Divination — Legacy Forums — Strolen's Citadel

Divination

#1

So, I was reading about Geomancy today at work, and of course, me being me, I decided that the options presented by traditional Western Geomancy weren't quite up to snuff; i.e. weren't dark and foreboding enough. So, using a combination of the I Ching, Geomancy, and knowing that most people believe the world is in fact out to get them, I've decided to make my own system. This will end up in a submission at some point, but I need to work it out before it gets there, and advice would be nice to do so.

The System: One takes four distinct coins with each of them being given a value in a binary fashion. The example will be using a penny, nickle, dime, and quarter due to me being an imperialistic American and not caring about anyone else's currency system... :P

So working from the the penny will be the lowest possible one and be worth either 1 or 0, the nickle will be either 10 or 00, so on and so forth up the worths of the coins.

The person that is seeking the divination will throw these 4 coins 4 times, and the diviner will total them up in the order they're thrown, to get a value from 0 to 1111 (15 in base 10), so at this point we have 65536 (did that in my head, not positive it's right) possible combinations of the 16 different Major Fortunes, which will set the tone of all the Minor Fortunes that will be derived from it.

The Sixteen

0000) the Chained Lady - The petitioner is constrained in the choices they can make, either by outside forces (duties that cannot be shirked), or by internal ones (one is unwilling to abandon something that is holding them to an old way of life)
0001) the Vain Queen - The petitioner is loathed by someone in their life, generally speaking because the loather is jealous of one or more of the petitioners qualities (the petitioner's skill in something, their beauty, etc)
0010) the Forgotten One - The petitioner has reached a zenith, and it is either time to begin a new task, or seek to revitalize their life some other way
0011) the Serpent - Someone the petitioner trusts dearly is deceiving them, though not inherently on something outrageously life shattering
0100) The Prisoner - The petitioner is bound, for a time, by forces beyond their control, generally this is because the petitioner left the choice in the hands of another.
0101) the Beast - This thing is just inherently evil, it curb stomps puppies and eats old ladies for a mid-morning snack...
0110) the Crossroads - The petitioner has a choice to make
0111) the Compass - The petitioner should pay close attention to the compass in their life, be it a moral one, a comrade, a mentor, or just some guiding principle
1000) the Altar - This is the thing that the petitioner devotes their time, energy, wealth, or life to. Like all the other items on the list it is neither good, nor evil; it is affected heavily by the signs around it, even more than the others.
1001) the Blind Hunter - Some great wrong has been perpetrated against the petitioner or someone that is close to them; recovery from it is possible, though the road their will likely be difficult and painful
1010) the Freed Man - The petitioner's hard work will be rewarded, though possibly not in the near term
1011) the Emperor - Either a benevolent ruler or a cruel despot, depending on the surrounding signs
1100) the Sword - A dividing force in the petitioner's life, by itself it is neither good nor evil, but depending on the surrounding signs it can symbolize either severing ties to things the petitioner is better of being around, or those the petitioner loves severing ties with them based on their actions.
1101) the Wanderer - The road the petitioner needs to travel is long, and it will be filled with hardship; but at the end, the chance to lay their head down on a real pillow is what drives them forward; whatever that figurative pillow is...
1110) the Phoenix - The petitioner is coming to a time of rebirth, it will be painful and difficult, but when it is all said and done they will be just fine
1111) the Mob - The future relies on the actions of /FAR/ to many people to be entirely set in stone.

The next step of the process is to pair the Major Fortunes up into 4 pairs, with the 1st throw being paired with the 2nd, the 2nd with the 3rd, etc, to arrive a the Minor Fortunes; which I will hopefully enumerate at a later date. In the meantime, if anyone has made it this far, can someone find the -mancy word for divination with coins?

Re: Divination

#2

Apparently the answer is Numismatomancy.

Numismatomancy

#3

After driving for hours on end this weekend I've largely solidified how this thing will work, at least in my head. Now to try and get it down in a way that makes as much sense as any form of divination can.

The Throws

Throw 4 different coins 4 different times, get the number of the throw from either position of the coins (read right to left) or by size (largest to smallest) as suits your mood at the time. The resulting numbers are placed in a diamond, filling in the upper point first and counterclockwise from there. The throw is for the Players, 16 archetypes of immense and immortal power of shebegablobilianism. Numbers are still determined using binary system with 0000 = 1

1 - the Blessed Fisherman
2 - the Forgotten One
3 - the Freed Man
4 - the Penitent Thief
5 - the Chained Lady
6 - the Lecherous King
7 - the Vain Queen
8 - the Walking Man
9 - the Prostitute *
10 - the Crafty Prisoner
11 - the Beggar *
12 - the Mad Seer
13 - the Blind Hunter
14 - the Errant Scholar
15 - the Witch *
16 - the Priest *

*need adjectives

Next list will be the first 48 of the derived symbols, which will both be easier to do (just need object with heavy symbolism) it will also be ridiculously annoying because there needs to be 256 of them for the system I've got figured out to work. More tomorrow...

Re: Divination

#4

I LIKE it!

