Chiromancy
The chiromancer’s basic task is to point out the right path so that you can avoid dangers in your relationship and misfortunes, and to prepare the person having their palm read so that they can cope with them and face life’s adversities. When we know what future awaits us in love, it is easier to reach the goals we have set ourselves. Chiromancy is commonly known as hand reading or palm reading. So what do a person’s hands mean? When you begin a palm reading, pay particular attention to whether the hands are supple or stiff. Next, assess the size of the hand in relation to the whole body, and then decide which type it belongs to. With practice, you will be able to tell the type of someone’s hands at first glance. The length of the fingers is assessed next. The thumb should be judged independently of the rest of the hand: look at how it is set – low or deep – and whether it is broad or narrow, and so on. Turn the hand over and look at which of the mounts on the inner side of the palm are visibly prominent. Then look at the life line and the other lines and mounts. Gypsy fortune telling
Studying chiromancy is fascinating, and once you learn its principles, reading people’s palms becomes remarkably easy. You don’t need any personal details – it is enough to look at the hand. After all, every hand tells a fascinating story, unique and unrepeatable. You can discover a lot about a person from the lines on their palm, and by noting the shape of the hand, fingers, wrist and skin.
Before you start reading a palm, however, it is worth knowing the person’s name, so that you can address them; their age, so that you have an idea which of the events you see on the palm have already happened; whether they are right- or left-handed; and what their zodiac sign is. Chirology is divided into three branches: chironomy (the study of the types of hands and fingers, and the mounts and hollows of the palm), chirography (which describes the lines and signs and draws conclusions from the reading based on experience) and chiromancy (foretelling the future from the lines and signs on the hand). It is worth knowing that zodiac astrology gave birth to chirology, which interprets human character on the basis of what is written on the hand. Chirology is one of the most developed disciplines explaining human character traits through the reading of external signs. A person’s character is faithfully reflected in the hand, and the whole hand forms part of the whole being studied. According to empirical researchers, the human hand records itself, without the person’s knowledge or will: spiritual experiences, physical injuries, illnesses and so on trace specific lines on the palm. The right hand, it is said, shows the experiences and traits of the parents and their illnesses. The left hand is more varied: it is the hand of its owner’s personal experiences. The art of reading palms and interpreting their symbolism continues to develop. Chirology uses its own conceptual apparatus, with terminology derived from astrology. Over time, palm reading has developed into a precisely worked-out system of defined signs that go a long way towards classifying a person and their personality.
By studying the basics of chirology, any of us can grasp its general outline and read the main information on a palm with ease.
An experienced chirologist who sets out to read a palm begins by studying the whole person. They know the person’s zodiac sign, family situation, education and background, and also pay attention to facial expressions, gestures, way of speaking, the strength of their handshake and so on.
The history of chiromancy
Chiromancy is an art known since ancient times. It was practised in the East as long as fifty centuries ago and was held in particularly high esteem by the Greeks. In the East it is still widely practised today, especially in India, China, Syria and Egypt.
The canons of chiromancy were formulated many centuries ago, and in the Middle Ages a great many people wrote about it. One of the first printed books was a German treatise on chiromancy by Hartlieb (1448).
The ability to interpret the lines of the palm was long regarded as a serious branch of science. As late as the last three decades of the 18th century, there were chairs of chiromancy at German universities. To convey esoteric, psychological and philosophical knowledge about the hand, Christian Schalitz wrote the book “Chiromancy and Physiognomy”, published in Leipzig in 1703.
Over time, chiromancy split into many different systems. Genuine interest, however, went hand in hand with naivety. Over the centuries, many colourful legends that had nothing to do with reality grew up around chirology.
The beginnings of chirology can be seen in antiquity, when Aristotle (384–322 BC) suspected a link between the length of the lines on the palm and the length of life. He regarded a fleshy palm crossed by one or two unbroken lines as a sign of longevity. At the time this was not fortune telling but merely a scientific hypothesis – like the supposition that a greater distance from the navel to the groin than from the navel to the chest might indicate a short life. For the ancients, the art of palm reading was part of physiognomy, which drew conclusions about a person’s health and character from the build of every part of the body.
In antiquity, chiromancy was never the domain of scholars. Nor was it officially recognised or supported by rulers. Palm reading was a kind of fortune telling for ordinary, simple people.
Over time, the extensive system of symbols in astrology made it possible to build an intricate network of connections. The methods of interpreting the lines were so complicated that only experts could use them. Chiromancy gradually became a science – a body of knowledge very difficult to master – and so ordinary people stopped practising it.
In the East, in China, there is a different system of palm reading. The various systems of chiromancy always developed at the level of theoretical foundations, not through magicians practising on the streets.
Chiromancy is not concerned only with the lines of the palm. Its scientific variety takes the whole hand into account, assessing a person’s character and fate by the shape, size, colour, temperature, moisture and hairiness of the hand. Particular attention is paid to the fingers. Conclusions are drawn from an analysis of all these elements. The individual parts of the hand are assigned to the seven planets of astrology. Today’s classification has not changed since the 16th century.
The lines of the hand
When examining a hand, you will see a curved line around the base of the thumb: this is the life line. The line that crosses the palm from a point near the base of the index finger to a point halfway between the base of the little finger and the wrist is the head line, the line of reason. Above it you will find the heart line. The line running downwards from the base of the middle finger towards the lower part of the life line is the fate line. Almost parallel to it, you can see the sun line. A line curving inwards that begins near the base of the little finger and ends close to the outer edge of the palm is called the line of intuition. Above the heart line, forming an arc that starts between the index and middle fingers and ends between the ring and little fingers, lies the girdle of Venus. Inside the area enclosed by the life line lies another curve parallel to it, called the line of Mars. The diagonal line running roughly from the base of the little finger to the lower part of the life line is the health line, or line of Mercury.
Above the upper end of this last line are short horizontal lines of affection, or marriage lines.
The meaning of the individual lines – the life line: long, unbroken, regular and clearly marked, it indicates a long life free of illness.
- faint, weakly marked – delicate health, poor resistance; short on both hands – death coming unexpectedly; short, but accompanied by another line running in the same direction – a prolonged life.
- a double line – a long life; broken on one hand – death at the moment corresponding to the break in the line, or surviving clinical death.
- chained in structure – indicates delicate health, a turbulent life and a nervous character.
- a point or dot on the life line corresponds to an illness or accident at the age matching its position
The head line – straight across the palm: a head for business, leadership skills, a love of order, sometimes stinginess and acquisitiveness.
- a forked ending – indicates diplomacy, dexterity and a facility for lying; sloping down towards the Mount of the Moon – indicates a vivid imagination, artistic talent and idealism.
- reaching the Mount of the Moon – indicates cunning, a talent for risk-taking and acquisitiveness.
- breaking off below the Mount of Saturn – death in youth, disorders of mental development.
- splitting into two branches below the Mount of Saturn – a serious injury; separated from the life line at the start, with no common point – a person who does not inspire trust: self-confident, quick to decide, impetuous and hurtful to others.
- joined to the life line – indicates timidity; an island on the head line – a dangerous head injury or a threat to mental health; with numerous branches – mental underdevelopment or headaches
– the heart line joining the head line – an unhappy marriage, worries; no heart line on one hand – serious illness, egoism
- The line of fortune – Saturn: running from the wrist all the way to the Mount of Saturn, well marked, single and straight – happiness and good health; breaking off at the head line – misfortune or loss of social status; beginning at the life line – shares in the qualities of the life line; beginning on the Mount of the Moon – fickle fortune, perhaps owed to someone’s patronage; breaks or crossing lines at the end – good fortune will be followed by misfortune.
- A broken, criss-crossed line is the sign of a life in which happy moments appear from time to time.
The line of Mercury, or health line
This line is very important. When it is clear and well formed, it can make up for the shortcomings of the life line, foretelling a long life despite an unfavourable life line. Very vivid in colour – brutality or pride; yellowish – a tendency towards liver disease; forming a triangle with the head line in the area of Mars – a talent for magical practices.
