Geomantic Symbols and Correspondences

There are sixteen figures that comprise the “alphabet” of geomantic divination. On the surface, they’re simple dot patterns of four rows, each row having one or two dots. In this manner, they superficially resemble the trigrams of the Ba Gua or the hexagrams of the I Ching in Chinese esoterica.

The four rows of a geomantic figure are called the head, arms, body, and legs of a geomantic figure. Each row also corresponds to one of the four elements: from top to bottom, they represent fire, air, water, and earth (from least dense to most dense). Single dots represent that element being active or present, while two dots represent that element being passive or absent. Thus, the figure Fortuna Major, which has from top to bottom two dots, two dots, one dot, and one dot, has water and earth present but fire and air passive.

Click on the figures in the gallery below to get acquainted with the sixteen geomantic figures.

: Populus

: Tristitia

: Albus

: Fortuna Maior

: Rubeus

: Acquisitio

: Coniunctio

: Caput Draconis

: Laetitia

: Carcer

: Amissio

: Puella

: Fortuna Minor

: Puer

: Cauda Draconis

: Via

One of the oldest ways the ancients used to group or classify the geomantic elements was by mobility. Some of the figures look as if they’re pointing upward or downward, or towards or away from the geomancer. The figures that look as if they’re pointing downward (or, alternatively, look like they’re positioned upright) are called stable figures, while those that point upward (or look like they’re positioned upside down) are called mobile figures.

Mobility	Figures
Stable	Populus Albus Fortuna Major Carcer Caput Draconis Puella Acquisitio Tristitia
Mobile	Via Rubeus Fortuna Minor Coniunctio Cauda Draconis Puer Amissio Laetitia

In this scheme, stable figures were seen to “stick around”, or that their influence would be long-lasting or slow to change over time. Mobile figures, on the other hand, would be fleeting and quick. As a means to answer yes/no questions, stable figures generally give an affirmative answer, while mobile figures give a negative one.

This is related to a possibly older arrangement of figures with three groups: entering, exiting, and liminal. The scheme was mostly the same with entering being replaced by stable and exiting by mobile, but it separated out the figures Via, Populus, Carcer, and Coniunctio into their own group of liminal figures, which were symmetric and were seen to go either way.

Motion	Figures
Entering	Albus Fortuna Major Caput Draconis Puella Acquisitio Tristitia
Exiting	Rubeus Fortuna Minor Cauda Draconis Puer Amissio Laetitia
Liminal	Via Coniunctio Populus Carcer

The meaning of “entering” is largely the same as that of “stable”, and ditto for “exiting” and “mobile”, with the added implication of motion or delivery to or from the querent. Liminal figures, on the other hand, either reflect the motion of the figures around them (especially Via and Coniunctio) or show no motion at all (especially Populus and Carcer).

Another way to group the figures is by parity, or whether a figure is even or odd. Even figures are also called impartial or objective, and represent states of material or physical reality (such as material gain or loss, restraint or freedom, increase or decrease). Odd figures are called emotional or subjective, and represent states of mental or emotional being (grief or joy, planning or fine-tuning, passion or detachment). This parity quality comes up significantly later on during interpretation, where a significant figure called the Judge must, of necessity and much like in (ideal) real life, be impartial.

Parity	Figures
Even	Populus Via Fortuna Major Fortuna Minor Coniunctio Carcer Amissio Acquisitio
Odd	Albus Rubeus Puer Puella Laetitia Tristitia Caput Draconis Cauda Draconis

One way to see how the figures relate to forces in the world is to look at their geometric and mathematical relationships among themselves. Consider three operations one might do to a given geomantic figure: one could invert it by replacing all the double points with single points and vice versa, one could reverse it by turning it upside down, and one could do both at the same time. This reveals interesting relationships among the figures and some useful rules in helping to form them later on when we get to generating the actual readings.

A figure and its inverse are disharmonious opposites: consider Albus and Puer, the old man and the young boy, the one who thinks but does not act and the one who acts but does not think. Inverse figures undergo a complete and total transformation by activating all the passive elements and turning all the active elements passive, and show a total change of essence and ability from one extreme to the other. They are disharmonious since they have no elements and nothing in common with each other, but together they can form a complete unity.
A figure and its reverse are harmonious opposites: consider Puer and Puella, the Man and the Maiden, the male force and the female force. Reverse figures show the same activity or concept turned 180°, where the highest essence becomes the lowest and vice versa. These figures add to either Carcer, indicating a strained but cyclical relationship, or Coniunctio, showing an intersecting and unstable relationship. Even figures that are liminal have themselves as their reverse figures, indicating that they have no opposite in this manner and form a whole on their own.
A figure and its converse are parallel opposites: consider Albus and Puella, the old man and the young woman, both who receive but do so in different ways, the one because he is unable to do anything but receive and the other because she is completely willing to receive above all else. The relationships between converse figures is subtle, but often show two extremes of a particular element, such as Laetitia and Caput Draconis, the fire that initiates and the fire that consumes. Even figures that are not liminal have themselves as their converse figures.

