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Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

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

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Here Abano discusses matters relating to the Seventh House and Eighth House.

Seventh House

Of marriage
The first and second house are for the man, the seventh and eighth for the woman.1 The first signifies the person, the second his wealth, the eighth the wife’s dowry. If these figures are good they show a positive outcome. If the third figure is conform to the first and seventh, the marriage is mediated by messenger [intermediary],2 especially if the eleventh is conform to the third. If the fourth is conform to the first and seventh, it means the marriage is arranged by one’s relatives, especially if the fifteenth figure confirms it. If the second house is bad it means the husband’s (lack of) wealth is a problem, and so judge for the wife if the eighth is unfortunate. Similarly, if the first or seventh are bad, either the husband or the wife cause problems, and if the third, the mediator, and if the fourth, the family. If the first or seventh are unfortunate and move to the sixth, it shows that the marriage won’t happen due to sickness or because one of the two has a physical defect.3

If the spouse shall be chaste and honest4
Look at the first and sixth, seventh, eighth, fourth and twelfth. If you find good figures, it shows the spouse to be chaste and honest, especially if the figures move to other houses. But if the figures are evil, it shows the contrary, especially if they move to other houses, especially if Populus is born from those houses. If Puer is in the sixth and seventh, it shows the wife to be cheating with a young(er) man, and if it is in the seventh and eighth, it means it’s common knowledge.5 If in these places you find Rubeus, and if it moved as we have said above, it means the same, and similarly if in those houses you find Rubeus and Tristitia or Puer and Laetitia. And again, the more you find Populus in the whole figure, all the more dishonest the spouse is shown to be. But if the you find that the figures add up to Carcer, it shows honesty and reserve, and if the above mentioned figures cause Tristitia in the twelfth it means dishonesty with a family member or with a vile person, or with an almost beast-like man. And if Puer or Rubeus were formed in the twelfth, it means dishonesty with young men or with strangers, especially if they are conform to the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.

If the querent shall have (the love of) the lover or girlfriend
If the first and seventh are fortunate and entering, benign and conform one to the other, it shows obtaining what he wants. If the first moves to the eighth or sixth, it means he will need to insist a little, but if the seventh moves to the second she will insist with him, but the mutation still shows a positive answer.6

Of partnerships and similar affairs
If the first, second, fifth, seventh and eleventh figures are good, fortunate, fixed, it shows the partnership is good, especially if the second and seventh are the same figure. If the figures are fixed and fortunate it will last, but if not it shows they won’t. If you want to know who will cause problems, look at which side of the chart hosts more signs of instability and ill will, and judge in the same way as with marriage.

If one’s enemy will cause one offense
If the seventh is fortunate and positive it means the enmity is of small moment, unless the enemy is a woman, because it still means ill will toward the enemy.7 But if the seventh is unfortunagte and strong and malicious, it means a great and powerful enmity, especially if the twelfth is equally evil. Look also at the fifteenth, and which planets are more fortunate, whether in the first or seventh, and in the other angles, whom they conform to. And if the first and seventh are good, fortunate, entering and the seventh conjuncts the first, or vice versa, it shows reconciliation and peace. If the figure that conjunct the other also moves to another place, it means that the reconciliation will happen through the persons signified by those houses. Always consider the fifteenth and the Witnesses. If there is no conjunction and no translation, but only conformity of the first and seventh, look at the Judge, whether it is also found in another house (of the first twelve), and the more you find it, the more the two parties shall make peace.

Whether there will be war or peace
Assign the first house to one side and the seventh to the other, and look on whose side there are more fortunate figures, and look whether the figures that signify war are in the seventh or the first, or if the figures are fortunate, entering and good. If the figures are good, there is no war, but if they are malicious and fortunate in war, they mean war from the side where they are, and it will be as bad as the figures are, and the side will win that holds the more fortunate figures. Rubeus, Tristitia, Puer, Conjunctio are fortunate in war. Carcer, Amissio, Laetitia are unfortunate in war. If Popoulus or Conjunctio are in the sixth, seventh, eighth or twelfth it means death and great loss of blood, and fleeing, and great cruelty.8 If in those places you find Rubeus and Carcer is in the eighth it means death, prison, fires and flames, and if in the seventh and eighth you find Puer it shows great victory, but always look at the tenth, fifteenth and first, whether they move.

Of litigations
The first is the querent, the seventh is the other party. The figure that is stronger and more fortunate wins, and if Amissio is found in either, that party shall lose. Laetitia and Puella signify concord, while Tristitia and Rubeus are very evil. And if the first moves to the sixth, eighth or twelfth, the person shall lose, but if the seventh moves in the same way, the other party shall lose. And if the whole figure is occupied by figures of more or less positive import, there will be agreement.

Of fled servants, prison and lost items
If the first, seventh, eighth figures are conform and are entering and fortunate, it shows retrieval, and vice versa if they aren’t. If the first is in the sixth, the servant has not fled, but has hidden, and if the figure is Carcer, he hasn’t changed place, if not very little, especially if the first, fourth and the Judge are entering and fortunate.
Acquisitio and Fortuna Major signify retrieval, but the opposite figures show the opposite.

Whether the absent party shall come back, and how soon
If the first house is fortunate and well-meaning, and similarly the seventh and ninth, it shows the absent party is well and in good state,9 and vice versa if the figures are bad, especially if the sixth is unfortunate. Also look at the fifteenth and tenth. If the first is unfortunate and moves to the eighth it means death, especially if in conjunction with Carcer, Rubeus or Conjunctio.

