Part 2

And this brings me to my last point. Hands, faces, heads and other characteristics give their readings, but none of these readings should be taken as absolutely final. The power is within us to fight against our failings and to better our good qualities. We may even allow our best ones to deteriorate. That is why two people born at the same time and in the same town need not grow up exactly alike. And it is also why a small percentage of horoscopes and fortunes are bound to miss the mark.

PALMISTRY--WHAT MAY BE LEARNED FROM HANDS

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth...."

People who can see as far as the ends of their noses and then only through a fog, declare (with a superior sniff) that Palmistry is nothing but a trap to catch fools; they call it quackery, or declare perhaps that it is merely a fake or blind guesswork.

Now, while we would be the first to deny that Palmistry is an exact and infallible science, yet we just as strongly affirm that it is undoubtedly a most fascinating and interesting recreation; as to its truth, each one must decide that question for himself.

For the few who have a wish to take up this study seriously, there are many now who will naturally wish to know just sufficient to be able to "tell fortunes." Fortunetellers are always popular at some jolly party or quiet friendly gathering of an evening.

In this book they will find all the simple information required; on the other hand the student will find a sincere delight in reading and sifting thoroughly the numerous books that probe the depths of the subject.

Quite apart from any markings which may be upon the hand, a general indication of the habits and temperament of the individual in question can readily be gained by a careful examination of the texture or quality of the skin.

It were as well to note here that the impressions gained must never be taken by themselves, but only in conjunction with other confirming signs. Especially is this so when judging the character of a friend or acquaintance.

_TEXTURE OF SKIN._--The skin may, of course, be smooth or rough. To judge this you should turn the hand in question back upwards; now get the feel of the skin by actual touch; a smooth, fine-textured skin denotes a refined nature, and _vice versa_. This is a very strong indication indeed, insomuch that should there be other tendencies pointing to coarseness of nature, this texture of the hand would have a refining effect upon the whole.

_ELASTICITY OF THE HAND._--This is best tested by actual grip (as in shaking hands). All hands naturally present some feeling of elasticity; this is a matter of comparison, but it is very easy to tell the quick, virile grip of an elastic hand to the dead fish feeling which a flabby hand gives us when we grasp it.

_A FLEXIBLE HAND_ denotes an active and energetic person, one who will be readily adaptable to new conditions. He will always rise to the occasion, and manfully withstands the buffets of ill-fortune. This type is always trustworthy and a good friend.

[Illustration: No. 6.--Beware of these Hands.--A shows a weak, flattened thumb; B a curved little finger and C a coarse, short thumb. Each has other defects as well.]

_A FLABBY HAND_--one that does not respond to your grip or responds but sluggishly--is the hand of an idle man, untrustworthy and inconsistent, a man of weak and negative character; but be sure to search well for other confirming signs of this weakness.

THE SHAPE OF THE HAND

A fairly accurate guide to character is certainly contained in the shape of the hand. Hands may be roughly divided into two classes--broad and long. A person having a _long hand_ you may judge to have great capacity for mental effort and matters of detail.

The broad-handed person you may expect to be a strong man physically; his culture will be bodily rather than mental. He could with advantage improve his culture by reading, and by enjoying the best music.

THE SHAPE OF THE FINGERS

When an individual is found with _square_ finger-tips, he should make a good marriage partner; he will be practical--a man of method and reason. He is punctual, but should cultivate imagination.

_POINTED FINGER_ tips will be found on the hand of the musician, the painter, and, in fact, anyone who is of artistic temperament.

Persons with these fingers should curb their imagination with reason, and cultivate the power of doing things, not only dreaming them, though dreaming is well enough in its way.

_TAPERING_ fingers indicate people of extremes. "Ice and fire" are these people--impulsive and generous to a fault. They should guard against undue and morbid sensitiveness, and should cultivate a sane philosophical outlook upon life. They are capable of the highest, but are frequently their own worst enemies.

_SPATULATE FINGERS._--These are the sportsmen of the world. They are not worried much by the opinions of others, while they love a busy, healthy life; a sound mind in a sound body.

GENERAL SHAPE AND FORMATION OF THE HAND

If the hands are knotted with the joints swollen, powers of analysis, calculation and reflection are shown; philosophers have this type of hand.

_SMOOTH_ fingers and hands indicate the artistic temperament. These people are frequently inspired, and have curious intuitions concerning coming events. Musicians, spiritualists, and martyrs are of this type, together with many folk who are square pegs in round holes; maybe doing work which is uncongenial to them.

_THE THUMB_ has also in it certain very marked indications of character. The three bones (or Phalanges) in the thumb each have their interpretation. Beginning at the top these should be judged by length as follows:--

1. Will. (The pushing type of man.) 2. Reasoning power. (The thinker or philosopher.) 3. Love.

Thus a long first or top phalange indicates great will power; or if it is not a certain indication, it points to a definite likelihood of the will being strong.

