Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. It is thought to have originated in North Africa, but became popular in Europe in the twelfth century through Latin translations of Arabic texts on the occult arts. Together with other methods of divination that were based on reading elements of nature, geomancy connected time and space, science and nature. In Arabic, it is called “science of the sand” (علم الرمل), and in Greek (γεωμαντεία) “earth divination”, in which science and randomness are inextricably intertwined. It was common practice throughout the Ottoman Empire, and was known as “kumalak” (literally, “sheep dung” in the Turkic languages). It was used in the writing of occult texts, and was practiced in Europe well into the Renaissance.

In each region and in different periods, geomancy developed somewhat differently, making it difficult to completely reconstruct the method and its intricacies today. Geomancy has tools and measuring devices designed to generate random patterns of dots, which are interpreted by means of shield charts (specialized tables illustrating the recursive processes of the reading). The lawfulness of the shield charts is clear and unmistakable, and is based on mathematics. Nonetheless, it may be said that like many other divination methods, the basis of geomancy is randomness. The most prevalent form of geomancy includes interpretation of sixteen figures created in a random process, followed by an analysis.[1]

Kumalak, 2023

30×40, gold leaf, silver leaf, adhesive paper, and acrylic on paper

Translation from Hebrew: Margalit Rodgers

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[1] İzmirîzâde Ahmed Efendi (Pseudonym), 1192 [1778], Kitab-ı İlm-i Remîl (The Book of Geomancy).