If the sixth is unfortunate and moves to the first or in conjunction with it, it means a deadly infirmity, and similarly when the first and seventh are unfortunate are united somewhere in the figure. But if the sixth is unfortunate (but doesn’t move) it shows an illness that shall pass, especially if the eighth is good. And if you want to know whether the absent party shall come back soon, look at the first and ninth, and if they are Cauda, Acquisitio or Laetitia he shall come back soon. If Populus or Via, very soon. If the eighth is good and is in the first, he will come back in a month, if in the second, in two, and so on. And if the said figure is in the second and in the eighth, entering, he shall come in a month.10

Eighth House

Whether one shall die within the year
If the first figure is the same as the eighth, or if it is conjunct to it, it is an indication of death, especially if it is also in the thirteenth or fifteenth house. If you want to see what kind of death one shall suffer, look at the nature and quality of the figure, and judge as follows: if it’s Rubeus, it indicates fire or steel (that is, being wounded by an arm,) if it is Puella, being beaten to death, if it is Carcer due to a long sickness, phlegm, melancholy or various health issues; and similarly judge of every other figure depending on its virtue and meaning and quality.

On who shall die first between two people
Consider the eighth and see if it is in the house of the person you are inquiring about, or if it in conjunction to it, or if it is in the first house, and judge accordingly who shall die first.

If one shall have the money back
If the eighth and the first are entering and fortunate it shows getting the money back without difficulty or problems, vice versa if they aren’t. And this is especially true if the thirteenth and the fifteenth agree, but when they don’t, and if on the side of the first house you find weak figures, it means getting back the money with great trouble. If the eighth is in the third it means one’s siblings will help, and if in the fourth, the relatives, and if in the fifth, one’s children, etc.

If the bad thing you fear shall come to pass
Consider the first, second, eighth and twelfth.11 If they are lucky it shows the thing won’t come to pass, but if some of them are unfortunate, it shows it shall partly come to pass, and if they are evil, it shall come to pass, and the bad thing will be identified by the type of figure. If the first figure is in conjunction with the eighth or the eighth with the first, it means harm to the person. If the second is in the seventh or ninth, it means harm to one’s wealth. And so judge all the other things with respect to the eighth house according to the meaning of the house and the thing inquired about. Always keep in mind the Witnesses and the Judge.

MQS

Footnotes

  1. This statement is interesting for a number of reasons. I will only mention one. Abano does not say that the First is for the querent and the Seventh for the spouse, but that the First is for the man and the Seventh for the woman. It would be easy, especially in the current cultural climate, to attribute this to Medieval sexism. I am not saying that it doesn’t play a part, but there could be more. In many Medieval astrological texts the Seventh house, as noted before, is assigned to women, and when delineating marriage from the birth chart different procedures seem to have been used to predict a man’s marriage as opposed to a woman’s, the method for the man involving the seventh house, the one for the woman being more weighed toward other considerations. ↩︎
  2. It would be easy to update this interpretation to show the influence of social media in bringing two partners together nowadays. ↩︎
  3. The modern doctrine would dictate that the marriage happens if the first figure springs to the Sixth House. ↩︎
  4. The Italian title is “if she will be chaste and honest”, again presupposing a female Seventh House. ↩︎
  5. This passage is exceedingly complex. It is not clear if Puer in the Sixth indicates a younger man because it is Puer or because it is in the Sixth (which is below the Seventh). The thing being common knowledge when it happens in the Eighth is possibly due to the fact that the Eighth house is above the horizon. ↩︎
  6. Of interest here is that the querent can obtain the lover by moving to the Eighth or Sixth House, but the Seventh can only spring to the Second, not the Twelfth. ↩︎
  7. This passage is not clear. It seems to imply that a good figure in the Seventh House still bodes ill if the enemy is a woman. ↩︎
  8. These attributes seem ill-fitting for Conjunctio. ↩︎
  9. The Ninth House is the house of journeys. ↩︎
  10. This timing method is unclear to me. ↩︎
  11. Older astrology handbooks are filled with indications on delineating the Eleventh House in a horary question to know whether what one hopes will come to pass. Abano here applies the same method to the Eighth house to delineate one’s fears. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

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

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Here Abano discusses matters relating to the Fifth House and Sixth House.

Fifth House

If one shall have children.
If the question is about having children, look at the first, fifth and seventh figures.1 If they are entering and fortunate and the fifth is united or conjunct to the first or seventh house, the querent shall have children, especially if if the figures are Albus, Populus, Conjunctio or Laetitia. And depending on how many figures are on the side of the first figure,2 it means this is thanks to the husband’s inclination, and if the on the side of the seventh, of the wife’s, and if in said places you find exiting and unfortunate figures, it means the opposite, and if the fifth moves to the eighth or twelfth it means miscarriage and death of one’s children.3

If a woman is pregnant, and if the child is a boy or a girl.
And if you want to know if a woman is pregnant and whether she will give birth to a boy or a girl, look at the aforementioned figures, to wit, the first, fifth and seventh, and also the fourth. If they are entering and fortunate, and if the fifth joins the seventh, then the woman is pregnant, especially if the figure is Major, Caput or Carcer. And this is especially true if the same is found in the fifteenth house. But if in those houses you find Puella, Cauda or Amissio, she is not pregnant. If the majority of the figures in those places, but also in the rest of the chart (and especially the angles and the fifteenth) are masculine, she will give birth to a boy, and if they are mostly feminine to a girl. If you find Populus or Conjunctio, she will give birth to twins. And if there are still doubts, form a figure from the fourth and seventh, and if the resulting figure is more consonant to the fourth the baby is a boy, if to the seventh, a girl.4

If the children shall be good or evil.
If one wishes to know whether his children will be good or evil, look at the first, fourth, fifth and seventh and also the sixth figure, and if all these figures are good, entering, fortunate, then the children shall be good, and vice versa. And if the picture is mixed, you ought to form a figure from the fourth and fifth figure, and judge by the goodness or malice of the result. But you should never neglect to keep in mind the tenth and fifteenth figure.5

Sixth House

If one shall fall ill.
If you want to know whether you shall fall ill during the year, look at the first and sixth figures, whether the first figure is good and the sixth shows good health, and judge accordingly. And especially if the first is unfortunate and it moves to the sixth, or if the first is bad and the sixth moves to the seventh, or if the sixth should come into contact with the first by falling in the second house, and if the fifteenth figure is unfortunate, and if you want to know the quality of the illness look at the sixth, of what nature and complexion, and whether it is malicious or unfortunate.

