Tens of millions of people read their horoscopes daily in newspapers and magazines without realizing the true value of astrology. More ancient than the pyramids, astrology is a science and art that symbolizes and examines relationships between the cycles of celestial bodies and life on earth. Every moment in time and space has an exclusive signature. Symbolic patterns synchronize with life experience and personality patterns.

I studied astrology for several years before I began learning palmistry. Initially, I found astrology to be complex and mathematical, however, with practice I began to recognize a profoundly simple and elegant system for examining human nature, patterns, timing, and life cycles. One problem with natal astrology for me was that accurate forecasting is an exacting science. I know from personal experience that most doctors, nurses, and parents are not watching the clock at a baby’s first breath. Clients often give birth times on the hour or half hour. Many don’t know whether they were born in the morning or evening. Others depend on a vague memory from their mother long after the event. My mother planned to have a natural childbirth. After 24 hours in labor; the obstetrician finally cut me out to save her life. My mom believed that she remembered my birth time correctly, but her memory was different from my birth certificate, which I ended up using to construct my horoscope. I later rectified my chart, which had changed by six minutes.

One more important thing I discovered while reading hands was that even when a birth time is correct, it doesn’t mean that a natal horoscope reveals the whole person. The astrological ascendant (rising sign) of the natal horoscope is considered the foundation for determining behavior. I discovered from reading hands that a person’s sun or moon or powerful aspects between planets or perhaps a stellium (three or more) of planets in a particular sign or house may actually be dominating their personality.

The value of reading hands lies in its capacity to help us easily identify our personality traits and motivations. By understanding our natural strengths and weaknesses, we can transform our negative thought patterns into positive behavioral patterns. The beauty of reading hands is that as our thinking and circumstances change, so do our hands.

Once we pinpoint our strengths and weaknesses, we can alter our thinking, exercise our free will, and those changes will reveal themselves in our hands over time. As we influence our destiny, we can observe our successes and failures reflected in the mirrors of our hands. While other symbolic systems such as astrology and numerology show potential challenges and talents, hands show what we are actually doing with our potentials.

Astrology and palmistry share the same mythology. Those same Greek and Roman gods are still alive and well inside and outside of us. As Joseph Campbell once said, “Oedipus crosses 42^nd Street”. Hands contain both physical and celestial DNA. Planetary symbols are alchemical keys to unlocking knowledge and wisdom.

Our Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars are labeled personal planets. They symbolize the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious aspects of our individual psyches. Here’s an oversimplified generalization: Sun (ring finger) expresses father and spirit. Moon (heel of hand) relates to mother and feelings. Mercury (pinky finger) concerns siblings, thinking, and communications, Venus (ball of thumb) reveals our aesthetics, love and appreciation, and intimate relationships, and Mars (mid palm from thumb to percussion) is about libido, aggression, physical strength, and resistance.

Jupiter and Saturn are considered social planets. Jupiter (index finger) reflects ambition, self-esteem, philosophy, and spirituality. Saturn (middle and hopefully always longest finger) is the balance wheel of the hand. A healthy Saturn provides a solid foundation of structure, purpose, and wisdom. An unhealthy Saturn (extremely long, knotty, crooked middle finger with grilled lines underneath is one example) symbolizes perfectionism, frustration, moodiness, and depression. The native needs to become more structured, disciplined, focused, and work harder as a remedy for their negative qualities. That’s hard.

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are transpersonal planets. As they orbit our sun very slowly and change zodiacal signs, they form exact geometric astronomical relationships with personal planets, each other, and various celestial bodies and zodiacal points in the cosmos that mirror our shifting paradigms and transformation from the status quo.

Outer planets symbolize mass psychology and reveal powerful changes in the collective unconscious. They disclose generational influences that affect individuals in personal ways depending on their placement and relationships with personal planets in a natal horoscope. Many modern palmistry books tell you that the outer planets can be located and interpreted directly in the hands. I’ve tried, but not found this to be true. Outer planetary influence can be seen as reflected in the collective qualities in hands. For example, if a person is erratic and unpredictable, or maybe they’re an inventive genius, Uranus is strong. If they’re addictive, escapist, or visionary, Neptune is strong. Highly sexual, secretive, controlling, and obsessive folks have strong Pluto. My plan is to share the outer planetary generational changes as I examine individual signs and hands.

