Pastamancy
Let’s make some magic. Let’s do some divination. Let’s play pastamancy.1
The shapes
Learning the Shapes
Cascatelli
“Little Waterfalls.” Cascatelli were developed in 2019 by podcaster Dan Pashman of The Sporkful. The shape attempts to maximize “forkability,” “saucability,” and “toothsinkability.”
The cascatelli may indicate novelty or recency, something new. It encourages repetition with variation and experimentation. It predicts effort, obstacles, or expenditure of resources. It may also represent a colleague or casual acquaintance.
Conchiglie
“Seashells” or ,“little seashells” (conchigliette). Conchiglie are best with light or chunky sauces that they can trap in their cavities. Larger versions can be stuffed and baked.
The conchiglie may mark something as comfortable or safe. It asks you to actively protect or defend. It predict stasis or cessation. It represents a natural element, something elemental or animal.
Farfalle
“Butterflies” or sometimes “bow ties.” The pinched body keeps the shape al dente even when the wings are cooked. Often eaten in a light dressing, as in a cold pasta salad.
The farfalle indicates something that is beautiful or the beautiful part of something. It reminds us to pause and reflect, to take time, and to enjoy. It is a predictor of good fortune. It represents material wealth.
Fusili
“Spindles.” Short, flat triple helices that catch sauce between their bends. Tighter fusili are called rotini, and they hold sauce better, but have a denser texture. Looser fusili are called eliche.
The fusili describes something as convoluted, or perhaps not what it appears. It calls for a change of plan or a break in old habits. It predicts surprises and the unexpected. It represents an outsider or someone unknown.
Gemelli
“Twins.” Appearing to be short, round, slack double helices, closer inspection reveals a single twisted “S” shape. Similar to fusili, but gemelli hold a lighter sauce better.
The gemelli indicates something that is doubled or divided, fundamentally twinned. It urges us to stay the course, to continue on the current path. It predicts a reversal or a reaction. It may represent a family member.
Orzo
“Barley.” One of a family of grain-shaped pastina, orzo do not hold sauce at all, but due to a longer cooking time, absorb flavors well. Ideal for soups and pilaf.
The orzo may describe something small. It advises caution. It predicts misfortune. It may represent an enemy or opposing figure.
Penne
“Quills.” Short tubes with angled ends that catch sauce and pull it in.
The penne describes something distant. It suggests travel or a change of perspective. It predicts the emergence of something new or the arrival of something awaited. It can also represent a location.
Ruote or Rotelle
“Wheels,” or commonly “wagon wheels.” In the early 20th century, many new shapes were modeled on elements of Italian industry, their mass production only enabled by that same mechanization. While Fascists had complicated ideas about pasta (namely, they hated it), they appreciated the symbolic unification of northern industry and southern pasta. And wheels are fun! … Right?
The ruote may describe something that is old but not ancient. It advises reconnecting, reexamining, or reevaluating the past. It predicts repetition. It may represent a friend.
Summary
| Name | Shape | Descriptive | Advisory | Predictive | Represents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascatelli | Waterfalls | New | Iterate | Effort | Colleague |
| Conchiglie | Seashells | Safe | Protect | Stasis | Nature |
| Farfalle | Butterflies | Beautiful | Reflect | Fortune | Wealth |
| Fusili | Spindles | Convoluted | Change | Surprises | Outsider |
| Gemelli | Twins | Doubled | Redouble | Inversion | Relation |
| Orzo | Barley | Small | Caution | Misfortune | Enemy |
| Penne | Quills | Distant | Travel | Arrival | Place |
| Ruote | Wheels | Old | Reconnect | Repetition | Friend |
Casting the Pastas
A question looms in your mind. No simple yes-or-no question, no trivial problem with a solution, but something larger, more nebulous. It’s time to cast the pastas.
Formulate the Question
A good question is at once broad and constrained. “What will happen in the future?” is a bad question. It’s too broad, and it leaves no obvious place to start. “What will happen to me in the next year?” is better because it’s limited in scope (“the next year”) and has a ready context to start in (“me”).
If the question focuses on a querent, decide in advance which shape will be the best identifier for them. You may also wish to choose in advance which shape represents the question itself: the significator.
