Cheiromancy

Palmistry, or Cheiromancy (pronounced "kie-ro-mancy" and named after Leich de Hamong/Louis Hamon, the famous nineteenth century palmist who also went under the name of "Cheiro") is another popular, yet accurate, way of divining. It was common during Medieval times and is known to have existed when Greece and Rome were at their height. From the scattered information we have of Keltic Europe, there is some reason to believe that there, too, the hand was considered to reflect its owner. As with other types of divination, there is a fixed set of meanings to learn-in this case, the map of the hand and the meaning of the lines. There is also the need for some carefully applied intuition.

The hand changes throughout your life. The lines you see in your palm right now are not quite the same as were there a year ago, and probably different from five years ago. Although your hand gives an outline of you life, it is only a tentative outline. You yourself will have the final decision on the course your life will take. Whether you want the position or not, you are the captain of your soul.

Palmistry, like a doctor's examination, is strictly a diagnostic reading. It can point out the forces that operate within yourself, or within another, and it can point out the logical results of those forces. You can accept them as they are, or begin to change them. As with the tarot, be very careful in your phrasing of what you see in a person's palm. Some lines may show a particular area in which your subject has very serious problems. This should be presented as "an area of possible weakness and something for which you should be particularly watchful". On a few occasions you may encounter that particular combination of lines which indicates premature death. If this is the case, don't blurt out what you see. Rather, emphasize the need for great care in the future to avoid illness, accidents, violence, or whatever the rest of the hand may seem to imply as possible causes. Do remember: palmisty is only diagnostic; it is never final pronouncement. As a palmist, your attitude is of great importance. Never try to "second guess" your subject by adding on-the-spot observations and facts you may know beforehand but which are not shown in the palm. If you are reading the palm; read the palm and only that. Ideally you should know nothing whatsoever of the person you are reading. Their hands and your intuition should be enough.

Anytime you are meeting someone for the first time, you can pick up a tentative and often very useful first impression of their personality by unobtrusively glancing at the lines of their hand.