Figure	Inverse Figure	Reverse Figure	Converse Figure
Populus	Via	Populus	Via
Tristitia	Cauda Draconis	Laetitia	Caput Draconis
Albus	Puer	Rubeus	Puella
Fortuna Major	Fortuna Minor	Fortuna Minor	Fortuna Major
Rubeus	Puella	Albus	Puer
Acquisitio	Amissio	Amissio	Acquisitio
Coniunctio	Carcer	Coniunctio	Carcer
Caput Draconis	Via	Cauda Draconis	Via
Laetitia	Caput Draconis	Tristitia	Cauda Draconis
Carcer	Coniunctio	Carcer	Coniunctio
Amissio	Acquisitio	Acquisitio	Amissio
Puella	Rubeus	Puer	Albus
Fortuna Minor	Fortuna Major	Fortuna Major	Fortuna Minor
Puer	Albus	Puella	Rubeus
Cauda Draconis	Tristitia	Caput Draconis	Laetitia
Via	Populus	Via	Populus

Various authors for hundreds of years have given varying ways to classify the figures as generally favorable or unfavorable; however, since each situation can deem any given figure favorable or unfavorable differently, I won’t provide one here. Fortuna Major, for instance, is the most favorable figure in geomancy, but is not good for things needing a quick or easy resolution.

In addition to having their own names, meanings, relationships, and forms, the geomantic figures also have correspondences with other symbols and signs in Western occultism, such as the elements, planets, and astrological signs.

The Geomantic Figures and the Elements

The geomantic figures, as noted above, are combinations of elements, either active or passive. In this sense, each figure represents the dynamic interplay between the elements shown in its symbolic makeup. Via, for instance, is the symbol of complete and total change, and this dynamic energy is shown by all four elements being active. Populus, on the other hand, has no elements active, and is entirely in stasis and inertia.

Beyond this, though, each figure has a ruling element that characterizes its inner essence and power. This ruling element is always represented as an active element in that figure’s elemental makeup, with the exception of Populus, which has no elements active. So, Laetitia, with only Fire active, is ruled by Fire.

Ruling Element	Figures Ruled
Fire	Laetitia Cauda Draconis Amissio Fortuna Minor
Air	Rubeus Puer Coniunctio Acquisitio
Water	Albus Puella Via Populus
Earth	Tristitia Caput Draconis Fortuna Major Carcer

The Geomantic Figures and the Planets

Each of the seven traditional planets is ascribed rulership over two figures, with the exceptions of Caput Draconis and Cauda Draconis, as noted below.

Ruling Planet	Figures Ruled
Moon	Populus Via
Mercury	Coniunctio Albus
Venus	Puella Amissio
Sun	Fortuna Major Fortuna Minor
Mars	Puer Rubeus
Jupiter	Acquisitio Laetitia
Saturn	Tristitia Carcer

Generally, each planet has one stable figure and one mobile figure, except for Mars (which are both mobile) and Saturn (which are both stable). With this sort of attribution, it’s possible to add a more nuanced correspondence between the planets and figures: with the exception of the Sun and Moon, the stable figure is seen as that planet being direct or swift in motion, and the mobile figure is seen as retrograde or slow in motion. For the solar figures, Fortuna Major represents the Sun in the northern hemisphere, while Fortuna Minor represents the Sun in the southern hemisphere. For the lunar figures, Populus represents the Moon waxing in light, and Via represents the Moon waning.

The correspondences for Caput Draconis and Cauda Draconis are a little weird. Even with seven planets each ruling two figures, that still leaves two figures leftover. The ancients resolved this by assigning Caput Draconis to the North Node of the Moon (where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s towards the north celestial pole) and Cauda Draconis to the South Node of the Moon (ditto, but for the south celestial pole). Historically, these two points themselves were associated with the benefic planets and the malefic planets, respectively; thus, Caput Draconis also has associations with Venus and Jupiter, and Cauda Draconis with Mars and Saturn.

