“God caused signs or seals on the hands of all the sons of men, that the sons of men might know their works.” - Book of Job
Palmistry, also called chiromancy or chirosophy, is the art or practice of telling fortunes and interpreting character from the lines and configurations of the palm of a person's hand.
The scholars of palmistry claim that the destiny of a person can be read very clearly from the lines of palm. Palmistry in that way can prove to be a mirror of the story of the life of an individual.
It revolves around the study of various "lines" ("heart line", "life line", etc.), mounts, shape of palm, thumb and fingers. In some traditions, readers also examine characteristics of the fingerprints and palmar skin patterns (dermatoglyphics), skin texture and color, shape of the palm, and flexibility of the hand.
The basic framework for "Classical" palmistry (the most widely taught and practiced tradition) is rooted in Greek mythology. Each area of the palm and fingers is related to a god or goddess, and the features of that area indicate the nature of the corresponding aspect of the subject. For example, the ring finger is associated with the Greek god Apollo; characteristics of the ring finger are tied to the subject's dealings with art, music, aesthetics, fame, wealth, and harmony.
The origins of palmistry are uncertain. Some claim that the art of palmistry originated in China or India.
The chiromantic art has been known in India, Nepal, China, Tibet, Persia, Sumeria, Babilonia, Palestine and Egypt, and it underwent significant development in ancient Greece.
Aristotle, in his “De Historia Animalium” described the practice and outlined his belief in the fact that the lines of the palm reflected aspects of the persons soul along with some observations on what the lines meant. This knowledge was passed to Alexander the Great who took the knowledge on board both in military and diplomatic fields.
During the Middle Ages the art of palmistry was actively suppressed by the Catholic Church as pagan superstition. In Renaissance magic, palmistry was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts", along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).
While palmistry remained a little-known underground belief in Western Europe it continued to flourish further East, particularly among the Romany of Romania, Bulgaria and surrounding areas which were firstly under Byzantine rule and then Ottoman.
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.
Although there is no scientific support for the contention that the physical features observed in palmistry have psychic or occult predictive meaning, the human hand does show evidence of the person’s health, cleanliness, and occupational and nervous habits (e.g., as evidenced by calluses or nail-biting). Hands are routinely examined in medical diagnosis and provide clues with which the palmist may often astound the unsophisticated.
Find our recommended book and kit on palmistry on the right bar of our blog.
Also read:
No comments:
Post a Comment