Category Archives: Cancer

CANCER & HANDS

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Author’s Note: The following observations, insights, and generalizations are derived from over forty years of examining over seventy-five thousand sets of hands.

You don’t need a Cancer sun, moon, planets, or planetary house placements to be Cancer. Feeling types have long narrow palms and long fingers, often held closely together. Healthy hands have a firm consistency with pink elastic skin. Finger joints are pliable, less stiff than Scorpio, and less supple than Pisces. Cancer head and life lines often separate at their beginnings. That symbolizes cardinal energy and independence. If the head and life lines are closely connected at their beginnings, that person has (mother issues) fears like losing control, hates being criticized, and needs approval. Cancers should never ever be taken for granted.

Cancer is sensitive. More peripheral lines add more sensitivity. Be careful what you say because they’ll remember the ‘bad’ things, even if you haven’t said any. Long gently sloping head lines blend with full pink heels of hands and embody a healthy balance between intuition, creativity, and practicality. Heart lines that gracefully curve toward the index finger personify a romantic, idealistic, and sometimes unrealistic vision of other people. I’ve observed lots of round and conical fingertips with long broad nails, loop fingerprints, and romantic heart lines. They’re intuitive communicators, sensing what’s really happening. They prefer to be frank and offer sincere handshakes.

Cancers are intuitive, empathetic, complex, and overly aware of the needs of others. They’re hard to understand because they hide their innermost selves beneath a facade of nurturing actions. Pry into their private lives and they’ll retreat into their shells. They’re cautious and vulnerable, need to be direct, although they often have to be tactful and diplomatic. The only option that makes good sense is to choose satisfying over safe. They shouldn’t avoid emotional confrontation and need to cultivate intimacy wherever and whenever they can. Feelings may swing from loving and devoted to secretive, reclusive, obsessive, and fearful of the future. When Cancers are feeling insecure, controlled, or confined, they can become dark and moody. They need to feel protected and secure before they can fully trust. Once trust is earned, loyalties run deep. You’ll see intimacy in many lines running parallel to the lifeline within the ball of thumb. Healthy family connections and close friendships nourish these folk. The more structure, organization and detail in their lives, the more stable and secure they feel.

Healthy Cancers are loving, compassionate, and devoted beings. They’re most compatible with other feeling types. They feel safest with responsible, reliable, and dependable practical types. Challenged by thinking and intuitive types, they’re nervous that they’ll be left holding the psychic garbage (and they often are) and forced to deal with the consequences when idealism, optimism, enthusiasm, and logic wane (and they do). Cancers are acutely consciousness of everyone’s emotional needs. When insecure, they can become internally secretive and over-ambitious in the outer world. Cancers work hard when income matches output. Motivated by family, good food, emotional security, and fertile soil, their instinct and mission is to nourish, protect, exercise their creative imagination, and make sure there’s plenty of good food around.

“You’ve got to play to lose”

The old guy above is the young guy with me in this picture captured forty-six years ago in a photo booth at Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. Lloyd Wilson (Cancer), my best friend, and I met working part time at a wood, metal, and plastics model making machine workshop where we fabricated preschool children’s learning devices for the University of Pittsburgh. We met because we were making toys for ourselves on our own time. I was destined to become an industrial designer. Lloyd was a painter and sculptor. We were a couple of Peter Pans on a journey to Neverland.

Lloyd didn’t get much nurturing as a child. He developed a quick wit and sense of humor while avoiding extreme physical abuse. When his mother was happy, Lloyd was safe. When she was unhappy, she’d incite Lloyd’s rage filled father to brutally beat him. Lloyd’s mother ended up killing herself, his father was committed to a mental institution, and his favorite sister, (we met while on vacation in Florida) with two beautiful young children, a devoted husband, and seeming idyllic life, suddenly and unexpectedly blew her head off with a shotgun. It’s a paradox to have so much to give and lose.

Lloyd’s slender rectangular palms and long fingers embody his Cancer Sun, Venus, and North Node. They conjunct my Mercury in Cancer. His Gemini ascendant is exactly conjunct my vertex, which is the midpoint of my eighth house Gemini stellium. Lloyd’s head and life lines are tightly intertwined at their beginnings. That reveals his desire to feel needed and appreciated. As a sensitive child, Lloyd desperately needed love and support, but didn’t get any.

Lloyd tried hard to fix his broken parents. They were too sick to see him. Instead, they judged, criticized, and abused him. Lloyd survived without their love and approval. He thrives on appreciation. He’ll give his friends the shirt off his back, but they had better never take him for granted. Lloyd literally gave me the shirt off his back in my moment of need. I was on my way to an important meeting and got a nasty stain on my shirt. Lloyd insisted I take off my shirt and trade with him.

Cancers are collectors. Some stockpile food in case of shortage or emergency. Lloyd collects art books, literature (most well-read person I know), religious art, art supplies, tools, and clothing. When wealthy people die, their families donate clothing to Goodwill and Salvation Army. Lloyd has a keen eye for the finest designer clothing. He’s always first to pick through merchandise. As a master bargain hunter, I call Lloyd my personal dresser. We wear the same sizes. Lloyd chooses coats, suits, and jackets for me He’s gifted me with suits worth thousands of dollars that he only paid ten or fifteen dollars for. Many had never been worn.

Lloyd said to me, “People who tell the truth don’t need good memories”. I replied, “We may be bastards, but at least we’re honest”. Over fifty years of friendship continue to see many challenging lessons in humility for us. We delayed balancing our outer and inner worlds by choosing to learn the hard way. We learned that there are no shortcuts and to let go of the need to be greater than we were.

Lloyd’s extremely flexible thumbs symbolize his ability to adapt to the most horrible of circumstances. They also embody his generosity of heart and spirit. It’s very hard for Lloyd to say “NO”. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to him, but the gold ring on the bottom middle finger of Lloyd’s unconscious hand symbolizes his need to have clear boundaries, be frugal, and to learn to say no.

Loving his anonymity, Lloyd’s artwork is created by a magical spirit who is him. Lloyd exemplifies Cancer’s most outstanding inner and outer qualities. He’s supportive, sympathetic, receptive, reflective, intuitive, imaginative, and extremely devoted to friends, family, and humanity. Lloyd Wilson is Pittsburgh’s best kept secret. 

CAPRICORN & HANDS

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No matter what your astrology says about you, flat square palms, short stiff fingers, square fingertips, developed first knots, and a combo of loop and arch finger prints embodies Capricorn. A Capricorn sun, moon, rising sign, planets, houses, or aspects will enhance pragmatism and other Capricornian traits. Firm hand consistency, coarse skin ridges, and self-assured handshakes embody practicality, responsibility, and reliability. When the middle finger crooks toward the ring finger, discipline, seriousness, and responsibility rule the person.

Middle fingers with dominant first and middle phalanges make Capricorn more practical and pragmatic than his cardinal brothers and sisters, Aries, Libra, and Cancer. He’s more motivated and aggressive than his fixed cousin Taurus and a better manager than his mutable cousin Virgo. Every thought and action must be rooted in rational reason and clear purpose. Capricorn leaders and successful managers embrace responsibility with commitment and perseverance, carrying out the most mundane of tasks while maintaining a long-range vision of their goals. Structured, focused, disciplined, and dependable, Saturn expects you to be on time and do as you say. He has little patience for excuses. As a natural skeptic, he doesn’t trust slick and flashy types. A workaholic, he doesn’t question coming early or staying late to finish a task. He patiently awaits the right conditions, cultivates right relationships, and plans right timing before taking action.

