Palmistry Chistian Church

(excerpt from The Palmistry Bible by Jane Struthers [2005] pp 14-19)

Palmistry enables you to discover a person’s character and the events of their life by interpreting the shape of their hands and the formation of the lines on their palms. It is remarkably accurate, and it can seem astonishing that so much information about us is stored in our hands, ready for other people to read. So is palmistry an art or a science? Perhaps it is a combination of both, because it combines intuition and sensitivity that are so often part of an art with the knowledge and experience that are required to practice a science properly.

Fortune-telling

Palmistry is often dismissed as nothing more than fortune-telling, a phrase that conjures up images of crossing with silver the palm of a mysterious crone before she peers at your hand and announces that you are going on a long journey…

The Scientific Approach

In our technological age many of us pride ourselves on being thoroughly rational, believing that nothing exists unless we can view it through the lens of microscope, a telescope or some other scientific instrument. Equally, if we cannot explain why something happens (for instance, why homeopathy works when the fewer active ingredients there are in a remedy, the greater its effectiveness), we may assume there is no merit in it and that we can therefore dismiss it as a figment of our imagination, or as bogus. Some people apply this argument to palmistry and other divination techniques: they cannot explain them and therefore they do not work. But do we have to understand everything that happens or dare we welcome a little trust and magic into our lives? You may not be able to explain how palmistry works, but that does not prevent you from using it and learning from it.

The Four Branches of Palmistry

Originally palmistry was divided into two sections known as chirognomy and chiromancy. Chirognomy is the art of reading character from the shape and size of the hand, fingers and thumbs, while chiromancy is the art of reading the lines on the hand. These two original branches of palmistry have now been joined by two contemporary fields of study known as body language and dermatoglyphics.

You may already be familiar with body language, in which psychologists draw conclusions about people’s character and motives from the way they hold and use their bodies… Dermatoglyphics originated in the 1830s in the study of fingerprints and has progressed dramatically since then. Scientists realised that not only our fingers, but our whole palms, are covered with minute skin patterns that are unique to each of us, and which can be analysed to provide valuable information about our characters.

Self-Knowledge

Palmistry describes both your past and your future, because all the major events that affect you will be shown in your hands. If you use palmistry only to find out about the past and the future, you are ignoring it’s very valuable ability to tell you all about yourself.

Palmistry can describe the strengths and weaknesses of your character, which will help you to become more aware of who you are and, as a result, to develop psychologically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. You may also become more tolerant and forgiving of others once you are aware of your own shortcomings, because you will realise that these are a part of being human. That does not mean you can use them as an excuse for bad behaviour: blaming your arrogant tendencies on your long Jupiter fingers, for example, or your reluctance to stand up for yourself on your thin thumbs. However, you may become aware of your stumbling blocks, which could help you to navigate your way around them in the future.

After palmistry has outlined your strengths, you can start to play on them. For instance, if you are fed up with your current job and want to switch to something more interesting, or even retrain in a new career, your hand will give you plenty of guidelines concerning what might suit you. It will tell you whether you are highly imaginative or rooted in practicality, whether you thrive on a hectic schedule or need to take your time over things. These are all valuable pieces of information about yourself that you can use to your advantage.

What Palmistry is NOT

For centuries, the Christian Church has disapproved of palmistry because it is regarded as a way of telling fortunes. Some people even believe that palmistry is linked to the Devil, or that terrible things will happen to them if they have their palms read. However, palmistry has absolutely no connection with Satanism or with unleashing malevolent forces that will wreak havoc in your life.

Palmistry is not a branch of astrology or the tarot, either, although these techniques are sometimes mistakenly grouped together. There are simple links between astrology and palmistry, because the hand shapes are named after the four astrological elements, and the mounts and fingers are named after the seven planets of traditional astrology, but that is where the connection ends. Palmistry and astrology are entirely separate disciplines, both of which have a great deal to teach us about ourselves.

Fate and Palmistry

Generally, in cases of palmistry, the questions asked are based on the following features:
1.Shape of Hand
2.Shape of Fingers
3.Shape of Nails
4.Life Line
5.Head Line
6.Heart Line
7.Fate Line
8.Fame Line.

