The sixteen figures

A language of points

In this form of geomancy, each figure has four rows. A row contains one point or two, giving sixteen possible figures. Traditional casting reduces lines of marks to their odd or even remainder. Here, stones make those points visible.

This oracle uses the familiar Latin figure names and the shield construction described in early European geomantic texts. Its meanings, questions, and counsel are original contemporary reflections, rather than translations of historical predictions. The stones and manuscript borders are an artistic interpretation.

Two ways to read

• One figure · Daily contemplation: a simple theme to consider. Draw at random or select a figure from your own physical cast.
• Shield chart: cast four mothers or select them yourself. The remaining eleven figures are calculated from those beginnings. A figure may appear more than once; repeats are part of the system.

Write an optional question, then cast. Select any square tile to explore its meaning and place in the chart. Begin your reflection with the two witnesses and the judge, then revisit the earlier figures for context.

Use Share Reading for an image, PDF, or text. A shared shield image includes all fifteen tiles and, when interpretations are enabled, the two witnesses and judge. Text and saved readings include all fifteen interpretations. Sign in to Save Reading in your Scriptorium.

Cast the stones →

How the shield unfolds

1. Four mothers: the starting figures. The digital cast gives each of the sixteen patterns equal probability, independently for every mother.
2. Four daughters: read across the mothers. Their first rows make Daughter I; their second rows make Daughter II, and so on.
3. Four nieces: combine Mothers I and II, Mothers III and IV, Daughters I and II, and Daughters III and IV.
4. Two witnesses: the first two nieces make the Right Witness; the other two make the Left Witness.
5. The judge: combine the witnesses to produce the concluding figure.

To combine figures, add corresponding rows. An odd total becomes one stone; an even total becomes two. For example, one plus two becomes one, while one plus one becomes two. Once the mothers are set, the rest of the chart is determined.

The shield begins at the upper right and moves left. On smaller screens, the mothers and daughters occupy separate rows. Every tile is labeled. This version ends at the judge; it does not add a reconciler or an astrological house chart.

Explore the figures

Weathered Earth in light mode; Moonlit Sand in dark mode. Patterns are read from top to bottom.

Sources and approach

The sixteen names, figures, and construction of the shield can be explored in Of Geomancy, attributed to Agrippa, in Robert Turner’s 1655 translation. For historical figure forms and their names, see the proposal to encode geomantic figures. Historical systems differ in their correspondences and interpretations; no planetary or zodiacal correspondences are imposed here.

Original modern reflections and AI-assisted artwork created for Alchemysterium.