If they are earthy and unfortunate it means a grave illness, long and melancholic, and if they are fiery and unfortunate, it means a choleric illness, sudden and strong and acute; and if they are airy and more unfortunate than fortunate, it means a light illness, but bothersome and long, and maybe accompanied by another illness; and if they are watery and more unfortunate than fortunate, it means the illness is troublesome, whether long or short depending ont he nature and property of the figure.6

And if you are afraid of dying of said illness, if the sixth is in the eighth or in the ninth, judge the illness very serious. Similarly, if the sixth shows an illness and the first, being unfortunate, moves to the eighth it shows death. Always judge with diligence and in everything consider the nature and condition of the planets, and judge the great secrets and admirable things always keeping into account the angles and the fifteenth.7

Whether the sick person shall die.
Look at the first, sixth, eighth, tenth and fifteenth figures. If you find Caput, Puella, Major, Acquisitio or Laetitia, it shows liberation from illness. If it is Albus, Tristitia, Cauda, Rubeus, Populus, Conjunctio or Pure, it shows a deadly illness and especially if the first, being one of these figures, goes to the eighth or ninth, and similarly if the sixth goes to the seventh or fifteenth. And if this figure is Carcer, by as much as it multiplies itself in these places, so much the more it shows the illness to be deadly, and if Tristitia moves to the eleventh figure it indicates healing and then relapsing and dying, especially if you find it in the thirteenth or fourteenth or fifteenth.8 And if it’s Rubeus in the first and it agrees with the sixth, it shows long infirmity.

Whether the doctor will help the patient.
The seventh is attributed to the doctor. If the first, sixth and seventh are good, fortunate and in agreement with each other, it means the doctor shall heal the sick person, and vice versa. If the first, sixth and eleventh are good and fortunate, it shows a quick recovery because the eleventh indicates goodness and the perfection of one’s nature and complexion.9

Of a lost or stolen item
The first figure is the querent, the sixth the thief, the second, the tenth, the eleventh and seventh are the thing inquired about. If the tenth is in the second, third or fourth, the thing lost or stolen is in the house of the querent or nearby. If it is in the seventh it shows it to be in the house of the thief, if in the ninth, eleventh or twelfth it means it is far from home, and according to the fortune or malice of the figure, judge whether it shall be gotten back or not, and the condition and identity of the thief, and where.

Whether the servant is good or bad.
If the sixth is good, fortunate and in agreement with the first it means a good servant, and similarly if it is in conjunction with the first, especially if it is fixed and fortunate. Look also at the angles and the ninth figure.10

If it is good to buy a small animal.
Look at the first, sixth, ninth and tenth.11 If they are good, entering and fortunate, it means it is good to buy, and vice versa if they aren’t. If the first, sixth and tenth are bad but the Witnesses and Judge good, it means it is good to buy, but not at the time you thought was ideal, and you must delay by as many days as are the points in the first figure.12 If you want to know what kind of animal it is good to buy, look at the figure in the sixth and thirteenth and fourteenth, and if you find Rubeus it means pigs, Albus sheep, Minor and Major horses, Tristitia and Laetitia oxen. If you find Caput, Acquisitio or Cauda, other small animals. Look also if the second house is fortunate.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. The Seventh House is the spouse. ↩︎
  2. I believe Abano means the two sides of the Geomantic Shield. Abano says “how many figures”, but in reality, of course, the number of figures is always the same. What he means is how good they are. ↩︎
  3. Note that the Eighth house, aside from indicating death, is also conjunct the Seventh, so it seems Abano is giving us contradictory indications. However, the chart must be read as a whole. A bad figure in the Fifth house springing to the Eighth is a bad omen. ↩︎
  4. We are accustomed to calling the Seventh the house of the spouse, but in many older texts it is called the house of women, and it is not at all clear that this is just due to the old bias against women. There may be something to it. Similarly, the Fourth house is generally considered a house mostly of men. ↩︎
  5. The rationale behind the choice of house is not always clear, but I believe the First House is to show the child’s attitude toward the querent, the Seventh to judge their attitude toward the spouse, the Fourth is the end of the matter, the Sixth is in Company with the Fifth, the Tenth has to do with one’s actions. Furthermore, the angles are always important, regardless of their meaning. ↩︎
  6. This paragraph offers insight into the old theory of humors as applied to matters of health. Though this theory is thoroughly alien to us now, Abano’s description is eminently practical and worth exploring. ↩︎
  7. Abano is not the poetic kind of writer, but here he is clearly intimating that there is more to judging and treating illnesses than merely interpreting an oracle. ↩︎
  8. Many of these indications are somewhat obscure. Furthermore, Tristitia cannot be the judge. ↩︎
  9. The Eleventh House was known as the “Good demon” of the person. It is also connected with the Guardian Angel. ↩︎
  10. I don’t understand why the Ninth ought to be involved into this kind of judgment. ↩︎
  11. Again, it is not clear why the Ninth and Tenth ought to be involved. However, they are the first two Nieces, and are on the querent’s side of the chart. This might be the connection. ↩︎
  12. This timing technique is especially interesting. I do not believe I have seen it anywhere else. ↩︎
Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book I Pt. 5

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Here Abano describes the meaning and function of the Geomantic Court.

