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...
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?
