The 16 geomantic figures are the primary symbols used in the art of divinatory geomancy. Each geomantic figure represents a certain state of the world or the mind, and can be interpreted in various ways based upon the query put forth and the method used to generate the figures. When geomancy was introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages, the figures acquired astrological meanings and new forms of interpretation. They bear superficial resemblance to the ba gua, the eight trigrams used in the I Ching, although geomancy has an African origin, not a Chinese one.