Our middle fingers should always be longest. Short middle fingers represent a life out of balance. Lack of structure, discipline, and focus is a formula for failure. The qualities of the middle finger reveal how serious and reliable we are and how we deal with our frustrations, obstructions, obligations, shame, and guilt.

Saturn is well organized, efficient, patient, dependable, and faithful. Obsessive order, minute methodology, persistent punctuality, and unrelenting perfectionism are embodied in stiff knotty joints, crooked middle fingers, long middle phalanges, square fingertips, and short broad nails. Self-critical types must learn to “lighten up and smell the roses”. Traditional music and dry humor soothes the saturnine soul. Saturn has a cynical or sarcastic sense of humor peppered with a pessimism that can sometimes be offensive and defensive at the same time. The funniest comedians often hide their pain behind humor. Practical, prudent, and persistent, Saturn becomes frustrated when his strategies don’t go according to plan. Rigid ideologies and an overdeveloped sense of obligation and responsibility makes Saturn feel depression, guilt, and shame. While they pride themselves on their ingenuity, it’s ironic they rarely stray from traditional and conventional careers.

Dominant middle-finger types tend to be tall and slender in appearance. Dark hair, large bones, stern features, and bland complexions are common. Saturn needs solitary time including family, friends, and partners. Saturn’s physical sense is smell. Pure types love string instruments and classical music tinged with sadness.

Abraham Lincoln was saturnine. Daniel Day-Lewis (Taurus with strong Saturn) masterfully played Abraham Lincoln. Clint Eastwood is a Gemini with strong Saturn. Elvis Presley, a Capricorn, was King of Rock ‘n Roll. Tiger Woods was Prince of Golf. Muhammad Ali was King of Boxing. David Bowie was a musical master. Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse fathered Post-Impressionism. Albert Schweitzer‘s ‘reverence for life’ was his gift to humanity. Louis Pasteur pasteurized.

“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Capricorn (1/15/1929) with Capricorn hands. King was martyred for his fervent beliefs. As a Baptist Minister and Social Rights Activist, Dr. King was destined to lead the black civil rights movement in the United States from the mid 1950’s until his brutal assassination in Aries (4/4/1968). Dr. King’s mission was the pursuit of truth, peace, justice, and equality for all. His dream became his legacy as well as a legal holiday.

Saturn rules physical structure. Capricorn weaknesses include skin, teeth, knees, and ligaments. Maladies like rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and deafness in the left ear are Saturnine. Middle fingers that lean towards ring fingers symbolize perfectionism and a strong need for personal space. I’ll bet that Donald Rumsfeld is frequently cranky, irritable, and annoyed. Just look at his left middle finger and face. Saturn thrives in conservative types. Most scientists, researchers, mathematicians, technical specialists, and businessmen are saturnine. Writers, craftsmen, therapists, night watchmen, undertakers, morticians, and derelicts frequently have dominant middle fingers.

On Christmas, humanity celebrates Jesus Christ, Jewish guru, and not for profit prophet. God spoke through Jesus, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus would have reformed religion had he stuck around. Who needs dogmas, doctrines, codes, rules, and regulations when you’ve got spirituality? Loving unconditionally and without expectation can have a dire outcome. Jesus was crucified for loving too much!

Mel Gibson (Capricorn) embraced his dark side when he created ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Jesus’s spirit writhes in heaven as Mel irreverently punishes and blames the Jews for torturing Jesus to death. You can see all of Jesus’s suffering and none of his revelations and victories in Mel’s 30 million dollar abomination.

Perhaps Mel can capitalize on Dr. King’s final moments and create another sequel called LETHAL WEAPON 666 ~ even more reasons to feel and spread hate, shame, guilt, fear, and terror. Mel should stick to acting. He’d make a great used Hummer salesman, specializing in ‘already been road-warriored’ models like worn jeans or distressed furniture.

Scrooge is our darkest, greediest, and stingiest side. Relationships are important only as they relate to profit. Master criminals are ruled by Saturn. They have no need for cleverness like Gemini, spontaneity like Aries, or grandiosity like Sagittarians. They strategize, wait, and act when the timing is right.

Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future haunt Capricorn Bernard Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom. Ebbers made telecommunications competitive. He achieved his goal of power and wealth, but compromised his ethical principles in favor of profit. Preaching one thing and practicing another has a gloomy prognosis that can end one in the slammer. Evangelical Christians had better get real soon or risk extinction with Saturn and Pluto still conjunct in Capricorn!

Janet is a Capricorn. Her crooked middle fingers along with head and life lines that separate on her dominant hand at their beginnings embody a freedom loving, independent, perfectionist with a highly developed sense of responsibility, guilt, and obligation. Too many “should’s’ and ‘supposed to’s” get in the way of that adventure Janet craves.

“Do the work or suffer the consequences”. “ Father Time” is about quality, not quantity. The lone hermit is not lonely. Saturn is present where discipline, focus, and structure are required. Saturn can be prosperous, happy, wise, and compassionate. He can also become easily frustrated, compulsively controlling, greedy, and self-destructive. Transforming lead into gold is a metaphor for transforming Saturn into the Sun.

VIRGO, HANDS, & HEALTH

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“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  Stephen King (Virgo ~ 9/21/47)

You don’t need a Virgo Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, or planetary placements to be a Virgo. Strong middle finger phalanges with square tips dominate square palms with short fingers. Virgo hands are less meaty and more flexible than Taurus  and more elastic than Capricorn, with pinkish flat palms, well- developed first knots, and very lean fingers. Virgo is the most adaptable of all three practical types.

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Virgo is known for their methodical ‘hands on’ approach to being natural. No matter the type, square fingertips, large second knots, and short fingernails add order and practicality. Strong crooked middle fingers that lean toward ring fingers at first joints strive for perfection and need personal space. Virgo is known for being critical. Many are mainly self-critical. Fire rising or a watery moon gives them inspiration, passion, and empathy. People who chew their nails are self-critical or critical of others (many lines crisscrossing beneath the middle finger). Nails bitten to the quick are contrary and will choose the other side of an argument, just to make a point, even if they agree with you.

Virgo is happiest where discriminating, reliable, modest, and orderly service is required. Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo can obsess on details while being overly thorough and meticulous. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t like details. Short fingered people (Practical & Intuitive) dislike details and prefer to see the whole picture. Details are a nuisance; something others should do, but few can do them better than Virgo, who selflessly rationalizes their distaste and drive themselves to do whatever needs to be done. They often ask too little for themselves. Ironically, they know their value, but are reticent to ask for it. Ego gratification is not their motivation. Virgos work hard to feel useful. Never take a Virgo for granted. They cherish every molecule of what they truly earn, but must be valued and appreciated. Accounting, medical, nursing, social work, maintenance, cleaning, and health food are career magnets for Virgo.

Some Virgos have worked hard and been rewarded for their efforts. Writers like Agatha Christie & Leonard Cohen; Lawyers Alan Dershowitz & Marcia Clark; Financiers J.P. Morgan & Warren Buffet; Actors Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, and Cameron Diaz; Singers Michael Jackson & Beyonce’; Political figures Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, & John McCain (who’s hands are Taurus). McCain’s stubborn short index finger, slightly crooked pinky, and intuitive tips say ‘what you see is not what you get’. Few have truly known his truths.

