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Intentions for this post:
*Share some techniques on incorparting geomancy into practical magic
*Recieve some techniques on incorporating geomancy into practical magic
*Find a person or community interested in geomancy to share notes with. Ideally on a long-term basis.
Suggested Reading:
*The Art and Practice of Geomancy, John Micheal Greer
*Notes on Geomancy, Nick Farrell
*Ars Geomantica, Gary Nottingham
*Literally anything on Digital Ambler under the Geomancy tag
*Secreti Geomantici and Star and Stone by Nick Farrel (only because if you are able to read those, send me a copy, too!)
Prelude
Hitherto attempts to incorporate geomancy into a magical system have done nothing more special than replace the planetary seals on a talisman with geomantic ones. Even Digital Ambler, a massively creative thinker who's progressed the occult world so much, started and ended his series on geomantic magic by inserting a geomantic motif into other existing magical system (e.g., doing regular candle magic with the candles arranged as a geomantic figure). Helpful! Workable! But part of me feels as if we're missing a lot of the magic of geomancy. The interaction of elements, the physics of adding figures together, their arrangement on a chart.
Below, I thought I'd share some of the techniques I've been using, open myself up to others' critiques and suggestions, and overall help seed a revolution in geomantic magic. Though I've put this under witchcraft--for the elemental bend to working the figures, and my own preference for secular, "low magic" dirty sorcery--I hope I can open a discussion into the infinite possibilities of geomantic magic, to move us beyond merely a reskin of astral talismans.
*Scrying the Figures
By far the most helpful and immediately enlightening practice I've come across. Those familiar with the GD practice of scrying the elemental planes should feel comfortable here. It's a technique lifted from The Art and Practice of Geomancy (APG). One visualizes a door embossed with the appropiate geomantic symbol, and enters it to recieve tutoring into the deeper mysteries of each figure. Though more than just theoretical learning, I have entered these doors with an intention for a spell and walked away with a complete vision of how a rite can be prepared to activate the requested forces. I experience startlingly clear shapes and colours, psychedelic images resolve easily into real-world items when you give yourself time to ponder the images after a dive into the geomantic currents. I have visualized geomantic courts that represent the intent of a spell, and visions of shiny, silver snakes revealed itself to be a bead chain I needed to finish the rite.
*Geomantic Abjad
Using the Figure-Letter correspondences provided in APG can be used to turn a string of letters into a string of figures. I've succesfully used this to translate sentences of intent into sigils to add to the border of my talismans, as might commonly be done with an Alphabet of Desire or the Thebean Alphabet. People can also combine all the figures generated through a Geomantic-Abjad to recieve a single figure to represent the sentence of intent. I have also attempted this to turn names into single figures to use as a focus in a spell (i.e., B/O/B becomes Tristitia/Carcer/Tristitia becomes Carcer when all the figures are added together). I've personally not found this to be succesful, usually being better to assign people figures based on the role they play, their personality, or their appearance (correspondences given in APG). Although it's been beneficial for translating sentences of intent into a single figure as a focus, I wonder why! Just a fluke?
One can also do this the other way round, where you take a string of geomantic symbols (e.g., taking the first 12 figures of a fortunate chart) and turn them into letters to create barbaros incantations for one to chant.
*Elemental Disposal
A really easy way of boosting the results of a geomantic operation is to link the creation or disposal of a talisman/charmed object/etc. to the inner and outer elements of the figure. For exampe, Fortuna Major's inner element of Earth and its outer element is Fire, so a charm bag I created included dried herbs (incorporating Earth, and the Dry quality that fire and earth share) and later releasing the spell to act via burning.
*Elemental Invocation
Tony Willis, in his article for Prediction magazine titled Geomantic Talismans, describes the geomantic figures as 'firecrackers,' and I am liable to agree, especially when one is working with a single figure rather than an entire court. Geomantic signs represent broad forces that are informed not only by its own nature, but the nature of the other figures interacting with it. It really is like astrology in that sense, where the quality of help you're going to recieve from a planet is going to vary a lot depending on what's happening around it, and (geomantic figures and astral magic alike) are not liable to care much for your intent in its manifestation when you call on them. Using a single figure then can represent an overly pure representation of that figure. Sometimes we don't want to risk totally upending the situation, so it can be helpful to invoke Elemental forces (fire/earth/air/water) instead. A touch of fire can make fickle Puella mature into stable Fortuna Major, or burn alive an enemy's fortunate Laetitia so their plans go nowhere with the indecisive Populus. This sort of thinking that elevates the geomantic figure from being merely symbols to doodle on a talisman, and into a universal science one can think with in a way without writing down a single figure.
*Casting and Turning the Chart
Like a natal chart, a geomantic chart can represent a true reflection of the target's nature. And like an astral chart, one can make them for people, buildings, nations, and weather patterns. When one produces such a chart, they're afforded a key into the patterns of that target. Look into the 8th House to see what forces one can leverage to quicken a demise, or into the Fifth house to see what pleasures and vices tempt them. Magic performed by this means can lead us to use figures that are very counter-intuitive to our intent, but they help our spells become that much more impactful because you're striking at the situation's 'weak point.'
