Ever since I first became acquainted with the divination tool known as the ‘Arabian Square’ I’ve been intrigued with the creative possibilities inherent in its format. Designed for alphabet-based languages, one letter goes in each box, and each different message in the Arabian Square must be the exact same even number of letters in order for the whole chart to work right. Its very strict construction reminds me a little of the Japanese form of poetry known as haiku. The creator of the Arabian Square has to work within stringent limitations to get a workable end-product, but beyond that, they’re free as a bird. I’ve found strict-format literature can actually make creativity easier, because you know what the rules are. All the creativity involved in it is just making sure you’re following the rules.
The source material says there are a lot more Arabian Squares in existence than the three established ones I presented in an earlier lesson on this topic, and on a great variety of subjects as well, but damned if I can find any. So I decided to create two of my own. Because we recently passed Halloween (or Samhain, if you prefer), with its focus on death, the dead, and unseen spirits, the idea of doing an Arabian Square of the Dead and an Arabian Square of the Spirit Guides was very much on my mind. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the Arabian Square format for its possibilities with a lot of other topics. It’s a little late for Halloween/Samhain use now, but there’s always next year. And indeed, these Arabian squares can be used any time of the year, not just mid-autumn.