In order to have better cognition of all that one wishes to know, one must consider the thirteenth and fourteenth figure, which are called the Witnesses, because they unveil many secrets, depending on the good or evil nature of the figures they contain. And one must also consider the fifteenth figure, called the Judge, which shows the end of the matter for good or ill, together with the figure in the fourth house.1

The thirteenth figure signifies the past, but also the present, depending on the question, while the fourteenth the future.2 When the thirteenth and fourteenth figures are good, it means the question asked is positively answered, especially if the Judge is also good, but when the thirteenth figure is evil and the fourteenth good there is some trouble, and if the thirteenth is good and the fourteenth evil, then the question has a negative answer, especially if the Judge is evil. 3

If both Witnesses are evil and the Judge good, one must refer to the fourth house and judge from it what shall come to pass. Similarly, if the Right Witness is good and the Judge evil, one must look at the fourth to consider whether the matter will end in joy or sorrow.

If, after all this, there were still doubts, take the fifteenth and the first figures and add them to create another figure, and judge depending on the nature of this figure. And if this figure happens to fall in any of the houses, good or evil will come from a person or thing signified by that house. This sixteenth figure is called the Judge of the Judge [Sopraiudice].

Furthermore, this sixteenth figure is produced also from the Judge and from the figure in the house of the quesited, according to the properties of the houses as described before, and according as said figure is conform or not conform to the fifteenth or sixteenth figure, so one judges the chart of the question.4 And when they are good, all the better, and when they are bad, all the worse. And when they contradict each other it is also somewhat bad. But when they are in everything opposed to the fifteenth and sixteenth, the chart is null and void, and the chart is called anomalous, without order or rule. 5

MQS

Footnotes
  1. Here Abano seems to put the Judge and the Fourth house on the same plane. ↩︎
  2. This idea seems to stem from astrology, where the Moon’s previous aspect indicates the present or the past, and the one she makes immediately after shows the future. ↩︎
  3. The way Abano describes the interrelation of the Witnesses with the Judge almost seems to make the Witnesses more important than the Judge. ↩︎
  4. This additional technique begs a couple of questions. First off, why does Abano call both figures ‘the sixteenth figure’? Are they on the same plane? Secondly, is this technique always employed whenever the traditional Judge of the Judge (from the Judge and the First Mother) is used? ↩︎
  5. In other words, this seems to have been taken as a sign that the chart didn’t answer the question. Personally, I am skeptical of this technique. It is my experience that charts are always radical, whether they are astrological charts or geomantic shields. They always answer, or at the very least they are always meaningful. Clearly, if we keep making up new figures, the chances of them contradicting each other increase accordingly. But contradiction is not a sign that a chart is not valid: only that it mirrors a complex, contradictory reality. Maybe I am wrong. ↩︎
astrology, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

Friend or Acquaintance?

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In Astrology, and therefore in Geomancy, we distinguish between a friend and an acquaintance, the former being eleventh house matter, the latter seventh house. Obviously, the difference is not as clear cut as it may seem, especially in the age of social media, where all it takes to be someone’s friend is to click on the ‘add’ button.

In the old texts, both of Geomancy and Astrology, we often find examples of how to judge questions like “Will my friends be useful to me?” This may sound callous compared to our sentimental notions of friendship, but keep in mind that 1) the old notion of usefulness was broader back then, and it included everything concerned with the person’s well-being, both inner and outer 2) friends formed part of the person’s network of alliances in tackling the hardships of life 3) the eleventh house is the second from the tenth, which represents heaven, so it represents friends as wealth from heaven. Clearly friends were highly revered (just read Plato, Seneca, Xenophon or even Confucius for proofs).

As I mentioned somewhere else, my husband and I are in the process or moving, and as usual when moving, we suddenly discovered that we own three times more stuff than we thought. One friend volunteered to help us the following day, bringing us boxes and helping us with her car. In the evening though she said she didn’t know if she would make it. I cast a reading to see whether she would come:

Will she come to help us? (app used: Simple Geomancy)

Let us forget the Judge for a second and concentrate on the chart. If we take the girl as ‘our friend’ she should be eleventh house, and the eleventh house is occupied by Cauda, which also doesn’t move anywhere.

Now if my mom asked me who she is, I would say ‘a friend’. Yet she is more my husband’s friend. I am just on good terms with her, but I wouldn’t call her to spill my guts or even to ask for help, though it was of course very nice of her to volunteer.

If I take her to be my acquaintance, she is seventh house, and occupied by a more promising Conjunctio, which does spring to the second toward me. And she did end up coming.

The negative Judge, Amissio, possibly refers to the fact that we ended up losing a couple of objects due to recklessness (notice the Via Puncti reaching back to Puer in the fourth house). I also ended up losing a friend to gain an acquaintance, it seems.

MQS

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

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

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Here Abano teaches how to cast a reading and then explains the main meanings of the astrological houses.

The method of forming the above mentioned sixteen figures is to use a pen to mark sixteen rows of points on a piece of paper. These must then be paired two by two, until, at the end of each row, either two points are left or only one.

Abano’s illustration of how the four mothers are formed

Then one must take the geomantic figures that emerge, in the following way.

Abano illustrates how to add the Four Mothers to their place

Note, however, that the previous operation is not carried out by counting the points one makes, nor by following one’s fancy, but rather by virtue of the Primum Mobile and First Motor God the Eternal, who moves one’s hand, and is to be carried out with good intentions and by invoking God’s grace and help.1

From the first four figures, four other figures are derived by taking the first points of each of the first four figures, which go to form the fifth figure; then by taking the second points of each figure to form the sixth figure, and so on with the third row of points to form the seventh, and the fourth row to form the eighth, as shown below.

Abano’s illustration of the Geomantic Shield

Once the eighth figure has been drawn, take the first and second [figure] and, proceeding in the same way as at the beginning, form the ninth; then take the third and fourth to form the tenth; then the fifth and sixth to form the eleventh; then the seventh and eighth to form the twelfth.

Then, add the tenth and the eleventh to form the thirteenth, known as the First Witness, and the eleventh and the twelfth to form the fourteenth, known as the Second Witness. Add the witnesses to discover the Judge.

This completes the chart, with every figure in its necessary place according to the question asked, as will be explained.
However, often one may take the Judge and the first figure and add them together to obtain the Judge of the Judge,2 which is the sixteenth figure, which we will discuss later.

It is to be noted that the main figures are the first twelve, of which four are strongest. The first and the tenth are the best, but the first is even better. The seventh and fourth are also good. These four figures are called the angles, noting which one may know the strength and virtue of the chart. Following them, the second and fifth figure, and the eighth and the eleventh are known as succedent. Finally the last four are the third, the sixth, the ninth and the twelfth, which are called cadent, as shown in the following figure.3

Abano’s illustration of the principle of angularity as it applies to geomancy

And the first figure is called the strongest and best of all, because it signifies the virtue of the Heavens on the querent, that is, he who asks the question.4 It is called the Ascendant.
Following that, the tenth is in the middle of the heavens and has great power and influence. When it is good it bodes well, but when it is unfortunate it means great misfortune in terms of how the question is going to end.5

The seventh figure is opposite the Ascendant and is called the Western Angle, and it bodes well when good, ill when bad, especially in questions concerning the seventh house, as will be shown.
The fourth figure or house, although categorized as an angle, is called the feeblest of them, because it is at the bottom of the skies in our hemisphere. Nonetheless it indicates the end of the matter and of the querent’s intention.

Then we have the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh, which are succedent houses because they come after the angles, and are good or bad according to the figure [that falls in them] and the question asked, and they indicate the present and what is yet to come for the question asked.
The third, sixth, ninth and twelfth figure are called cadent, meaning what runs against the question, and the worst are the sixth are twelfth. The eighth is also among the evil houses.

The above is especially to be noted because every figure has two virtues, one according to its nature and an accidental virtue depending on where it falls in the chart.6 As such, if a good figure falls in the first house, its goodness is amplified, and similarly in any other angle. When it falls in a succedent house, it has less power, and when it is cadent it has even less.
And this point holds true for evil figures as well in their ability to cause bad fortune. An evil figure in an angle, therefore, will mean a great bad fortune, especially in the fourth.

Nonetheless, among the bad houses, the sixth and eighth and twelfth are the worst, and every figure falling therein is dangerous in any question.7 And they are especially dangerous if they are evil by their own nature.
Said figures are considered not just according to their virtue and the places where they fall, but also according to the question, that is, according that they are appropriate or inappropriate concerning the thing asked.8 As such, what follows is the signification and the property of each of the houses.

The first house signifies the life and body, the being and soul and intention of the querent or the one for whom the question is asked. It also means the beginning of all things. It sits opposite the seventh, and signifies the goods and money of the prisoner. It is the joy of Mercury.9

The second house is wealth,10 gain and loss, and all that the querent owns. It is opposite the eighth, and it signifies the gain of the querent’s family.

The third house indicates siblings, blood relatives, short journeys and enemies of faith and of the Roman Church,11 neighbors, etc. This house is opposite the ninth. It also signifies rumors, and travel companions. It is the joy of the Moon.

The fourth house indicates buildings, buried things, the end of every question. Also, the father, the wealth of a brother or sister.12 It is opposite the tenth.

The fifth house indicates mirth and happiness, children, messengers and letters, music, food, clothes, mid-range travel, the father’s wealth. It is opposite the eleventh and it is the joy of Venus.

The sixth house indicates wrath and an evil mind, toil, malady, servants, people who are subjected to the querent, small animals. This house is the joy of Mars.

The seventh signifies the wife,13 the lover, an opponent, public enemies, games of chance, thieves, bandits, partners. The place the querent goes to, medicine, the wealth of one’s servants. It is opposite the fist house, and is absent.14

The eighth house indicates death, fear, danger, the wealth of the enemy, inheritance from the dead, the wife’s dowry, gain from the land one moves to,15 debts, Necromancy, evil spells. It is opposite the second.

The ninth house signifies religion, Ecclesiastics, the Pope, preferment, priests, the Christian faith, burials, fame or infamy, long travels, the wealth of the absent party.16 It is opposite the third, and is the joy of the Sun.

The tenth signifies the Emperor, the King, the lord,17 great honor, a doctor, a master, art, profession, sea, ship, towers, the thing stolen, famine, fertility, the church’s wealth, and advantages gained from the church. It is opposite the second.18

The eleventh signifies friends, hopes, fortune, courtesans, a lord’s wealth, common goods, the mother’s dowry. It is opposite the fifth, and is the joy of Jupiter.

The twelfth house signifies prison, prisoners, pilgrims and endless wandering, long violence,19 adversities, traitors, occult enemies, great beasts, the friend’s wealth. It is opposite the sixth. It is the joy of Saturn.