*Geomantic Courts
Contrary to most geomantic magic online that suggests using a single figure, I champion using the Witnesses and Judge formation instead. Using a single figure acts like splashing that particular force into our lives, but a court is like giving a spell a degree of auto-pilot. One can represent their intent better by not solely relying on emphasizing the tool they use, but also the action and aftermath they intend through the triplicate court system. I've just plain had more success using courts than single figures.
*Geomantic Charts as Talismans
I'm not very artistically inclined or good at drawing, so by drawing up a court, I have perfect cells to represent the factors of the situation, and can place geomantic signs inside them to represent the forces I want to invoke there. I always reccomend performing divination on a situation before magicking it, and disfiguring the chart to look like the outcome you want can be the basis of a talisman itself.
*Journaling Real World Geomantic Examples
This is mainly an exercise to deepen the understanding of the figures, but it also acts as a great basis for witchcraft by drawing a direct connection between phenomena and the courts. A sun rise after a long storm, a rushing waterfall purfying the air, the act of a kid falling and breaking a leg; moments that snag at our attention I like to use by focusing on them and generating a court to represent the core of that experience. It makes image magic that much easier by providing more ways to think about a situation if geomantic thinking isn't second nature. One might not know the best figure to help a person get out of their funk, but you can recognize how sunlight breaking through stormclouds can be a positive force in that situation, and use the geomantic court you derived from that as the skeleton of the spell to fix the situation.
*Geomantic Incantations
When creating vocae magicae for my rites, I like to link some sonic element of the speech to the geomantic figure I'm evoking. Examples I've used: creating four-line stanzas, the word count (or syllable count) of each line creating the odd/even patterns that create a figure; counting the number of dots in a figure and making sure each line of the incantation has that many words; creating four-line poems to corrospond to the four lines of the figure, and if the respective line of the figure is a single dot/active, then the incantation is direct and literal (make Jane Doe love me), but if it's a double dot/passive, it's poetic and implied (let the lost bird come). An easy way to add more geomantic corrospondences to a rite.
*Geomantic Mudras
Full credits to Digital Ambler for this one. It's the act of creating hand signs for the geomantic figures. The index is the fire line, middle the air line, and so on until the pinkie. One curls the figure in to represent a single dot, and extends a figure to represent a double dot. So for example, if you want to invoke the fecund influences of Puella, show someone your middle finger! The Devil Horns represent Conjunctio, and so on.
*Share some techniques on incorparting geomancy into practical magic
*Recieve some techniques on incorporating geomancy into practical magic
*Find a person or community interested in geomancy to share notes with. Ideally on a long-term basis.
Suggested Reading:
*The Art and Practice of Geomancy, John Micheal Greer
*Notes on Geomancy, Nick Farrell
*Ars Geomantica, Gary Nottingham
*Literally anything on Digital Ambler under the Geomancy tag
*Secreti Geomantici and Star and Stone by Nick Farrel (only because if you are able to read those, send me a copy, too!)
Prelude
Hitherto attempts to incorporate geomancy into a magical system have done nothing more special than replace the planetary seals on a talisman with geomantic ones. Even Digital Ambler, a massively creative thinker who's progressed the occult world so much, started and ended his series on geomantic magic by inserting a geomantic motif into other existing magical system (e.g., doing regular candle magic with the candles arranged as a geomantic figure). Helpful! Workable! But part of me feels as if we're missing a lot of the magic of geomancy. The interaction of elements, the physics of adding figures together, their arrangement on a chart.
Below, I thought I'd share some of the techniques I've been using, open myself up to others' critiques and suggestions, and overall help seed a revolution in geomantic magic. Though I've put this under witchcraft--for the elemental bend to working the figures, and my own preference for secular, "low magic" dirty sorcery--I hope I can open a discussion into the infinite possibilities of geomantic magic, to move us beyond merely a reskin of astral talismans.
*Scrying the Figures
By far the most helpful and immediately enlightening practice I've come across. Those familiar with the GD practice of scrying the elemental planes should feel comfortable here. It's a technique lifted from The Art and Practice of Geomancy (APG). One visualizes a door embossed with the appropiate geomantic symbol, and enters it to recieve tutoring into the deeper mysteries of each figure. Though more than just theoretical learning, I have entered these doors with an intention for a spell and walked away with a complete vision of how a rite can be prepared to activate the requested forces. I experience startlingly clear shapes and colours, psychedelic images resolve easily into real-world items when you give yourself time to ponder the images after a dive into the geomantic currents. I have visualized geomantic courts that represent the intent of a spell, and visions of shiny, silver snakes revealed itself to be a bead chain I needed to finish the rite.
