From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEarthly signs interpreted through the language of stars and presages.
- In the bookHydromancy similarly relates signs to the stars of water, while Constellatio describes higher stars or their virtues impressing lower bodies.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 24; facsimile PDF page 352.
Historical definition
Geomancy is the best-known art of the earth; here it means the stars of the earth manifesting themselves to people and giving grounds for presaging.
Meaning
The definition first names a general art and then specifies the sense intended “in this place.” That qualification matters: the compiler is not claiming to describe every practice called geomancy. The selected sense concerns stars of the earth manifesting themselves to human observers, providing a basis for presaging.
The phrase “stars of the earth” should not simply be replaced with the visible stars overhead. The definition locates them through the earth and their manifestation. It gives no list of signs or procedure by which a prediction is drawn.
Use in the book
Hydromancy similarly relates signs to the stars of water, while Constellatio describes higher stars or their virtues impressing lower bodies. Essodinum concerns presaging through marks. The comparisons make the dictionary’s language of signs and attributed powers intelligible without turning the different arts into one method.
Places to read
- GeomancyRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ConstellatioThe influence of higher stars understood as an impression in lower things.
- EssodinumForetelling by interpreting marks.
- HydromancyForetelling through manifestations associated with water.
In this edition
The modernised definition preserves the local qualification and the historical star language. It does not introduce a familiar later diagramming system under a definition that does not mention one.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 24; facsimile PDF page 352 — Facsimile