HOW I LOST MY SANITY ~ Episode 4

Posted on August 15, 2023 by markseltman

There were only two patients in the art room. One was warily tucked in a corner, the other was a pretty twenty something African-American woman quietly cutting colored paper with a child’s scissors. I gently mused out loud. “You look healthy and normal. Why are you here?”

“My psychiatrist tells me it’s because I feel no remorse for what I did.”

“What did you do?”

“I killed my roommate”. I chopped her up in the bathtub and flushed as much of her as I could down the toilet. The rest of her I put in black plastic garbage bags that I tossed in a dumpster.”

“Did you think you would get away with that?”

“I didn’t think at all. I got the idea from TV.”

“And you don’t feel badly about what you did?”

“The girl is dead. There’s nothing I can do about that!” “I guess I’m sorry for her family”.

Mary grew up in a verbally abusive emotionally constipated family with no privacy. When Mary left home, she applied for a single room at college and was forced to have a roommate. Enduring a year, Mary reapplied, and lost the room to her roommate. Completely losing control of her mind and heart while stuck in a state of rage, Mary eliminated her problem.

Many strange stories unfolded over the next several months in the art room. Every day promised new adventure. I was glad I’d survived the bog of bureaucratic bullshit. I was yearning to examine everyone’s hands, but decided to wait. I anticipated astonishing tales of intrigue and amazing artworks. Many patients had artistic talent. There were two professional artists in the group. I supported everyone’s creativity and acquired special materials and supplies above and beyond my call of duty.

The first patient I bonded with was a refined and cultivated woman in her mid to late fifties. Bizarre circumstances led to Betsy’s hapless and senseless captivity. She lived on Treasure Island, a wealthy seaside community. Betsy managed an art gallery and was gossip columnist for a local newspaper. She loved to garden and was a member of a local gardening club.

A lawyer of considerable power purchased the land adjoining Betsy’s and neglected it. Weeds and branches drooped and draped sloppily onto Betsy’s property. Her neighbor‘s obvious dislike of landscaping and disdain for his neighbors annoyed the hell out of Betsy. One very vexing afternoon, she verbally threatened to chop off everything extending onto her domain. Grabbing her ax, she angrily severed every limb over her property line. While quietly recuperating on her porch, Betsy became alarmed and frightened when police in plain clothes marched aggressively through the gate of her yard.

Betsy grabbed her ax, attempting to chase them away. The next thing she knew, Betsy was sedated in a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation. Her neighbor had pulled strings and managed to have her temporarily committed. Then her serious problems began. Because Betsy was so agitated, Thorazine was prescribed, mandated, and administered. Betsy had a bad reaction to Thorazine. She was rushed to a local hospital. Her spleen had to be removed.

Betsy was no criminal. Nor was she crazy. She had great character references. Her son, a successful architect, pleaded fervently for her release, but no one appeared able to help her. A series of unfortunate events had led to her getting caught up in ‘The System’. Betsy’s attitude remained positive and optimistic while her mental and physical health deteriorated. She lost three productive years of her life. The lawyer tried to acquire Betsy’s property while she was locked up, but her son successfully blocked him.

Everyone admired Betsy. I was self-appointed president of her fan club. She could draw, paint, sculpt, and write better than anyone. She won several patient art awards. She was a positive role model. As editor and illustrator for the patient newspaper, The Scene. Betsy also created signage for hospital activities and events. I got special permissions for her creative seamstress work and purchased (my $) supplies like needles, threads, and unique fabrics.

Betsy designed stuffed insects. She called them ‘love bugs’. Sewing and sowing the seeds of success in my mind, Betsy inspired me to imagine a patient run cottage industry within the confines of hospital life that would serve other sheltered workshops in social and medical worlds. We could be a source for products, design, and marketing.

I got braver each day as I investigated patients’ lives. I couldn’t divulge my appetite for wanting to know more, but I did look as closely as I could at their records, hands, and gestures. I printed crude hands using newsprint paper with poster paint. I assumed madness would be revealed in aberrations of hand morphology and topography. There were many unusual hands. I saw a lot of frustration, anger, and fear, along with an uncanny clarity or lack of clarity in thinking. Many souls saw only one solution to their problem, never considering the consequences. Invoking hindsight enables most folk to harness our strengths, mindsets, attitudes, and actions, and embrace whatever challenges we encounter on the path to becoming healthier and happier.

Repressed rage, confused minds, and constipated emotions rule mental illness. I’d never have predicted from the hands that I read, that most of these people would be committed to mental institutions. Many patients lacked peripheral lines. They were less neurotic than the wounded healers with highly developed superegos and many more peripheral lines who were paid to care for them.

I only saw one club (murderer’s) thumb in the patient population. I expected to see many more Mr. Hydes, motivated by passion, lacking impulse control, and having a propensity for violence. I didn’t. Other hands were soft and supple. Sometimes their bones felt detached. There was zero energy, enthusiasm, or desire to think clearly or do anything meaningful. I observed one psychotic person’s skin as appearing splotchy purplish red. I imagined the color combo was repressed rage. Many hands were stiff in the joints, preventing the lost souls trapped in limbo between their inside and outside from escaping. I examined schizophrenic hands with two sets of head or heart lines in dominant hands that were ambiguous, ambivalent, suffering, struggling, and striving to know themselves and others.

Betsy and I loved the symbolism of the Tarot. We consulted the cards many times with many questions. We rarely heard what we wanted to hear, but always heard what we already knew. I collected birth names, dates, times, and places from patients, but didn’t explain why.

Most artwork and poetry in The Scene came from the art room. The patient newspaper was a venue for creative expression for patients and staff. It offered hospital news and provided space for patients to express their concerns and share their creativity. It was an important venue because it provided an outlet for frustration, anger, and depression. Everyone spent too much time complaining and blaming their problems on ‘The System’ and each other.

I decided to become a spiritual ambassador and good sense maker. The real enemies were our bad habits, bureaucracy, and time. We were a team whether we chose ‘to be or not to be’.

One notorious patient infected my psyche with doubt. He was a young black man in his early thirties. Fred had been mentally, emotionally, and physically malnourished via many abusive foster parents. A gentle kindness lie beneath the surface of Fred’s deeply scarred face. Fred was violent, but it wasn’t knife fights and gang warfare that got him locked up. It was Fred’s unrequited love. Fred was obsessed with a teenage girl. Allegedly, she was ‘taken away from him’ by an `abusive maniac’. Fred created realistic ‘WANTED DEAD or ALIVE’ posters of his maniac. He posted them all over town, offering a phony ten thousand dollar reward for him. Fred had no clue he was creating evidence that would lead him directly to the loony bin.

Fred’s large feminine hands, rectangular palms, long slender knotty fingers, and conical fingertips embody the quintessential ‘feeling’ type: great for empathy, appreciating art, research, organizing, paying attention to detail, and mostly for caring. Fred’s long head line sloped into the heel of his hand, revealing a vivid imagination and rich fantasy life. Fred could copy anything perfectly. He could have been a master forger, but that particular crime would never have occurred to him. I cheered Fred’s abilities and encouraged him to draw from real life. I also convinced his treatment team and security on his ward to let him have pencils and paper and allow him to draw under supervision.

Fred had a private sketch book. He produced forty or fifty sketches and drawings in the first month and showed no one. I asked to see them. Reluctantly, he showed them to me. I was blown away. The political parody above was his first. That’s Ronald Reagan and its meaning is self-explanatory. What stunned me most were caricatures of staff sexually abusing patients. Patients were pleasuring staff in the sickest possible ways. Were security, therapists, and patients actually having bizarre sex acts using objects of pleasure and pain or was Fred’s vision an artistic fabrication of his unique psyche?

How could Fred have witnessed what he was portraying? He had a graphic imagination. Maybe his friends were telling him their stories and he was interpreting them. Fred let me photocopy a few drawings. I wondered about the veracity of Fred’s artwork and shared it with Dolores. She showed it to the cabinet. Betraying Fred’s trust was my greatest blunder and regret. Fred fought fiercely as his drawings and supplies were confiscated. It wrenched my heart to watch him being reduced to a drug induced stupor, artistic genius, never to create (during my tenure) again. I was responsible and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Mary 2 was a highly functioning, extremely troubled patient. Mary believed she was Satan’s child, a bad seed. Mary was three when she first unsuccessfully attempted to poison her little sister. Then she failed to drown her in the bathtub. She tied her to a tree in a lightning storm, hoping she’d be electrocuted. Finally, Mary’s dysfunctional fundamentalist Catholic parents enrolled her in a devout Catholic school. They hoped that would save her. Mary predictably became more twisted. At sixteen, Mary set a nun on fire and carved her charring body to a bloody pulp with a broken glass bottle. She told everyone, “The Devil made me do it”.