Whenever a question is asked, the issue always involves the first house, and in the second place the figure found in the house that is appropriate for the question, and depending on whether it is fortunate or not, together with the four angles, thus does one judge the issue. And especially [it is to be considered] whether the Witnesses and Judge are good.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. Here again, as in Part 1, Abano insists on the role of the divine (and again, he does it in a typical Christian Aristotelean fashion). He is doing more than just paying lip service to the religious ideas and institutions of the time, in so much as he asserts a central point common to all forms of divination: that it is divine nature that shines through the divination process. This explains his assertion that the points must not be counted nor be created following one’s fancy: the diviner’s ego must be switched off in order for the divine to act through it. ↩︎
  2. ‘Sopragiudice’ in Italian, which literally means Superjudge or Overjudge. ↩︎
  3. Abano follows the relatively standard (by that time) association of the astrological houses with varying degrees of strength. ↩︎
  4. The first house is given to the querent, so a good figure in it would indicate something positive for them or that they are positive. ↩︎
  5. This seems intended more to emphasize the importance of the angles than to link the tenth house with the ‘end of the matter’, which is a meaning typical of the fourth house. ↩︎
  6. This is meant to reflect the notions, common in Medieval astrology, of accidental and essential dignity of the planets, though the concept must be modified a little in order for it to apply to geomancy. ↩︎
  7. There is a certain digree of ambiguity concerning this issue, as it is not always clear if a figure in a weak house will see its power decreased or its evil import amplified. This ambiguity is present in astrology as well. ↩︎
  8. This is an important concept. A good figure becomes bad if its meaning is opposite to the querent’s intention, and vice versa. ↩︎
  9. Joy is an astrological term. The joys of the planets are houses where the planets are supposed to perform their heavenly duty better. A typical attribution is: the first to Mercury, the third to the Moon, the fifth to Venus, the sixth to Mars, the ninth to the Sun, the eleventh to Jupiter, the twelfth to Saturn. Abano follows this scheme. ↩︎
  10. The term used by Abano is ‘robba’ or, in current Italian, roba. This literally means ‘stuff’. Keep in mind that in the Middle Ages, for many people, stuff was more important than money, and that the moneyed economy we have today was barely in its infancy back then. The second house indicates stuff, and therefore all moveable possessions. ↩︎
  11. Because the third house sits opposite the ninth, which is the house of God. Obviously, Abano wrote at a time when Catholicism was the dominant and (for the most part) only allowed creed. ↩︎
  12. This is by the principle of turned houses. The second house from every house indicates the wealth of the thing or person signified by that house. ↩︎
  13. or husband, if the querent is a woman or a man interested in men. ↩︎
  14. It’s unclear to me what Abano means by this. The seventh house is sometimes given to ‘the absent party’ to know if the person will come back, but the wording Abano uses is strange. ↩︎
  15. The land one moves to is ‘there’, which is the opposite of ‘here’, signified by the first house. ↩︎
  16. I don’t understand why the ninth should indicate the absent party’s wealth. ↩︎
  17. ‘Signore’ i.e., the ruler of a Signoria, a small Italian monarchy typical of the time. ↩︎
  18. Actually it is opposite the fourth. ↩︎
  19. ‘longa violentia’ ↩︎
astrology, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

Astrological Aspects in Geomancy

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In Medieval and early modern times, Astrology was everything. Being a natural consequence of the philosophical worldview tolerated by the church (that is, Aristoteleanism), Astrology was not seen, strictly speaking, as a Bible-prohibited practice, but merely as an extension of the science of the day. Though it always had its detractors, it was generally accepted. Therefore it was normal to try to astrologize everything.

We’ve already discussed geomantic perfection. This takes place thanks to something resembling aspects. But some old books go a step further and seek to introduce the actual astrological aspects of the time into geomantic practice.

In Astrology, an aspect happens when two planets occupy the same degree in different signs: a sextile happens to planets that are 60 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Gemini); a square is between planets that are 90 degrees apart (e.g. Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Cancer); a trine is between planets that are 120 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Leo); an opposition is between planets that are 180 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Libra)

Aspects are key to astrological perfection. They show the things signified by the planets coming together, with sextile and trine indicating good contact on one hand and square and opposition showing bad or difficult contact. For instance, if in a love question my significator aspects my love interest’s significator, it shows us coming together. If by trine, we get along, if by square we argue.

In geomancy, astrological aspects have been adapted to the chart as follows:

Astrological aspects in Geomancy (App used: Simple Geomancy)

If we take the figure in the first house (marked in yellow) as a reference point, then the figures in blue sextile it, because they are separated from it by a single sign; the figures in purple square it, because they are separated from it by two houses; the figures in green trine it because they are separated from it by three houses, and the figure in red opposes it, since it occupies the houses directly opposite.

This is supposed to shed some light on the relationship between the figures: two figures that fall into a square pattern have a difficult relationship, two figures in a trine a good one, etc.

The problem with using astrological aspects in Geomancy is that aspects work in a fundamentally different way: in Astrology, an aspect requires a planet to move in order to apply to another planet. After perfection, then, the aspect separates and its effect wanes.

Geomancy, though, is a static system with no real movement. Sure, we can say a figure moves from one house to another, but in reality that figure is already present in both houses. The only way to conceptualize movement in a geomantic chart is when we take a significator’s house to be the original position of the figure in it, and every other instance of that figure as a successive movement (e.g., in a career reading, if Laetitia is in the tenth house and in the seventh, we take it to move from the tenth to the seventh and not vice versa).

I am honestly not convinced that astrological aspects can find a meaningful place in geomancy. They certainly cannot bring matters to perfection, otherwise everyone would always be separating from their partner since the figure in the seventh house always opposes the figure in the first. Similarly, everyone would always get along with their siblings since the third house always sextiles the first.

One possibility which has been suggested is that of applying aspects only to figures that move. In a love reading, for instance, if the seventh figure moves to the tenth, it moves to square the querent, since the tenth house squares the first.

I personally find this application also problematic, because the tenth house represents the job, among other things, so that would mean that everytime the querent’s job is involved in their love life it causes trouble, which is a false assumption.

At most, I would take an aspect into consideration only if BOTH significators move. In the hypothetical love reading, for instance, if the first figure (querent) moves to the fourth house and the seventh (significant other) moves to the tenth, then they are in opposition to one another. Maybe they will argue. Or, if the first moves to the fourth and the seventh to the second, they sextile each other, which is good.

Even in a situation like this I am generally cautious about applying this theory. There are certain aspects of Astrology (pun intended) that simply don’t translate well to other systems of divination. You are of course welcome to try this theory on for size, but personally I believe Geomancy already has its particular version of aspects, and throwing other stuff into the mix feels more like an attempt at complicating this “brief and simple science” to find something more to tell the querent.

