Et ego quidem nunc fabricabo circulum: Images and Diagrams in the Geomantic Treatise Estimaverunt Indi

The Estimaverunt Indi is one of the most authoritative, if not the most authoritative, treatises of geomancy the Latin West has ever known. Condemned in 1277 by Étienne Tempier, this work was praised by later Latin treatises as the origin of geomancy and thus widely quoted in the following centuries. Compared with other geomantic works, the EI displays a much more complex and dynamic structure. Apparently unsystematic and deprived of a rational organization, it is actually a composite multilay- ered text with a clear internal articulation.96 Its aim is not to provide an orderly exposition of geomantic notions and ready-for-use sets of ques- tions-and-answers, but rather to familiarize the reader with the com- plexities and intricacies of the geomantic art. In the EI, the reader is led through several steps, from the rules governing the casting of the dots to the sophisticated methods of pars fortunae and scientia puncti, and to the mastery of geomancy, an art that is based on a rigorous method, long study, and God’s support. In other words, the EI must not be regarded as a theoretical description of geomancy, but rather as a way of moving towards the secrets of geomancy, a way of developing the ability to disclose the intentio in the figures the geomancer has produced under the influence of the stars. From this perspective, the visual content of the text plays a crucial role.