Re: Divination

#5

I'm digging this too! Looking forward to the completed 48. And then using it all in a game somehow.

some describers:

Pious/Zealous/Queit/Willful/Proud/Gentle/Resolute/--Priest

Wayward/Hidden/Deceitful/Pale/Soaring/Dreaming--Witch

Moonlit/Tragic/Forlorn/Striding/Gifted/Wandering/Reckless/Lewd--Prostitute

Lame/Ominous/Blameless/Mischievous/Sighing/Wise/Crooked/Lean/Ruthless/Leering--Beggar

Re: Divination

#6

ALRIGHT, take 2...

2 throws of 4 coins, first one determines the domain that you are in, the second throw will give you the member of the house. Final version will have 16 domains with 16 members a piece, for a total of 256 different readings...

Possible/Sample domains

Domain of Chains: Covers prisoners, guards, those bound by an oath, slaves, family ties
House Divided: Life, Death, Renewal, Decay
Domain of Storms: Oceans, rivers, roads, travelers of all kinds
Domain of Ash: War, destructive magics, benevolent hearth spirits
Domain of Grift: bums, hobos, tramps, social degenerates, alcoholics, fools, corrupt leaders
The Forgotten House: Lovecraftian horrors, insanity, sages and archaeologists
Domain of Walls: civilization, entrapment, conquerors
Coins: Merchants, thieves, kings, mercenaries, adventurers upon return
Cloth: The clergy, shepherds, tailors, women
Dirt: Travelers, Farmers, Miners, Beggars, Criminals, gravediggers
Dreams: illusions, prophecy, truth, playwrights, bards, drugs/alcohol, psychopomps
Gold: Nobility, Hope, Lies, Good Fortune, Strife
Roses: farmers, war, herbalism, love, loss, pain, torture, femme fatales
House of the Rising Sun: gamblers, prostitutes, alcohol, mercenaries, hoteliers
House of Dust: the old and venerable, entropy, books, time...maybe?
House of Mirrors: Hypocrisy, injury, weakness, wisdom, delusions, distortion

NOW REQUESTING: Domains or Houses to populate this with. Preferably with things that the the domain covers

Re: Divination

#7

The House of Chains
The domain of prisoners, guards, those bound by an oath, slaves, family ties

01 - The Prisoner
He that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome; for he is still an enemy.
02 - The Commander
Worker bees can leave
Even drones can fly away
The Queen is their slave
03 - The Sworn Sword
Only in Death does Duty end.
04 - The Fettered
Standing by our principles in theory in easy. It's when we stand by them when we're tested that defines us. I will stand by mine.

We forge the chains we wear in life.
05 - The Oath
For every promise, there is price to pay.
06 - The Lovers
LOVE? It's like a cigarette. You get addicted fast, but it slowly and painfully kills you from the inside out.
07 - The Addict
I understand addiction now. I never did before, you know. How could a man (or a woman) do something so self-destructive, knowing that they’re hurting not only themselves, but the people they love? It seemed that it would be so incredibly easy for them to just not take that next drink. Just stop. It’s so simple, really. But as so often happens with me, my arrogance kept me from seeing the truth of the matter.
I see it now though.
Every day, I tell myself it will be the last. Every night, as I’m falling asleep, I tell myself that tomorrow will be the last, that I will leave this town and never come back. It doesn’t matter where I go, as long as it’s not here.
08 - The Coerced
09 - The Guard
10 - The Betrayer
11 - The Secret
12 - The Slave
13 - The Wyrd
Destiny is the prison and chain of the ignorant. Understand that destiny like the water of the Nile: Water before the faithful, blood before the unbeliever.
14 - (Sealed Evil in a Can) Fenris/Loki/Prometheus?
15 - The Child
16 - The Unbound
The chains that bind us the most closely are the ones we have broken.

(Possibles: The Deviant, The Truth that Binds, The Master, The Cause, The Faith, The Secret)

The Domain of Dreams
The domain of illusions, prophecy, truth, playwrights, bards, drugs/alcohol, psychopomps

01 - The Fair Folk (Glamour in particular)
02 -
03 - The Prophetess (Cassandra)
04 -
05 - The Poet
06 -
07 - The Doomsayer (DarkLord)
08 -
09 - The Three Sisters (The Muses and the Norns)
10 -
11 - The Lotus Eater
Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.
12 - The Void ("Nothing exists save empty space and you. And you are but a thought." - Mark Twain "Does {Big Brother} exist in the same way as I exist?" {Winston} "You do not exist," said O'Brien.)
13 -
14 - The Ferryman (Psychopomp)
15 - The Soothsayer
16 - The Cave (Plato's to be more precise)

The House of the Rising Sun
The domain of gamblers, prostitutes, alcohol, mercenaries, hoteliers

01 - The Hedon
02 -
03 - The Charlatan
04 -
05 - The Whore
06 -
07 - The Gambler
08 - The Trafficker
09 -
10 - The Maiden (Lady Luck)
11 - The Rake
12 -
13 - The Fool
14 - The Mark
15 - The Cutpurse
16 - The Lush

Re: Divination

#8

Next group:

The House of Dust
The old and venerable, entrop
01 - The Sage
02 -
03 -
04 -
05 - The Green Man (al-Khidr)
06 -
07 -
08 -
09 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -