Arabic geomancy is a type of geomantic divination which involves interpreting a series of figures formed by a randomized process that involves recursion, followed by analyzing them, often augmented with astrological interpretations. Geomancy was considered by figures such as Richard II to be a broader discipline that also included philosophy, science, and alchemic elements.
History
The word "geomancy", from Late Greek *γεωμαντεία *geōmanteía translates literally to "earth divination"; it is a calque translation of the Arabic term ‛ilm al-raml, or the "science of the sand". Earlier Greek renditions of this word borrowed the Arabic word raml ("sand") directly, rendering it as rhamplion or rabolion. Other Arabic names for geomancy include khatt al-raml and darb al-raml.
The original names of the figures in Middle Eastern geomancy were traditionally given in Arabic, excluding a Persian origin. The reference in Hermetic texts to the mythical Ṭumṭum al-Hindi potentially points to an Indian origin, although Stephen Skinner thinks this unlikely. Having an Arabic origin is most likely, since the expansive trade-routes of Arabian merchants would facilitate the exchange of culture and knowledge.Eglash, Ron (1997). "Bamana Sand Divination: Recursion in Ethnomathematics." American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 99, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 112–122
European scholars and universities began to translate Arabic texts and treatises in the early Middle Ages, including those on geomancy. Isidore of Seville ( 560 – 636) lists geomancy with other methods of divination – including pyromancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, and necromancy – without describing its application or methods.Skinner, Stephen (1980). Terrestrial Astrology: Divination by Geomancy. London: Routeledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. It could be that Isidore of Seville was listing methods of elemental scrying more than what is commonly known as geomancy. The poem Experimentarius attributed to Bernardus Silvestris, who wrote in the middle of the 12th century, was a verse translation of a work on astrological geomancy. One of the first discourses on geomancy translated into Latin was the Ars Geomantiae of Hugh of Santalla ( early 12th century). By this point, geomancy must have been an established divination system in Arabic-speaking areas of Africa and the Middle East.
Other translators, such as Gerard of Cremona ( 1114 – 1187), also produced new translations on geomancy that incorporated astrological elements and techniques that were, up until this point, ignored. From this point on, more European scholars studied and applied geomancy, writing many treatises in the process. Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), Christopher Cattan (La Géomancie du Seigneur Christofe de Cattan (1558)), and John Heydon (1629 – 1667) produced oft-cited and well-studied treatises on geomancy, along with other philosophers, occultists, and theologians until the 17th century, when interest in occultism and divination began to dwindle due to the rise of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason.
Geomancy underwent a revival in the 19th century, when renewed interest in the occult arose due to the works of Robert Thomas Cross (1850–1923) and of Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873). Franz Hartmann published his text, The Principles of Astrological Geomancy, (English translation: 1889) which spurred new interest in the divination system. Based on this and a few older texts, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (founded in 1887) began the task of recollecting knowledge on geomancy along with other occult subjects, with them, Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) published his works that integrated various occult systems of knowledge. However, due to the short time the members of the Golden Dawn desired to learn, practice, and teach the old occult arts, many elaborate systems of divination and ritual had to be compressed, losing much in the process. In effect, they had reduced geomancy from a complex art of interpretation and skill in recognizing patterns to looking up predefined answers based on pairs of figures.Greer, John Michael (2009). The Art and Practice of Geomancy. San Francisco: Weiser Books. . pp. 24–5.
Like other systems of divination, geomancy has mythological associations. According to one Arabic Hermetic text,Brenner, Louis (2000). "Muslim Divination and the Religion of Sub-Saharan Africa." Insight and Artistry in African Divination. ed. John Pemberton III. Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 50–1 Idris (or Hermes Trismegistus) witnessed the angel Jibril in a dream. Idris asked for enlightenment, and Jibril proceeded to draw a geomantic figure. Upon being asked what he was doing, Jibril instructed Idris in the geomantic arts. Keeping this secret, he sought out Ṭumṭum al-Hindi, an Indian king, who then wrote a book on geomancy. This book was passed down through clandestine circles into the hands of Khalaf al-Barbarĩ, who traveled to Medina and was converted to Islam by Muhammad. Saying he knew a divinatory art, he explained that pre-Islamic prophets knew geomancy, and that by learning geomancy, one may "know all that the prophet knew".
Another mythological story for the origin of geomancy also involves Idris.Maupoil, Bernard. "Contribution à létude de l'origine musulmane de la géomancie dans le Bas-Dahomey." Journal de la sociéte des africanistes, volume 13, pp. 17–8. After praying to God that He give Idris easily a means to earn his living, Idris rested one day, bored and without work, and began to draw figures idly in the sand. As he did so, a stranger appeared before him and questioned what he was doing. Idris replied that he was simply entertaining himself, but the stranger replied that he was doing a very serious act. Idris became incredulous and tried to deny this, but the stranger explained the significance of the meaning of the figure Idris drew. He then commanded Idris to draw another figure, and upon doing so the stranger explained the meaning and significance of that figure.
