Geomancy

Geomancy (Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy involves interpreting a series of 16 figures formed by a randomized process that involves recursion followed by analyzing them, often augmented with astrological interpretations.

Once practiced by people from all social classes, it was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Books and treatises on geomancy were published up until the 17th century when most occult traditions fell out of popularity.

In Renaissance magic, geomancy was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts", along with necromancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).

Geomancy is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being superstition.

History

Geomancy, from Ancient Greek geōmanteía translates literally to "foresight by earth"; it is a translation of the Arabic term ‛ilm al-raml, or the "science of the sand". Earlier Greek renditions of this word borrowed the word raml ("sand") directly, rendering it as rhamplion or rabolion. Other Arabic names for geomancy include khatt al-raml and darb al-raml.

Geomancer (comics)

Geomancer is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain.

Fictional character biography

Little has been shown about the character's background or origin in his few appearances.

His first appearance established him as a mercenary working for the Council and possessing the ability to manipulate earth and stone. On the Council's behalf, he was terrorizing an African village. While this was disrupted by Sand, Geomancer disappeared.

His next two appearances were as a member of Johnny Sorrow's Injustice Society. In the first, he escaped with the majority of the team when they were bested by Wildcat. In the second he was beaten again by Sand, and left unconscious and unaccounted for.

In his last appearance, he died when Icicle attempted to free him from a state of suspended animation initiated by the Ultra-Humanite.

Someone that looks like Geomancer was seen in Justice League of America #6. He again shows up in JSA All Stars #2, once more fighting under the command of Johnny Sorrow, as part of the Injustice Society. Dialogue in the comic indicates that this is a new bearer of the name, though again, no details are given of his origins.

Final Fantasy character jobs

In several installments of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing games by Square Enix, classes (jobs) are roles assigned to playable characters that determine the character's proficiencies. Classes can be loosely categorized into physical classes, which specialize in using weapons and techniques; magical classes, which are proficient in magic; and mixed classes, which combine elements of both classes in addition to other special abilities.

This article summarizes the most common character classes; many games in the series have featured unique classes that have not reappeared in subsequent games. For information on those classes, see the article regarding the game in which the class appeared. Job classes in Final Fantasy XI are featured in Final Fantasy XI character classes; those in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance are featured in List of jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

History and development