Geomancy

Geomancy (fromLatin geo, "Earth," mancy "prophecy") has always beenmethoddivination that interprets markings onground or how handfulsdirt land when you toss them.

It was explained as divination (insame sentencepyromancyhydromancy) inbest-selling TravelsSir John Mandeville (1400), as "geomantie that superstitious arte" inbookalchemy (1477),defined inbookCornelius Agrippa's magic (1569) asformdivination "which doth divine by certaine conjectures takensimilitudes ofcracking ofEarthe."

In Africatraditional formgeomancy consiststhrowing handfulsdirt inairobserving howdirt falls. In China,diviner may entertrancemake markings onground thatinterpreted by an associate (oftenyoung boy).

According toOxford English Dictionary, "geomancy" appearedvernacular English1362 (vernacular English at this time waslanguage oflowest classes; LatinFrench werecommon languages ofmiddle class, gentry,nobles).

Geomancy's first mentionprint was Langland's Piers Plowman where itunfavorably compared tolevelexpertiseperson needsastronomy ("gemensye [geomesye]gynfulspeche"). In 1386 Chaucer usedParson's Talepoke fun at geomancyCanterbury Tales: "What say wethem that believedivynailes as ... geomancie ..." Shakespeare also used geomancycomic relief.

The English versiongeomancy involved groupingsmarks onground called "constellations"names like PuellaRubeus.

In19th century CE Christian missionariesChina unfortunately labeled Feng Shui as geomancy, although thereno comparison.

In recent timesterm seemshave becomecatch-all forvarietycultic, fringe,pseudoscientific pastimes.