It’s not very often I do shout-outs or calls for support on my blog for crowdfunding; I’ve only done it the once before for the Sigil Arcanum Tarot Kickstarter (which, I have to admit, turned out exceedingly well, and for which Taylor Bell has my sincere thanks for bringing it to the world).  However, as I said then, there are still times that there’ll be something neat or nifty on Kickstarter that crosses my path or which someone brings to my attention that not only I want to support but which I think the readers of my blog will, too.  So, if you’ll indulge me, dear reader, I think there’s something nice to consider for you to back.

I raise to your attention the Geomantia campaign on Kickstarter:

From the campaign page:

Historically, Arab geomancers began their divinatory exercise by first praying and then entering into a trance-like state, while focusing on the question being asked of them. By making random points in the sand and counting them up as odd or even numbers, they would obtain their first set of geomantic figures.

Qirra dice were created to generate these figures at random (see antique Qirra Raml Dice sets in museum collections here and here).The use of the Qirra set will provide the geomancer with all four figures in one throw of the dice, making it a very pragmatic and also beautiful divinatory tool to use.

[…]

Brass Qirra dice are the traditional divinatory tools of geomancy (see examples here and here) and elevate the diviners craft to bring it inline with the prestige of this highly efficacious magical practice. Tools like this are only available in museum collections.

The unique pattern of Qirra dice set indents provide the diviner with the first four geomantic figures in one single throw. This is exceptionally useful in face-to-face readings with clients, as it allows the geomancer to quickly assess if the chart or pattern being cohered is fit to be judged, or for checking the cardinal houses for a figure that matches the planetary hour within which the reading is taking place (as per Agrippa) if that is the geomancer’s method for ensuring radix (radicality or whether the chart is fit to be judged as this is one of many geomantic methods to insure accuracy in a reading). Aside from being a divinatory tool, the set can also be steeped in planetary materia magica to align the dice with the spirits and or planets that governs the question being asked prior to a reading, which is a ritual I have adopted in my own practice. Using these classical geomantic tools is to partake in a magical divinatory practice that stretched from the East to the West and was second in popularity only to astrology.

Our goal is to raise funds to produce 250 deluxe, limited-edition sets of traditional Arabic brass Qirra dice. Each set will be hand made and proportioned according to classical Qirra pieces in museum collections.

This is not a mass-produced item. Once the initial run is sold out, no additional sets will be created; making this both a highly collectible item and a professional divinatory tool. Each set will be numbered and come in a custom Geomantia box. Included will be a poem, written as an ode to the spirits of this practice, and a black velvet drawstring bag to protect your dice set. Additionally, each purchase of a dice set will include a link to downloadable PDF reference of traditional house and shield charts, used to incorporate the Geomantic figures generated by the dice sticks.

A while back, I talked about the various ways geomancers across the world have produced the figures for geomantic charts and for divination making use thereof.  One of the most common ways seen across lots of the Arabian-style geomantic traditions, especially in the Middle East and South Asia, are the use of qirra, or what I call “geomantic spindle-dice”.  These are a pair of spindles, each of which has four cubes on it, each face having two, three, or four dots arranged in a pattern so that, when both are spun and laid out on a surface, reading a pair of cubes “vertically” gives you a geomantic figure.  In the following historical example of a set of Persian qirra, we could read the figures Albus, Rubeus, Cauda Draconis, and Rubeus (from right to left).  Although we don’t see this used very often in European geomantic practices to generate figures, this is a very common approach used in Arabian ones.  To that end, this Kickstarter aims to create sets of such qirra, which are otherwise extremely hard to come by in any Western context.

This project (being created by Johann Faust and Jonna Shaw) has lots of tiers and lots of things to provide:

• PDF templates of Shield Charts and House Charts
• A beautifully-designed geomancy-themed poster
• Geomancy readings
• A set of brass museum-quality geomancy spindle-dice
• A brass, hand-etched “Plate of the Seven Planets” containing images of the seven planets, twelve Zodiac signs, and their magical characters

Images from the Kickstarter campaign page, in case you might want an idea of the beauty of what Johann and Jonna are planning (with, of course, far more information and details on the Kickstarter itself):

This is a project that Johann himself reached out to me about, even from its early prototype stages, and this is a project that I myself definitely want to see succeed (and have chipped in to help with as well).  The project aims to hit its US$20k goal by mid-December, and if all goes well and there are no hitches with production, everything should be ready and sent out no later than June next year.  As of this post, the campaign has already hit $7.3k, so it’s well on track to hitting its goal.  Note that only a limited number of these spindle-dice are planned to be made, so if you’re interested in getting yourself such a set, consider contributing to the Kickstarter soon before time and slots run out!

Here’s hoping for a successful campaign!