The Palm

THE palm itself, its shape and consistency, aside from the markings upon it, tells much about the person whose hand you are studying.

Development of the hand, which is the instrument of the brain, is dependent on all the biological and chemical factors which also determine the personality. Studies of the ductless glands have given us some understanding of the complicated chemistry governing human energy, sex, and nervous reactions, from the simplest reflex to involved inhibitions and neuroses.

This same machinery of nerve communication and glandular secretions, which decides the weight, height and nervous and muscular responses of the individual, also determines the development of the

From studying a large number of hands, I have been able to associate particular types of palmar structure with specific characteristics.

For example, the consistency of the hand tells much about the

A firm, full, elastic palm, warm and alive to the touch, indicates a person who is active, well-directed, alive. Flabbiness shows a phlegmatic disposition, to which action comes with an effort.

If the palm is at the same time both flabby and covered with minute lines, the subject dissipates his energies in nervous reactions.

A thick, flabby and soft palm shows physical or mental indolence.

The fleshier the soft hand is, the greater will be the love of ease and luxury.

When the palm is thin and narrow, you can expect a narrow timid individual, lacking mental ability and moral force.

A person with this palm is likely to be shallow and selfish.

Long fingers on a narrow palm show small scale tyranny restricted to personal relations.

A palm with high eminences shows a warm, responsive nature.

A flat surface usually goes with intellectual interests.

If the palm is in good proportion to the fingers, about the same in length and width, and if it is even in shape, firm, though not hard, it shows a well-balanced, receptive mind, control of the emotions, intelligent use of the talents.

When the palm is overdeveloped in relation to the fingers, the individual is usually over-confident and egocentric.

If the palm’s development is especially heavy at the base, near the wrist, sensuality is indicated.

A hand which is particularly heavy at the wrist and at the same time hard in consistency shows brutality unless a strong but sensitive thumb or a good headline (see plate 27) counteracts this.

The Hollow Palm

A hollow palm shows lack of aggressiveness and perseverance.

It is associated with misfortune.

The lack of these qualities is the cause of much ill luck.

This is why poor development in the center of the hand is an ill omen, no matter how favorable the rest of the hand may be.

The depression in the center of the hand often lies in the direction of a particular line or section of the palm.

It specifically relates to the faculties associated with the line, mount, or sign toward which the hollow inclines.

A hollow falling under the line of life shows domestic troubles.

When under the line of destiny, it is associated with disappointment with one’s career.

Large And Small Hands

The size of the hand as a whole is of extreme importance.

It is superstitious to believe that large hands are capable.

Usually, a large hand with long-fingers will be methodical and inclined towards detail work.

But the hands which go with the conception of large projects, with the formulation of breath-taking plans, with discovery, daring and forceful execution, are comparatively small. Large hands need direction from others. Small hands supply the direction.

Left And Right Hand

Most changes in the hand resulting from growth of the personality and adjustment to circumstances manifest themselves in the palm.

The right hand is the one to study in a right-handed person.

That hand gives us a picture of the human being as he is. The left hand tells us what he might have been whether for better or worse.

The left hand shows a person’s inheritance, weaknesses, strength, talents and the lacks with which he was born.

From the left hand we are able to judge a person’s potentialities.

From the right what he has created out of his potentialities.

In a left-handed person, the significance of the two hands is of course reversed.

This sort of knowledge is a weapon, and with knowledge of our weaknesses we may be able to overcome them.

Here is one very great value in the message of the left hand.

By pointing out the pitfalls into which we are likely to fall, it helps us to avoid them.

The right hand shows how far we have developed or dissipated our inherent endowments.

Frequently you will find the 2 hands very different from each other.

Sometimes, especially in hands with weak thumbs, you will see all the vices and pitfalls, the illnesses, the lacks hinted at in the hand of actuality.

In persons of strong will, you find the opposite – a tendency to flightiness bolstered by purpose, wayward emotions held in check by reason.

It is therefore important, in studying the hands, to compare the general contours of the palms, the left with the right.

Examine each of the mounts to see whether they differ in prominence in the 2 hands.

Look with special care at the principal lines of the hands.

Of all the hand’s markings, the lines are the most sensitive to changes taking place in a person.

As you grow or shrink in mental stature, your line of head will reflect the change. It will also register your mental health. I have seen hands in which a naturally vivid imagination was allowed to atrophy until the right hand showed not a trace of this gift but, instead, had a level, extremely matter-of-fact line of head.

The left hand, at the same time, retained a low-dipping line of head which testified to the original bent.

The same applies to the line of heart. In persons who have had to repress affectionate responsiveness, I have often found the line of heart in the right hand growing faint and narrow, sometimes diverted out of its original course to show the influence of self-seeking instead of generosity.

The line of destiny may, in the left hand, be almost destroyed by obstacles.

But in the right hand it may be remade, showing the conquest of difficulties by a strong person.

Unfortunately, the reverse is just as often true.

Failure to make use of natural gifts, wasted energy, misdirected ambitions leave their imprint in a broken or abruptly ended line of destiny.

In any case, the message of the operative hand is never a static one.

Comparison of the two hands tells us where we have gone astray from the path which would have been best for us, and it is thus possible to correct our mistake.

Of course, in a lefthanded person, the readings have to be reversed.

Just what the cause of lefthandedness or ambidexterity is we do not know.

It is, however, a recognized fact that the tendency to use one hand rather than the other is closely associated with the balance of the central nervous system.

Changing the balance by forcing a naturally lefthanded person to use his right is likely to have disastrous results.

Many speech defects are laid to interference with the natural dominance of one hand or the other.

In children especially, nervous maladjustment, extreme shyness and slow perception result from trying to make them use the right hand when the left is the naturally operative.

Formerly schools and parents tried to make left-handed youngsters learn penmanship and other manual arts with the right hand.

Nowadays, advanced educators have learned that difficult behavior problems, secretiveness, lying, even stealing, result from such interference with nature’s intentions.

Parents and teachers should be especially careful about trying to readjust a child’s natural preference for one hand or the other.