*Geomantic Abjad
Using the Figure-Letter correspondences provided in APG can be used to turn a string of letters into a string of figures. I've succesfully used this to translate sentences of intent into sigils to add to the border of my talismans, as might commonly be done with an Alphabet of Desire or the Thebean Alphabet. People can also combine all the figures generated through a Geomantic-Abjad to recieve a single figure to represent the sentence of intent. I have also attempted this to turn names into single figures to use as a focus in a spell (i.e., B/O/B becomes Tristitia/Carcer/Tristitia becomes Carcer when all the figures are added together). I've personally not found this to be succesful, usually being better to assign people figures based on the role they play, their personality, or their appearance (correspondences given in APG). Although it's been beneficial for translating sentences of intent into a single figure as a focus, I wonder why! Just a fluke?
One can also do this the other way round, where you take a string of geomantic symbols (e.g., taking the first 12 figures of a fortunate chart) and turn them into letters to create barbaros incantations for one to chant.
*Elemental Disposal
A really easy way of boosting the results of a geomantic operation is to link the creation or disposal of a talisman/charmed object/etc. to the inner and outer elements of the figure. For exampe, Fortuna Major's inner element of Earth and its outer element is Fire, so a charm bag I created included dried herbs (incorporating Earth, and the Dry quality that fire and earth share) and later releasing the spell to act via burning.
*Elemental Invocation
Tony Willis, in his article for Prediction magazine titled Geomantic Talismans, describes the geomantic figures as 'firecrackers,' and I am liable to agree, especially when one is working with a single figure rather than an entire court. Geomantic signs represent broad forces that are informed not only by its own nature, but the nature of the other figures interacting with it. It really is like astrology in that sense, where the quality of help you're going to recieve from a planet is going to vary a lot depending on what's happening around it, and (geomantic figures and astral magic alike) are not liable to care much for your intent in its manifestation when you call on them. Using a single figure then can represent an overly pure representation of that figure. Sometimes we don't want to risk totally upending the situation, so it can be helpful to invoke Elemental forces (fire/earth/air/water) instead. A touch of fire can make fickle Puella mature into stable Fortuna Major, or burn alive an enemy's fortunate Laetitia so their plans go nowhere with the indecisive Populus. This sort of thinking that elevates the geomantic figure from being merely symbols to doodle on a talisman, and into a universal science one can think with in a way without writing down a single figure.
*Casting and Turning the Chart
Like a natal chart, a geomantic chart can represent a true reflection of the target's nature. And like an astral chart, one can make them for people, buildings, nations, and weather patterns. When one produces such a chart, they're afforded a key into the patterns of that target. Look into the 8th House to see what forces one can leverage to quicken a demise, or into the Fifth house to see what pleasures and vices tempt them. Magic performed by this means can lead us to use figures that are very counter-intuitive to our intent, but they help our spells become that much more impactful because you're striking at the situation's 'weak point.'
*Geomantic Courts
Contrary to most geomantic magic online that suggests using a single figure, I champion using the Witnesses and Judge formation instead. Using a single figure acts like splashing that particular force into our lives, but a court is like giving a spell a degree of auto-pilot. One can represent their intent better by not solely relying on emphasizing the tool they use, but also the action and aftermath they intend through the triplicate court system. I've just plain had more success using courts than single figures.
*Geomantic Charts as Talismans
I'm not very artistically inclined or good at drawing, so by drawing up a court, I have perfect cells to represent the factors of the situation, and can place geomantic signs inside them to represent the forces I want to invoke there. I always reccomend performing divination on a situation before magicking it, and disfiguring the chart to look like the outcome you want can be the basis of a talisman itself.
*Journaling Real World Geomantic Examples
This is mainly an exercise to deepen the understanding of the figures, but it also acts as a great basis for witchcraft by drawing a direct connection between phenomena and the courts. A sun rise after a long storm, a rushing waterfall purfying the air, the act of a kid falling and breaking a leg; moments that snag at our attention I like to use by focusing on them and generating a court to represent the core of that experience. It makes image magic that much easier by providing more ways to think about a situation if geomantic thinking isn't second nature. One might not know the best figure to help a person get out of their funk, but you can recognize how sunlight breaking through stormclouds can be a positive force in that situation, and use the geomantic court you derived from that as the skeleton of the spell to fix the situation.
*Geomantic Incantations
When creating vocae magicae for my rites, I like to link some sonic element of the speech to the geomantic figure I'm evoking. Examples I've used: creating four-line stanzas, the word count (or syllable count) of each line creating the odd/even patterns that create a figure; counting the number of dots in a figure and making sure each line of the incantation has that many words; creating four-line poems to corrospond to the four lines of the figure, and if the respective line of the figure is a single dot/active, then the incantation is direct and literal (make Jane Doe love me), but if it's a double dot/passive, it's poetic and implied (let the lost bird come). An easy way to add more geomantic corrospondences to a rite.
*Geomantic Mudras
Full credits to Digital Ambler for this one. It's the act of creating hand signs for the geomantic figures. The index is the fire line, middle the air line, and so on until the pinkie. One curls the figure in to represent a single dot, and extends a figure to represent a double dot. So for example, if you want to invoke the fecund influences of Puella, show someone your middle finger! The Devil Horns represent Conjunctio, and so on.