You may wish to put the question and relevant details in fixed form at this point, especially if the reading is not immediately following.
Clear Your Mind
First, wash your hands. Lest the pastas get gross.
Close your eyes. Play relaxing sounds. Breathe in from your stomach. Breathe out through your nose. Forget the question.
If a querent is present, invite them to join you.
Set the Altar
The altar consists of a square cloth with a circle in the middle. The circle has four points:
- North. Earth. Winter.
- East. Air. Autumn.
- South. Fire. Summer.
- West. Water. Spring.
Inside of the circle represents the past and known things. Outside the circle represents the future and unknown things. The circle itself is the boundary between the two, the present, expanding ever outwards.
Cast
You may wish to take the shapes into your hands and shake them like dice, sowing them across the altar like a fistful of seed. You may prefer the mystery of the bag, to simply invert it from some height over the field and let the pastas bounce and scatter like a rock slide or a hailstorm. Both are acceptable.
If you keep a silica gel packet in the bag (recommended), you may safely return it to the bag after casting. It has no mystical value. Similarly, any shapes that landed off the altar cloth may be collected and returned to the bag. They will not be relevant to this reading.
Read
First, take inventory. Which shapes remain on the altar? Which shapes are irrelevant. Is the significator present? The querent?
Then choose a place to start. You may prefer to start with the shape closest to yourself or the querent, or with the significator. Learn what you can from its position.
Next, find the shape nearest to it. Shapes that are nearer to each other are more directly related. How does this nearest shape relate to the first one? What changes when the two are read in combination?
Imagine a line between those two shapes. What other shape is nearest to its midpoint? How can we add that shape’s interpretation to our current understanding?
As we iterate this process, we are building a tree. Eventually, all the shapes on the altar will be explained. However, with your keen practitioner’s eye and wise judgment, you may see that there are obviously two distinct clusters. In this circumstance, it’s acceptable to read each cluster separately as a distinct possibility.
If a querent is present, this is an opportunity to include them. Suggest possible meanings and interpretations, but let any conclusions be their own.
Reflect
Pastas aren’t magical. Pastas aren’t even mystical. Pasta shapes are a product of ingenuity and culinary need and human whimsy and desire. No deity sacrificed to bring us farfalle, no ancient archetypes are invoked by a rotelle, the secret truth of a radiatori is that it holds a sauce well. The only things you can learn from reading the pastas are what you already knew. So what have you learned?
Clean Up
After summarizing the reading, return each shape to the bag, one by one. Extinguish any candles. Fold and put away the altar cloth. Thank the querent, for the opportunity to practice your craft. Under no circumstances should you find yourself charging money to read pasta.
Later, maybe eat some pasta.
Other Shapes
There are many many shapes that I didn’t include. Some, like linguine or lasagna, would be practically difficult to cast. Some, like corzetti, are difficult to source. And some, I just didn’t choose.
- Anelli - little rings
- Buccatini - straws
- Calamarata - big rings
- Cavatappi - corkscrew
- Cazzetti - dicks
- Corzetti - coins
- Foglie d’ulivo - olive leaf
- Lasagna - sheets
- Linguine - ribbons
- Macaroni - elbows
- Maltagliatti - miscut
- Orecchiette - ears
- Quadrefiore - square
- Radiatori - ridged
- Spaghetti - sticks
Other Materials
Consider also that some pastas are made by different materials and processes. These variants could have their own distinctive interpretations. It is not recommended to cast with fresh pasta.
- Chickpea or Garbanzo
- Cuttlefish Ink
- Grano Arso (Burnt Wheat)
- Red Lentil
- Rice
- Spinach
- Whole Wheat
Bibliography
- The Geometry of Pasta by Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kenedy. Quirk Books, 2010.
- Reading the Runes: A Beginner’s Guide by Kim Farnell. Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2019.
- Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the Ancestral Feminine by Lara Veleda Vesta. Weiser Books, 2021.
“Systems of divination, from geomancy down to reading by tea-leaves, are merely so many methods of obscuring the outer vision, in order that the inner vision may become open.”
—Algernon Blackwood, John Silence
No relation to Kingdom of Loathing.↩︎