The Meaning of Populus

This page serves as an outline of the meaning of Populus – the Geomantic Figure. This page is partly a summary of my thoughts and feelings about a particular figure, but it’s also a collection of notes and references. I will update this page over time with more information – a one-stop shop! I hope that it serves other students of Geomancy.

To view one of the other figures, click here to go an article on the 16 figures of Geomancy:

The Geomantic Figure of Crowds…

This is the geomancy figure of Populus

Overview of the Meaning of Populus

The Latin word Populus is translated to mean ‘people’ or ‘population’. This can be seen in the shape of the figure. Populus contains the most amount of points possible in a geomantic figure – eight points created by four sets of passive lines. In Western Geomancy, the figure is taken to represent ‘many’ or a ‘lot’, but also to mean inactivity and inertia.

When it appears in a chart, it’s meaning can depend on whether it is with good or with bad. Populus is one of those figures that is ‘good with the good’ but ‘bad with the bad’. Honestly, just like crowds of people – they can topple corrupt regimes and demand justice, but equally they can do a lot of harm. If Populus is in a not-so-great place in the chart (such as house 12 or 6), then the figure doesn’t bode well; Many enemies or dangerous illnesses respectively. If the figure is in a good house, then it talks about the strength of that house. For example, in house 2 it symbolises lots of coins, and in house 11 it symbolises a group of friends.

As Populus doesn’t have any active elements, it is said to be receptive to influence from outside sources. We can see this through addition. If you take any figure and add Populus to it, you will get that figure – just like adding zero to any number. Populus merges with the new figure and is completely receptive to it. As a group of people, this implies that the group takes on the beliefs and identity of the leader. In house 6 (the house of illnesses), you can see this as the suppressed immune system, accepting viruses and illnesses without battle.

Whilst many of the figures have their ‘opposite’ or reversed figure (Laetitia/Tristitia, Puer/Puella), Populus is the same upright and reversed. There are four figures in Geomancy of this nature; Via, Populus, Conjunctio and, of course, Carcer. These four figures are considered ‘liminal’, as they are neither entering nor exiting. Conjunctio and Via are considered mobile liminal figures (i.e. they move), Populus and Carcer are considered stable liminal figures. The movement or stability of the figure was assigned in the West by their meanings. Therefore, Populus is a figure that is both stable – it ain’t moving anywhere! – and liminal.

In Arabic this figure is called Jamaʿat (جماعت ) which is usually translated as ‘group’. This is not so dissimilar to our Western name for this figure. It is less frequently translated as a congregation, assembly or gathering, though these translations are also similar to its Western name.

As Populus is an even figure, and thus it can appear as a judge. You sometimes see ‘even’ figures (those that have an even number of points) referred to as ‘objective’ figures, versus ‘subjective’. When Populus appears as a judge, because it has no active elements some traditions hold that it cannot speak to judging the matter. The figure is seen as too receptive, and therefore listens but doesn’t form it’s own opinion of the matter at hand. This is the opposite to Via, where tradition states that it speaks but does not hear the question of the querent – due to not having any receptive or passive lines. In these traditions, some may choose to recast the chart (usually using certain figures from the existing chart as the new mothers of the new chart). Otherwise, the judgement is taken from the superjudex and other figures.

Western Geomancers attribute this figure to the Moon, and the element of Water. The passivity of Populus is what connects it to Water, which is traditionally considered the most receptive and adaptable of the elements. Water is shaped and moved by external forces rather than initiating change itself. With this you can imagine Populus as a calm, still pond reflecting the full moon’s light, as a perfect mirror. The moon itself doesn’t own any of its own light either, reflecting what the Sun sends over to it. So Populus represents the moon and water’s receptivity, it’s ability to reflect back what is given to it.

Populus is Favourable For:

• Anything where ‘many’ or a ‘lot’ is desired and desirable.

• Stillness, a lack of change or inertia.

• Where you want something or someone receptive to an idea or suggested direction.

• Where harmony or unity is required.

Populus is Unfavourable For:

• Where you do not want a ‘lot’ of something – such as enemies in H12.

• When you need action or movement.

• Where change is needed.

• Anytime when it is with something undesirable (bad house or with a bad figure).

Reflections on Geomantic Figure of Populus

Looking at the ‘patterns’ which can be created by the points in the figure of Populus, we can see:

• • • A table with eight plates – suggesting people are coming together, congregating.
    • Two lines – representing two, equal sides or two equal directions. No one, clear winner.
    • A figure of eight – the symbol of eternity. Something is stable, not needing to move or change.
    • Two squares – A square represents solidity, two represents a balance of form.

Geomantically, Populus is constructed with four passive lines, making eight dots in total. It is the only figure not to have an active line, and as such it is assigned it’s elemental ruler. Imagine nothingness, bleakness… emptiness. To me, it feels like the chaotic primordial soup from which we are all created.

Populus asks us to become like calm water beneath the Moon—reflective, connected and aware of the communal and natural rhythms that shape our lives. That said, it’s also the power of the collective. Just like the swell of a tidal wave, a crowd moves not from a single will but from a shared rhythm. Sometimes success doesn’t depend on the individual, but on the collective social consensus; the undeniable power of a movement.

Elemental Ruler:

Planetary Ruler:

Zodiac Ruler:

Given to the sign Aquarius