and Tristitia: it means good news, messenger, usefulness, dignity, good salary [remuneration].
From Caput Draconis and Rubeus: great accident or misfortune, hanging, health problems, violent death.

From Amissio and Carcer: accident, problems, prison, good ending but with difficulties.
From Fortuna Minor and Via: fighting, good news, quick dispatch, honorable journeys.
From Acquisitio and Conjunctio: good fortune, prosperity, getting one’s wish.
From Puer and Cauda: good fortune, tranquillity after much trouble, getting one’s wish with much delay.
From Puella and Laetitia: mediocrity in everything, good things.

Fortuna Minor

From Populus and Fortuna Minor: its meaning has more virtue in good as in bad depending on the question.
From Acquisitio and Carcer: stability, certainty, mediocre fortune.
From Amissio and Conjunctio: good but mediocre fortune, especially in mobile things, less in stable things.
From Fortuna Major and Via: great virtue, great good fortune.

From Caput and Puella: good luck, especially in friendship and marriage.
From Albus and Cauda Draconi: mediocre good luck, especially in feminine things.
From Laetitia and Rubeus: very noble things, luck in mobile, outgoing things.
From Puer and Tristitia: mediocrity, but more bad and mutable than otherwise.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. This seems to imply that we must consider how the figures are generated on the shield. Whether this applies only to the Judge is not clear, though Abano seems to hint at the need to consider all figures, since he also considers those that cannot be Judge. ↩︎
  2. Admittedly, some of these explanations are hard to follow. I do not know, for instance, why this combination should indicate positive things between husband and wife. ↩︎
  3. Abano does not present all possible combinations. It is not clear whether he forgot or he thought it was enough to give some examples. Note also that some explanation almost seem contrary to reason. ↩︎

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

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Abano gives some examples of the possible meanings of Fortuna Major and Fortuna Minor in the various houses.

Fortuna Major

Fortuna Major in the first house means good luck for the querent, science, honor, fame, noble people, health, long life, good in all.
In the second it means gain, good luck, science, victory, money, and good through women1 and animals.
In the third it means good luck, happiness with brothers, relatives, friends, usefulness in travel and through women, obtaining what you wish.

In the fourht it means usefulness in stable things, inheritance, good things from one’s parents and older relatives.
In the fifth it means good fame, friendship, good grace, happiness through children, good news, favors from women, obtaining your wish.
In the sixth it means health, except for women, and gain through animals and servants.

In the seventh it means marriage, increase of wealth, good partnership with gain, overcoming your enemies, good and tranquil life.
In the eighth it means gaining wealth through other people’s death, freedom from danger and from death, gain, increase of wealth.
In the ninth it means travel with honor, gain through it, and through science in foreign countries and with foreign people, good change of place, quietude, divine spirit, true judgment.2

In the tenth it means honor, dignity, riches through one’s ingeniousness and speeches, and thanks to one’s mother, and in things related to God, good fame, gain through great and noble people, and through one’s job, and from prelates.3
In the eleventh it means good luck, gain, increase through friends, servants, kids, and from the King or from lords and prelates and noblemen.
In the twelfth it means health, freedom from danger and fear, gain through animals and servants, but the sick person won’t heal and the prisoner won’t be released, or with difficulty.

In the thirteenth it means gain through travel or from the king or a lord, parties, banquets, and toils and difficulties to have health.
In the fourteenth it means good luck in all you wish, and in animals, agriculture, buildings, long life.4
In the fifteenth it means good success, good outcome, succession, good friendship.

Fortuna Minor

Fortuna Minor in the first means King, Queen, lord, nobleperson, dignity, honor, fortitude, noblewoman, noble things, animals, good journey.5
In the second it means gain, gain through merchandise, and in selling and in buying, and from family or servants.
In the third it means a sister or (female) relative or (female) neighbor, good luck, good science.

In the fourth it means bringing secret things to light, fixed term employment or office, inheritance, unmovable goods, buildings.
In the fifth it means honor, dignity, spouses, happiness among the common folk, happiness through journey and children.
In the sixth it means sickness of a servant, problems through them, female servants, gain through toil.

In the seventh it means marriage, congregation of people, but with problems, partnership, gain throguh movable things.
In the eighth it means quick long travel bringing gain, but with danger of death, good fame followed by death, being killed.
In the ninth it means change of place, honorable journey, peregrination, good sceince, occult things.

