How to Cast a Shield Chart

Shield structure

The shield is built entirely from the four Mothers (see How to Generate the Figures if you have not cast them yet). No other figure is marked by hand. Geofancy derives Daughters, Nieces, Witnesses, the Judge, and the Reconciler (Sentence / Fallout) using line parity — the same odd/even rule you use when pairing dots.

The shield uses the same layout as the Workspace and interactive walkthrough. The top row reads 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 left to right — Daughters on the left, Mothers on the right. You cast the First Mother, Vita (house 1), into the rightmost slot first, then Lucrum, Fratres, and Genitor (houses 2–4).

Mothers (houses 1–4) — marked by hand — only figures you cast yourself

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

12

11

10

9

Left Wit

Right Wit

Judge

Fallout

Daughters (houses 5–8) — derived by reading across the Mother columns (transpose)

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

12

11

10

9

Left Wit

Right Wit

Judge

Fallout

Nieces (houses 9–12) — each pair of neighbors combined line by line (parity rule)

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

12

11

10

9

Left Wit

Right Wit

Judge

Fallout

Court — Witnesses, Judge, and Fallout (Reconciler) at the bottom

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

12

11

10

9

Left Wit

Right Wit

Judge

Fallout

How each row is derived

Daughters (5–8): read across the four Mother figures row by row (transpose) — House 5 = all Head lines from Mothers 1–4, 6 = all Neck lines, and so on.
Nieces (9–12): combine adjacent pairs — 9 from Mothers 1+2, 10 from 3+4, 11 from Daughters 5+6, 12 from 7+8.
Witnesses: Right Witness from Nieces 9+10; Left Witness from 11+12 (shown left and right in the shield).
Judge: combines the two Witnesses line by line.
Reconciler: combines the Judge with Mother 1 (Vita).

Parity rule: when two lines are combined, an odd number of single dots yields one dot (active); an even count yields two dots (passive). This matches pairing marks two at a time on the sand.

8

7

6

5

◆

Carcer

4

◆

◆◆

Fortuna Minor

3▲

◆◆

◆

◆◆

Albus

2▼

◆◆

◆

◆◆

Rubeus

1

◆

◆◆

◆

Carcer

12

11

10

9

Left Wit

Right Wit

Judge

Fallout

House 5 • step 1 of 4

House 5 uses the Head / Fire line from Mothers 1–4. At each step, one source mother row is highlighted and one destination row is revealed.

House 5 resolves as Carcer. It is sometimes thought to mean Creative constriction; vowed continence; fertility governed by calendar or protocol.

Reading order

Many readers weigh the Witnesses before the Judge, then look to the Reconciler for how the judgment lands or what fallout follows. The twelve houses use the same twelve figures from the shield, rearranged on the astrological wheel — see How to Cast a House Chart.

Interactive walkthrough

Open the dedicated interactive space to cast the four Mothers and step through Daughter generation in a workspace-style layout. The desktop view uses a split chart/control panel; mobile uses a stacked flow.

Open Interactive Shield Walkthrough