Mary produced dark artwork. I coveted and appropriated her drawings every chance I got. While under suicide watch in a maximum-security psychiatric hospital, Mary etched `666′ in the skin of her arms and legs with whatever sharp objects she could find. She also scratched ‘666’ on furniture.

I don’t frequently see hands that frighten me. Mary’s hands were scary. The creepy hand above with very stiff fingers that curl inwardly belong to Susan Atkins’ (Charles Manson’s protege’). They’re similar to Mary’s. Mary’s skin was hard, dry, coarse, and reddish. She chewed on her nails relentlessly, leaving her nail beds red, raw, and sore. Mary transformed self-critical into self-hatred. I wished I could help her let go of irrational terror. Mary’s soul was hard-boiled from the hellish reality of growing up with hypocritical parents, along with fundamentalist codes, irrational doctrines, punitive rules, and restrictive regulations.

Mary had a huge crush on me. She was the first to arrive at the art room and last to leave. I felt nauseous when I was alone with her. I was repulsed, but always smiled and acted nice. Mary generously offered to give me a quickie blow-job under my desk. I remembered Fred’s drawings and how easy it would be to become one of his vignettes. I thought about all of the Ministers and Priests, religious shepherds, who physically and spiritually rape the innocent lambs they are entrusted to protect. Does terror, shame, guilt, and disgrace trigger erotic fantasy? Is fear of being caught a turn on? Can the Devil sow the seeds of evil in a psyche?

Mary was hovering over me and monopolizing my attention. I was abrupt and impatient with her. Dark rings appeared around her darkening eyes. Mary felt rejected. Satan was hard at work, preparing her for evil acts that night on her ward. It was a full moon. Stealing the ‘six’ and ‘nine’ balls from the pool table, Mary loaded them in a black wool sock, then beat a new patient to death while she slept. The poor woman was there for shoplifting, a few days of observation, and psychiatric evaluation. Mary said she didn’t like the way the woman looked at her. She’d certainly think twice before shoplifting again had she survived. I felt guilty and responsible. I should have said something. Staff should have been more vigilant. Mental institutions aren’t called lunatic asylums for nothing.

It’s not what you do, but what you get away with that matters. Gene was undeniably the most incredible artist in the hospital. He’d been a successful commercial artist and advertising executive. Scuttlebutt was that he created the TV ads that everyone loves to remember.

Gene was unique. A celebrity on his ward, he had the only private room, outfitted with his own furniture, library, audio tape collection, state of art stereo system, Bose headphones, and grizzly bear rug.

No one messed with Gene. Dark satanic auras shrouded Gene. Angry facial expressions and aggressive body language told a tale of uncontrollable rage from a horrible childhood. Gene was hostile. Everything about him screamed, “Stay away from me!” In a jealous fury and fit of rage, Gene slit his girlfriend’s throat from ear to ear. She survived, didn’t press charges, and forgave him. Gene couldn’t forgive himself. He told me had to stay because he’d do it again.

Gene could have been free had he wanted to be and behaved accordingly. I tried to make good sense to Gene and convince him to become an active member of the real world again. Gene wanted to stay. With little interest in worldly freedom, he was free to love his literature, music, art, and still be king of the roost. I actually felt a little jealous of his inner freedom.

Gene was charismatic in a dark and dangerous way. He was the patient Dolores caught in the art supply closet with Janice. That untimely final exit for Janice turned out to be wonderful therapy for Gene. We frequently had philosophical discussions and co-created artworks that I still cherish. This life size pastel Gene drew of me in the art-room subtly captures a very private part of me.

Benny was Gene’s buddy. Benny was uncooperative. A strong fit black man in his early thirties, Benny’s phobia of homosexuality impelled the former transit policeman to assault a bar full of gay men one night with a semi-automatic weapon. While freebasing crack, Benny brutally slaughtered eight gay men.

Benny came up bi-yearly for forensic review. He believed he’d be set free one day, but was always rejected. One psychologist told me that a ‘secret agenda’ was to never ever let him go or know. It was in everyone’s best interest to humor Benny. Otherwise, he’d lose hope, become violent, and need to be permanently medicated.

There was never a dull day in the art room. One handsome young patient, recently admitted, had cut his mother’s heart out, artfully prepared, and hungrily ate it with her favorite knife and fork on her favorite plate while drinking her favorite wine and reclining in her favorite chair.

Another man was found combing his mother’s hair on her mantel, weeks after he had cut her head off. The entire hospital was full of lunatics and addicts who committed violent acts under the influences of bad circumstances, rage, or drugs. Schizophrenics, sociopaths, psychotics, and pathological liars flourished and blossomed. One sociopath from England had a Rolls Royce delivered to the hospital entrance based on conversations he had with a dealer from a pay phone in the hall of his ward. If only I could put everyone’s amazing talents to good use…

Jesus Jefferson was the angriest patient in the hospital. Rejected countless times by forensic committees, Jesus had nothing left to lose. Everyone steered clear of him. Jesus had thrown his girlfriend, her 3 year old child, and dog from a 17^th story window. They died instantly as they hit the ground. Jesus had zero remorse and never spoke of the incident. He clearly needed to be locked up, but what of his other innate talents and abilities. I envisioned Jesus as a capable production manager in a patient run manufacturing business. I shared my idea with two staff psychologists and they agreed with me. Unfortunately, Jesus was too unpredictable and angry to be given any real opportunity to take real responsibility.

Names have meaning. Many people who end up in loony bins are named after biblical figures. Jesus, Mary, Faith, Angel, Grace, and Hope haunt wards at mental institutions everywhere. Whatever their parents had hoped, wanted, or expected… something else weird and perverted happened. My parody below represents my interpretation of present-day archetypal names.

MAGA = TRUMP vs chump

HOW I LOST MY SANITY3

Posted on August 2, 2023 by markseltman

After six to eight working days, I’d met most of the patients. There were five men’s wards and one women’s ward. The wards traveled around the hospital escorted by SHTA’s. One, two, or three wards at a time would meet in the rehab department for recreational/religious services. Many patients found religion while incarcerated. Evangelists, fundamentalists, and self-styled ministers attended every service, along with agnostics, atheists, and heretics. I counted four Jewish patients in the mix. Jewish services were most ludicrous of all. Patients of every shape, size, color, and religious denomination wore yarmulkes (skullcaps) and pretended to chant pigeon Hebrew. For attending religious services, patients received extra rewards such as cigarettes, tea bags, and candy. They also hoped to earn a few brownie points with God and the Forensic Committee when they came up for evaluation.

The next several months were both enlightening and frustrating. It was obvious I needed more clinical training specific to a forensic population. I reached from the Rehab department to make allies on the treatment teams and in the cabinet. Unfortunately, protocol and position are guidelines in public service. If you go directly to someone outside of your department on your own initiative, it can be misconstrued as a breach of faith or as a failure on the part of your supervisor to control her staff. Employees generate truckloads of surplus paperwork and ask permission for everything in writing. Dolores was reprimanded. I felt dejected.

My initial impression of patients was that they were generally dull and apathetic, motivated by bribery or extortion. Cigarettes (nicotine), candy (sugar), tea bags (caffeine), and little packets of Sanka rewarded good behaviors. I believed they were ultimately harmful and destructive. Extortion was punishment for bad behaviors. Having no rewards, no activities, temporary isolation, or mandatory drug treatments is really `Pavlov 101′ in practice.

There were two types of patients. Nearly all had committed acts of violence. Some were there for psychiatric evaluation. Others were assigned for long term care by the court system because they were unfit to stand trial or too mentally and emotionally disturbed to be in a normal prison setting. There were several mass murderers and serial killers. You’d never know it as they appeared meek, apathetic, and ordinary. As they grew to trust me, they revealed hopes, dreams, fears, and tales of intrigue and horror.

I was steadily earning the trust and respect of the rehab staff. I’d read Dolores’s hands. Within a month, I was asked by other staff members to share my insights and observations about them. The rehab staff was caring and well meaning. I observed unhealthy doses of neurosis combined with fear, paranoia, and overdeveloped senses of responsibility, obligation, and guilt. Public service feels thankless and hopeless to many of the staff. I tried to be constructive, helpful, and leave everyone feeling hopeful.

I suggested to Dolores that she practice saying “NO”. I advised Zandor not to react negatively to criticism, even if it’s personal. I nagged Billy (Skinny) to lighten up and see reality as it is and not how he wants it to be. I encouraged Luscious Lips to let go of his guilt, cultivate good habits (like controlling his indulgences), and begin to schedule activities to look forward to in his life. I applauded Barbara’s ability to maintain clear boundaries and thanked her for her honesty with herself and everyone else. I cheered Maya’s energy and enthusiasm. I let her know I supported whatever she wanted for herself. I wanted Janice to clearly see and express herself creatively.

My reputation as a hand analyst spread quickly. Soon, I was in the hospital director’s office reading her hands. Dr. Helga presented a caring and friendly demeanor, but after examining her hands for a couple of minutes, I was positive it was an act. She had the stiffest hands and fingers I’d ever felt, inwardly curving pinkie fingers, and a clear simian line in her dominant hand. Knotty fingers and long index fingers were well suited for a detail-oriented directorship. Helga’s father had been a German SS or gestapo who ran a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. There was no place for emotion in Helga’s formative years. She was calculating, ambitious, and couldn’t tolerate disobedience. She ordered me to never discuss what I saw with anyone and told me in no uncertain terms to stay away from patient hands. I gained insight into the cabinet by reading several members directly and by carefully listening and observing body language at meetings and in casual exchanges without permission.

It took six months to learn the ropes while generating and accumulating huge masses of paperwork and proposals. I was ready to present my syllabus for prevocational classes to the cabinet when the hand of fate unexpectedly intervened. A quirky thing happened. Dolores accidentally caught Janice, the art therapist, in the art supply closet with her skirt up around her ears. She was dispensing her own personal form of emotional and physical therapy to one of the male patients. Janice was fired instantly.

Janice had self-destructed. I’d lucked out. There was no art therapist. I was the only staff member qualified to fill in until another was hired. I knew about art. I didn’t know the first thing about art therapy or forensic psychology. That didn’t seem to faze anybody. I was thrilled to put everything aside to be the new substitute art therapist. I’d finally get to meet patients. Nearly all the patients frequented the art room. It was a chance to play with art materials and express themselves creatively. They could sculpt with clay, draw and paint, make collages, write poetry, and play music. I’d examine their hands, astrology, and experiment with tarot on them. This was an important lesson in human nature and my nature that I’ll never forget.

The art room was small and private (14’X 14′). I was happy about that because in addition to having the potential for intimacy, I was required to inventory every pencil, crayon, scissor, and even staple. These were all considered potentially dangerous weapons. Everything in Rehab was either bolted down or fastened together with special screws and nuts that required special tools to unfasten. Every precaution was taken to protect us from patients and patients from each other and themselves.

One very crazy patient who seriously creeped me out was James. After James’s mother would visit him, staff would find him mutilating his genitals with a paperclip, staple, or whatever he could find that caused damage. James eventually died of AIDS after repeatedly letting other male patients have their way with him sexually. I stayed away from James’s hands, but I do remember ugly brown tobacco stains between the tips of his index and middle fingers from letting cigarettes burn to ash without taking a puff.

I was cautious around patients. I tried to be helpful. I spoke little except when spoken to. I’d sometimes sketch patients. They saw me drawing and sculpting and began asking for artistic advice. I happily provided tips and tricks. It took over six months to locate a new art therapist. During this time, I’d meet a dozen patients who would influence my destiny.

Stay tuned to meet the patients…

Author’s note: If you’ve read the first episode of ‘How I lost my Sanity’, you know my writing is a combo of fact and fiction. Using the same voice as my non-fiction writing may create some confusion. I break rules of grammar and syntax. A generous helping of political and social incorrectness sheds darkness on my protagonist. Made up names and characters from movies parody and give faces to characters in my story. If you have any thoughts, ideas, feelings, suggestions, advice, or whatever about my writing and story, feel free to comment.

LEO & HANDS

Posted on August 12, 2019 by markseltman

You don’t need a Leo sun, moon, ascendant, planets, aspects, or houses to be a Leo. Anyone with Leo hands behaves like a Leo. Fire (intuitive) and air signs (thinking) are masculine in gender. Earth signs (practical) and water signs (feeling) are feminine. All Intuitive types have long rectangular palms with short fingers. Leo’s morphology and proportions are identical to Sagittarius and Aries. The differences are in hand qualities and features such as flexibility and stiffness, elasticity and consistency, and texture and color. Leo is a fixed type. Leo hands are stiff, dense, and firm. Leo’s skin is less elastic than Aries skin. Aries (cardinal) sometimes acts without thinking, and then bounces back from the consequences. Sagittarians (mutable) have softer hands as Sagittarians tend to be more self-indulgent and pleasure-seeking.

Leo has big ideas, but procrastinates. Life and head lines often intertwine where a rosy bulge meets a strong stiff thumb on a firm pink hand. Closely braided head and life lines reveal a person who cares about what others think. The longer the connection, the more they care. Leos take what others say personally, even when it wasn’t meant to be! Leos need to be liked, appreciated, and never taken for granted; which is the beginning of the end.

Healthy Leos are highly spirited, enthusiastic individuals who dislike details and need to see the whole picture. They require freedom in order to express themselves naturally. Leos take pride in their honesty, integrity, dignity, and nobility. They’re independent objective thinkers who set inspiring goals as ways to channel their abundant pride, energy, and passion. Leo loves being center of attention. Creative, dramatic, generous, enthusiastic, and fiercely loyal, they embrace you with ‘pride’ and lavish you with ‘praise’ and then expect you to admire and worship them forever. Their many fans eagerly await their contagious humor and compelling stories.

Leo’s physical sense is sight. The esoteric equivalent is enlightenment. Leo must learn to burn brightly without judgement or expectation, embrace truth, see the proverbial handwriting on the walls, cut their losses, and let go of false pride. Many multi-talented Leos spread themselves too thin and end up becoming the jacks of all trades, masters of none. Their potential health problems are eyesight, heart, and poor circulation.

Pure types have long and strong ring fingers. Shapes of tips, proportions of phalanges, knots, nails, lengths of fingers, directions of lines, and breaks, along with other qualities of topographical markings reveal what the person chooses to create with their free will. A seasoned palmist can readily see relationship skills, career potentials, behavior, and health issues. The consistency and flexibility of hands and the elasticity of skin reveals three modalities. Whorl fingerprints (concentric circles and spirals) add originality, spontaneity, eccentricity, and unconventionality. It’s important to note that despite the accuracy of hand science, human nature cannot be defined through details. It’s about combinations of details affecting free will, choice, action, and context. Palmistry is my favorite of myriad metaphysical methods to observe and interpret human character.

I often look to ring fingers for artistic and aesthetic abilities, drama, versatility, salesmanship, showiness, gambling proclivities, satisfaction, and reputation. No matter what your type, strong ring fingers add adaptability, creativity, and expressiveness. Cultivated Leos love beautiful things and savor a developed sense of taste and style. Long ring fingered folk are likable and they know it.

The ring finger is judged for length against the middle finger. When the tip is shorter than the middle of the first phalanx of the middle finger, it’s considered short. When longer, it’s considered long. Hands of actors, artists, architects, designers, craftsmen, photographers, curators, businessmen, teachers, salesmen, politicians, and diplomats frequently have long ring fingers. Hands of gamblers also have long ring fingers. A major challenge of very long ring fingered gamblers is that they do win, but don’t know when to stop.

No matter what your sun sign or hand type, people with square fingertips and stiff knotty joints are more practical, methodical, and cautious than those without them. Crooked fingers bring perfectionism, self-criticism, and potential moodiness. Leos tend to procrastinate at beginnings and endings. Healthy Leos shine with strength and courage like the sun. Leo is naturally charming, talented, and versatile. Leo’s liabilities are self- consciousness, emotional insecurity, vanity, and clinging to obsolete circumstances and behavioral patterns while cultivating confusing situations and nursing fruitless relationships. Don’t ever take a Leo for granted unless you’re trying to make him angry or scarce. Leo must have an inspiring quest or risk mundanity and mediocrity. Easily bored when life gets routine, too much order and detail can make Leo restless and impatient. If you can’t help a Leo, stay out of his way. No matter your sign, if you have Leo hands, you love being the boss.

Extroverts in general and fire types in particular, flourish best when they behave responsibly, honestly, patiently, and naturally in their relationships. Leo needs to learn to cultivate clear vision and enduring patience. That’s not easy for Leo as he’s naturally impatient and impulsive. Frequently accused of ‘being opinionated’, Leo’s point of view is so very important. Communicating clearly and effectively is a must. Leo’s biggest challenges are to establish clear boundaries and limitations and overcome inertia.

Last time I checked, there were more Fortune 500 and NASDAQ LEO CEO’s than any other sign. Our four most recent Presidents have all been dominated by Leo symbolism.

Bill Clinton is a multi-talented charismatic Leo. His long rectangular palms and short fingers reveal Leo intuitive hands. Head and life lines are closely tied at their beginnings. Bill cares more than you know about what others think of him. Bill’s insecurity, pride, and hubris undermined the power he worked so hard to acquire. Ironically and regrettably, philandering often comes with power. I’m sure Hillary (Scorpio ~ Capricorn hands) gave Bill a thorough spanking he’ll never forget when he got caught!

George Bush desperately wanted to be a ‘good old boy’, but he had too much unearned power. He hung to his frat boy mentality, well into his Presidency. George is a Cancer. He has Leo rising and Leo hands similar to Bill Clinton. Ruled by false pride and ego centered motivations, George is likely deeply embarrassed about his choices and behavior as President. Perhaps he has finally learned humility and is overjoyed that he’s no longer the worst President.

Barack Obama is a Leo with intuitive hands that display an Arian and Aquarian combo. He’s a warrior of ideas and ideals. Barack embodies some of the best qualities of Leo. Proud, but respectful, he’s loyal to family and friends who’ve earned his trust. Barack’s biggest challenge as President was being a bi-racial bi-partisan politician in a partisan world. He should have grabbed power while Democrats ruled congress and the senate.

Donald Trump is a Gemini with Leo rising. Donald’s small stiff looking Leo hands with rectangular palms, short fingers, and closely intertwined head and life line reveal a man who desperately cares what you think despite his flippant attitude and intimidating behavior. Donald Trump flaunts the absolute worst qualities of Gemini and Leo. He blew a golden opportunity to truly be loved by promoting fear and hatred. How much tyranny, intimidation, and greed do we need before we learn to value our humanity, health, families, planet, and basic gifts of life without having to lose them? Rest assured, Donald Trump’s humiliation, shame, and fall from grace will be of great relief and satisfaction for the world!

ME TOO

Posted on November 12, 2018 by markseltman

I was the hand reader at Harvey Weinstein’s and Georgina Chapman’s wedding celebration. It felt ironic to watch an old stale bagel (Pluto) with a fresh young pastry (Persephone). Harvey produced an unforgettable extravaganza, gilded with flowers, dazzling with fireworks, and flooded with incredible food, fantastic entertainment, and myriad ‘ME TOO’ movie stars. I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement saying I’d never say anything about anyone to anyone. I’ve read many famous people over many years, but none that day. I wish I’d strolled around and spoken with guests instead of parking my butt at a café’ table. Celebrities often avoid me when I’m seated because it’s not private enough and they fear I might see what they don’t want anyone to see. For quickie readings, celebrities are best captured on the hoof where I can charm and disarm them before grabbing their hands. Many missed opportunities strolled by me that day as I read the hands of friends and families who lined up for miles to hear the good things I had to say about them. Every person walked away with something of value.

Harvey is a Pisces with Taurus hands. Broad square palms, short plump fingers, and large pink fleshy balls of thumb reveal an acquisitive pleasure loving nature. I’ll bet the widely spread freedom loving thumb in Harvey’s dominant hand is stiff. His date of birth (3/19/52) puts natal Mars in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo. One interpretation of this combo is ‘Sexual Predator’. Harvey’s time of birth is unknown. When he was arrested on May 25, 2018, transiting Jupiter (philanderer) in Scorpio was conjunct Harvey’s natal Mars square Pluto. Transiting Pluto (loss) was square Harvey’s natal Jupiter. Pluto is final resting place for secrets, deceptions, and betrayals.

Harvey isn’t looking too good these days. His greedy pussy grabbing era began to end as his hands got caught in the honey pot. I wonder how many ME TOO’s he’s grabbed. Only Pluto knows for sure. Many favorite actors and actresses passed by me that day. I wanted to reach out and grab their hands. Most stars are hyper-aware of being observed, watched, and temporarily held captive.

As an entertainer, my mission is to be caring, constructive, and leave people feeling hopeful. Each person is the most important person in the world for five-minutes. Once you understand the basic gestalt of a person, there’s always something that stands out in a person’s hands. Small anomalies in the morphology and topography of hands embody huge changes in a life. I can instantly know what a person needs to hear in the moment because I know how to look and can choose what to say. When I’m holding a person’s hands in mine and looking into their eyes, I try to be as frank, direct, and compassionate as possible. Reading many people has taught me that it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters in the final analysis. No one escapes human frailty no matter how famous, wealthy, or what they say.

Click photos to view my favorite moments with Martha Stewart and Star Jones

The Future of Hands ~ Books

Posted on December 14, 2016 by markseltman

Your character and corresponding destiny is incarnate in your hands. You don’t need to be an expert palmist or know millions of details to learn what you need to know about yourself from your hands. Asking the right questions and interpreting what you see in your hands is the challenge. As a palmist, I mostly address questions about relationships, career, health, children, and whether anything can done to be more fulfilled and happy.

Palmistry is not about ‘this detail means this and that detail means that’. A series of five workbooks should be created to address what matters. The content must be compelling; crafted with fascinating narrative and straightforward illustrations, handy diagrams, and blank pages where readers can participate in interpreting their own hands and issues.

I printed 500 copies of “Your Life is in Your Hands” before my child was born, almost a quarter of a century ago. I gave most of them away. I hoped to make palmistry more real for people by sharing my knowledge and experience as a serious professional palmist in NYC. I created ‘Real Palmistry’ (e-book), and ‘Hand Book’ (paperback) to inspire people to want to learn more. Very few people have read any of my books, despite my best efforts to market them. Perhaps I should have named them ‘Sun Sign Palmistry’ or Palmistry 101’. I’m not sure that would have made a difference. I have several books ready for publishing, but I’ve decided to wait until I’ve figured out the best way to do it. Meanwhile, here’s my latest book concept.

Five Volumes: 25,000 words each

Delivery: Book One: April 1, 2017

Other four: Every six months following.

Ideal Format: Workbook ~ 8 1/2 X 11 to allow full size hand prints and charts.

BOOK ONE

WHAT’S IN A HAND?

Your life is in your hands

The key to knowing and unlocking your potentials is in your hands. Reading hands (palmistry) helps you know and understand your character. Gain insight into your physical, mental, and emotional attributes, major influences which affect your life, and degrees to which you are fulfilling your potentials. Hands disclose information about your basic character, values, intelligence, emotions, health and healing abilities, career aptitudes, relationship capabilities and limitations, spirituality, creativity, and intuition. Your hands are topographical maps of your past and present and furnish valuable information and insights into possible future events and trends.

While other symbolic systems such as astrology and numerology show a person’s potentials, palmistry shows what a person is actually doing with those potentials. The value of reading hands lies in the capacity to objectify our personality traits and internal struggles. Knowing our natural strengths and weaknesses can help us avoid the hazards of our negative personality patterns. We can embrace our positive potentials. The beauty of hand analysis is our hands change as our thinking and circumstances change. As we exercise our free will and alter our thinking, our changes will manifest themselves in our hands over time. As we influence our destiny, we get to observe our successes and failures reflected in the mirrors of our hands. I’ve observed noticeable changes in hands in a matter of weeks.

My ultimate goal is to turn everyone on to palmistry. I hope to shed the light of day on hands and transform the paradigm of palmistry as a gypsy fortune telling scam. I want to share my unique methods for observing the essence of a person before getting caught up in superfluous details. I want to address frequently asked questions including: Will I be happy? Will I find my soul mate? Can you tell me about past lives? What career should I be in? Do you ever read yourself? What can and cannot be seen in the hands?” I want to share stories of people who transformed their lives, incorporating `before and after’ hand prints and interpretations. I’ll include examples of celebrities including actors, musicians, sports figures, politicians, religious figures, business people, and maybe a terrorist or two.

People can benefit by learning to observe and understand themselves, their talents, positive potentials, and limitations. Most people can learn to read hands.

BOOK TWO

HOLDING HANDS

A Guide to Hand Analysis and Palmistry for Lovers

Relationship compatibility is my all-time favorite application of palmistry. Examining the hands of two people together reveals the strengths and weaknesses of that relationship. Healthy compromises can be unveiled within minutes of observing both sets of hands. By examining hands of couples, I can instantly see ways of improving their relationships.

We don’t have to look any farther than the ends of our arms to identify our relationship potentials. While examining our hands, we can gain insight into our sexuality, ability to trust and have real intimacy, and our emotionality. We often experience challenges because of conflicts within ourselves. Why do we choose insecurity over security? Why abuse over nurturing? Why guilt and obligation over freedom and fun-loving?

Who are you attracted to and why? What kind of person are you likely to marry? What kinds of relationships will you have with your families, friends, and neighbors? Examine your hands and your partner’s hands and see where compromise is possible and where it’s not.

BOOK THREE

TAKE MY HAND

A Look at your Child’s Future through Palmistry

Children’s hands change dramatically during the first five years of life. It’s no surprise they’re called “formative years”. Reading your child’s hands puts your own needs under the microscope. By knowing your children’s natural potentials, talents, and abilities, you can encourage and guide them in their natural directions. No matter what age, your child’s hands can help you understand his or her real needs and concerns. Knowing children’s hands helps them choose an educational plan, career direction, and ultimately a life direction. Learning to read hands will teach you to be more patient and tolerant.