I have Scorpio rising. Jupiter in Scorpio in my first house is a singleton in the bottom hemisphere of my horoscope. Saturn and Pluto closely straddle my Leo midheaven.  My Gemini Sun is conjunct Uranus and Venus is conjunct my North Node in my Gemini eighth house. You’d think my hands would be Scorpion, but instead, they’re Gemini with square palms and widely spread long flexible fingers. That’s not to say I’m not Plutonian. I am, but not in the ways I behave.

Sometimes clients are very different than I expected from examining their horoscope. Imagine their chart is dominated by mutable water or air and there’s not a drop of earth. I expect them to float through the door. Instead, an extremely grounded person walks in. When I look at their hands and see lots of earth and no mutability, air, or water, their astrology begins to make more sense. They’ve compensated in their life for whatever they lack in their astrological symbolism. Ocassionally, a challenging aspect from a transiting outer planet impels them to come for a consultation.

I’ve learned not to depend on a person’s natal horoscope to observe their character. Learning palmistry with astrology has helped me to understand both better. Astrology is especially helpful in confirming and affirming what I see in a person’s hands and can provide additional information about a person’s behavioral patterns, timing, and life cycles. I use numerology and tarot to get at things I can’t see using astrology and palmistry.

A majority of modern palmistry books agree that there are seven or eight basic archetypes that can be seen in the hands. I’ve applied an astrological framework to palmistry to identify and define twelve basic character types. Western astrology and palmistry share the same Greek and Roman gods. The combinations, permutations, and probabilities of their relationships are always and forever being acted out in our individual lives. Humanity is one huge dysfunctional family and each of us is a member.

People ask, “Does astrology rule your life?” No, it doesn’t. “Do you use astrology to plan your activities?” When my symbolism fits, that’s wonderful. When it doesn’t, I consider the best and worst that can happen.I usually ask myself “Is what I want possible? What’s the best outcome I can envision?”   Then Imake an informed decision, and take action. Thanks to hindsight, I get to see how and why my choices have or haven’t worked out and how that fits with my symbolism.

“Do you read your own hands?” Definitely! It’s not easy to be objective about oneself. I meditate on my hands for clarity and insight. Self-scrutiny and vigilance are endless and eternal. Knowing myself helps me be myself.

A natal horoscope is a unique map of the positions of planets in the heavens at the specific time and place of a birth. Expert astrologers offer accurate and in depth perspectives of our personalities, possibilities, probabilities, and prospects. Emperors, kings, presidents, dictators, philosophers, mystics, scholars, and artists throughout history have used astrology (and still do) to understand and influence world events.

Astrology empowers us by giving us a menu of life’s choices. Countries and inanimate objects have sun signs. A Cancer sun will forever symbolize a signing of a Declaration of Independence. The exact date, time, and place of a corporation’s first trade (IPO) symbolize its partnership with the public. Even thoughts, feelings, ideas, and questions with accurate birth dates, times, and places have astrological lives of their own. Many applications are available because astrology is a symbolic system.

Natal astrology examines character, patterns, and life cycles. Astrological progressions map psycho-sociological patterns of past, present, and future.  Astrological synastry examines the symmetry between two or more horoscopes. Medical astrology analyzes the physiology and psychology of health and illness. Political, economic, and mundane astrology focus on natural and manmade challenges such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, economic and plane crashes. Meteorological astrology researches weather patterns. Horary and electional astrology answer particular questions and establish specific times to initiate action. Excellent astrology books, educational opportunities, charting services, and sophisticated state-of-the-art interpretive astrological software are readily available to all. I wish the same were true for palmistry, which is even older than astrology.

NY Stock Exchange – outer planetary transits 2015-2025

In my next blog post, I’ll introduce astrology’s four elements as four basic hand types: