What Tetriamancy Is
Tetriamancy is a modern divination system inspired by Geomancy. It uses four-part figures with one of three possible states per part. Whereas Geomancy, Ifá, and the Yi Ching are binary in how their figures are derived, Tetriamancy is trinary—which leads to some really cool possibilities.
The four parts are Fire, Air, Water, and Earth (from top to bottom) and the three states are Manifest, Latent, and Liminal.
Why I Created It
I started practicing Geomancy in 2018 and fell in love with the system. To date, it is in one of my favorite divination systems to practice, and it has opened up a lot of understanding about life and its patterns that I might not have seen otherwise.
Ever since learning about the concept, I’ve considered liminal spaces and states sacred in their own way. They’re ephemeral, tricky to hold onto, and there’s a lot to learn from them.
In 2023, I began experimenting with a trinary system of Geomancy, fleshing out ideas into meaningful rules and structures—but was never fully satisfied with where it was going until more recently.
The thing that made Tetriamancy click was when I abandoned using the Geomantic shield and endeavored to come up with something else. I was spitballing ideas with AI, and it suggested a tetrahedron. I didn’t wholly agree, but decided to begin placing figures on the tetrahedron (which was admittedly tricky given the two-dimensional vs. three-dimensional problem when striving for maximum readability).
As I began arranging figures on the tetrahedron and independently realized that it mapped eerily well to the Qabalistic tree of life and four worlds, at which point I was sold.
Tetriamancy and Geomancy
Tetriamancy owes an obvious debt to Geomancy: the figures contain four parts stacked vertically; there are four figures from which the rest of the figures are generated; a chart with 15 placements; and probably other things that haven’t occurred to me just now.
For all it inherits from Geomancy, it is not a historical branch of Geomancy; it is far too different. I’m don’t ever wish to present it as an evolution or improvement upon Geomancy—that Art is just fine as it is.
What I would say is that Tetriamancy is a form of divination that sources much inspiration in Geomancy and similar divinatory systems while departing considerably from them.
What Kind of Project This Is
A fun one—for me, anyway.
Tetriamancy is not a project from so-called “hidden masters”, nor is it the most “scientifically advanced” form of divination.
No, none of that.
I’m just some agender/non-binary/androgynous—depending on which layer of the onion of personal, lived experience we’re talking about—human-person-animal…-thing in their early forties. I write and play music of all genres, I write poetry and stories, I love TTRPGs, program dumb things, I enjoy kitchen experiments and trying new food, love languages to pieces, and… I am thoroughly indebted to occult practices because dabbling (rather furiously) in them has helped me work through existential dread/despair/depression and nihilism in a meaningful way.
Tetriamancy is something that has to stand on its own, not because of any kind of pedigree.
So again: this project is for fun and personal enrichment. My hope is that engaging with this system helps me deepen my understanding of myself, my circumstances, and my values—so I may act mor effectively and in alignment with those values.
And I hope you get out of it whatever you Will for it to.
An Evolving System
This is not the final form of Tetriamancy, whatever you see here. I will do my best to document changes as the system continues to develop and settle into itself.