I lent a helping hand to deliver my child at birth. I pulled her body from my wife’s womb and cut her umbilical cord. Joanna was blown away that I was reading our baby’s hands before knowing what sex she was. Her beautiful little hands already had a story to tell with tales that lie ahead, her character, strengths, weaknesses, talents, goals, and dreams. On closer scrutiny of her tiny hands, I felt confused and disturbed. Joanna and I have long heart lines (romantic, sentimental, and needing to express our feelings). Our daughter’s was short (serious, untrusting, and unable to verbalize feelings). Her index finger was also short which symbolized future problems with self-esteem. Her first two years of life were characterized by fear, lack of trust, and clinginess. Joanna and I imagined she must have had horrible role models in a past life and we were determined to transform that. Armed with foresight, we loved, respected, nurtured, and helped her unfold as who she wanted and needed to be. Our decision and commitment empowered her to lengthen her index finger and grow her heart line longer during her formative years. Self-assured, fiercely independent, healthy, and happy, she no longer has problems expressing herself.

Did you ever hear or say “I don’t want to make the same mistakes on my kids as my parents made on me”. The best way to avoid that is to learn to read your child’s hands.

BOOK FOUR

SHAKE HANDS

A Hand Analyst’s Guide to Business and Career

I’ve seen headlines and advertisements in newspapers such as the National Enquirer like “YOUR HAND HOLDS THE SECRET TO LOTTERY MILLIONS”, or “A FORTUNE MAY BE HIDING IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND”. These are sensational scams. Your fortune truly is no farther than the end of your arms. That’s the irony. Our hands carry out the messages of ours mind. They also reveal our nature. Career choices, work styles, and even success and failure are natural predispositions to specific types. Understand the type and you will understand the corresponding career capabilities and challenges.

We will cover work and career issues for all twelve types. An examination of fingers is key to pinpointing a person’s profession or work. Case histories and illustrations are essential to understanding how myriad details affect the whole picture.

BOOK FIVE

HEALTHY HANDS

Healing Yourself and Others through Palmistry

People are naturally predisposed to specific health problems. Understand the character and you’ll understand the potential health problems. Readily identify character through the shape and proportions of hands. Fingers, their lengths, proportions, shapes of tips, knots, and nails reveal how we relate to our world. The consistency of our hands, along with the color, texture, and elasticity of our skin shows the kind of energies we have to work with. Lines provide insight into the directions, qualities, and details of our life choices and circumstances. Gestures reveal attitudes in the moment. All factors help us to know our physical, mental, and emotional selves, and how we are fulfilling our potentials.

In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors used their intuition, tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, and examined the tongue, skin, and especially the hands to diagnose illness. Dozens of illnesses can be diagnosed from fingernails, which are considered windows to health. Some health problems which can be diagnosed by studying nails are: anemia, thyroid disease, malnutrition, carpal tunnel syndrome, psoriasis and eczema, disease of the liver, heart, lungs, or colon, chronic respiratory disease, lymph system problems, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, Hodgkin’s disease, and sickle-cell anemia. Diseases such as stress related problems and some types of cancer can be seen in finger prints and skin ridge patterns (dermatoglyphics). Lines in hands can indicate conditions of the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, stomach, and male and female systems.

My Declaration of Independence

Posted on November 15, 2016 by markseltman

At the exact moment I publish this, a super full moon is conjoining my natal lunar north node in Gemini. I’m using that power to launch my declaration of independence. Donald Trump and I share that same node. Our karmic responsibility is to communicate higher knowledge to the multitudes. Bill Clinton and George Bush also share that node, but blew their chances. Donald Trump may have already fulfilled his karmic destiny by exposing the dark underbelly of democracy. Donald Trump’s hubris will be his legacy.

I’ve had an epiphany. If Donald Trump can become president, I can shift the paradigm of ‘palmistry as a gypsy fortune- telling scam’ to ‘palmistry as a potent path to knowing oneself and other’. By ignoring palmistry’s history and making up my own rules, I’ll drag hand reading, kicking and screaming if necessary, out of the dark ages and into the light of the sun. My mission is to give everyone a helping hand, their own. Once you realize the true value of palmistry, you’ll be looking at your hands with reverence.

I’ve been an astrologer, palmist, and tarot card reader for forty years. As an astrologer, having an exact date, time, and place of birth empowers me to recognize character types, observe behavioral patterns, and understand life cycles, habits, and timing. As a palmist, I observe body language and examine the morphology and topography of hands to interpret a person’s actual potentials. Our hands reveal what we’ve done, are doing, and are likely do with those potentials. Tarot cards unveil unconscious and subconscious minds and answer questions ~ like about other people’s stuff.

Astrology had been quietly knocking at our door for thousands of years. In 1968, we opened wide and asked “What’s your sun sign?” Linda Goodman wrote and Bantam Books published the simple and entertaining ‘Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs’. Suddenly, astrology became fun. The popular astrology movement was catalyzed. Horoscopes magically appeared in newspapers and magazines everywhere. Astrological organizations, schools, books, and clubs sprouted, thrived, and continue to flourish. Over one hundred million copies of Linda’s books were sold with no Amazon.com or e-social networking.

In my attempt to understand how Linda Goodman transformed astrology, I reached out to her literary agent, Arthur Klebanoff. After reading his autobiography, ‘The Agent’, I was convinced he would be a good catalyst for launching palmistry. I hoped to persuade him that I could become the ‘Linda Goodman of palmistry’ with his help. Too bad for me, because Arthur had retired from agenting and was wary of esoteric authors. Linda had been a royal pain in the butt as a client. I assured him the only relationship between Linda and me was a metaphor between charts and hands. His answer was still ‘No’. I needed to find another way to gain credibility with publishers. If you’ve read my recent personal publicity series, you know how hard I’ve tried.

Here’s my paradox ~ hands are more potent than astrology for seeing basic behavior. There’s no need for accurate birth info, computers, software, or hindsight. While natal astrology charts remain static, hands change as thinking and circumstances change. We get to observe our changes in the mirrors of our hands over time. I use astrology and palmistry together. Viewing hands through the lens of the twelve signs and houses of astrology instantly reveals our basic characters, values, thinking, feelings, will power, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, hopes, fears, and spirituality.

Palmistry has not had a champion since Cheiro (hand) in the early 1900’s. Cheiro (Count Louis Hamon) was a self-appointed, self-promoting seer, showman, gossip, and indisputably the most fascinating palmist of all time. He was a bit like Donald Trump in that he made up his own rules as he went along. He’d be a superstar these days with reality TV. You can read more about him in my blog post, ‘Your Palmistry Education’.

It’s time for palmistry to be reborn, but palmistry needs a spokesperson. I’ll be happy to support anyone who is qualified and wants the job. If I’m forced to become a face for palmistry, I’ll rise to the task, but I’m not Cheiro (except for having amazing clients and stories). I have reservations about going public. I cherish my anonymity. I must always remain discreet about my clients’ private lives and secrets. I’ll be seventy next June.

I hope to inspire expert palmists and sincere seekers to take responsibility for what they know and need to know. Knowledge and wisdom are keys to unlocking the magic of hands, but you don’t need to know about hands, or millions of details, or be an expert at anything, to see what you need to see. You must learn how to look and ask the right questions. Hands can be seen and heard by whoever chooses to look and listen.

If you’re a professional palmist and have a legitimate service, product, or school, you should be part of this. Once the public is turned on to palmistry, masses of people will be searching for sources for all things hands. I will promote you when you’re ready, but I’ll require a lot of help from you. First you need to have your act together.

Why aren’t we asking, “May I see your hands?” My intention is to catalyze a popular palmistry movement as soon as possible. Everyone is seeking spiritual insight and better understanding of oneself and other. There’s no competition for being you. Open your mind, stretch your awareness, and cultivate your ideas ~ be creative. Let me know what you’re planning. Ask for my advice. What I know isn’t proprietary. I have no trade secrets. I will freely share any ideas and ideals that make good sense for the future of palmistry.

I’ve spoken about hands at local venues to mostly uniformed audiences. I’ve shared my knowledge, experience, and creative ideas at colleges, universities, museums, new-age bookstores, community centers, churches, and cafes’. I’ve consulted with psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers about fast forwarding diagnosis, to salesmen about improving sales quotas, and human resource professionals about seeing and knowing whether a person is right for a job. Sounds like a lot, but it’s not. Unless you’re waving what you’ve done or are doing in someone’s face while it’s still hot, it’s quickly forgotten.