THE MOUNTS

Take your subject's hand and examine it closely; a strong magnifying glass should form part of the equipment of every wise palmist. It will be seen that there are certain portions of the hands which are raised above the surface. These are known as "mounts." As will be noticed in the accompanying picture, we call these mounts by astrological names, a method adopted from the very earliest times. They are eight in number, named: Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Apollo, Luna and Mars (of which there are two).

Let us look at our picture on page 21. At the base of the first finger you will see Mount Jupiter, then taking the base of each finger in turn, will be found Mounts Saturn, Apollo, and Mercury. Mount Luna will be found at the base of the hand, below the little finger, near the wrist, Mount Mars just above it, Mount Venus stands below Jupiter and at the root of the thumb, with the second Mars above it.

All individuals have not these mounts developed to the same extent, and in these variations strong indications of character are to be found.

We will now have a little discussion upon the subject of Mounts, taking each individually, and in turn.

Usually one of these mounts in your subject's hands will be found to stand out clearly from the remainder. This will give you a good idea of the general type of person whose hand you are judging.

These are the general indications to be found.

_THE SATURNIAN._--If the Mount of Saturn be over-developed, you have the cold, sceptical type of man. He lacks the milk of human kindness, and is probably a pessimist. A moderate development, on the other hand, is good; this man should be prudent, not miserly; optimistic yet not fatuously so, a well-balanced man.

We well know that the excess or over-development of one particular quality (however excellent this quality may be) is evil. Thus a super-artistic temperament gives the neurotic; while the over-prudent man becomes the grasping miser.

_THE JUPITERIAN._--Jupiterians, or folk with an excessively strong mount of this name, are the strong men of the world. In excess they are ambitious to a fault, masterful, overbearing and bullying. With a moderate development we have exceedingly good qualities indicated. Power of leadership, rightful ambition, initiative, and great abilities for hard work.

_THE APOLLONIAN._--Taking the men and women of Apollo we have the essential optimists, the Micawbers and Mark Tapleys of life. Allied to their cheery natures is a love of the artistic and the really beautiful. The sculptors, painters, and musicians who make life so pleasant, are very frequently Apollonians. The best advice to give an Apollonian is "moderation in all things." He or she must be very careful in the choice of a marriage partner; this last is very important indeed.

_THE MERCURIAN._--In excess we have craft, guile, and fondness for falsehoods. In moderation we find the good business man, shrewd, cautious, possessor of a capacity for doing the lion's share of the work, and a fine eye for the main chance. Let him cultivate his opposites. Unselfishness, kindness and generosity will make a Mercurian a most charming person. Their lack will leave a clever, scheming scoundrel.

_THE MARTIAN._--When we find Mars in the ascendant (i. e., the mounts excessively developed) we find aggression and even bullying. In moderation we have a fighter in the best sense of the word; a man who will withstand the blows of fate and fight his way through life, resisting evil. He is never mean, and you will find him a sincere and trustworthy friend.

_THE VENUSIAN._--When this mount is predominant in excess we find a person of unbalanced mind; he will be careless and will make a dangerous marriage partner. Developed to a moderate degree we find generosity, a power to feel for others, with a pleasing personality. The folk of Venus love beauty, and love their life; they are strongly attracted to those of the opposite sex, and are likely to fall in love without counting the cost. These people should cultivate a habit of thinking before they act, and should not allow generosity to degenerate into extravagance.

_THE LUNARIAN._--Lastly let us take the Mount of the Moon. In excess we again find the neurotic or unduly nervous person. In moderation the Lunarian will be a person of imagination, sympathy, and one who loves to look on all that is most beautiful in life. He should be successful as a musician, playwright, or novelist, and has a ready capacity for learning foreign languages.

Let me give one piece of final advice to those who truly judge character by the mounts, or indeed by any signs on the hand. Never judge by one sign or you will be led into stupid mistakes. Always take the hand as a whole, for frequently some point in the formation striking you as bad may be strongly counterbalanced by other good signs.

This is exceedingly important, and rightly applied will save you many foolish pitfalls in your early fortunetelling days!

THE FINGERS

Each of the mounts at the base of the fingers gives its name to the finger above it, i. e., the first finger is called Jupiter, the little finger is Mercury, and so on.

When judging character by the mounts, the fingers which share their name must also always be noted as to their development. Let us first take Jupiter.

If that finger is well developed (i. e., long in comparison to the remainder) this will accentuate the Jupiterian qualities seen in the well-developed mounts. This may be applied throughout the mounts. The important thing to remember is that mount and corresponding finger should be read together. This is essential.

To conclude this section let us take the phalanges (or joints of the finger) with their interpretations.

