An animalia heraldry of geomantic spell-craft in sixteen totem beasts:

Eye of newt and toe of frog... The pre-modern world - prior to the division of natural philosophy into mutually exclusive categories like "science" and "sorcery" - looked at the meanings and magics of animals in a somewhat different manner than today. Literacy in the 'emblematic' meanings of beasts allowed one to read interplays of folklore, occult cosmology and nascent zoology simultaneously, in the cunning of the fox, in the wisdom of the owl, in the hearts' blood of the pelican. The heraldic comprehension and articulation of fauna sign, spirit, and signal fluttered across battlefields upon banners, were emblazoned upon wedding decorations of political marriages, and declared long-standing pacts, purviews, and power. They also filtered into the common idiom and secret cants alike of speech, thought, and culture.

Wool of bat and tongue of dog... The attuned thaumaturge should be adept at harvesting and deploying materia magica of apt occult virtue for the accomplishment of their operations - from the potent underlying secrets of roots and gems to the mysteries of leaves, barks, shoots, fruits, and seeds. And yet it is sometimes said the quickest - that is, the most enlivened and vitally transmutational - spell components are those of animals who have lived lives embodying the elemental virtues with which the sorcerer seeks to conjure.

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting... In this course we will examine sixteen totem animals - four Beasts, four Birds, four Fish, and four Crawling Ones - corresponding to the virtues and spirits of the Sixteen Figures of the oracle of geomancy. We will investigate their values as familiar shapes, as living mandala-emissaries of their Figure's forms and forces, and study the use of certain preparations of their bodies and spirits in operative geomantic spell-craft.

The course is taught by Dr. Alexander Cummins, who by day is a professional diviner and mild-mannered historian of early modern magic (seriously, he has a doctorate in the history of English magic) and by night finds himself conjuring shades, demons and the occasional angel. As you may have guessed by this course, he has a particular passion for geomancy. Drawing on his own professional practice and personal experiments with the system over the last decade, the Good Doctor presents this course as a further exploration of the nuances of this worldly oracle. The course will include access to scans of primary source texts of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century geomancy, along with reading notes and further bibliography. All of these resources are of course additional support, as the Good Doctor will cover everything necessary during the course proper.

If you have any questions, please email info@wolf-and-goat.com.

Advanced Geomancy Course:
A Bestiary of the Gnomes
taught by Dr. Alexander Cummins

Four Part Class
(Four 1.5 hour Sessions)

This class is not currently being offered live. If you'd like to purchase the recordings of the most recent class, please feel free to purchase them below and after singing and returning the agreement, you will receive all the links and can communicate directly with the instructor should you have quesitons.

Cost: $150