Earth Divination: Earth Magic: Practical Guide to Geomancy [Paperback]

John Michael Greer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1999

Geomancy, along with astrology and tarot, is one of the three major divination systems of the Western magical tradition. Medieval and renaissance traditions of geomancy use simple but powerful methods of interpretation that are easy to use, and based on the flow of elemental energies through the earth. This book teaches those methods, drawing from writings that have been completely out of print since the Renaissance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Michael Greer (Western Maryland) has been a student of occult traditions and the unexplained for more than thirty years. A Freemason, a student of geomancy and sacred geometry, and a widely read blogger, he is also the author of numerous books, including Monsters, The New Encyclopedia of the Occult and Secrets of the Lost Symbol, and currently serves as the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), a contemporary school of Druid nature spirituality. Greer has contributed articles to Renaissance Magazine, Golden Dawn Journal, Mezlim, New Moon Rising, Gnosis, and Alexandria.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (July 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567183123
• ISBN-13: 978-1567183122
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in the gritty Navy town of Bremerton, Washington and raised in the south Seattle suburbs, I began writing about as soon as I could hold a pencil. SF editor George Scithers' dictum that all would-be writers have a million words of so of bad prose in them, and have to write it out, pretty much sums up the couple of decades between my first serious attempt to write a book and my first published book, "Paths of Wisdom", which appeared in 1996. These days I live in Cumberland, Maryland with my spouse Sara; serve as presiding officer -- Grand Archdruid is the official title -- of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), a Druid order founded in 1912; and write in half a dozen nonfiction fields, nearly all of them focused on the revival of forgotten ideas, insights, and traditions of practice from the rubbish heap of history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Divinational Manual on the subject of Geomancy, January 19, 2005

By 

Brother MOLOCH 969 "MolochSorcery.com" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Divination: Earth Magic: Practical Guide to Geomancy (Paperback)

Since I'm both a fan of Greer and of Geomancy, I have to say I really enjoyed this book. For most of you not in the know, Geomancy is a form of divination that came from the Arabic countries and was first talked about in Peter de Abano's "Heptameron" which is often attributed to Henry Cornelius Agrippa who compiled the mammoth work "Three Books of Occult Philosophy".

Geomancy is related to the "Earth". It was traditionally used by drawing a box in the sand or loosely tilled soil with a stick. Then the diviner would focus on the question and make random stabs with the stick inside the box. Depending on if the total stabs was an even or odd number, a Geomantic figure was being created using a series of four lines of dots. And this same procedure would continue fifteen more times until a total of sixteen rows of dots had been tallied. If you think THAT's tough, then the manner in which the Geromantic characters are made will baffle you.

The first sixteen lines were split into groups of four and thus you had the Four Mothers. Then you took the top line of dots of each Mother in order & from that you get the Four Daughters. Then you add the Daughters to get the Nephews. (Still with me?) THEN you add the Nephews to get the Right and Left Witnesses. Finally you add the Witnesses together and you got the Judge.

Actually once you've created the dots and all the figures two or three different times, it becomes rather simple to remember how. Complicated? Yes. Easy to do? Yes with repetition. The tricky part is how you apply the Geomantic figures to the Medieval Astrology chart. This is a square chart where you take each figure and place it according to the outline in the book. This is standard procedure and it too becomes rather easy after five or six times of making a chart.

Now you might ask, "Well if the Judge is the final outcome, why go to the bother of putting the figures in specific houses of the chart?" Because thru the use of Astrology and it's Aspects (squars, conunctions, oppositions, trines, sextiles, etc.) you can gain a LOT of useful information about the question and questioner that you may otherwise overlook.

Actually Geomancy is a LOT easier to use and learn than the standard 78 Tarot cards! There's only sixteen standard Geomantic figures too. Plus the fact Geomancy is related to one particular element and all it governs: Earth. This includes careers, employment, physical health, home, love, real estate & land holdings, wealth, money, jewels, fame and fortune, etc. These areas are governed by the Gnomes of whom Ghob is the Elemental King.

So why haven't people made more use of this system? Well the complexity for one thing. It's quite daunting at first but if you persevere, you'll see it's quite easily used. Unfortunately however this form of divination does take time to perform thus it does not lend itself so easily for those who'd like to use it at a Psychic Fair.

Greer offers some tips on making the castings quicker but he really shines when he shows you how to construct a box with a lid to put in sand or loose crumbled dirt for your divination. Plus he offers you some excellent ideas for using Geomancy together with Magical workings.

I've read almost all of the books dealing with Geomancy over the years and I have to give credit to Greer for making this book easily readable and quite usable. I rate this book five stars on a five star scale for it's treatment of a particularly confusing subject and the versatility of the subject matter for other things aside from divination. It does include a pretty decent bibliography as well as a handy index which is always helpful.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A traditional form of divination revived!, December 29, 1999

By 

"starrwalker" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Divination: Earth Magic: Practical Guide to Geomancy (Paperback)

The most complete book published on the lost art of geomancy. Geomancy is one of the oldest forms of divination from the Middle Ages. This book is clearly written and easy to understand with a layout of progressive steps that one can easily follow as a beginner as well as an advanced student. The author has included several charts and diagrams that can be reproduced for your own readings.

The book is divided into two parts: the first part is an introduction to geomancy, how to develop the characters, interpretation and reading of the characters. The in-depth interpretations for each of the sixteen figures are extensive and include: names, image, keyword, basic divinatory meaning, quality, planet, zodiac sign, outer and inner element, anatomy, appearance, character, colors, and what other figures they are complementary to.

The second part part deals with geomancy and its uses in magick. There is a chapter on sigils and talismans, their empowerment, and rituals. Highly recommended for those student of the Craft who are looking to add to their divination skills.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a long dead form of Divination, August 29, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Central Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Divination: Earth Magic: Practical Guide to Geomancy (Paperback)

John Michael Greer has done something original with this book. It is truly great. He presents to the reader a very antiquated but very easy form of divination that has been practised little since the Rennaisance. He takes much of his information from bits and pieces of essays that survived the big Witch Persecution. If you are looking for an accurate form of divination that is very easy to use this book could teach you a lot and is simple enough that if you have no prior information in the occult you will still have no problem learning it.