About


How it all started for me

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I became mildly interested in geomancy in my mid-teens when I was given a copy of Israel Regardie’s brief booklet A Practical Guide to Geomantic Divination which had cost the princely sum of 35 pence (yes, that was the real price and yes, I am that old).

I had some knowledge of the astrological houses which were a necessary part of the divination system, but the interpretations of the geomantic figures left me cold.  The meanings were obscure and didn’t relate to modern life.  And they were also brief – too brief to be useful to me, at least.

Other things happened.  Dowsing, Tarot, girlfriends, astrology, University, jobs, wife, more jobs, divorce, other jobs, marriage. . .

One day I was working with a friend of mine who had devised a new system for giving readings. I had suggested that you could ‘cast’ a crystal somewhere on the complex and beautiful design he had devised in order to create a reading – and suddenly I had an idea!

Actually it was three ideas, with each light-bulb going off stronger and brighter than the one before, until I knew that I had given birth to an IDEA!  Here were the three thoughts:

“Actually, instead of just using one crystal you could use several crystals – each one representing a planet”.

“Actually, you could use gemstones to represent planets and cast them onto a ‘blank horoscope’ sheet”. . .  and then the wham! . . .

“Actually, the gemstones could not only represent astrological planets but also the geomantic figures, too!”

But my beautiful new baby idea wasn’t breathing!  Sure you could cast an instant horoscope that way, but the geomantic meanings were still thin and uninviting.

I looked at the figures again, now with years of experience of other kinds of readings and a lot more understanding of symbology. . .

. . . and then it happened – I got it!

Each of the figures had four ‘levels’, each of which could be interpreted individually!

The way to interpret the figures sprang fully-formed into my mind!  Yes, a moment of inspiration.  And that was the slap on the baby’s back that made her take her first breath – she was alive!

I don’t believe in all this stuff! (or, Something for the sceptics)

“But I’m a sceptic!  I don’t believe in magic!  All this talk of divination and metaphorical babies is just so much nonsense!”

Good!  I’m a sceptic too!  So here’s something to consider:

Even if you believe there is nothing ‘in’ geomancy, that it can’t work, that it has no rational basis for belief, it can still be useful.

How?

Because it can suggest ideas and approaches that you might not have considered otherwise.  It can open up avenues of thought which, by challenging assumptions and by asking to probe deeper, can shine light on new pathways of possibility.  It can pose ‘what-if’ scenarios to help you prepare for other possibilities, either bad or good.

By simply suggesting that you take time to pause, to reflect, to consider other possibilities it naturally opens you up to a more thoughtful approach to life.

To more thoughtful interactions with others.

To more appreciation of your own life and the possibilities around you.

And from a sceptical and critical thinking point of view that has to be a good thing.

Whether you are a true-believer or a sceptic, a person of faith or a scientist, or anywhere in between, you can take what is said in a reading and think how it might apply in your life.  More than that, it prompts you to ask, “OK, if that were to happen, or if that was a possibility, what would I – or could I – do about it?”

In other words it is asking you to think through the possibilities and consequences.  It provokes your imagination.  It asks you to think how you might prepare.  It helps you to consider what skills, abilities, resources and practices you might bring to bear in your life.

So whether you believe in the oracle or not, thinking about its meaning and what you might do as a consequence of the reading is never wasted.  You are either forewarned or you have practised – literally – being a more considerate and thoughtful person.

It is a doorway to a more thoughtful and deliberate life.

 

 

 

Photo credit:  http://andyarthur.org/photos/tioga/beginonewa.html