I’ve shared my personal publicity experiences with newspapers, magazines, books, radio, TV, volunteering, and public speaking. The workshop flier below was from one of my favorite events. Working with small communities is very satisfying. By participating in local events, you can give people a taste of what you do and let them know you plan to share what you know with the community. With digital camera in hand I ask,

“May I photograph your hands?”

“What will you do with the photos?”

“I’ll blow them up huge on a screen and talk about you with you in front of everyone.”

I’d be terrified if someone asked me. I have too many secrets. I’m always surprised how many people are ‘up for it’. I assure them I would never say anything hurtful or harmful. Being constructive, helpful, and leaving people feeling hopeful is the name of the game. Workshop volunteers sign a model release. I use their photos in limited ways. I choose twenty people for my poster while instantly creating a captive audience expecting an interesting experience. I place fliers online and in local village stores a couple of weeks ahead of time. This event worked especially well because people were turned on, the workshop was inexpensive, and the proceeds were donated to the café cinema series.

If you go into palmistry for money, you’re in the wrong profession. You can have a happy and healthy life as a palmist without being rich. I work as much as I choose, but will never make big bucks. Corporate speaking is profitable, but it’s a hard sell and the least satisfying work in the end. Your real wealth is in recognizing hands as powerful tools for healing mind, body, and spirit. In the process, you meet a diversity of amazing individuals, cultivate quality private clients, and attract fascinating special event work.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll post my ideas for popularizing palmistry on my blog. Feel free to question, comment, suggest, advise, imagine, or whatever you choose. If you have a better idea or know how to make an idea better, share your thoughts and insights. Let go of palmistry’s past. Take a leap of faith. Figure out what works for you. All of humanity must know and understand self and others better for a better future. Precious treasure wants and waits to be discovered at the ends of our arms.

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding” Hermes

Your Fate is in Your Hands

Posted on September 17, 2016 by markseltman

Your middle finger (Saturn) is the ‘finger of fate’. It’s the balance wheel of your hand. It should always be the longest finger, although sometimes it may appear less long because the index and ring fingers are longer than average. Healthy Saturn types need to embrace structure, discipline, and focus. Harnessing these qualities is another story. Saturn is easily frustrated and often his own worst critic. Finding healthy outlets for all that persistence and will power are essential for maintaining a healthy life.

Middle finger types are loners who need alone time. Overdeveloped senses of responsibility, obligation, and guilt make them less inclined to marry than other types. They’re trust worthy, dependable, organized, efficient, and patient. They may also misspend their time feeling frustrated, pessimistic, self-critical, depressed, and fearful. Being overly responsible and perfectionistic are a formula for frustration and guilt. See how the strong middle finger in this hand magnetically draws the other fingers toward it. Lloyd Wilson is an incredible artist and artisan, confirmed bachelor, and very loyal friend. He worked as a night watchman for many years and devoured a wealth of art and literature in the process.

Middle-fingered folk are frequently tall, slender, and angular in appearance. Pure types have dark hair, large bones, stern features, and bland complexions. Their prevailing physical sense is smell. Many love string instruments and enjoy classical music with a tinge of sadness. Potential health problems include teeth, knees, ligaments, and hardening of arteries, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and deafness in the left ear.

When a middle finger leans towards the ring finger, you have an individual who is very private. When he’s feeling confined, controlled, or restricted, he gets cranky. Notice the curved middle finger on Donald Rumsfeld’s left hand. Calling him a curmudgeon is an understatement. Abraham Lincoln (Aquarius) and Clint Eastwood (Gemini) are quintessential Saturn types. Saturn dominates conservative business people, real estate tycoons, technical writers, craftsmen, therapists, night watchmen, master criminals, morticians, undertakers, and derelicts. Saturnians with dominant top phalanges and strong pinkie fingers lead the way in research, science, mathematics, and humor.

Do you have a dominant middle-fingered boss? Be sure to do your homework with a very sharp pencil. Precision, attention to detail, and realism are vital to achieving your goals. Don’t be late and don’t make excuses. Assume responsibility. Be pragmatic, objective, reliable, and dependable. You’ll avoid criticism and get praise as you earn it.

The middle finger is the finger of destiny where vision and delusion meet reality. No matter what else is happening in your hands, your middle finger forces you to face the facts. You must do what needs to be done. It’s always about taking responsibility and doing the work. Remedies for Saturn maladies are inherent in the challenges in and around the middle finger. Whether you take responsibility and do the work or not, your hands will show your truth. A grille (schmutz) is a bunch of lines crisscrossing under the middle finger. That’s a sure sign of a frustrated perfectionist or a procrastinator not doing what needs to be done. People with schmutz beneath their middle finger are their own worst critics. They must learn to lighten up, bite the proverbial bullet, and smell the roses. Over time the schmutz will clear and the affirmation will add momentum. Putting one foot in front of the other is the best medicine for letting go of inertia and frustration. Healthy intent and appropriate actions will eventually reduce or erase the grille. The healthiest people have the healthiest middle fingers.

This post was extracted from a much larger post on Capricorn.

Fingers and Planets

Posted on July 12, 2016 by markseltman

twelve hands

All palmists agree on the importance of the thumb. Although the thumb is a small body part, it takes up a huge space in the cerebral cortex of our brains. The thumb opposes our other four fingers, which has enabled our minds to develop. It’s the primary reason we have dominion over our ancestors, the apes. We’ve designed all of our tools from a pencil to the most sophisticated computer because of the placement of our thumbs. As our hands carry out the messages of our minds, our thoughts, feelings, and behavior are reflected in the morphology and topography of our hands.

The thumb symbolizes our most valuable resources: willpower, logic, and ability to love. It’s essential to our well-being that these three very important qualities be balanced. Like our other fingers, a thumb has two joints and three segments known as phalanges. The top phalange represents will. The second or middle phalange represents logic and ability to reason. If the will segment is longer than logic, you frequently act before you think. If there’s more logic than will, you may figure whatever out, but then procrastinate. A tiny bit more logic than will keeps us in check. The bottom phalange is the ball of thumb, contained by the lifeline. The ball of thumb governs our capacity to love and have compassion and sympathy for others, to maintain significant relationships, to appreciate people, animals, nature, art, and music. If there’s not enough love and sympathy, all the logic in the world won’t matter.

Unlike our other four fingers, our thumb is not ruled by a single planet. It’s obvious that willpower, logic, and love contain all elements and modalities. You can assign a sun sign to any detail to gain more insight. A particular element or modality may be strengthened or weakened by the shape of the tip and / or fingerprint. For example, a spatulate tip with a whorl print adds cardinality and fire. A square tip with an arch print adds fixity and earth. A round or conical tip with a loop print adds mutability and air or water. Many combinations are possible. I’ve written several blog posts on the thumb: The Basics ~ A Parable ~ The Murderer’s Thumb ~ Generalities

Fingers and career

Once you’ve established a dominant element and modality for both hands, examine the fingers. The lengths and proportions of fingers, shapes of tips, knots, and nails reveal our relationships with others and what types of career and work we’re best suited for. How are your fingers spread? If they’re widely spaced, freedom is essential to doing things your way. If they’re held closely together you’re a team player, cautious at beginnings, and prefer not to make important decisions on your own.

Dominant index fingers (Jupiter) are long and stand independently from other fingers. A strong index fingered person prefers to partner. As ambitious types, they visualize their goals and then plan to accomplish them. As career minded individuals, they’re motivated by professionalism. They have natural leadership abilities that attract opportunities for them to manage. They’re drawn to others like themselves who are ambitious and proactive. Controlling behavior patterns, obsessive habits, being critical, judgmental, and indulging in too much good food and drink are weaknesses. Other flaws include false pride, gluttony, vanity, and bossiness. Dominant index fingered individuals must overcome their excesses by practicing moderation. Success comes more easily than most other types, but it still must be earned. Many successful judges, journalists, lawyers, politicians, producers, promoters, priests, speakers, salespeople, and the finest and worst chefs have dominant index fingers.

Basic hand shape will reveal whether the person is more adventurous, practical, thinking, or feeling. Shapes of tips, knots, nails, and fingerprints can dramatically modify any interpretation. You can assign an element and modality to any detail to gain more insight into the issue or challenge you’re addressing. Want to befriend a dominant index fingered person? Be honest, direct, proactive, and take pride in your career.

Many dominant index finger types are of medium height with generously proportioned bodies, wide chests, high foreheads, wide eyes, full faces, and wavy dark hair. Long index finger folk are naturally healthy types who may overindulge in rich exotic foods, luxurious desserts, and fine wines. It’s not a paradox that their physical sense is taste. The older they get, the higher the toll. Temptation knocks and Jupiter unlocks the door to eventual blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and problems with hips, thighs, and throat. Many people believe short index fingers are connected to homosexuality. That’s not true. Here’s what I have to say on the subject.