Based on these planetary associations, it’s possible to assign the geomantic figures to the sephiroth of Qabbalah. At least within the Golden Dawn system of magic, the correspondences between the figures and the sephiroth are fairly straightforward with the exception of Caput and Cauda Draconis, which are both assigned to Malkuth, the Kingdom. Further, Tristitia and Carcer, the figures of Saturn, are instead assigned to Da’ath and not Binah as might be expected. However, Da’ath is often considered part of Binah, and being the stage before crossing the Veil of the Abyss might help keep things a bit tidier in some regards. That said, there are no attributions belonging to Chokmah or Kether.

Ruling Sephirah	Figures Ruled
Malkuth	Caput Draconis Cauda Draconis
Yesod	Populus Via
Hod	Coniunctio Albus
Netzach	Puella Amissio
Tiphareth	Fortuna Major Fortuna Minor
Geburah	Puer Rubeus
Chesed	Acquisitio Laetitia
Da’ath (Binah)	Tristitia Carcer

The planetary correspondences with the geomantic figures are one of the strongest in the field of geomancy, and connect them to many other esoteric and occult topics. All the metals, colors, divinities, and other attributes that are good for the planets are also good for their respective geomantic figures. The astrological signs, however, are another matter; those are discussed below.

In some traditional sources, the planets assigned to Puer and Puella were switched, with Puer corresponding to Venus and Puella to Mars. This was seen at least from the 14th to 18th centuries, but I prefer the assignment given above. The method above makes more sense to me, at any rate.

The Geomantic Figures and the Astrological Signs

Unlike the above attributions and correspondences, those for the astrological signs are a little more hairy. There are two major systems of allotting the geomantic figures to the zodiac, one proposed by Cornelius Agrippa in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, and another by the Italian scholar and translator Gerard of Cremona, from his “On Astrological Geomancy”, a short work that combines the interpretation of horary astrology with the method of geomancy.

Agrippa based his astrological assignment on the figures’ ruling planets: he gave the stable figure of a planet to that planet’s masculine sign (such as Albus, Mercury and stable, to Gemini, air) and the mobile figure to the feminine sign (Coniunctio, Mercury and mobile, to Virgo, earth). Gerard of Cremona, on the other hand, uses a radically different set of attributions. However, since the North and South Nodes of astrology don’t have corresponding signs, both Agrippa and Gerard of Cremona assign Caput Draconis to Virgo and Cauda Draconis to Sagittarius, likely based on their elemental natures.

Ruling Sign	Figures Ruled (Agrippa)	Figures Ruled (Gerard)
Aries	Puer	Acquisitio
Taurus	Amissio	Laetitia Fortuna Minor
Gemini	Albus	Puer Rubeus
Cancer	Populus Via	Albus
Leo	Fortuna Major Fortuna Minor	Via
Virgo	Coniunctio Caput Draconis	Coniunctio Caput Draconis
Libra	Puella	Puella
Scorpio	Rubeus	Tristitia Amissio
Sagittarius	Acquisitio Cauda Draconis	Cauda Draconis
Capricorn	Carcer	Populus
Aquarius	Tristitia	Fortuna Major
Pisces	Laetitia	Carcer

Given the above assignments, it is possible to draw another set of elemental attributions for each of the geomantic figures. This provides another way of viewing the essence and power of a figure, but in different ways from the elements given above. The elements given above, called the “inner” or “geomantic” elements, can be seen as showing the meaning and essence of the figure in isolation or as situations, while the elements given below, the “outer” or “astrological” elements, show the meaning of the figures as players in a situation or together as a dynamic whole.

Ruling Astrological Element	Figures Ruled (Agrippa)	Figures Ruled (Gerard)
Fire	Puer Fortuna Major Fortuna Minor Cauda Draconis	Acquisitio Via Cauda Draconis
Air	Albus Puella Tristitia	Puer Rubeus Puella Fortuna Major
Water	Via Populus Rubeus Laetitia	Albus Amissio Tristitia Carcer
Earth	Amissio Conjunctio Caput Draconis Carcer	Laetitia Fortuna Minor Coniunctio Caput Draconis Populus

Use of one astrological system over another is much like using different sets of terms or house systems in astrology: though they may differ, they’re equally valid. I prefer Gerard of Cremona’s assignment of the figures to the astrological signs, since I have more experience with them in divination, but I use Agrippa’s assignments when doing operations more magical than divinatory. Whichever you use is up to you, so long as it works and you’re consistent with your choice.