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Mercury, the winged messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine), ruled by Virgo (healthcare). Gemini rules communications and wit. Virgo is earthy and practical. She represents more scientific, technical, and empathetic aspects of thinking and feeling. Virgo is feminine in gender, logical and healthy. Gemini is masculine, intellectual, and cleverer. Imagination is more compatible with Gemini than practicality.

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While I was practicing palmistry in my early thirties, a virile young man showed up one day, asking “When will I die?” He was a Virgo, healthy looking, well proportioned, energetic, smart, and multi-talented craftsman. He appeared to have excellent health. Well-balanced square palms were pink and firm with short straight fingers. Pink elastic skin, resilient palms, flexible wrists, and mildly flexible finger joints revealed a healthy balance between determination and adaptability. His basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. How lucky he is, I thought, but fate had sealed a different future for him because he had AIDS.

AIDS was a death sentence at the time. I couldn’t see his illness. Nothing stood out. I also lacked experience to counsel him. I said, “I’m sorry, only god knows the answer to your question. You’re a naturally healthy person. If anyone can beat this disease, you can.” Awkwardly, I grasped at his positive qualities, but he didn’t want to hear them. We chatted about what he planned to do. He wanted to be proactive. I helped him decide to build a regimen of healthy diet, aerobic exercise, peaceful sleep, more meaningful relationships, and more quality time management.

My curiosity about AIDS and desire to make a difference inspired me to volunteer weekly at Bailey House, AIDS housing organization. I showed up twice weekly for two years to read hands, astrology, and tarot cards for clients and staff. I used metaphysics as a lens to view their issues and challenges in a symbolic way to help them choose what’s next.

I printed hands from the AIDS community monthly to monitor the progress or regress of the disease. I began noticing changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of hands. Lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it difficult for me to be thorough or scientific. Most people with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of a very fragile impending mortality. I affirmed their talents and strengths and inspired them to continue making positive choices and taking meaningful actions. We looked forward to our weekly sessions.

Your health is in your hands. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors used their intuition, tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, and examined their tongue, skin, and especially their hands to diagnose illness. Hands reflect a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I encourage seekers to examine and reflect on their own hands and the hands of people they care about. Hands are a mirror of a person.

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. Illnesses can be seen in fingernails. Anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema, liver disease, heart, lungs, colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia are some of them.

Dozens of stress related problems and types of cancer can be seen in skin ridge patterns (dermatoglyphics). Conditions of lines indicate conditions of heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and stomach in male and female systems. Palmistry is prescriptive, but should never be used to diagnose or prescribe. When I observe a potential health problem in a person’s hands, I let them know I’m not a medical palmist and suggest they see a specialist.

Many health problems are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health problems. Here’s a generalized list of health issues that correspond to a person’s dominant astrological signs and hand features. Click links to learn when and how a finger is dominant and what other qualities in addition to health are represented. The Good News is that forewarned is forearmed! Despite a person’s genetics, free will rules over fate.

Sagittarius ~ Dominant index finger ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and problems with hips, thighs, and throat. A huge challenge and temptation for Sagittarians is refraining from overindulging in rich food and drink.

Capricorn ~ Dominant middle finger ~ skin problems, teeth with age, knees, ligaments, secretion of bile, skeletal, left ear deafness, paralysis, rheumatism, gout, hardening of the arteries, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.

Leo ~ Dominant ring finger ~ eyesight, heart, and blood circulation.

Gemini ~ Virgo Dominant pinkie ~ nervous system, bronchial, and respiratory systems, thyroid gland, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Taurus ~ Libra Dominant ball of thumb ~ throat, lymphatic system, venereal diseases, heart, circulation, and nervousness.

Cancer ~ Dominant heel of hand ~ bodily fluids, stomach, tumors, female disorders, epilepsy, mucous membranes, gout, rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and mental illness.

Aries ~ Dominant tip of thumb and percussion of hand ~ inflammations, acute fevers, infections, muscular disorders, blood diseases, hemorrhage, infectious and contagious diseases, throat and chest trouble, and high blood pressure.

Scorpio ~ Peripheral lines on heel of hand ~ reproductive system, ruptures, hemorrhoids, ulcers, venereal diseases, and problems with prostate or urethra.

Aquarius ~ Nails and qualities of lines ~ ankle weakness, anemia, cramps, heart weaknesses, nervous diseases, varicose veins, and sensitive skin.

Pisces ~ pointed finger tips / yellowish skin / islanded line of health~ feet and toes including bunions and gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, drug addictions, and liver troubles.

CANCER & HANDS

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Author’s Note: The following observations, insights, and generalizations are derived from over forty years of study and from reading many tens of thousands of hands.

You don’t need a Cancer sun, moon, planets, or planetary house placements to be a Cancer. All feeling types have long narrow palms and long fingers ~ often held closely together. Healthy Cancer hands are firm and consistent with pink elastic skin. Finger joints are pliable, less stiff than Scorpio, and less supple than Pisces. Cancer head and life lines tend to separate at their beginnings on pure types. If the head and life lines are closely connected at their beginnings, the individual has (mother) issues around losing control, fear of criticism, and need for approval. These folk should never ever be taken for granted.

Cancer is sensitive. More peripheral lines add even more sensitivity. You must be careful what you say as they will remember the ‘bad’ things, even if you haven’t said any. Long gently sloping head lines are synergistic with full pink heels of hands and embody a healthy balance between intuition, creativity, and practicality. Heart lines that gracefully curve toward the index finger personify a romantic, idealistic, and sometimes unrealistic vision of other people. I’ve observed lots of round or conical fingertips with long broad nails and loop fingerprints on Cancer types. They’re very intuitive, good communicators, and prefer to be frank whenever possible. Stable Cancers offer firm sincere handshakes.

Cancers are intuitive, empathetic, complex, and well aware of the needs of others. They can be hard to understand because they hide their most vulnerable selves beneath a facade of nurturing actions. Try to pry into their private lives and they’ll retreat into their shells. Cautious and vulnerable, Cancer needs to be direct, rather than tactful and diplomatic. In the final analysis, the only thing that makes sense for them is to choose satisfying over safe and not try to avoid emotional confrontation. They must cultivate intimacy wherever and whenever they can. Their feelings may swing from loving and devoted to secretive, reclusive, obsessive, and fearful of the future. When Cancers are feeling controlled or confined, they can become dark and moody. They must feel protected and secure before they can fully trust. Once trust is earned, loyalties run deep. You’ll see intimacy in the many lines running parallel to the lifeline within the ball of thumb. Healthy family connections and close friendships nourish them. The more structure, organization and detail in their lives, the more stable and secure their feelings.

Healthy Cancers are loving, compassionate, and devoted beings. They’re most compatible with other feeling types. They feel most safe with responsible, reliable, and dependable practical types. They’re sorely challenged by thinking and intuitive types. They’re nervous they’ll be left holding the psychic garbage bag (they often are) and forced to deal with the consequences when idealism, optimism, enthusiasm, and logic wane (and they do). Cancers are acutely consciousness of everyone’s emotional needs. When feeling insecure, they can become internally secretive while becoming externally over-ambitious. Cancers work hardest when income matches output. Motivated by good food, emotional security, and fertile soil, their main mission is to nourish their family, protect their home, and exercise their creative imaginations.