In the tenth it means empress, king, lord, dignity, magistrate, mother, judge, excellent master/teacher, law, institutions.
In the eleventh it means happiness, chanting, dancing, various sounds, noble friends, fortitude, travel, obtaining your wish.
In the twelfth it means honor and dignity, fear of enemies and subjects and servants and sick people, freedom from prison, good for animals.

In the thirteenth it means travel with honor, sacraments, faith, gain, quick positive results.
In the fourteenth it means good luck and fortune in all you wish to gain.
In the fifteenth it means good succession, fame, honor among people, obtaining or accumulating wealth.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. It is not clear why women should be connected with the Second House or with Fortuna Major. ↩︎
  2. It is not clear what the word ‘judgment’ refers to here. In some old astrology books the Ninth house represents the court in a court case, though usually, for instance in Horary, we take the Tenth house as the judge. Furthermore, the Ninth House represents the wise people whose judgment was held in great esteem in the community. ↩︎
  3. Although some of these subjects are usually Ninth House matter, gain through them is the second from the Ninth, so the radical Tenth House. ↩︎
  4. The associations of the two Witnesses are taken mostly, as I’ve already discussed, from the two houses they derive from on the Shield. ↩︎
  5. Journeys are not normally associated with the First House, but Fortuna Minor is a mobile figure and the First House can represent the querent’s location and the means of transport they use to move (buggy, ship, etc.) ↩︎

Fortuna Major / Greater Fortune (Geomancy Figures)

Name of the Figure: Fortuna Major (Greater Fortune); sometimes called Arriving or Incoming Help
Element: Earth
Planet: Sun (rising)
Sign: Aquarius
Quality: Entering
Fortune: Good

Fortuna Major is the Greater Fortune of the geomantic figures. It has a plethora of symbolic attributes that may be useful to someone looking to use geomancy as a framework for magic, but as far as divination goes, it is relatively straightforward in its meaning. From a strictly symbolic standpoint, it may be said to represent a river flowing between two mountains while the Sun rises. Whether this is the case or not, it represents a peculiar form of fortune that is not blind luck.

Illustration of the geomantic figure Fortuna Major, Greater Fortune

If we accept preliminarily the symbolic depiction and also the common view that one point means the element in the figure is active, then Fortuna Major is formed by activating the passive elements (Earth and Water) and by keeping the active elements (Fire and Air) passive. Metaphorically, the water flowing and cutting its own path through life by moisturizing the earth can be taken to show the type of fortune that Fortuna Major indicates: the hard-won one.

All, or at least most traditional sources agree that Fortuna Major is a slow figure, promising success but also delay. This can be good or bad depending on what the querent needs. For instance, it can be slightly worrying for illness, and someone in prison is probably looking at a longer sentence, but the figure remains broadly good. It is a symbol of fortitude. In good things, while it may show delay, it also promises stability.

In general, Fortuna Major promises success through effort, Nothing will be handed to the querent for free, but at the same time, the fact that this figure shows up indicates that the querent has the potential to achieve what he wants. It also has the general attributions of the Sun, signifying gold, renewal and similar.

Common Keywords: success through effort, perseverance, constancy, stability for good or ill, renewal, gold, some delay, great satisfaction, triumph

Fortuna Major in the Geomantic Houses (these are only examples. Use context to guide your interpretation)

HousePossible Meanings
FirstOf great stature, resilient, kingly, a nobleman, steadfast, long life, health, honorable, well-known, accomplished
SecondWealth, accumulation, riches, fortune
ThirdWell-being of siblings, good for short trips, True rumors
FourthGood in stable things, inheritance, good for parents and for the father
FifthFriendship, good grace, talent, success of a mediator
SixthGain through small animals and servants, slow recovery
Seventhlasting union, honorable partner
EighthWealth through partners of all kinds, long life, honorable death,
NinthGood science or skill, Long travel, Honor and success through travel, Piety, Faith
TenthKings, honorable people, achieving honors, promotion
EleventhGood friends, Achievement of hope, help from government
TwelfthLong prison sentence, freedom from occult enemies, gain through large animals
ThirteenthSuccess in the past or present, stamina, power, ability to achieve what one wishes
FourteenthSuccess in the future, Still need for a lot of work
FifteenthSuccess, Accomplishment of most things through effort
Possible meanings of Fortuna Major in the various Geomantic Houses. Note that this is not meant to be exhaustive, and it only serves to jog your interpretive muscles

MQS

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