From http://www.serenapowers.com/kumalak.html (my notes are in [ ] and the main article below this internet article). Kumalak Know thyself. Kumalak (Qumalaq) has been practised in Kazakhstan, Central Asia for around a thousand years. This form of divination is thought to have originally come from Persia or Arabia. It used to be widespread throughout Russia and is still used in Eastern Europe as well. It is a form or geomancy that has developed into Western Geomancy (Western Europe), Ifá (West Africa)and Sikidy (Madagascar) amongst many forms. [In fact the system is most purely Turkic and owes nothing to Persia or Arabia; it is NOT similar or related to other forms of divination like Geomancy and others mentioned above.] s The local fortune-teller, known as a palshı, draws forty-one broad beans, coffee beans or any other types of beans, stones or pebbles from a bag. He or she sorts and separates the beans, laying them in a pre-ordained order on a grid on a cloth (often a white felt cloth). The soothsayer, usually a woman nowadays, finishes up with three rows of three groups of beans. Each group of beans will contain either 1, 2, 3 or 4 beans. Each combination has its own meaning and the rows refer to the querent's past, present and future. Method Start with 41 beans (qırıq bir qumalaq), kernels or evenly-sized small pebbles. Roughly divide them into 3 piles. Starting with the pile on the right, remove four beans at a time until there are only 1, 2, 3 or 4 beans left. Those beans go into the top right hand box of the Kumalak grid. Then do the same with the centre pile, and those beans (1, 2, 3 or 4) go into the top centre box of the grid. Then the same with the left hand pile and the remaining number of beans (1, 2, 3 or 4) go into the left hand box. Now bring all the beans back into a pile (except the beans that have been placed in the grid of course) and divide that big pile into 3 piles. Starting with the pile on the right, move away four beans at a time until there are only 1, 2, 3 or 4 beans left. Those beans go into the middle row right hand box of the Kumalak grid. Then do the same with the centre pile, and those beans (1, 2, 3 or 4) go into the middle row centre box of the grid. Then the same with the left hand pile and the remaining number of beans (1, 2, 3 or 4) go into the left hand box of the middle row. Now bring the remaining beans back in a pile and do the same for the bottom row. Number 1 (bir) is associated with fire (fire: ot). It symbolises action, clarity and combat. Number 2 (eki) is associated with water (water: su). It represents two faces, or good & evil and symbolises tension and imbalance. [But see my notes below] Number 3 (üš) is associated with the air (wind: žel). It represents the 3 realms of nature (animal, vegetal and mineral) and symbolises journeys, encounters and joining of forces. Number 4 (tört) is associated with the earth (sand: qum). It symbolises material wealth and possessions but can also symbolise sorrow and darkness. [But see my notes below] 3. Eye (Köz) 2. Head (Bas) 1. Eye (Köz) 6. Hand (Qol) 5. Heart (Žürek) 4. Hand (Qol) 9. Foot (Ayaq) 8. Horse (At) 7. Foot (Ayaq) The kumalak grid represents a traditional Kazakh horseman of the steppes, with each square corresponding to a part of the body. The first row describes the past, the second row describes the present and the third row describes the future. The particular number of beans in a square represents a natural element. The traditional name of the combination of beans describes which element is combined with which body part. For example, water in the head, wind in the eyes or sand in the heart, fire in the hands. There are two figures that may occur which have their own special names. The Three Stars and Mother Earth. The Three Stars (one bean in each box of the centre row) protects you and promises that things will turn out better than you expect. Mother Earth (four beans in each box of the bottom row) promises luck, success, good health, happiness and fulfilling journeys. Nothing can go wrong when you draw this Kumalak combination! In addition to these combinations, there are special figures which add further layers of meaning. The special figures include: Satisfaction = odd numbers of beans in each of the right hand boxes Inspiration = one bean in each of the right hand boxes Good Fortune = three beans in each of the right hand boxes Chance (Good luck if you fight/strive) = the total number of beans in the right hand boxes adds up to either 7, 9 or (best of all) 12 Harmony = odd numbers of beans in each of the centre boxes The Way Forward (Progress/Journey) = one bean in each of the centre boxes Joy = three beans in each of the centre boxes News is coming = odd beans in each box of either diagonal Balance (partnership) = sums equal in both diagonals According to Russian tradition, the top row is the Head and the Second row is the Heart. The beans are also used for divination in Eastern Europe. Special combinations are: The Comet = three, one, one in the first row, an excellent omen. The Saddlebag = four, one, four in the first row, your wishes are muddled. Think further and ask a more specific question. The relationship of the Irq Bitig method to the “qırq bir qumalaq” is obvious. The “qırq bir qumalaq” method is everywhere described as sacred and ancient – as the Irq Bitig method really was. By looking into all ancient Turkic games we see again