Demeter, Greek goddess of grain and the harvest, is a combination of Virgo and an overprotective Cancer mother. When Pluto abducted Persephone, Demeter pleaded to her siblings for help, but ended up exercising her power over both gods and man by creating winter (death) in order to negotiate Persephone’s return.

“You’ve got to play to lose”

The old guy above is the young guy with me in this picture captured forty-five years ago in a photo booth at Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. My best friend, Lloyd Wilson (Cancer) and I met while working part time at a wood, metal, and plastics model making machine shop where we fabricated preschool children’s learning devices for the University of Pittsburgh. We made toys for ourselves on our own time. Soon to graduate from different colleges, I was destined to become an industrial designer. Lloyd would continue to be an artist. We were a couple of Peter Pans on our way to Neverland.

Lloyd didn’t get much nurturing as a child. He developed his quick wit and sense of humor while trying to avoid extreme physical abuse. When his mother was happy, Lloyd was safe. When she was unhappy, she’d incite Lloyd’s rage filled father to brutally beat him. Lloyd’s mother sadly committed suicide, his father was committed to a mental institution, and his beautiful sister, (who I’d met while on vacation in Florida) with two young children, a great husband, and apparently idyllic life, suddenly and unexpectedly blew her head off with a shotgun. Lloyd’s slender rectangular palms and long fingers embody his Cancer Sun, Venus, and North Node, which is conjunct my Mercury. His Gemini ascendant is exactly conjunct my vertex and is the midpoint of my eighth house planetary stellium in Gemini. Lloyd’s head and life lines are tightly intertwined at their beginnings. It reveals his desire to feel needed and appreciated. Lloyd was a sensitive child who needed love and support, but didn’t get any.

Lloyd tried hard to fix his broken parents, but they were too sick to support him. Instead, they judged, criticized, and abused him. Lloyd somehow survived without anyone’s approval, though he thrives on appreciation. He’ll give his friends the shirt off his back, but they had better never take him for granted. Lloyd has literally given me the shirt off his back in my moment of need. I was on my way to an important meeting and got a nasty stain on my shirt. Before I could blink, Lloyd took off his shirt and traded with me.

Cancers are collectors. Some stockpile food in case of shortage or emergency. Lloyd collects art books, literature (he’s the most well-read person I know), religious art, art supplies, tools, and clothing. When wealthy people die, their families donate clothing to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Lloyd has a keen eye for the finest designer clothing. He’s always first to pick through the merchandise. He’s a master bargain hunter. I call him my personal dresser. We wear the same sizes. Lloyd chooses coats, suits, and jackets with me in mind. He has gifted me with suits worth thousands of dollars that he paid ten or fifteen dollars for. Many had never been worn.

Lloyd would say to me, “People who tell the truth don’t need good memories”. I’d reply, “We may be bastards, but at least we’re honest”. Over fifty years of friendship have witnessed many challenging lessons in humility for us. We managed to delay balancing our outer and inner worlds by always choosing to learn the hard way. We finally had to learn that there were no shortcuts and to let go of our need to be greater than we were.

Lloyd’s extremely flexible thumbs symbolize his ability to adapt to horrible circumstances. They also embody his generosity of heart and spirit. It’s very hard for Lloyd to say “NO”. He likely doesn’t realize it, but the gold ring on the bottom middle finger of Lloyd’s unconscious hand symbolizes his need to have clear boundaries, be frugal, and not give everything away.

Lloyd Wilson is Pittsburgh’s best kept secret because he loves his anonymity. His artwork reveals a magical spirit, but few will truly get to know him. Lloyd personifies Cancer’s best qualities. He’s supportive, sympathetic, receptive, reflective, intuitive, imaginative, and extremely devoted to friends and family.

CANCER & PSYCHE

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Cancer is a cardinal water sign, ruled by our moon. Our moon influences our oceans and tides. Cancer is the beginning of summer and the symbolic mother of the USA. Let’s examine the transits of Pluto and Uranus through Cancer in the 20th Century and their influence on personal and collective psyche. I’m publishing this post as our Sun is entering the sign of Cancer.

Pluto (planet of sex, death, transformation, and other people’s resources), transited Cancer from 1913 to 1938. Partisan politics, nationalism, and isolationism transformed world ideologies. World War I became World War II. In 1913, President Wilson pressed a button in the White House that blew up the Gamboa Dike at the Isthmus of Panama, creating a canal between oceans, and transforming intercontinental travel by sea. Wilson legislated the Carter-Owen Bill that established a Federal Reserve System to transform the strangle hold on the nation’s currency and credit system by banks. Now Plutocratic corporations are strangling us.

Daylight Saving Time transformed our nation’s clocks and schedules. Transcontinental telephone service transformed international communications. World infrastructures and atomic energy transformed planetary energy sources and usages. NBC was the first Nationwide Broadcasting Company. Wall Street prospered from war while soldiers earning $16 per month died in the trenches. President Wilson established a lottery style draft promoting patriotism. Congress passed the Espionage Act fining draft dodgers $10,000 and imposing a twenty-year jail sentence. No child was left behind.

“Do your bit” encouraged citizens to buy Liberty Bonds. Wheatless-meatless days were promoted. The end of 1919 marked the end of the Influenza pandemic that caused half a million deaths and a quarter of the nation’s population to be sick. Prohibition banned liquor for all citizens. Black markets and bootlegging industries flourished. Black leader Marcus Garvey organized ‘The Empire of Africa’ with 500,000 followers. He led the largest mass exodus of Blacks with the least sense of brotherhood in U.S. history.

In 1929, doubt, fear, and panic upset our stock market as we faced our darkest hour. Foundations and structures of home and family transformed. Pluto in Cancer birthed many people who spent their lives taking care of family. Overdeveloped senses of responsibility, guilt, and obligation motivated their children to become dropouts and runaways. That hasn’t worked either.

Uranus (planet of sudden unexpected change, rebellion, and revolution) transited the sign of Cancer from 1949 to 1955. Mothers stopped staying at home and went to work. Women began wearing the “bikini”, a fashionable French bathing suit. ‘I Love Lucy’, a comic show about a housewife and her Cuban bandleader husband became the most popular show on TV. Ranch houses and basement playrooms were popular. The subconscious mind was explored in psychology. If you were born between 1949 and 1955, your psyche is somewhere in time and space between rational and aware and oversensitive and fearful.

We may want to think twice before we elect (or appoint) another Cancer President. Four USA Presidents were born under the sign of Cancer. George W Bush (7/6/1946), with his intuitive hands, has an egocentric character to match his Leo rising. George Bush revealed the worst qualities of Cancer and Leo in his behavior, presidential intentions, and actions. Check out these similarities between the four Cancer Presidents.