The pair continued this until Idris had discovered and understood the sixteen figures. The stranger then taught Idris how to form the figures in a regular manner and what the results meant, teaching him how to know things that could not be known with just the physical senses. After testing Idris' newfound knowledge and skill of geomancy, and revealing himself to be the angel Jibril in the process, the stranger disappeared. Idris, thankful to God and His messenger that he had learned this art, never revealed the art to anyone. Before he was risen to God, he wrote a book describing the art as Jibril had taught him, and from his successors.
Other tablets and records from antiquity identify Idris with the prophets Daniel or with Enoch. This was done in order to give geomancy a legitimate standing as a gift and skill from God, especially since one of the prophets had practiced it. However, those who argued against geomancy, such as Ibn Khaldun in his Muqaddima (1377), countered that it was a pre-Islamic system of knowledge, and that all such epistemologies were rendered obsolete with the revelation of the Qur'an.
Throughout the evolution and migration of geomancy, various tales and plays incorporated aspects of the art into their stories. In one story in One Thousand and One Nights, both the African Magician and his brother use geomancy to find Aladdin in order to do him harm. Geomancy's first mention in print came in William Langland's Piers Plowman where it is unfavorably compared to the level of expertise a person needs for astronomy ("gemensye [geomesye] is gynful of speche"). In 1386 Chaucer used the "Parson's Tale" to poke fun at geomancy in Canterbury Tales: "What say we of them that believe in divynailes as …geomancie…". Shakespeare and Ben Jonson were also known to use geomancy for comic relief. Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (early 14th century) makes a passing reference to geomancy. In the first two stanzas of Canto XIX in the Purgatorio,
Generating geomantic charts
Geomancy requires the geomancer to create sixteen lines of points or marks without counting, creating sixteen random numbers. Without taking note of the number of points made, the geomancer provides the random mechanism needed for most forms of divination. Once the lines are produced, the geomancer marks off the points two by two until either one or two points remain in the line; mathematically, this is the same as producing two dots if the number is even or one dot if the number is odd. Taking these leftover points in groups of four, they form the first four geomantic figures, and form the basis for the generation of the remaining figures. Once this is done, the "inspired" portion of the geomantic reading is done; what remains is algorithmic calculation.
Traditionally, geomancy requires a surface of sand and the hands or a stick, but can be done equally well with a wax tablet and stylus or a pen and paper; ritualized objects may or may not be desired for use in divination. Often, when drawing marks or figures, geomancers will proceed from right to left as a tradition from geomancy's Arabic origins, although this is by no means mandatory. Modern methods of geomancy include, in addition to the traditional ways, computerized random number generators or thrown objects; other methods including counting the eyes on potatoes.Pennick, Nigel (1995). The Oracle of Geomancy. Capal Bann Publishing. . Some practitioners use specialized cards, with each card representing a single geomantic figure; in this case, only four cards are drawn after shuffling. Specialized machines have also been used to generate full geomantic charts.Savage-Smith, E.; Smith, M. B.; King, D. (1982). "An Islamic Geomancy and a 13TH-CENTURY Divinatory Device." BULLETIN CENTER ARCH. V.5, P. 42.
The figures are entered into a specialized table, known as the shield chart, which illustrates the recursive processes reminiscent of the Cantor set that form the figures. The first four figures are called the matres, or Mothers, and form the basis for the rest of the figures in the chart; they occupy the first four houses in the upper right-hand corner such that the first Mother is to the far right, the second Mother is to her left, and so on (continuing the right-to-left tradition).
The next four figures, the filiae, or Daughters, are formed by rearranging the lines used in the Mothers: the first Daughter is formed by taking the first line from the first, second, third, and fourth Mothers in order and rearranging them to be the first Daughter's first, second, third, and fourth lines, respectively. The process is done similarly for the second Daughter using the second line from the Mothers, and so on. The Daughters are placed in the next four houses in order on the same row as the Mothers.
After the eight matres and filiae are formed, the four nepotes (or Nieces) are formed by adding those pairs of figures that rest above the houses of the respective Niece. Therefore, the first and second Mothers add to form the first Niece, the third and fourth Mothers add to form the second Niece, and so on. Here, addition involves summing the points in the respective lines of the parents: if the sum is an even number, then the resulting figure's line will have two points, and if the sum is odd then the line will have one point. Conceptually, this is the same procedure in mathematical logic as the exclusive or, where a line with two points is used instead of "false" and a line with one point instead of "true".Marcia Ascher, Malagasy Sikidy: A Case in Ethnomathematics, New York: Academic Press, 1997.