Creating Places of Power: Geomancy, Builders’ Rites, and Electional Astrology in the Hermetic Tradition Paperback – 18 January 2023

• Explains the ceremonial beginnings and Hermetic principles in the laying out of foundations not only for sacred buildings like temples but also for homes and barns

• Examines the principles and ceremonies of electional astrology and details how to compute natural time, as opposed to clock time

• Shares examples from ancient Egypt, Iran, India, and Europe that range from the Stone Age to the Renaissance and include secret societies

When we make things–whether a building, a sacred space, or a magical object–there’s a precise moment when the artifact comes into being as a separate entity. That moment in time possesses its own unique quality, and as a result of this, there’s a right time to do something and a incorrect time. And, as Nigel Pennick reveals, we have the power to choose favorable moments for our creations, just as our ancestors did.

Illustrating ancient principles of divination, chronomancy, and electional astrology, Pennick examines all of the factors in the back of the ancestral art of geomancy: the auspicious creation and alignment of sacred buildings as places of power. Sharing examples from ancient Egypt, Iran, India, and Europe that range from the Stone Age to the modern day, including secret societies like the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, he explains how many cities were constructed on specially selected sites and founded ritually at precise, predetermined moments.

Looking at the traditional rites of creating places of power, Pennick explains the ceremonial beginnings and Hermetic principles in the laying out of foundations in addition to the usage of sacrifice in the building of many notable structures. Examining the role of sacred geometry in geomancy, Pennick explains the Hermetic meaning assigned to each and every direction in traditional European cultures in addition to the principles of natural measures and the science of understanding lucky and unlucky days.

Revealing how geomantic principles are rooted in the structure of the world and the cosmic patterns of space and time, the creator shows how they transcend the ages and are just as meaningful today as they were to our ancestors.