MQS

Divination, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Company of Houses in Geomancy

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The more I delve into medieval geomancy manuscripts, the more I realize how different authors tended to put together different bundles of go-to techniques for interpreting the geomantic chart. There is always some overalap, yet not every author mentions every technique. The company of houses is one such technique. The book from Peter of Abano I am currently translating does not mention it: he tends to have a very trimmed down, minimalistic approach. However, the technique is found in other authors, so I’ll discuss it and leave it up to the reader to decide whether to experiment with it or not.

The Technique

The technique is quite simple. We start from the presupposition that the aim of a geomancy chart is to see whether the figure of the querent comes into contact with the figure of the quesited, as already discussed, because such contact, called perfection, signals the querent coming into possession of the thing quesited about (though there are exceptions, when the querent wishes to get rid of something, for instance.)

Usually, if at least one of the four modes of geomantic perfection discussed in my previous article does not show up in the chart, it’s game over. According to some authors, though, we can also see perfection in other ways, and this is where the Company of Houses comes in.

The twelve houses of a chart are said to be paired as follows: the first with the second; the third with the fourth; the fifth with the sixth; the seventh with the eighth; the ninth with the tenth; the eleventh with the twelfth. It is important to note that, although, say, the third house is next to the second, the second and the third house are not in company: only the first with the second and the third with the fourth.

Let us suppose I want to know whether I will meet with my sweetheart. In general, I would want the house of the querent (me, the first house) to perfect geomantically with the house of the quesited (my sweetheart, the seventh house). Let us furthermore suppose that this does not happen. According to the proponents of the Company of Houses, this negative testimony can be overruled.

We look at the house my house is accompanied with, in this case the second, or the house the quesited is accompanied with, i.e., the eighth. Let’s take the second house as an example. The first kind of company is if the figure in the second house is the same figure as that of the first; the second kind of company is if the figure in the second is ruled by the same planet as the figure in the first; the third kind of company is if the figure in the second is opposite the figure in the first; the final kind of company is if the figure in the second shares the same Fire line (e.g., Via and Puella, who both have a single fire line).

This figure is the oppositeOf this figure      
CaudaCaput
ConjunctioCarcer
PuellaPuer
AcquisitioAmissio
AlbusRubeus
TristitiaLaetitia
Fortuna MinorFortuna Major
PopulusVia
Opposite figures

When any of these four conditions is realized, the figure in the second house can act as a co-significator for the querent, and may perfect the chart in his stead.

Do you need this?

Frankly? No. You can do what you please, of course, but this reeks of “Methinks I saw mine lass turn into a dragon”, that is, how people used to come up with stuff to fill books with. Even worse, it reeks of last-ditch effort at wringing a “yes” out of a negative chart.

In some cases, what is called Company of Houses is already covered by the four regular modes of perfection. When it isn’t, it is, as far as I am concerned, at most a very, very, very weak testimony, so much so that I don’t take it into consideration. Of course one may come up with all sorts of philosophical excuses why this technique is important, but if you ask me, it feels like a useless complication of a simple divination system.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Via Puncti (Way of the Point) in Geomancy

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I already said that I am not a big fan of complications in divination. Nor do I believe that the tendency to overcomplicate things is just modern: if we look in older Horary Astrology handbooks, for instance, they are filled to the brim with (often mutually contradictory) techniques that may be thrown at the chart in an attempt to smoke a positive judgement out of it.

Still, one technique that is relatively consistent in the tradition is that of the Via Puncti, or Way of the Point. Not all traditional sources talk about it, but I have found it to be occasionally helpful. As usual, techniques are not to be used blindly, but intelligently, like tools in the hand of a surgeon.

The long and short of this technique is as follows: some Judges have one point in their Fire line (the upmost one), while others have two. In fact, out of all eight possible Judges, four have one single Fire point (Carcer, Fortuna Minor, Via, Amissio), while the other four have two (Conjunctio, Fortuna Major, Populus, Acquisitio). Due to how Geomancy’s model works, whenever the Judge has one Fire line, it is possible to trace it back unequivocally to one of the four Mothers or Daughters (that is, to one of the eight figures at the top of the shield).

Geomantic Shield Reading, drawn with the Simple Geomancy app

In the above example, Fortuna Minor is the Judge. It has one point in its Fire line. This one point is found again in the Left Witness, Laetitia, and again in the third Niece, which is again Laetitia, and finally in the second Daughter Puella. No other path is possible. This is always so (if it isn’t so and you’ve calculated the chart by hand, you’ve made a mistake.)

Usually, the Via Puncti or Way of the Point can be looked at as a root cause for at least some aspects of the final answer. In the example above, for instance, a woman may be the cause (Puella). Or, if we take the House in consideration, since Puella is in the Sixth house, it may indicate that a sickness is the cause, or a servant/subordinate, or a pet, depending on the question.

I repeat: depending on the question. I make no effort to squeeze a consideration of the Via Puncti into my readings. If it is helpful, and if the question lends itself, I will consider it.

Geomantic Shield Reading, drawn with the Simple Geomancy app

In this second example, Acquisitio is the Judge. Immediately the Via Puncti branches off, as both Witnesses have two points in their Fire line. John Michael Greer says that this shows more complex causes, but he fails to mention that, in the old books, this is not considered a valid Via Puncti. I don’t know if I am unaware of some of the old material or if Greer gave in to his tendency to mix innovation (which is fine) with pretense that it is rooted in tradition. You can of course choose to experiment with Greer’s version of the Via Puncti. Personally, I don’t even always regard it when it is there (as in the first example) let alone when it is not there.

One thing that the existence of the technique shows, though, is that the Golden Dawn’s way of reading the astrological chart by placing the mothers in the angles is completely baseless, and is a typical example of the “let’s make up a secret” tendency of the occult community.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

Geomancy – Reconciling the Judge and the Chart

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We’ve seen that the process reading a Geomancy chart divides into two phases: the assessment of the chart and the assessment of the court.