Like George Bush and Al Gore, John Quincy Adams finished second in popular vote behind General Andrew Jackson. There was no majority. The choice was put before the House of Representatives. House Speaker, Henry Clay, swung the election to Adams. When Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State, Jackson followers cried, “Corrupt bargain”. “Of all the men whom it was ever my lot to accost and to waste civilities upon, he was the most doggedly and systematically repulsive. With a vinegar aspect, cotton in his leathern ears, and hatred in his heart, he sat like a bulldog among spaniels.”   W.H. Littleton                                                                                                                                                                                 

President Calvin Coolidge shared a birthday with the Declaration of Independence. He was infamous for “holding his tongue”, earning him the title, “Silent Cal”. Two of his sayings were: “If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it.” and “The business of America is business.” “He was an economic fatalist with a God given inertia. He knew nothing and refused to learn”. William Allen White

 

The 38th President, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., didn’t know he was adopted until he was seventeen. Gerry didn’t lift a finger around the house. His wife, Betty performed all the domestic chores. As Speaker of the house, Ford passionately pleaded for escalation of the war in Vietnam. He urged “unleashing devastating air and sea power”. He failed to impeach liberal Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas as a favor to his buddy Richard Nixon. Ford granted Nixon a “full complete and absolute pardon” for all crimes relating to Watergate. Ford blamed democrats for a disastrous rate of inflation and warned that electing more would “jeopardize world peace”. He admitted to never reading books, but did find time to watch football on TV.

Congressman Robert Drinan said, “I cannot dislike him personally — he’s cordial and gracious, but he’s consistently wrong and consistency is a virtue of small minds. He’s never proposed a constructive solution to anything”. Lyndon Johnson quipped, Ford “had played too much football with his helmet off” ~ “Jerry’s the only man I ever knew who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time”. Reverend Duncan Littlefair declared, “Ford isn’t a bad man, but he’s dumb—dumb. He shouldn’t be dumb either. He went to school just like everybody else”.

“The important thing is that men should have a purpose in life…
it should be something useful, something good”

The Dalai Lama (Cancer) is “The Reborn Soul of Buddha”. Orpheus, singer, priest, healer, poet, and musician in Greek myth, he charmed and enchanted Death into letting him enter the matrix of collective unconscious to find his beloved Eurydice. After death warned Orpheus that he’d lose Eurydice if he looked back, a moment of weakness caused him to look back and lose her. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 to live as a “simple monk” in a remote corner of Northern India. Unable to return, he chose to promote world peace and love. If hindsight is 20/20, then we must choose hindsight as we vote in 2020.

GEMINI & HANDS

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You don’t need a Gemini sun, moon, ascendant, planets, or house placements to be a Gemini. Thinking types have square palms with long fingers. No matter what your astrology says, pure Gemini hands have widely spread long fingers, flexible joints, and supple thumbs and fingertips. I’m a pure type. That’s my hand above. As a mutable modality, Gemini is more mentally adaptable than (cardinal) Librans and (fixed) Aquarians. Gemini and Libra are air signs that often have head lines split at their ends, resulting in having too many choices and needing to make too many decisions. Cancer and Pisces are water signs whose ambiguous feelings are embodied in split heart lines.

Author’s note: I’m generalizing based on my personal palmistry experience. Anyone can have any split line for many reasons.

It’s impossible to accurately foretell from a natal astrology chart what a person will choose to do with their symbolism and free will. Astrology reveals a person’s potentials. Your sun, moon, a stellium of planets, dominant signs, house placements, or powerful aspects between planets or points in a horoscope may or may not reflect what you choose to integrate into your character and behavior. Hands are topographical maps that disclose our true character in past, present, and future. As we embrace our strengths and address our weaknesses, we can exercise our thinking and free will, change our behaviors, re-write our stories, and the resulting thinking and circumstances will be reflected in the changing morphology and topography of our hands over time.

Healthy Geminis generally have long straight strong pinkie fingers that symbolize logical thinking, honest communication, and good sense. Gemini hands feature firm pink elastic skin with long straight widely spread fingers, dominant first phalanges, and loop finger prints. Long ring fingers with whorl prints add talent, attractiveness, irresistibility, salesmanship, and good luck (along with more risk taking). Strong middle fingers with square tips and developed first knots add technical and scientific attributes. Powerful index fingers dramatically increase writing, oratory, and professional skills. Geminis make great lawyers, bankers, doctors, orators, writers, engineers, teachers, salesmen, accountants, and shopkeepers. I work special events with many magicians who have dominant pinkie fingers. They surprise and astound audiences while deceiving the eye and mind of the beholder. Dominant pinkies prefer small musical instruments that require dexterity. Music makes sense as hearing is Gemini’s physical sense.

The pinkie is the shortest finger. If the tip is longer than the crease between the first and second phalange of the ring finger, it’s long. If shorter, it’s short. Hermes (Mercury) was the shortest god. A dominant pinkie fingered person is often short in stature like Ed Harris (Sag) with slender body and face. Pure types have animated hands, dark hair, and penetrating eyes with crow’s feet in the corners. Gemini remains most youthful of all types. They’re eternally childlike and love children. Many men have thin beards like Johnny Depp (Gemini). Michael Jackson, Virgo (ruled by Mercury), a real Peter Pan, actually lived in ‘Neverland’. Peter frequently needs a Wendy or parental type around. Someone’s got to be practical and responsible.

Our pinkie finger shows our ability to communicate. It indicates truthfulness. Early family dynamic can be observed in how the pinkie is set and held. Very short or low set pinkies reveal lack of trust as a major issue. Women with very low set pinkies have told me they have trouble having orgasms. Their real challenge is in trusting someone enough to have real intimacy. Lengths and proportions of pinkie fingers symbolize technical, language, sexual, and family potentials.

Gemini rules hands and governs our nervous and respiratory systems. Health issues revolve around nervous and bronchial systems. Geminis have potential problems with headaches, thyroid glands, memory loss, and speech impediments. I’m very Gemini and have been coping with Tinnitus (ringing in my ears) for an eternity of several years.

Gold and diamond rings are often found on the pinkie fingers of acquisitive people. Pinkie rings can symbolize the sublimation of sexual energies to accomplish something requiring libido. I once examined a group of fifty young men and women who were born into very powerful wealthy families in the 80’s. Considering the prosperity of that period, it seemed a paradox that everyone had short phalanges on the bottom segment of their little fingers on their dominant hands. Money will never be their motivation for career choices. Family and personal values will drive these individuals to make healthier choices.

Would you buy a used car from this Gemini? I wouldn’t. Gemini’s liabilities are deceitfulness, trickiness, fickleness, nervousness, restlessness, and shallowness. People preaching on soapboxes, pickpockets, and most con artists have dominant pinkies (most inwardly curving). Yellow coloration added to the palms reveals nastiness somewhere. The trickster is masterful at hiding his dark side. Many wonderful people with curved pinkies learned as children to ‘act nice’ and avoid confrontation. Their challenge is to stop trying to please everyone.

Cultivated Geminis are consummate communicators, social magnets, intuitive geniuses, and great judges of character. Most social of all types, they’re frequently accused of being impractical dreamers because they love ideas so much. They can detach themselves from mundane reality and still remain objective about everything and anything. They overvalue intellect and undervalue emotion. They’re threatened when their opinions are ignored. They can accept your viewpoint, even though they disagree with you. They get mad when their ideas are challenged without good reason. They’re easily distracted and don’t like being responsible for making decisions before they’re clear. They fight focus, discipline, and structure, and long for freedom, love, and being unrestricted. The hardest choice is often the only choice that makes the best sense.

Geminis are androgynous. In Greek myth, Hermes and Aphrodite’s incestuous fling birthed Hermaphrodite. Dominant Hermes (whether known or admitted to) is often bi-sexual. David Bowie was a Capricorn with strong Hermes. Mick Jagger is a Hermes type with a Leo sun. Kate Blanchett is a Mercurial Taurus. Bob Dylan is a Gemini. Boy George is a Gemini. Grace Jones (71) is a Taurus with Mercury conjunct Uranus in Gemini.

PISCES & HANDS

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You don’t need a Pisces sun, moon, planets, planetary aspects, or house placements in your natal astrology to be Piscean. Pisces is a feeling type. Feeling types have long slender rectangular palms and long fingers. Pure Pisceans have dominant top phalanges on long slender fingers, smooth joints, conical tips, and loop prints, especially on index fingers. They have medium set mildly flexible shapely thumbs, sensitive looking fingers, a combo of round and conical fingertips, long narrow nails, and head and life lines loosely interwoven at their beginnings. Pinkies with tiny bottom and middle phalanges and no knots symbolize having little need for physical order and / or material wealth. Pisceans with inwardly curving pinkie fingers avoid emotional confrontation (even more than other curved pinkie types).

In my experience, Pisces tend to have more flexible hands and fingers, more peripheral shallow lines, and less deeply etched basic heart, head, life, and fate lines than Scorpio and Cancer types. Pisces is the epitome of spiritual truth. Astrologically, Neptune (Poseidon, King Triton), ruler of the seas, personifies emotion, feelings, instinct, and personal and collective unconscious. Water can be the most calming or destructive force in nature. Neptune rules mind and emotion altering substances like prescription and recreational drugs, nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. Anything that alters consciousness, fuels visions, inspires illusions, and promotes delusions is Neptunian. Neptune’s esoteric foundation is spirituality. Its mundane correspondence is religion. Religion without spirituality is blind.

George Washington (2/22) was Pisces. CEOs of Citigroup, IBM, Merck, DuPont, and Bank One were Pisces. One mysterious Pisces is Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer, world’s largest privately controlled High-Tech company. Many years ago, before Dell was a major player, Michael prophesied, “We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution. Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things. This is why we created Dell Technologies. We have the products, services, talent and global scale to be a catalyst for change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey.” Like Ariel, daughter of King Triton, ruler of the Seas and our unconscious, Michael visualizes what he wants by delving into our collective unconscious. He intuitively knows what we need and hones in on that. Michael must keep a watchful eye out for Ursula the Octopus (a conglomerate) who lusts for control of his empire.

Pisces is well suited to teaching, human resources, and helping professions. Many are at home in visual arts and music. Hand qualities vary depending on natural talents and abilities, decisions, and actions. Piscean strengths include compassion, humility, and faith. Not known for mental or emotional decisiveness, Pisces tend to be private, and spiritual. You must earn their trust and intimacy. Impressionable and easily influenced, many attempt to escape reality when their circumstances get too hard. Some become substance abusers like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lewis, and Liza Minelli.

As the most sensitive, least acquisitive, and most introverted of all types, Pisces is frequently misunderstood because the feminine gender communicates through a lens of feeling. The most practical Pisces have strong earth (Practical) with a good backup of air (Thinking) and fire (Intuitive). When head and heart are balanced, deep clear basic lines, large stiff thumbs, square fingertips, developed knots, broad nails, arch, and whorl fingerprints combine to empower Pisces physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Pisces is my most and least favorite sign. My father, brother, and daughter (zero degrees) are my three favorite Pisces. Today is dad and George Washington’s Birthday.

Dad was born 2/22/22. His Sun, Venus, Uranus, and ascendant were in Pisces. My brother, Gary (Pisces), sister, Jennifer (Taurus), and I (Gemini) were blessed with dad. Conceived on my parents wedding night, I was born nine months and one day later. If the definition of a genius is an average kid with a Jewish mother, ours was father. My biggest fan, dad frequently embarrassed me. When I was seven, I played a Chopin Prelude on the radio. Dad distributed radios to every class in my grade school. He made sure everyone listened. Despite my mortification when I found out, I quickly became a celebrity in our little community. Though his pride in me was awkward sometimes, it was more fun than I imagined.

I never got to read dad’s hands, nor did I ever find a decent photo of them. I remember loving his warm, strong, and capable hands as a child. Dad had a firm hand shake, a grip of steel, and an energetic touch that was gentle and loving. Perhaps his Capricorn moon grounded and made him more practical on the outside. Dad died suddenly and unexpected 43 years ago of a massive heart attack at age 54. That catalyzed my interest in metaphysics and began my personal transformation. I miss and think of dad often, especially when I’m happiest.

Dad was an incredible storyteller. Scarcely a night passed in early childhood that my brother, sister, and I didn’t go off on an exciting imaginary adventure at bedtime. “BoBo”, the gorilla and “Squeaky”, the mouse were lifelong friends and magical creatures who dad physically embodied to engage us.

As most of us well know, most family home movies are incredibly boring ~ everyone waves at the camera and smiles all the time. Our family dreaded invitations to watch other people’s home movies. We used to act and create roles for ourselves in ours. Dad created commercials and strategically placed them at transitions between scenes to make the experience more fun for the viewer. I edited my favorite commercials from our archives and made this short video. Click here to see my childhood hero in action. The quality isn’t great (8mm), but the content is terrific.

HAND of SCORPIO

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You don’t need a Scorpio Sun, Moon, houses, aspects, planets, or planetary placements to be a Scorpio. Scorpio is a fixed feeling type with long rectangular palms and long fingers. In my experience, Scorpios have stiffer fingers and thumbs, denser consistency to their palms, and less elastic skin than their feeling sisters, Cancer and Pisces. Head and life lines closely intertwining at their beginnings embodies a tendency to procrastinate at starts and finishes. ‘Letting go’ is a huge challenge. Scorpios care too much what other people think (no matter how they protest or behave). Long and  broad nails and straight pinky fingers can be heartlessly open and frank. I’ve observed many Scorpios with dominant first and third finger phalanges, rounded and conical tips, loop prints, developed knots on second joints, and few vertical lines within the lifeline. Balls of thumb with no vertical lines parallel to the lifeline are untrusting and correspondingly untrustworthy. Scorpio has many wonderful qualities. Today I’m focusing on Scorpions. The tail of the Scorpion is a tale of fear and terror.

Pluto was the Roman god of sex, transformation, and death, ruler of Scorpio, lord of darkness, and master of the sexual orgasm (little death). In ancient Greece, Hades was god of the underworld. In tarot, the High Priestess, Queen of Cups, and Death cards rule Scorpio. Voldemort, Darth Vader, the Mummy, and the Big Bad Wolf are modern versions. Religious extremism, politics, and business are Pluto’s playgrounds. Getting away with prejudice and punishment excites, terrifies, and beckons Donaldemort’s Dementors. Join Harry Potter at the polls November 6 2018 ~ EXPELIOSIS!

Scorpions are controlling, compulsive, jealous, possessive, fearful, resentful, obstinate, manipulative, subversive, secretive, and suspicious. They seduce, covet, and betray our sacred trust. The seduction turns Pluto on, but the betrayal gets Puto off. He encourages terrorists, rewards rapists, and reveres religious raiders while inviting them to join him in an eternity in hell. The path of too many dark secrets leads to the palace of sociopathy. From first breath to final exit, Pluto awaits with a kiss of death. Executioners, undertakers, coroners, morticians, garbage men, power hungry plutocrats, ideologically ill leaders, and spiritually bankrupt human beings live in Scorpio and are ruled by Pluto.

Scorpions make manipulative bosses, mean spirited jailers, abusive parents, and jealous partners who hide their true feelings, especially the shadowy unstable side of their emotions. Your friendly neighbor, a model citizen, devoted husband, loving father, loyal friend, and faithful parishioner dies. His family finds pornography, secret love letters, sadistic and masochistic sexual supplies, illegal drugs, and concealed money. Truth becomes transparent in hindsight.

 

False tweets and fake facts create opacity and distract US from the real secrets about greed, hatred, and sex. Tyrants rationalize the most bizarre behaviors, believing they can get away with them, and they do, if we let them. Their deepest darkest fears and desires propel them towards mental, emotional, moral, and spiritual illness, perversion, and bankruptcy. Evil Priests feign love and compassion as they physically and spiritually rape the innocent souls they were entrusted to protect. Fear, guilt, shame, and remorse safely guard their evil secrets.

 

“Money talks and bullshit walks”. I’m disappointed by both political parties. Republican partisan politicians have become morally and spiritually bankrupt sadists who get their greatest pleasures from harming have nots. Too many fearful Democrats and poverty minded masochists are desperately scraping at the bottom of the barrel and begging for pennies as we sign their petitions, fill out surveys, and pledge loyalty to too many urgent causes. Joanna and I sign many petitions and give as much as we can afford to worthy causes, but it’s like applying Band-Aids to compound fractures. Whatever we do is a just drop of potable water in an ocean of poison. No matter who wins in the November elections, expect more philandering, sexism, insider trading, evangelical hypocrisy, and partisan political power plays until Plutocrats no longer control humanity’s destiny. Humanity’s ideological, philosophical, and spiritual paradigms must shift.

Money is power. There are over 1,500 billionaires. Many are financing greed and hatred. Humanity needs a billionaire or three to back loving and giving. Our world, societies, and social cultures have been corrupted by a handful of greedy moguls who own our food, healthcare, energy, communications, transportation, raw materials, manufacturing, marketing, retailing, finance, religion, and politics. Plutocrats devalue our democracy by placing greed over giving, embracing religious fundamentalism and fanaticism over real and true faith, and by choosing consumption, waste, and denial over truth, good sense, and human and planetary good health.

“It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt”. Many of life’s most painful lessons are a direct result of choosing money over values and religion over spirituality. It’s easy to rationalize the blackest behavior when your head rules your heart. I never intended to hurt anyone. No one did anything they didn’t want to do. I may not have told the whole truth, but I didn’t lie. I’m sorry for my part. Why must we always lose what we’ve not valued enough or taken for granted in order to cherish it?

VIRGO ~ HANDS ~ HEALTH

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“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”  Stephen King (Virgo ~ 9/21/47)

You don’t need a Virgo Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, or planetary placements to be a Virgo. Virgo has square palms and short fingers. Dominant middle phalanges and square fingertips are less meaty and more flexible than Taurus types and pinker and more elastic than Capricorn types who have whitish flat palms, well-developed first knots, and lean fingers. Virgo is the most adaptable of three practical types.

Virgo is well-known for their methodical hands-on natures and for being critical. No matter what your type, square fingertips, enlarged second knots, and short fingernails add physical and mental order, practicality, and responsibility.

Individuals with strong middle fingers that crook or lean toward ring fingers at the first joints strive for perfection and need personal  space. Depending on what element is rising, or moonsign, or balances and imbalances of elements they manifest certain gifts and curses. People who chew their nails are self-critical and critical of others (many lines crisscrossing under middle finger enhances that). Compulsively bitten nails belong to contrary people who choose the other side of an argument to make a point, even if they agree with you.

Virgo is best where discriminating, reliable, modest, and orderly service is required. Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo sometimes obsess on details while being overly thorough and meticulous. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t really like details. Short fingered people in general (Practical and Intuitive) dislike details and prefer to see the whole picture. Details are a nuisance; something others should do, but few can do them better than Virgo who selflessly reasons and wills themselves to do what needs to be done. Virgo must be valued and appreciated. Virgo asks too little for themselves. They know their value, but reticent to ask for it. Ego gratification is not a motivation. Never ever take Virgo for granted. Virgo works hard to feel useful, but must be valued and appreciated for hard work. Virgo must learn to cherish every molecule of what they earn. Careers like accounting, medical, nursing, social work, maintenance, cleaning, and health food are magnets for Virgo.

Virgos who have worked hard and been rewarded for their efforts: Writers Agatha Christie & Leonard Cohen; Lawyers Alan Dershowitz & Marcia Clark; Financiers J.P. Morgan & Warren Buffet; Actors Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, and Cameron Diaz; Singers Michael Jackson & Beyonce’; Political figures Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, & John McCain. McCain’s hands are more Taurus than Virgo. His short index finger, slightly crooked pinky, and intuitive tips say what you see is not necessarily what you get.

 

Mercury, winged foot messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine) ruled by Virgo (healthcare). Gemini rules communications. Virgo is earthy and practical. She represents more scientific and technical aspects of thinking and empathy. Virgo is feminine in gender, logical, and healthier than Gemini, more masculine, intellectual, and cleverer. Imagination is more important to Gemini than practicality. I’m very Gemini.

 

 

 

I was practicing palmistry in my early thirties. One day, a young man showed up and asked “When will I die?” He was a healthy looking Virgo, very well built, energetic, handsome, smart, and a multi-talented craftsman. He appeared in excellent health. His well-balanced square palms were pink and firm with short straight fingers. Pink elastic skin, resilient palms, flexible wrists, and mildly flexible finger joints revealed a healthy balance between determination and adaptability. His basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. How lucky he is, I thought, but fate had sealed his future when he got AIDS.

AIDS was a death sentence at that time. I couldn’t see his illness in his hands. Nothing stood out. I lacked experience to counsel him. Instead, I said, “I’m sorry, only god has the answer to your question. You’re a naturally healthy type. If anyone can beat this disease, you can.” Awkwardly, I talked about his positive qualities, but he wasn’t interested in hearing about them. We chatted about what he planned to do about his situation. He wanted to be proactive. I helped him to decide to begin a regimen of healthy diet, exercise, sleep, more meaningful relationships, and quality time management. There was no charge for his session.

My curiosity about AIDS and desire to make a difference motivated me to volunteer weekly at Bailey House, an AIDS housing organization. I showed up twice weekly for two years to read hands, astrology, and cards for clients and staff. I use metaphysics as a lens to view issues and challenges in a symbolic way to help choose what’s next.

I printed hands of AIDS victims monthly to monitor the progress of the disease. I began noticing changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of hands. Lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it difficult for me to be thorough or scientific. Most people with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of their fragile impending mortality. I affirmed their talents and strengths and tried to inspire as many as possible to continue making positive choices and taking positive actions. We all looked forward to our weekly sessions.

Your health is in your hands. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors used their intuition, tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, and examined their tongue, skin, and especially their hands to diagnose illness. Hands reflect a person’s physical, mental, emotional, philosophical, and spiritual health. I encourage seekers to examine and reflect on their hands and the hands of people they care about. There’s so much more to see in a mirror than a reflection.

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. Some illnesses seen in nails are anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema, liver disease, heart, lungs, colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia. Whew…

Dozens of stress related problems and types of cancer can be seen in skin ridge patterns (dermatoglyphics). Conditions of lines indicate conditions of heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and stomach in male and female systems. Palmistry is prescriptive, but I never diagnose or prescribe. When I observe a potential health problem in hands, I let my clients know I’m not a health expert and suggest they see a specialist.

Many health problems are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health problems. Here’s a generalized list of health issues that correspond to particular fingers. Click links to learn when and how a finger is dominant and what other qualities in addition to health are represented. No health problems are easy. Good News ~ forewarned is forearmed! Free Will Rules.

Dominant index finger ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and problems with hips, thighs, and throat. A huge challenge and temptation is refraining from overindulging in rich food and drink.

Dominant middle finger ~ skin problems, teeth with age, knees, ligaments, secretion of bile, skeletal, left ear deafness, paralysis, rheumatism, gout, hardening of the arteries, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.

Dominant ring finger ~ eyesight, heart, and blood circulation.

Dominant pinkie ~ nervous system, bronchial, and respiratory systems, thyroid gland, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Dominant ball of thumb ~ throat, lymphatic system, venereal diseases, heart, circulation, and nervousness.

Dominant heel of hand ~ bodily fluids, stomach, tumors, female disorders, epilepsy, mucous membranes, gout, rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and mental illness.

Dominant thumb and percussion of hand ~ inflammations, acute fevers, infections, muscular disorders, blood diseases, hemorrhage, infectious and contagious diseases, throat and chest trouble, and high blood pressure.

Scorpio ~ reproductive system, ruptures, hemorrhoids, ulcers, venereal diseases, and problems with prostate or urethra.

Aquarius ~ ankle weakness, anemia, cramps, heart weaknesses, nervous diseases, varicose veins, and sensitive skin.

Pisces ~ feet and toes including bunions and gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, drug addictions, and liver troubles.

MY CANCER BEST FRIEND

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LLOYD WILSON

Cancer is a feeling type… instinctual, empathic, emotionally complex, and hard to comprehend. Pry into their private lives and watch them retreat into their shells. Cancers hide their most vulnerable selves beneath a facade of nurturing actions. Cautious and vulnerable, Cancers avoid emotional confrontation wherever and whenever possible, although, they prefer being frank and direct over tactful and diplomatic. Their feelings can swing from loving, devoted, and nurturing, to secretive, obsessive, and fearful of the future. Their smartest option is always choosing satisfying over safe. Cancers can become dark and moody when they feel controlled or confined. They must feel protected and secure before they can fully trust. Once trust is earned, loyalties run deep. Cancer needs to cultivate intimacy wherever and whenever they can. Healthy families, close friendships, and satisfying work nourish and support them. Creating structure, organization, and detail also helps them feel stable and secure.

Healthy Cancers are loving, compassionate, and devoted. They’re compatible with other feeling types (Scorpio & Pisces). They feel safe with practical types (Taurus ~ Virgo ~ Capricorn) who are reliable, responsible, and dependable. They’re challenged by thinking types (Gemini ~ Libra ~ Aquarius) who compartmentalize, rationalize, and analyze their feelings. They’re cautious around intuitive types (Aries ~ Leo ~ Sagittarius) who are passionate, spontaneous, and impatient, and afraid they’ll be left holding the psychic garbage bag (they are) and scared of dealing with the collateral damage when idealism, optimism, enthusiasm, and logic wane (and they do). Cancers are acutely consciousness of everyone else’s emotional needs. When they feel insecure, they can become internally secretive and externally aggressive at the same time. Cancer works hardest when income matches output. Motivated by good food, emotional security, and cozy surroundings, their mission is to nurture family, home, and creative imagination.

The impudent young guy on the left in this picture is me, captured forty-four years ago in a photo booth at Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. Lloyd and I met while working part time at a model making shop where we fabricated preschool children’s learning devices for the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning, Research, and Development Center. We made toys for ourselves and our loved ones on our own time. About to graduate from different colleges, I was to become an industrial designer. Lloyd would continue being an artist. We were a couple of Peter Pans on our way to Neverland.

Lloyd didn’t get much nurturing as a child. He developed his quick wit and sense of humor while trying to avoid extreme physical abuse. When his mother was happy, Lloyd was safe. When she was unhappy, she’d incite Lloyd’s rage filled father to beat him up. Lloyd tried hard to fix his broken parents, but they were too sick to support his efforts. Instead, they judged, criticized, and abused him. Lloyd’s mother finally abandoned him by killing herself; his father was committed to a mental institution, and years later, his lovely sister who I had met in Florida (two beautiful children, great husband, and an apparently idyllic life), suddenly and unexpectedly blew her head off with a shotgun.

Lloyd’s slender rectangular palms and long fingers embody his Cancer sun, which is conjunct my Mercury. His Gemini ascendant and my Gemini sun harmonize with one another. Lloyd’s head and life lines tightly intertwine at their beginnings. That reveals his need to feel appreciated and his tendency to take things too personally, even when they aren’t. A sensitive child, Lloyd desperately craved love and support, but didn’t get any.

Lloyd survived childhood without much approval. Meanwhile, he thrives on love and appreciation. Lloyd will give you the shirt off his back if you need it, but you had better never take him for granted. I know because Lloyd has literally given me the shirt off his back in my moment of need. I was on my way to an important meeting and got a nasty stain on the front of my shirt. Before I could blink, Lloyd took off his shirt and traded with me. What I love about him is that it never occurred to him not to do that.

Cancers are collectors. Some stockpile food in case of shortage or emergency. Lloyd collects art books, literature (most well-read person I know), religious art, art supplies, tools, raw materials, and clothing. When wealthy people die, their families donate their wardrobe to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Lloyd has a keen eye for the finest designer clothing. He skillfully sorts through the merchandise for great finds. I call him my personal dresser. We wear the same sizes. Lloyd chooses suits, coats, and jackets with me in mind and has gifted me with outfits worth thousands of dollars that he paid ten or fifteen dollars for. Many had never been worn. He’s a master bargain hunter.

Lloyd’s very flexible thumbs symbolize his ability to adapt to the most horrible of circumstances. They also embody his frequent generosity of heart and spirit. It’s very hard for Lloyd to say “NO”. The gold ring on the bottom phalange of his middle (Saturn) finger on his unconscious hand symbolizes his need to have clear boundaries, be frugal, and learn how to be less available so that he won’t be taken for granted. Of course, Lloyd knows that, but it’s still fun to see his character, motivations, and challenges embodied in the morphology and topography of his hands.

Lloyd would say to me, “People who tell the truth don’t need to have good memories”. I’d reply, “We may be bastards, but at least we’re honest”. Over fifty years of friendship have witnessed many challenging lessons in humility for us. We delayed finding balance between our outer and inner worlds by always choosing to learn the hard way. We had to let go of our need to be more than we were. We learned there are no shortcuts.

Lloyd Wilson is Pittsburgh’s best kept secret because he loves his anonymity. His artwork reveals a magical spirit, but few will truly get to know it. Lloyd personifies Cancer’s best qualities. He’s supportive, sympathetic, receptive, reflective, intuitive, imaginative, extremely devoted to friends and family, and my best friend (male).