The Art and Science of Hand Reading

A comprehensive guide to the inner psychology revealed by the hand

• Details how to interpret the entire hand--the shape of the palm and fingers, mounts, lines, fingerprints, flexibility, nails, and skin texture

• Reveals the personality archetypes, strengths, and weaknesses connected with each of the seven mounts and how the rest of the hand modifies these traits

• Explains how lines change and the decisive influence of the person’s own mind in healing defects found on the lines

Palmistry is a science and a universal language. The hand tells a story about your talents, relationships, health, and how you feel about yourself. It reveals periods of ease or challenge in your life, and it speaks about your weaknesses and the traits you need to develop. As you change, so do your hands, reflecting the progress you have made.

In this comprehensive guide to hand reading, based on Ellen Goldberg’s 40 years of teaching palmistry and the Western Mystery tradition, the authors make the powerful insights of the hand accessible in an inviting and user-friendly manner. The book presents the character traits and personality archetypes associated with each of the seven mounts of the palm and shows how to determine which are most influential in the nature of the individual. The mount archetypes reveal the lifestyle, love,sex, and marriage preferences; the best career choices; and the unique strengths and weaknesses for each person. The book also examines other factors that enhance the qualities revealed by the mount types, including the flexibility of the hand, texture of the skin, and the shapes of the fingers, fingertips, and nails. The meaning of each major and minor line is described in detail as well as the influence the person’s own mind has in healing defects and obstacles found on their lines. The authors also provide accurate timing guides for each line, making it possible to locate specific events and to see how your lines change over time.

Presenting the hand as a guide to self-fulfillment, The Art and Science of Hand Reading incorporates correspondences to other mystical sciences such as astrology, Kabbalah, the Hermetic teachings, and archetypal psychology. It also includes practical examples and more than 600 illustrations to show how to integrate the meanings of each part of the hand to form a complete picture of your inner psychology and your ever-changing destiny.

Ellen Goldberg is an internationally known teacher of Tarot and palmistry. She is the founder and director of the School of Oracles and has been on the faculty of the New York Open Center since 1986. She is also a psychotherapist and has maintained a private therapy practice in New York for more than 30 years. Dorian Bergen is the co-owner of ACA Galleries in New York City. A student and practitioner of palmistry for over 25 years, she has a special interest in documenting how children’s hands change over time. Both authors live in New York City.

An Introduction to Hand Reading

The Hand-Mind Connection

PART ONE

The Basic Modifiers

The Attributes That Make Each Hand Unique

1    Texture, Flexibility, Consistency, Coloring, and Size of the Hand

Texture of the Skin: Fine, Coarse, and Medium • Flexibility of the Hand: Stiff, Flexible, Extremely Flexible, and Straight • Consistency of the Palm: Flabby, Soft, Elastic, and Hard • Color in the Hands and Lines • Hair on the Hands • Nails: Color, Texture, and Shape and Size • The Three Worlds of Palmistry: Mental, Practical, and Physical

2    The Fingers

Carriage • Setting • Structure: Bent, Twisted, and Leaning • Finger Lengths: Long, Short, and Standard • Smooth and Knotty • Three Worlds in the Phalanges of the Fingers • Fingertip Shapes: Spatulate, Square, Conic, and Pointed • Sensitivity Pads

3    The Thumb

The Three Parts of the Thumb • Size and Setting: High, Medium, and Low • How to Measure the Size of the Thumb • Carriage • Shapes: Elementary, Nervous, Broad, and Balanced • The First and Second Phalanges • Supple and Stiff Thumbs • Checklist for Reading the Thumb

PART TWO

The Mounts

The Seven Archetypes of the Palm

4    How to Judge the Mounts

Physical Characteristics of the Seven Mounts • Designating Mount Prominence • Other Factors Influencing the Prominence of the Mount

5    The Mount of Jupiter

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Jupiterian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Absence of the Mount • Jupiter and the Basic Modifiers

6    The Mount of Saturn

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Saturnian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the
Mount • Absence of the Mount • Saturn and the Basic Modifiers 

7    The Mount of Apollo

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Apollonian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Absence of the Mount • Apollo and the Basic Modifiers

8    The Mount of Mercury

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Mercurian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Absence of the Mount • Mercury and the Basic Modifiers

9    The Mount of Mars

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Martian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Mars and the Basic Modifiers

10    The Mount of Luna

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Lunarian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Absence of the Mount • Luna and the Basic Modifiers

11    The Mount of Venus

Archetypal Associations • How to Judge the Mount • Personality Traits • Lifestyle • Love, Sex, and Marriage • The Lower Type of Venusian • Physical Characteristics • Health • Career Choices • Signs on the Mount • Absence of the Mount • Venus and the Basic Modifiers


12    Mount Combinations

PART THREE

The Lines

The Road Map of the Hand

13    General Principles of the Lines

How to Judge the Lines • The Checklist • Signs on the Lines: Defects, Repairs, and Strengthening Agents • Age on the Lines

14    The Heart Line

Quality • Curved or Straight • Color • Proportion to Other Major Lines • Beginning of the Line • Influence of a Forked Line • Defects • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Heart Line and Head Line • Length of the Line • The Quadrangle • Branches and Splits • The Simian Line

15    The Head Line

Quality • Curved or Straight • Color • Proportion to Other Major Lines • Beginning of the Line • Defects • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Length of the Line • Influence of a Forked Head Line • Deflections, Splits, and Branches

16    The Life Line

Beginning of the Line • Factors that Help Determine Life Span • The Line of Preservation • Quality • Color • Proportion to Other Major Lines • Chance Lines • Defects • Breaks • Splits • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Termination of the Line

17 The Line of Saturn

Age on the Line • Quality • Absent Line of Saturn • Proportion to Other Major Lines • Color • Beginning of the Line • Childhood on the Line of Saturn • Line of Saturn as a Sign on the Mount • Defects • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Length • Multiple Lines • Partnership • Inheritance • Use of Chance Lines • Branches and Splits

18    The Line of Apollo

Quality • Age on the Line • Color •Beginning of the Line • Defects • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Special Strengthening Agents • Termination of the Line and Signs on the Mount • Branches • Apollo and Risk Taking

19    The Line of Mercury

Health on the Line of Mercury • Age on the Line • Beginning of the Line • Quality • Health Defects of the Archetypes • Color • Defects • Repair Signs and Strengthening Agents • Termination of the Line and Signs on the Mount • Branches

20    The Lines of Influence

Read Both Hands • Timing on the Line of Influence • Worry Lines • Chance Lines • Influence Lines at Different Stages of Life • Special Formations on Influence Lines • End of the Line • Maturity, Friends, and the Public

21    The Minor Lines

Girdle of Venus • Ring of Solomon • Mystic Cross • Line of Mars • ia Lascivia • Ring of Saturn • Line of Intuition • Lines of Affection • Children Lines • The Rascettes, or Bracelets • Lines of Travel

Conclusion. Reading a Palm

Putting It All Together

Appendix A. The Hand Classified by the Four Elements

Fire, Water, Air, and Earth

Appendix B. Fingerprints

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Authors

The Authors’ Stories • The Hands of the Authors and How They Work Together