10.cancer The middle finger (Saturn) is the balance wheel of the hand. It should always be the longest finger, although it may appear shorter relative to index and / or ring fingers, which may be above average. Structure, discipline, and focus are needed. Harnessing these qualities is another story. Saturn is his own worst critic and easily frustrated. Finding healthy uses of will power is essential to having a healthy life. Dominant middle finger types are loners and need alone time. Less inclined to marry than other types, they’re dependable, organized, efficient, patient, and faithful. Their troubles begin with spending too much time feeling guilty, fearful, self-critical, frustrated, and depressed. Being overly responsible and perfectionistic is a recipe for depression, frustration, and fear. Notice how the strong middle finger in this photo magnetically draws the other fingers toward it. This man is an incredible artisan and a confirmed bachelor. He worked as a night watchman for many years.

Dominant middle-fingered folk are frequently tall, slender, and angular in appearance. Pure types have dark hair, large bones, stern features, and bland complexions. The prevailing physical sense is smell. Many Saturn types love string instruments and prefer classical music with a tinge of sadness. They eventually have problems with teeth, knees, ligaments, and hardening of arteries, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, or deafness in the left ear. When the middle finger leans toward the ring finger, you’ve got an individual with a very strong need for privacy. When he’s feeling confined, controlled, or restricted, he gets cranky. Notice the curved middle finger on Donald Rumsfeld’s left hand. There’s no doubt he’s a curmudgeon. Abraham Lincoln (Aquarius) and Clint Eastwood (Gemini) are quintessential Saturnians.

Many conservative business people, real estate moguls, writers, technical individuals, craftsmen, therapists, night watchmen, master criminals, morticians, undertakers, and derelicts are middle finger types. Powerful individuals with dominant top phalanges lead the way in research, science, mathematics, and humor.

Have a dominant middle-fingered boss? Do your homework with a very sharp pencil. Your precision, attention to detail, and realism are vital to achieving your goals. Don’t be late and don’t make excuses. Assume responsibility and be pragmatic, reliable, and dependable. You’ll avoid criticism and maybe even get some praise.

The middle finger is the finger of fate. It’s where illusion and delusion meet reality. No matter what else is happening in your hands, the middle finger forces you to face the facts. Then you have to do whatever needs to be done. It’s always about work on your part. The remedy for many maladies is inherent in the challenges in and around the middle finger. Whether you do the work or not, what you do will show in your hands. A grille (schmutz) is a bunch of lines crisscrossing in every direction under the middle finger and a sure sign of frustration resulting from too much perfectionism or not doing what needs to be done. People with schmutz below their middle finger are their own worst critics. They must lighten up, buckle down, and bite the proverbial bullet. Taking one step at a time is the best medicine for letting go of frustration. Healthy attitudes will in time reduce or erase the grille. Healthy people have strong healthy middle fingers.

8. Gemini Ring finger types are happiest. Dominant index fingered folk are the most ambitious. Middle finger types are the most serious. The sun (Leo) finger is symbolized by Apollo, who hauls the sun across the sky each day in his chariot. Apollo types are attractive, brilliant, charming, graceful, artistic, and successful on the inside. Healthy dominant ring finger types are versatile, adaptable, creative, and expressive.

Being so brilliant with so many natural talents and abilities has a downside. It’s easy to be spread too thin (“jack of all trades”). Concern with outward appearances and being tempted by casual attractions is a waste of valuable time. They enjoy marriage, but have very high expectations of their mates that can lead to disappointment. So much solar energy makes them irresistible. Apollo types are healthy, medium height, naturally muscular, and athletic. Their dominant sense is sight. Physical weaknesses are heart problems, eyesight, and circulation. Dominant ring fingered people are lucky. They can trust their gut. When they take calculated risks, they often succeed. I’ve read the hands of many gamblers with very long ring fingers. Their biggest challenge is in knowing when to stop. Their optimism and idealism cloud reality. The most successful actors, artists, musicians, designers, and sales people have dominant ring fingers.

strong pinky This powerful pinky finger fits a communicative, curious, and quick-witted individual. Dominant pinky fingered people are bottom liners. As quick thinkers and excellent communicators, they’re well aware that if their presentation doesn’t add up, they won’t make the sale. They’re eternally childlike and cherish their freedom. In relationships, they love variety until they end up marrying someone like their mother or father. They love children and will bear any burden for family.

Hermes is the Greek god attributed to the pinky finger. Peter Pan (adolescence), Puck, Knight of Swords, Court Jester, Magician, Thoth, Loki, and Mercury are all Hermes. Clever tricksters can also be great communicators and potential archetypes of wisdom.

Early family dynamic can be observed in the way the pinky is set on the hands. When it’s short or low set, trust is a major issue. Many women with very low set pinkies have told me that they have trouble having orgasms. Their real challenge is in trusting themselves and others enough to have real intimacy. A pinky finger emphasizes technical, language, and family, in addition to sexual potentials. Hermes’ dominant physical sense is hearing. Hermes prefers musical instruments that require dexterity.

Finger length

The pinky finger is normally the shortest finger. To determine whether the pinky is considered long or short, look to where it lines up with the ring finger. When the tip of the pinky finger is above the crease between the first and second phalange of the ring finger, it’s considered long. When the pinky finger is shorter than that crease in the ring finger, it’s considered short. Hermes was the shortest of the gods. A dominant pinky fingered person tends to be short in stature. His or her body and face are slender, with expressive hands, dark hair, and penetrating eyes with crow’s feet in the corners. Ed Harris is a great example. Pinky fingered folk are youthful looking with men frequently having thin beards. Johnny Depp is a Mercurial type. Mercurial types are androgynous. Many (they may not know or admit it) are bi-sexual. David Bowie was Mercurial. Michael Jackson (Peter Pan) actually lived in his very own Neverland.

Health issues center around the nervous and bronchial systems. Problems with headaches, thyroid glands, memory loss, and speech impediments are common. Healthy types can be intuitive geniuses and great judges of character. Their liabilities are trickiness, fickleness, nervousness, restlessness, and superficiality. People preaching on soapboxes, pickpockets, and successful con artists have dominant pinkies (most inwardly curving). Mercury types make great lawyers, doctors, orators, writers, engineers, teachers, accountants, bankers, shopkeepers, and magicians. I work at special events with famous magicians. These amazing tricksters are very Mercurial. They surprise and astound by deceiving the eye and mind through sleight of hand. Hermes leads the way in science, law, medicine, writing, and banking.

George Tenet

Is this man telling the truth?

The chirological equivalent of Pinocchio’s nose is a deeply inwardly curving pinky finger. If your pinky finger is curved inwardly, you typically hate confrontation and spend too much time behaving in ways that work. You’ve spent so much of your life acting and bending the truth that you aren’t even aware you’re doing it. Most curved pinky fingered people learn early in life that “nice” works. Their biggest challenge is that “nice” ends up becoming safe instead of satisfying. Curved pinky fingered people are peacemakers. They try to fix other people and circumstances. If you’re one of these people, be yourself and not who you think everyone else wants and needs you to be.

Gold and diamond rings are often found on the pinky finger of acquisitive people. Pinky rings can symbolize the sublimation of sexual energies in order to achieve something requiring a lot of energy. I once examined a group of fifty young men and women, all born into wealthy families in the 80′s. Considering the prosperity of the period, it seemed a paradox to me that every single one of them had an obviously short phalange on the bottom segment of the little finger of his or her dominant hand. The bottom phalange represents the material world. Money will never be a motivation for this group’s career choices. Family issues and personal values will drive these individuals.

Palmistry for Astrologers ~ Signs & Aspects

Posted on July 4, 2016 by markseltman

Planets, signs, aspects, and houses combine to reveal character, behavioral patterns, life cycles, timing, and a personal and collective psyche. Astrology is a science and art of infinite permutations, possibilities, and probabilities. Astrology and palmistry share the same planets and mythology. Correspondences can be hard to see because astrology shows us our potentials and hands show us what we’ve done, are doing, and are likely to do with our potentials. A sun, moon, ascendant, or stellium (conjunction of three or more planets in a house) can dominate a person’s psyche. In an astrology chart, you can see potentials. In hands, you see the choices a person has made, but not directly and only by degree. Judging is everything in palmistry. The tiniest change in a line over time can embody a huge change in a life. Any lack or excess of signs, planets, elements, or modalities will be revealed in the topography of our hands.

No matter what the basic hand color, colors on the palm may vary from subtle shades of white, pink, red, and yellow to dark blue. Most palms are more colorful than most people realize. Red embodies too much pent up passion, frustration, anger, and rage. As pressure goes up, hands get hot. An unhealthy Mars overdoes everything. In the natal chart, look to Mars, Aries, and first house aspects to gain insight into opportunities and challenges that correspond to redness in the hands. Rosy pink is healthiest. A strong flow of blood pulses through a pink ball of thumb. Under the index finger (Jupiter), pink embodies a healthy ego and a positive relationship with Venus. Look to Sagittarius and Taurus and the second and ninth houses in a chart for more insight. White can be a lack of passion, energy, and clear intent. Saturn and Neptune’s relationship may provide insights and answers. When you see yellow (not from carrot juice), a person has a potentially pressing Saturn and/or Mercury issue.

One comment I often hear is “My hands are the way they are because of what I do”. Hardness, softness, roughness, smoothness, and calluses are formed by combining character with will power. You may have calluses because of what you do, but you do what you do because you were designed to do it (and many other possibilities).

Once you’ve established a basic character type, see what stands out. Does a finger lean, bend, crook, or twist? Is it long, short, fat, thin, strong, or weak? What’s most obvious ~ shapes of tips, knots, nails, stiffness, flexibility, consistency, elasticity, color, or texture? The hand above has obvious Saturn, Mercury, and Lunar (heel of hand) challenges.

Hands and fingers can be so flexible they bend backward at every joint, or so stiff you can’t budge them with a nutcracker. Stiff fingered folk are extremely stubborn. Healthy elastic skin bounces back when pushed or pulled. People with too little elasticity must be encouraged to exercise regularly and build resistance to life’s knocks and hardships. Modality can be experienced in a handshake. I’ve shaken cool damp mashed potatoes (apathy) and been shaken by hot, rough, dry, hard, vice grips (control). Most of us compensate for our lack or overabundance of one thing or another. Too much or little of any planet, sign, house, or aspect can cause an imbalance that creates similar results.

No matter what our hands say about us, we must still live our lives. Hard hands with stiff fingers fight change. Letting go will be a major life theme. Interpretations may be very different between astrology and hands. Soft hands and flexible fingers should embody dominant mutability in the natal chart. It may not. Softness does keep close company with rationalization, compartmentalization, and procrastination. Soft flexible hands need structure, discipline, focus, determination, and patience in order to build strong structures on solid foundations that support greater purpose and meaning.

When judging the qualities of hands, it helps to think of extremes. Texture of skin can vary from the velvety softness of baby hands to the callused coarseness of a coal miner or farmer. You rarely see contrary qualities in the same hands, any more than you see opposite types attracted to one another. Debutantes don’t dine with ditch diggers.

We’re always communicating with our hands. Gesture reveals our conscious and subconscious minds in the here and now. The messages of our mouths may be very different than the messages of our hands. Hands never lie.

Finger lengths, proportions, knots, flexibility of joints, shapes of tips, and nails reveal our relationships to others and show how we manifest our potentials in our outer world.

Four major lines (life, head, heart, and fate) deliver detailed data about our inner lives and outer circumstances. Lines begin somewhere, end somewhere, and display various qualities in-between. Depth, breadth, and textures of lines reveal elemental influences. Beginnings, endings, and directions of lines reveal how signs, planets, and aspects correspond to mind, emotion, career, and health. Markings on lines can reveal transits and timing. Select major planetary transits from Saturn to Pluto from your ephemeris that correspond to markings in the hand. You can time important transitions on lines. The above palm shows an airy head line that reveals indecisive thinking and a watery heart line that exposes confusion and ambiguity in emotion, especially during major life transitions like independence and menopause. I told her what she already knew and had been told by others ~ that she was a late bloomer and would become clearer, more decisive, and enjoy more intimacy, personal satisfaction, and fulfillment with age.

Next post ~ Planets and Fingers

Favorite Quotes from Palmistry

Posted on June 27, 2016 by markseltman

Note: out of focus images are single frames from videos or tiny originals

“Each of us believes we are familiar with our own hands, and we tend to take them for granted and use them automatically. It is not until we examine our hands critically that we begin to appreciate the many interesting features that they actually possess.”

The Art of Hand Reading ~ Lori Reid ~ 1996

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“To understand and analyze your own hands you must look at each component in turn: the shape and structure of the palm, the length and build of the fingers, the strength and flexibility of the thumb, the size and construction of the nails, the pattern and composition of the skin ridges, and the quality and formation of the lines in the palm.” Lori Reid ~ 1996

“Destiny in palmistry means choice, and the purpose of palmistry is to help you choose what you want, in accordance with what you have already become.” Palmistry the Whole View ~ Judith Hipskind ~ 1986

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“Palmistry is an art which requires powers of deduction and a clear grasp of the nature of the hands themselves. As an extension of the brain, hands never reflect isolated or random traits, but rather the whole person: the spirit and motivation, the personal needs and temperament of every individual.” Judith Hipskind ~1986

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“Knowing your life purpose means being clear about your big picture: what your life has amounted to so far and where things are headed. More than a set of core values or a worthy goal, your life purpose is your right life, your reason for being. Finding and living your life purpose is the single most important thing you can ever do.” Richard Unger ~ LIFEPRINTS ~ Deciphering Your Life Purpose from Your Fingerprints

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Diagram from William Benham ~ ‘How to Choose Vocations from the Hand’

“As an aid to the choice of profession, trade or occupation, it (palmistry) is extremely helpful. It shows what the “subject” is naturally most fitted for, and were it more often applied to this purpose, there would be fewer mistakes in launching a boy or a girl on the ocean of life. The talents and qualities most useful for a future career would be cultivated and much valuable time would be saved which is now wasted in teaching the child what will never be of any use to him, worrying his poor little brain with subjects he has really no aptitude for, and neglecting to develop the gifts he possesses.” E. Rene’ ~ Hands and How to Read Them

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“The expression of the eyes and face, to a great extent, is under the control of the individual. A man may assume an emotion he does not feel, but his hand betrays him when he is least conscious of it. To the student who seriously and diligently takes up this study, it is a wonderfully interesting and fascinating example of the marvelous intricacies in the workings of the human mind, and physical organism, showing how one acts upon the other.” E. Rene’

Reading Laura

“The hand is a jig-saw puzzle, you take bits and spread them out, you note their size and shape, and then you begin the all-important task of fitting them together within the circumference of that individual potentiality. The result should be a perfect picture of the individual, a picture that should show the most intimate physiological and psychological detail.” The Hand Speaks ~ Noel Jaquin ~ 1973

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“My whole aim and object is to prove, or rather to enable you to prove for yourself, that the human hand betrays both intimate psychological processes and also the presence of disease in active or semi-active states.” Noel Jaquin ~ 1973

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“Palmistry is the most fascinating art in the world. It is simple enough for anyone to learn the basics. You can gain an insight into the lives and characters of people you meet which will totally amaze them. Hand reading is an invaluable tool as well as a source of endless interest. If you care to study and become an expert, there is no limit to how much you can discover.” Andrew Fitzherbert ~The Palmist’s companion 1992

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“When we come to the practice of Palmistry, first of all, dear Student, let me entreat you to take your work in earnest; not only in your mind, but in your manner”. Katharine St. Hill ~The Book of the Hand ~ 1974

favorite quotes

“Much nonsense still abounds, simply because real palmistry is not easy to practice”. Fred Gettings ~ The Book of Palmistry ~ 1974

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“Certain it is that the vast literature relating to palmistry is very often contradictory, even about the most fundamental lines in the hand, with the result that the casual observer may be tempted to reject the hotchpotch of superstitions and half-truths as no longer applicable to the modern age.”

Fred Gettings ~ The Book of Palmistry ~ 1974

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“The tragedy is that whilst there are very many different systems of palmistry- many truths by which we may arrive at an understanding of man through the hand – if they are used for the wrong purpose, then they are all quite wrong.” Fred Gettings ~ The Book of Palmistry ~ 1974

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“Remember that the hands are the immediate servants and instruments of the brain. There are more motive and sensory nerves from the brain to the hand than to any other portion of the body and, whether sleeping or waking, they continually and unconsciously reflect the thought and character of the mind or soul of the individual.” Cheiro ~ Palmistry for All ~ a century ago

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“Let us approach this study with minds filled with its seriousness, for in no other way can we fully receive its benefits; and let us put aside forever the idea that its whole object is to tell a gushing maiden of her lovers.” William Benham – The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading – 1900

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“Through the analysis of the hands, it can be determined what changes are necessary and would be beneficial in order to improve the character and disposition and thus make for a complete and more successful way of life. A person must recognize a weakness in order, by effort, to overcome it.” William Benham 1900

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“It is possible to change anything in the hands including their shape… one must first have the desire to change in order to bring it about.” William Benham ~ 1900

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“God has placed signs in the hands of all the sons of all men, that all the sons of men may know his work” ~ THE OLD TESTAMENT ~ God is in your hands (no matter who ‘his’ is)

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It’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters… Mark Seltman

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