If the chart and the court seem to hint at the same result all is well and good. Problems start when they appear to diverge and say different things. One way the old geomancers faced this possibility was by throwing random techniques at the chart so as to tease out a straight answer. In this, they were similar to old horary astrologers (“the significators are moving away and are in detriment, but ah, look at that Part of Fortune!”)

I like to keep things simple. An understanding of the first principles is more effective, I believe, than an endless array of techniques designed to allow the reader to say whatever he feels like saying at the moment. Geomancy is a “simple and short science” to quote Abano.

Abano himself, in his book, often talks about the Judge as if it described an ultimate state of affairs beyond the immediate result. This is something that I have found in other old books as well.

We only have eight possible Judges, so the Judge won’t be able to offer much subtlety in its verdict. Even after we factor in the Witnesses we still have a limited oracle. But think about it: a real-life judge doesn’t usually have much to say except to either rule for or against someone. Sure, he can tweak this or that detail, but that’s about it.

The judge’s ruling usually determines who’s happy with the result and who isn’t, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes a judge may rule in your favor but empty your victory, or conversely he may rule against you but still grant you the one small thing you care about.

Therefore, in a Geomantic reading the Judge usually describes the general tone of the answer, especially how the matter ends (well, so so or not so well). The interrelationship of the figures in the chart, though, is much more specific as it describes in more detail what happens concretely.

This is not a matter of “perfection means yes”. Perfection doesn’t mean yes. Perfection means contact or connection. Usually, of course, contact with something or someone is a positive sign as we generally want to obtain something, but context is key. “Will I be able to leave this abusive relationship?” with the two significators perfecting is a clear no.

Suppose in this example that the significators perfect, showing continuance, but the Judge is Fortuna Major. Maybe the spouse starts taking their AA meetings seriously, or depending on the other signs in the chart it may show that the querent isn’t capable of leaving now but will at a later point (Fortuna Major shows long term success)

On the other hand, there’s plenty of situations where we get our wish but later regret it. “Will I get the job?” and the first and tenth connect, but Carcer is the Judge: yes, but you won’t like it one bit.

Some like to bring in a sixteenth figure, usually called the Reconciler or the Judge of the Judge. This figure is obtained by adding the Judge to the first house figure. This can show you how the end of the matter affects the querent, but it is not a substitute for working out the meaning of the chart. All in all, the sixteenth figure only gives details, never the answer.

Greer, in his book, offers a ton of suggestions on how to deal with an obstinate chart that resists interpretation, including using certain figures to derive a new set of Mothers. Frankly, if you are that desperate, you may just as well interrupt the divination and ask the question again the next day. In all honesty, though, it has never happened to me.

The key to interpreting any oracle is to be reminded that divination is a language and language describes the world. The oracle is always a mirror of real life situations, not an abstract set of simbols.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomantic Court: Witnesses and Judge

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The process of interpreting a Geomancy chart almost seems to split between two phases: 1. assessing the significators and their relationship (as discussed here) 2. interpreting the geomantic court. Some would even object to the order in which I give them, as, technically speaking, it’s the Judge that gives the answer.

The Geomantic Court is copmosed of the two Witnesses and the Judge. The two Witnesses represent the culmination of the process of development of the two sides of the Geomantic Shield (as discussed here)

Example of a Geomancy Shield reading, with the App Simple Geomancy

The right and left Witnesses (the right one is Albus, the left one is Caput) are the last product of the right and left sides of the Shield respectively. The Judge represents the overcoming of this duality into a final unity that takes everything into consideration.

We can easily liken the two Witnesses to the two pans of a scale, where arguments in favor and against are weighed. The fact that, from a technical standpoint, the Judge can only be a figure with an even number of points speaks to the Judge’s consideration of both sides. Keep in mind that there’s a total of 65.536 possible shields when we allow for all possible permutations of the sixteen mothers. But only 8 Judge figures are possible. Obviously, the Judge’s sentence can only be a general bird-eye view of the situation from the throne of Heaven, as it were. This is very different from the concrete and specific interrelation of the geomantic figures on the Shield.

As for the two Witnesses, as said, they are the culmination of the process of discussion that is carried out on the two sides of the Shield, the right side belonging to the querent and the left side to the quesited, or, alternatively, the right side being what pleads for the querent and the left side what speaks against his or her success.

Peter de Abano, interestingly, likens the right Witness to the planet the Moon separates from in an astrology chart, and the left Witness to the planet she applies to. This is largely in keeping with the attempt of Medieval magi to reduce everything to astrology. If you follow this school of thought, since in traditional astrology the Moon represents the flow of the chart or the flow of action in the chart, then the right Witness is the past and the left Witness the future. Personally, I tend to see the two Witnesses as belonging to the same timeframe, of which they highlight the up and down sides.

Some rules have been passed down to us for assessing the relationship between the Witnesses and the Judge. For instance, it is said that if the Witnesses are positive and the Judge negative, it shows that the matter is easier at the beginning but doesn’t end well, and vice versa if the Witnesses are bad and the Judge good.

In general, if we accept that the Judge is nothing more than the sum of the two Witnesses, and that the two Witnesses are the ‘for’ and ‘against’, then in a way the Judge is nothing more than a recapitulation of the Witnesses’ discussion, seen from a higher, more general level.

If we take the example of the Geomantic court above, where Acquisitio is the Judge and it derives from Albus as the right Witness and Caput as the left Witness, and if we suppose the question is about a business deal, then the right Witness argues that the querent has good business sense or a good plan, while the left Witness adds that it’s going to be hard at the beginning, while the Judge surmises from the discussion that, in general, the deal is going to be profitable.

Alternatively, if we take the right Witness as a symbol of the querent and the left Witness as a symbol of the quesited, the querent is still shown as a competent businessperson, while the quesited, i.e., the deal, is shown as a promising new start, while the Judge still rules in favor of the deal being good.

In the next article I will talk about how to reconcile the Judge and court with the other aspects of the reading.

MQS