These features represent the following:
Shape of Hand - Significance:
The shape of the hand and the fingers relates to hereditary influence of character and the disposition. There are certain types of hands which are also suited for one work more than any other.

Shape of Finger - Significance:
Your talents and qualities are well understood from the finger shapes.
Shape of Nails - Significance:
Want to know more about your general disposition and other hereditary traits, look out for your nail shapes.

Life Line
Vigor and length of your life are represented by your Life Line. It predicts your illness, death and many other important features that may affect you in your life.

Location:
The Life Line starts from the side of palm between the thumb and the index finger and extends across the middle of the palm towards the base of the hand.

Head Line
The mentality of a person is generally indicated by the Head Line. The intellectual strength or weakness related to talent is signified by this line.

Location:
The Head Line rises from just above the Life Line and extends across the hand.
Heart Line
Love and attraction of the sexes are indicated by your Heart Line. It reflects your humane and loving nature.

Location:
The Heart Line rises from the upper portion of the hand, just below the mounts of Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun and Mercury (from base of index finger to base of little finger).

Fate Line
The Line of Fate or Destiny is the center upright line on the palm of the hand. All worldly affairs, result of your career, people who influence you, and ultimately the successes or failures is indicated by this line. It is prominently marked on conic and psychic hands, as they are firm believers in fate.

Location:
The Fate Line starts in the middle of the palm and continues towards the base of the middle finger.

Fame Line
Also known as the line of Apollo, the line of brilliancy or the line of success is the Fame Line. It is heavily marked on conic, spatulate and philosophic hands.

Location:
Running parallel to the Line of Fate is the Fame Line which starts from the base of hand and runs towards ring finger. Success is enhanced by this line as indicated by the line of Fate and also gives fame and distinction to our lives. Appreciation of art is also the indication of this line.

The palmist's use of his or her intuition becomes more and more easy as he or she becomes more experienced. In time, the palmist is able, almost without conscious thought, to decide which indicators must be taken with great seriousness and which can be virtually disregarded.

Palmistry Chiromancy

Palmistry, also known as Cheiromancy, is my favorite tool of divination, as lines never lie. They are the blueprint of your experience in this reality. The palms of the hand are further used for healing by many healers and can experience energy if you focus. The left acts to receive energy while the right hand sends it out.

Chiromancy or 'cheiromancy', is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palmistry, palm-reading, chirology or hand analysis. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice chiromancy are generally called palmists, palm readers, hand readers, or chirologists.

Palmistry can trace its roots back to Indian (Hindu) Astrology (known in Sanskrit as Jyotish) and Roma (gypsy) fortune tellers. The Hindu sage Valmiki is thought to have written a book, whose title translates in English as "The Teachings of Valmiki Maharshi on Male Palmistry", comprising 567 stanzas, more than 5,000 years ago.

From India, the art of palmistry spread to China, Tibet, Egypt, Persia and to other countries in Europe. Palmistry came to China in around 3,000 B.C. It then progressed to Greece where Anaxagoras practised it. However, modern palmists often combine traditional predictive techniques with psychology, holistic healing, and alternative methods of divination.

The practice of chiromancy is generally regarded as a pseudoscience. It should be noted that the information outlined below is briefly representative of modern palmistry; there are many, often conflicting, interpretations of various lines and palmar features across various "schools" of palmistry.

Chiromancy consists of the practice of evaluating a person's character or future by "reading" the palm of that person's hand. Various "lines" ("heart line", "life line", etc.) and "mounts" (or bumps) (chirognomy) , purportedly suggest interpretations by their relative sizes, qualities, and intersections. In some traditions, readers also examine characteristics of the fingers, fingernails, fingerprints and palmar skin patterns (dermatoglyphics), skin texture and color, shape of the palm, and flexibility of the hand.

A palm reader usually begins by reading the person's 'dominant hand' (the hand he or she writes with or uses the most). In some traditions of palmistry, the other hand is believed to carry past-life or karmic information, as well as hereditary traits which is not the case. One lines form on the palm they remain there. New lines are created as a person experiences life.