Counting from the top joint nearest to the nail, the meaning given by palmists to the three phalanges of each finger are as follows:--

(_Length of phalanx_, or distance between the respective joints, is the _deciding factor_.) For simplicity, we have made a small table.

----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------ Name | | | of Finger | 1st Joint. | 2nd Joint. | 3rd Joint. ----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------ _JUPITER_ | Religion. | Ambition. | Despotic or | | | fondness for | | | governing others. ----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------ _SATURN_ | Fondness for spiritual | Out-door life. | Earthly ambition. | mysticism. | | ----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------ _APOLLO_ | Excess or foolish | Caution. | Love of show. | optimism | | | (Micawber). | | ----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------ _MERCURY_ | The orator's finger. | Great tenacity.| Cunning and | | | greed. ----------+------------------------+----------------+------------------

THE LINES OF YOUR DESTINY

We now come to the most fascinating side of Palmistry--the actual study of the network of lines upon the hand, and their relation to the mounts and to each other.

This is where your magnifying glass will be of enormous value. There are very many small signs, seemingly of little matter, but in reality of very great importance, such as stars, crosses, squares, and triangles, little marks with frequently great meanings.

One word of warning must be given before we go farther. If you see evil in a palm never on any account tell of it. But if you see some misfortune approaching which a little foresight might avoid, by all means warn your subject. Should you by any chance see, or think you see, anything calculated to alarm another, keep it to yourself. Always remember that human intelligence is frail and finite but life is infinite. Palmistry shares in this frailty; it is interesting and intensely fascinating, but far from infallible. It is not an exact science in the sense of mathematics, where two plus two equals four, no more and no less.

Let us take these lines in turn and discuss the meaning of each.

THE LIFE LINE

When the Life line rises high in the hand, great ambition is shown. If you see a Life line circling well into the palm (thus forming a large Mount of Venus) emotional characteristics such as love and generosity are shown. If, on the contrary, the line forms a small Mount of Venus, coldness will be predominant.

If the Life line commences very feebly and gradually strengthens, this is a good sign. It indicates a weak childhood but a robust maturity.

THE HEAD LINE

The Head line works in conjunction with the line of Health (see illustration), thus:--If the Head line is broken some ill health may be indicated which has made or will make its effect felt upon the brain and thinking powers. But only if all other lines should support this.

An independent nature is shown when the Head line branches off from the Life line early in its course, and vice versa.

If the Head line should curve towards Saturn, there is shown a material outlook upon life; this is the financier's Head line. Curving towards Apollo an artistic nature is shown, while should this line originate near Mount Jupiter it is a sure sign of capacity for leadership, and many go-ahead qualities that make for success. If the Head line is firm, a definite, purposeful nature is probable, while a weak, wavy Head line indicates a weak, wavering outlook upon life.

With the Head line joining the Heart line, emotional qualities are to the fore; this individual is impulsive and should put the curb of reason upon himself.

Should the Head line have branches which run towards Mount Mercury, Luna and Mars, it is an excellent sign, showing good balance, ready wit, and quick adaptability.

THE HEART LINE

When this originates on or near the mount called Saturn, there is a leaning towards a sensual, pleasure-loving nature.

Rising from between Saturn and its neighbor Jupiter, we have a very deliberate, practical man. His love, while very sincere, is governed by reason; he is intensely practical, and rather lacking in imagination, which it were well worth his while to cultivate. His head will always rule his Heart, especially is this indicated should the Heart line bend towards that of the Head.

Should the Heart line cross the palm entirely, the owner is the exact opposite of the individual just mentioned. This person's heart will rule his head; he is sentimental even to a fault, and should practice business-like qualities, and not dream overmuch. Love in a cottage is all very well--but how when the roof leaks?

A short Heart line is a warning for care in marriage; without this care a couple may well come to shipwreck on the rocks of married life. Forewarned is forearmed!

THE LINE OF FORTUNE

This is a line running (as its name suggests) towards the Mount of Apollo. It is a valuable and somewhat rarely-found line. This is the line of genius; effort will scarcely be needed by its owner; he will seem to fly towards success on the wings of destiny.

This is the ideal, but it must be borne in mind that there are other lines which must be studied in conjunction with it.

On the other hand its absence does by no means prohibit or even endanger success; it merely indicates that individual effort will be required, and what is life without something to strive for?

THE HEALTH LINE

A good strong Health line is very desirable; should this line be broken, however, there is no need for alarm, it is merely indicated that a certain amount of care is necessary in one's personal habits of life.

THE LINE OF FATE

This line runs across the middle of the palm, from the Mount of Saturn to the Bracelets, but its full course need not be traced on any particular hand. When of full length and a middle position is revealed, the fate of the individual may be reckoned as particularly lucky. Such a person has strong determination, can make quick decisions and can be powerful without being a tyrant. He has the power of drawing people to him, in a friendly way, and is, thus, always liked.