and again the importance of the two most sacred numbers for the ancient Turks, namely 4 and 9. The qumalaq grid has for sides and contains 9 boxes. The shape of a double lines cross was seen when examining the hexagram ¦||¦|¦ 井48(3) = 17(1) ΟΙζΛΥΚ ΑΤ ΟΙγγ…, where the sign 井 meant “place, environment”. The “qırq bir qumalaq” is nothing but taking 3 times an oracle of the Irq Bitig method, so as to fill the井 grid, representing the totality of space, or a notional mapping of all areas. The “qırq bir qumalaq” method informs us that this was the ancient method of getting the 3 divinational numbers for an oracle of Irq Bitig: by dividing a sum of 41 small round objects into 3 piles and counting each pile. The method described in the Chinese classics is by counting yarrow stalks, or bamboo stalks, very similar to the qumalaq method, but the qumalaq or small round objects method is surely more original, because the numbers in the Irq Bitig manuscript are represented as series of small circles; and for another reason: the straight lines and straight things like bamboo stalks were disfavored in sacred practices, curved lines and round objects were preferred, because of the belief that wicked spirits can only move in straight line and never in curves or orbits. It is quite likely that the Irq Bitig method was some times practiced in conjunction with the 9 boxes method (each line of the 9 boxes grid gave one Irq Bitig oracle), but as the Irq Bitig method required memorizing the 65 oracles together with their numbers or carrying an Irq Bitig manuscript, it was relatively difficult, and that is why there was a time when most people forgot it, while the 9 boxes grid method was easy to remember (and to improvise points of interpretation too), so the latter has survived to our days and even gained an international popularity. The combination of the 4 elements with the body parts (including horse) could give clever clues, e.g. water in the eye =tears, fire in the eye =clear sight, discernment, and so on. The Nasreddin Hoca saying “ayağın kuru, başın serin, yaşamayı istersen düşünme derin”, based on an ancient maxim “ayağın kuru, ba başın serin” (your feet must be not wet, your head must be cool), must have been inspired by messages f rom the 9 boxes grid (e.g. earth element in the feet box, water element in the head box). When i was writing on the interpretation and use of the Irq Bitig I found, after much contemplation, that the correspondence of the 4 numbers to the 4 elements is: 1 =fire / big strength, 2 =earth / heavy weight, 3 =air / small strength, 4 =water / light weight. The above description of the grid method, which I first encountered on 2014 October 3, seems to belie my own idea of how the numbers correspond to elements, which I conceived quite more than 10 years ago: I associated 2 to earth and 4 to water, while the above description has it reversely. So I must decide which is right and which is wrong. The 9 boxes grid method as described above was transmitted orally from generation to generation for many centuries, while people would easily patch any missing parts of the method through improvisation. This means that it was very easy for a mistake to find its way into the system. On the other hand, the Irq Bitig was transmitted with the help of writing since its creation, and so the only copy available today is fairly faithful to the original text. The Irq Bitig text does not associate numbers to elements, however such an underlying association can be understood from the interpretation of the numbers used for the oracles and of the numbers used in oracle parables. Since the number 4 symbolizes the 4 directions, implying totality, it was easy to be connected to the “four corners of the earth”, and then to the earth. The number two was easy to be visualized as a river with only two directions: origin and destination of the river, and so it could easily be associated to the water element. But it was not originally so. If we examine the signs of the zodiac, we see that the first is one of fire, the third is of air, as in the 9 box system and also as I have written in the Irq Bitig interpretation so many years ago; but, in the sequence of the zodiac, the second sign is of earth and the fourth is of water, as I have written and contrary to the aforementioned method. Then, the oracles of Irq Bitig consisting of all 4 and of all 2 numbers show clearly the character of the number 2 and of the number 4 in that system. Number 444 oracle describes a dreadful instability, which is characteristic of the water element, while the number 222 oracle basic meaning is stability, the steadiness that the earth normally has and must have. The 444 number symbol is a road of unexpectedness, can be likened to a river, while the 222 number symbol is a mountain of earth. Therefore, those who use the 9 boxes grid system called qumalaq should know that to have a correct interpretation they should associate 2 with earth and 4 with water, and NOT vice versa as they do. Once more it will be noted that the importance of number 9 is no lesser than that of number 4 in ancient Turkic wisdom, therefore it was quite expected that ancient Turks after the Irq Bitig (based on number 4) created a divination system based more on number 9 (or number 3 in 4 positions which equals a squared nine), which evolved into what was preserved as the Tài Xuán Jīng or 太玄經 and the most famous道德經 Dàodéjīng).