The Language of the Hand

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Nothing is more uncertain than the future and every man is curious to know what his future holds for him. Curiosity is the root of all knowledge and Palmistry is the answer to man's curiosity about his future. With correct understanding and interpretation we can get an astonishingly detailed picture of a man's past and future through Palmistry.

The science of Palmistry bases its predictions on the lines of the palms. Every hand is a different pattern and the small intricate lines and mounts on one's palm are an index to his past, present and future.

This book presents all the information necessary to get you started on this fascinating journey of understanding and interpreting the language of the hand in a most unique and simple manner. This book has remained a standard introduction to the subject for along time.

Prius quam incipias consuito, et ubi consulueris mature facto opus est. — Sallust.

Chiromancy, which includes Chirognomy, concerning which we propose to treat in the following pages, is of very ancient origin. The derivation of the word is from the Greek (the hand) and (I foretell). In fact, the Science is that which enables us to divine character, past events, and destiny from the shape, the mounds, and the lines of the hands.

There is more in this science than may at first sight appear to an observer. We know that certain bumps upon the head indicate certain characteristics of human nature. The colour of the hair and eyes, the form of the mouth, of the chin and nose, the shape of the ears, with other signs and attributes of person, and the general form of the body, nails, and fingers afford certain and infallible indications of temperament as varied as the forms of ear or face. Nothing in nature is more remarkable than the fact that, although every individual amongst the millions of living human beings possesses features, and organs of perception, visibly formed for the same purposes, and used for those purposes, no two persons possess them exactly alike. The variety therefore is infinite.

What then, are we to say concerning the hand of man? Character can be read from the feat and expression of the face, why not from the marks and lines upon the hand? Because, you will say, the "horny-handed son of toil" will show you more and a greater variety of marks (not lines) than the idle man, or the individual who works with his pen, and not with spade, pickaxe, or hammer. We grant that the effects of manual labour will be different, but they will not produce the same lines. Put any two men at the same work, their hands will not be any more alike after a week’s work than they were at the beginning of the week.

Neither are the lines in the hand caused by the general folding or construction; as an old writer puts it — Deus et Natura nihil efficiunt frustra. Certainly nothing has been made in vain, and why, then, should the lines of the human hand not bear some significance? "Nature," continues one old authority, "has impressed lines in the forehead which is not capable of restriction or plication, therefore this cannot hold, that the construction of the hands should cause the formation or appearance of lines in the hands; for between the joints of the fingers many persons have lines, and of different forms. Other people have very few —mayhap none at all—and here there is no flexion."

We therefore support the principle that there is a meaning attached to the lines and mounds of the hand, though we will not take upon ourselves to affirm unreservedly that the meanings attached to those lines or mounds are always unalterably the true ones, as far as the future is concerned. It is against reason and common sense to foretell, beyond power of mutation, events which cannot certainly be known to any human being. That certain identical lines and mounds are visible in the hands of individuals of like temperament is not to be gainsaid. Phrenology has given us standing ground for so much assumption in regard to Chiromancy. Lavater was a master in reading temperament from facial observation. The hand will afford as much information if we study it properly.

"Facts are stubborn things!" Some time ago we were dining with some friends living in one of the most populous and popular suburbs of our great city. The other guests present were all people of a character unmistakably suburban, that is, they were composed for the most part of men whose business took them to town every week-day, to whom the suburbs, where their wives and families lived, moved, and had their being, was but a dormitory. Consequently, the business element largely prevailed, and the company, in which the sexes were evenly balanced, was of a nature decidedly practical, and one in which abstruse, or psychic questions would meet with but little sympathy, or unbiassed discussion. Our host introduced us, for the purpose of escorting in to dinner, to a lady whose personal appearance was indicative only of a careless, matter-of-fact disposition, capable of ridiculing or seriously discussing any question that might arise.

As we took our seats and our neighbour took off her gloves —

"I hope, Miss—," we said, "we shall not bore one an- other, for I see you paint, and I don’t l am musical, and I see that you are not; that is to say, that you prefer catchy melody to abstruse harmony — that you prefer Sullivan to Wagner. You also have a will, or rather obstinacy, which will not let you give in, in any argument, however wrong you may be. This being the case, do you choose a subject, and I will discuss it and be convinced."

"Well," she replied, "seeing that we have known one another about four minutes, I think that is about the coolest speech I ever heard, but at the same time it is marvellously correct As you don’t belong to this place, how did you find all that out?"

"As you took off your gloves, I looked at your hands."

"What do you mean?" she asked, and at the same time held up her hands, palms uppermost, as if to see there What had guided us in arriving at a summary of her character, and as she made this motion we continued: —

"I beg to apologize; I was wrong; I see now that we shall get on very well, for you are imaginative (no, not romantic), and so am I, and that you have a painfully keen sense of the ridiculous, which is also my greatest misfortune."

"This is a most extraordinary thing," she returned; "will you tell me how you are analyzing me in this personal but horribly accurate manner?"

"It is quite simple," we said; "with a view to choosing a subject of conversation, I looked at your hands by the light of my favourite science, "Chiro-gnomy.’ By the conical tips of your rather square fingers, and the firmness with which your hand rested on my arm as we came in, I know that you paint By the want of method and order shown by your knuckles, joined to the other facts I had remarked, I saw that you were not a deep musician; and, on the top of these, the development of your thumb shows a good-humoured obstinacy; but when you held your palms up to the light, these two lines greatly modified and explained my first impressions."

"This interests me very much," said she; "can you tell me my fortune entirely, like a gipsy?"

"Please do not say that," we answered; " fortune-telling is in almost every instance a vulgar swindle practised by charlatans, or worse, for the purpose of extorting money from foolish people. Many professional Chiromants, also, consult the wishes and personal appearance and circumstances of their victims or clients in ex- pounding their pretended knowledge. Amateurs of the science, again, in their desire to be polite, suppress home truths, and the people who present their hands for examination, whilst inwardly thankful that the knowledge evidenced has been so slight, think that the science is simply a masquerade, and its practice a feat of assurance on the part of the practitioner. All these things tend to bring Chiromancy into disrepute; but, nevertheless, the character and disposition of a person is most clearly inscribed in the hand; events, as they happen to us, become written there as with a quill-pen; and as surely as ‘coming events cast their shadows before,’ so surely are those shadows cast in the hand. You might say, ‘The present and the past it may be possible to discern, but the future, no!’ I answer: ‘Why not? the lines do not become marked in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye; of a line which is destined to appear, the root must necessarily exist somewhere in the hand, and it is the science of Chiromancy which enables us to find those roots and distinguish them from the lines which have already come into prominence.

"You have asked me to read your hand by this science. I warn you of two things: first, that if there is anything in the art (and I, of course, firmly believe that there is), all the secrets of your life are laid bare to my inspection in your hand; second, that whatever I see there I shall tell you without a moment's hesitation, from the most complimentary facts to the most bitter truths; if you have anything to conceal do not show me your hands; if not, and if after these remarks you still elect to submit your- self to this ordeal, give me your hands, and if you repent of it, on your own head be it!"

**Contents and Sample Pages**