[Illustration: No. 7.--The Map of the Hand.

_a._ Life line; _b._ Fate line; _c._ Health line; _d._ Head line; _e._ Heart line; _f._ Marriage line; _g._ Bracelets; _h._ Mount of Jupiter; _j._ Mount of Saturn; _k._ Mount of Apollo; _l._ Mount of Mercury; _m._ and _o._ Mounts of Mars; _n._ Mount of Venus; _p._ Mount of Luna; _s._ Line of Fortune. ]

Should the line run from the Bracelets and stop at the Head line, this is a sign that the possessor will have many troubles and obstacles to overcome. Whether he will surmount them depends on the strength of the Head line. In cases where the Fate line continues up one of the fingers, the owner must take care that success does not turn his head and ruin the future. A Fate line that wriggles its way across the palm indicates a life of ups and downs, and, should the line be broken in places, it is a sign that happiness will vary from time to time. Generally speaking, if small lines run upwards out of the Fate line, the signs are good, but the reverse is the case if they run downwards.

THE LINE OF MARRIAGE

This line is a short, comparatively inconspicuous one, found at the edge of the palm, below the little finger. It runs inwards but not very far towards the center of the palm. How to recognize its significance is explained under the heading, "An ABC of Hands."

Now let us put our house in order, refresh our minds, and summarize the broad principles upon which any study of Palmistry must rest.

First we have the mounts. It is in the varying relation of the lines to these mounts and to their adjacent fingers that our deductions are founded. One mount lies at the base of each finger, Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo and Mercury respectively. Secondly, we have the four fingers with their astrological names, each finger bearing the name of the mount at its base.

_Table showing the general qualities of the mounts._

------------+----------------------------------------------------------- Name of | Mount | Quality ------------+----------------------------------------------------------- _JUPITER_ | Ambition, leadership, a magnetic personality. (In excess) | Brutal and bullying. ------------+----------------------------------------------------------- _SATURN_ | Cautious, prudent. (In excess) Miserliness, coldness. ------------+----------------------------------------------------------- _APOLLO_ | Artistic Temperament, optimist, healthy living. (In | excess) Shallow character, frivolous, and extravagant. ------------+----------------------------------------------------------- _MERCURY_ | Energy, good judgment. (In excess) Lying, fraud, | deception. ------------+-----------------------------------------------------------

Here is a good, sound rule to remember when reading the hands of your friends. First find your type--i.e., Jupiterian, Apollonian, etc. This is accomplished by noting the main characteristics of the hand which you are examining. Suppose that the Mount of Apollo is fully developed and well raised, and that the finger of Apollo is inclined to be long, there you have practically a pure Apollonian type, i.e., Apollo in excess. If the Mount of Apollo is developed but also the finger of Saturn is long, this forms an admirable mixture. This subject will feel the benefit of the steadying influence of Saturn at work on his light-hearted Apollonian nature.

Pure types are rare--and fortunately so--for in a pure type, no matter which, you are frequently liable to find a rather poorly-balanced outlook on life. The cold need heat, and the brilliant require solid perseverance and a capacity for hard work to win lasting success.

[Illustration: No. 8.--The Marriage Line in varying shapes.]

WHICH HAND SHOULD BE READ?

The answer to this question is a very decided both! As a general rule the left hand will show the inherent characteristics of the individual; the right hand shows the same characteristics modified by our surroundings or by the individual's personal efforts. The former is possibility--the latter actuality; in short, it is what we actually make our life.

The safest rule about reading right and left hands is this:--Read both hands separately and carefully, then read them in their relation one to the other.

There is no blind fatalism in the sayings and doings of a true student of Palmistry. What he does or should do is to point out the likelihoods and warn against inherent weakness. In so much he is like a guide helping us to pick our way through the tortuous maze of life.

It may strike some of our readers that we have spoken more of the indications of character to be found in the hand rather than of the indications of "Fortune." A few moments' thought will show a very sound reason for this.

It is certainly our characters which shape our destinies; should you find a hand with all the indications of strong character, while also possessing a strong will and well-cut Life line, you would be sure in prophesying a happy life for its owner; or as sure as we poor humans ever can hope to be!

If you find a hand with the indications of weak will and character, yet with the Health and Life lines strong and well defined, you may well advise the owner of the hand that effort, effort and effort again, is required if he or she would win through!

Remember that tact is more precious than fine gold! A tactful and timely warning may prove of the greatest value, while without tact you will surround yourself with an army of acquaintances whose feelings you have hurt by your thoughtless and unintentionally cruel remarks!

There is no infallibility about this matter, but with the facts given in this book there are vast possibilities for really pleasurable and interesting recreation. If the study be taken up seriously, and used with discretion, there are almost unbelievable opportunities for good.

This is what a man once said to me--and he was a man who thought deeply, and probed matters to their depths: