Gemini & Hands

Self Portrait

You don’t need a Gemini sun, moon, ascendant, planets, or house placements to be Gemini. Thinking Types have square palms and long fingers. No matter what your  astrology says, pure Geminis have square palms, widely spread long fingers, flexible joints, supple thumbs, and dominant first phalanges on slightly knotty first phalanges with rounded tips. Gemini (mutable) is mentally and socially adaptable. Aquarius  (fixed) is unique, eccentric, and innovative. Libra (cardinal) is strategic, balanced, and fair. Of course, there are dark sides…

When major lines in thinking hands split at their ends, that person is able to see many possibilities and outcomes. They often think or feel they have too many choices and decisions to make in order to get whatever done or go wherever they’re going. Mutable types are the most indecisive of the three modalities, especially air and water.

Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water signs. Feelings must be balanced with Thinking. Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini are the opposing forces. Ambivalent feelings are incarnate in chains and islands on heart lines. Branches of feelings appear to be magnetically drawn to thinking. Parents who aren’t physically or emotionally present and / or don’t talk about their feelings are teaching their children to analyze, compartmentalize, and rationalize feelings. Rationalizing is safer than verbalizing feelings. A physically or emotionally absent parent as role model in the formative years is a recipe for struggling to learn to value ones’ thinking, feelings, and being. A short index finger often goes with a head ruled heart. Split lines are split for many reasons. Most people have challenging journeys.

Astrology reveals potentials. It’s impossible to accurately foretell a future. It’s hard to predict what we’ll do with potentials in our natal horoscope. Symbols may or may not reflect what you choose to integrate into your character and behavior.

Hands are topographical maps of character in past, present, and future. It’s easy to see the person’s corresponding strengths and weaknesses. While exercising our free will, changing our thinking, modifying our behavior, and re-scripting our story, we can observe the results, clearly etched and reflected in the morphology and topography of our hands over time.

Healthy Geminis have long straight pinkie fingers. They’re master bullshit detectors, acutely aware of their own bullshit, like knowingly being tactful and diplomatic when they’re much better off being frank and direct. Critical thinking, careful decision making, and crystal clear communication make good sense out of nonsense. What you see is what you get!

Dominant Gemini has square palms and long fingers, firm pink elastic skin with loop fingerprints. Long ring fingers with whorl prints add attractiveness, talent, salesmanship, risk taking, and luck. Knowing when to stop is the challenge. Gambling is a bad habit and horrible addiction. Dominant  middle fingers, square tips, and developed first knots add technical, scientific, and pragmatic attributes. Powerful index fingers increase leadership potentials, speaking abilities, career potentials, partnerships, friendships, and goals.

Geminis make great lawyers, bankers, doctors, orators, writers, engineers, teachers, salesmen, accountants, and shopkeepers. Dominant pinkie types play small musical instruments that require physical and mental dexterity. Music makes great sense since hearing is Gemini’s physical sense. I’ve worked at special events with top magicians with dominant pinkies. They astound their audiences while deceiving their eyes and minds.

Cultivated Geminis are consummate communicators, social magnets, intuitive geniuses, and great judges of character. Most social of all signs, Gemini is often accused of being an impractical dreamer because he loves ideas so much. He can detach himself from mundane reality, still remaining objective about everyone and everything. He overvalues intellect and undervalues emotion. He feels threatened when his ideas and opinions are ignored without good reason. He can accept your viewpoint, even though he disagrees with you. He’s easily distracted and doesn’t want responsibility for making decisions that have consequences. Longing to be free and unrestricted, he actually needs most to stay focused, disciplined, and structured. Earning rewards requires doing whatever needs to be done with courage, strength, wisdom, and grace.

Hermes (Mercury) was the shortest god. The pinkie is the shortest finger. If the tip is longer than the crease between the first and second phalanx of the ring finger, it’s long. If shorter, it’s short. Dominant pinkie folk are often short in stature like Ed Harris (Sag) with slender body and face. Pure types are animated, with dark hair and penetrating eyes with crow’s feet in the corners. Gemini is the most youthful of all types, eternally childlike, they love children. Men often sport thin beards like Johnny Depp (Gemini). Michael Jackson (Virgo, ruled by Mercury) was a real life Peter Pan. He actually lived in ‘Neverland’. Brooke, Liza, and Liz were Michael’s Wendy’s.

Gemini is androgynous. In Greek myth, Hermes & Aphrodite (siblings) had an incestuous relationship that spawned Hermaphrodite. Dominance of Hermes in one’s psyche (known or unknown) creates bi-sexual tendencies. David Bowie was Capricorn with dominant Hermes. Mick Jagger is Hermes with strong Leo. Cate Blanchett is Hermes with a powerful Taurus sun. She played Bob Dylan, who is Gemini. Boy George is Gemini. Grace Jones, Taurus, has Mercury conjunct Uranus in Gemini. That’s a lot of uniqueness and eccentricity.

Our pinkie finger reveals 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. Many women with 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 symbolizes technical, language, sexual, financial, 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 Gemini. I’ve coped with Tinnitus (ringing in my head) for many years. It’s the worm in my apple.

Gold and diamond rings are normally found on the ring (marriage) finger. You’ll see rings on pinkie fingers of acquisitive people. Pinkie rings can symbolize sublimation of sexual energies to accomplish something that requires a lot of libido. I once examined a group of fifty young people born into powerful families in the 80’s. Considering the prosperity of the period, it seemed a paradox that every person I read had short phalanges on the bottom segment of their little fingers. Money will never be the motivation for their career choices. In the final analysis, their families, personal matters, and values will drive these individuals.

Would you buy a used car from this Gemini? Gemini’s liabilities are deceitfulness, trickiness, fickleness, nervousness, restlessness, and shallowness. People preaching on soapboxes, pickpockets, and most con artists have powerful pinkies (inwardly curving). Donald’s curve inward, confirmed in his natal astrology by a close Mercury Neptune square. It’s not what you do, but what you get away with that matters. Our trickster is not hiding his dark side. The streets are littered with conned contractors, jilted beauty queens, and fired apprentices. The Emperor grabs our pussies as he tortures our mother. If you believe mom (GAIA) is happy about her body, respiratory, circulatory systems, and spirit, we’re all in serious trouble!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Many wonderful people have curved pinkies. They learned the hard way as little children to ‘act nice’. Their job was to avoid confrontation and keep the peace. Learning to say ‘NO’ is a lifelong challenge for them (especially with a large ball of thumb). It’s hard to straighten a curved pinkie, but it can be done. The person must stop trying to please and be whatever everyone else wants and needs them to be. If you’re pretending whatever is OK and it isn’t, check your pinkies.

LIBRA & HANDS

You don’t need a Libra sun, moon, planets, aspects, or houses to be Libra. Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are ‘thinking’ types with square palms and long fingers. Dominant Libra has low set thumbs, widely spread fingers, round and square fingertips, and loop fingerprints. Many Libras have judiciously engraved long unobstructed headlines that fork at the end. Thinking and Intuitive types dominate political, publishing, public speaking, public relations, education, legal, marketing, sales, and entertainment fields.

Note: I’m basing my generalizations on over 40 years of reading hands of every age, race, religion, education, career, politics, and long term clients. My observations are subject to other possible interpretations, which may all be right or wrong by degree.

It’s not easy for Libras to make up their minds. They see every side of an idea or situation and it’s hard to limit options. Dominant pinkie fingered folk with large broad nails communicate clearly and frankly. Strong  index fingers embody ambitious managers, powerful directors, and courageous leaders. Dominant bottom and middle finger phalanges work best in banking, real estate, and restaurants. Dominant first phalanges make the best public speakers, lawyers, directors, journalists, educators, and religious leaders. Libra can be idealistic, romantic, aesthetic, refined, manipulative, controlling, selfish, and unethical.

Widely spaced head and life lines embody spontaneity, love of freedom, need for action and personal space, and not caring what others think. Like a Samurai swordsman, Libra wields logic, tact, and diplomacy. They compartmentalize, analyze, and rationalize feelings until they achieve their desired goals. Changing a Libra’s mind is like playing mental monopoly. Be direct. Make good sense. Don’t get emotional. You’ll regret it otherwise.

Libra handshakes are firm and sincere. Pink elastic skin and long graceful heart lines flow from the pinkie to index finger, combining grace and romance. Firm elastic hands add energy and practicality to balance a sentimental nature. Branches from the heart line that touch the head line reveal one or both parents withheld emotions early in life. The child learns to rationalize, analyze, and compartmentalize difficult feelings that they are unable to verbalize. Stiff thumbs with a firm percussion under a pinkie reveal strong will, dogged determination, and unrelenting persistence. Gently curving lines following along inside life lines are lucky because they have real intimate family ties and true friends. Lines parallel within the lifeline are blessed with quality time and intimacy!

Athena, Greek archetype of Wisdom and Justice, is one of a trifecta with Aquarius and Gemini. Athena holds the ‘Scales of justice’ in one hand and a sword of thinking in the other. She balances ethics with action. Aries wins battles, while Athena rules the strategic thinking required to win wars. Odysseus (Libra), Achilles (Aries), and Theseus (Gemini) were heroes who worshiped Athena. Sometimes pictured as a handsome Goddess dressed in battle armor, Athena sports a shield of Intuition with an owl of Wisdom on her shoulder. Athena’s sword is applied with icy detachment as she cuts to the quick as she discards emotions in favor of clarity of thought.

Libra is the Autumn Equinox, 7th sign of the zodiac, and 7th house of marriage. October offers an opportunity for real partnership, sharing, and giving without expectation. Libra strives for balance, idolizes harmony, hates discord, despises confrontation, but faces conflict honestly when it’s unavoidable. Decisive when it matters, Libra is notoriously indecisive when it doesn’t matter. Questions like what and where to eat and what to wear are challenging. Libra can be aggressive and passive at the same time. Being frank and direct doesn’t understand acting and pretending. ‘Nice’ is easy. ‘Safe’ is unsatisfying. Honesty is the best policy…

Everyone has Libra in their symbolism and psyche. Twelve different characters rule our character. As ruler of our 7th and 2nd houses, Venus knows our truths, values, boundaries, and the difference between right and wrong. Two popular Libra aphorisms are “Locks keep honest people honest” and “Contracts are as good as those who make them”. 

“Even an attorney of moderate talent can postpone doomsday year after year, for the system of appeals that pervades American jurisprudence amounts to a legalistic wheel of fortune, a game of chance, somewhat fixed in favor of the criminal, that the participants play interminably.” Truman Capote…

A wealthy lawyer friend reminds me that rich people are innocent until proven guilty while poor folk are guilty until proven innocent. Wealth encourages players to shirk social responsibility, justify awful personal and social behaviors and actions, and manipulate the law. Poor folk are cursed to an eternity of scraping for pennies at the bottom of the barrel while HAVES have privilege and a birthright of those who can afford to have. Why must we lose what we value to value what we had?

Libra knows something could change an outcome, and fails to mention it. Philip Morris knew cigarette smoke was toxic. Monsanto knows ‘Roundup’ causes cancer. Bayer knows they’re murdering bees and butterflies. Politicians in Flint, Michigan, knew they were poisoning people who were depending on them for protection. GE was aware it was polluting the Hudson River. Giant companies choose profit over the health of our people and planet. Trump knows the potential of the Corona Virus, of Climate Change, and of promoting hatred. Partisan politicians rule public health. Donald deceives and exploits us by preaching poisonous political propaganda, empowering spiritually bankrupt religious fanatics, encouraging morally and ethically bankrupt business behavior, and enraging hordes of clueless gun lovers. Greta is an Athena/Artemis.

“EXPELIOSIS!”

Learning to judge hands is the most challenging aspect of palmistry. Long and firm may appear short and soft, based on context and by degree. Rigorous practice and learning to ask the right questions is key to understanding and interpreting human character as reflected in the morphology and topography of our hands. Few of us are pure types. Many of us behave contrary to our sun signs. No matter what hands say about a person, it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters.

My brother Gary is a Pisces, a mutable feeling type. Gary may be Neptunian on the inside, but his hands reveal he’s ruled by Libra. His behavior is rooted in cardinal thinking. Supported by practical firm thumbs, healthy, smooth textured, elastic skin, and pink coloring, Gary’s analytical and logical thinking merge gracefully with his compassionate feelings and intuition. His commitment to working with frustrating clients and stressful situations reveals a natural empathy many Libras lack. They analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize feelings rather than trust them. Gary is a loving husband and father, devoted son, generous brother, compassionate friend, and healthy human being. Gary is also an adventurous geriatric psychiatrist, practical philosopher, and prankster. I used to tease Gary that I was going to go completely crazy with age. I conjured and shared scary fantasies of how he’d be stuck with me. Lucky for both of us, as a Gemini, I decided not to get old.

Andrea, Gary’s middle daughter and my niece, is a Libra with Libra hands. Independent. likable, and easy to be with, Andrea is a giver. I read Andrea’s hands when she was young, but old enough to understand me. I mentioned how she likes getting her way and usually does. She giggled as if I had discovered her secret. Matching Sun Signs and hands can be good or bad, depending on what a person does with them. There’s no substitute for noble intent, clear choice, critical thinking, and right use of free will.

Cousin Richie, Libra extraordinaire, philosopher, sculptor, and inventor, is father of Tangle, the infinite sculpture (series of interactive interlocking elbows). Our mothers were sisters. We share the ancestral “happiness” and “seeker” genes, and we have similar existential queries. I once suggested to Richie, “If you put the same religious fervor into saving the world as you put into plastic elbows, we’d be saved”. “I am saving the world”, he replied, “one Tangle at a time.” He meant it.

My cousin has sold tens of millions of Tangles worldwide. A mutual friend from NYC visited a monastery in Tibet and saw a poster of the Dalai Lama playing with with a chrome Tangle. “Nothing surprises me”, I told him. When I visited Richie at the annual gift show at the Javits Center in NYC. He was selling Tangles to a conservative buyer from Wal-Mart. I leaned closer and heard him say, “Let me show you the only product in this show worth more than money”. He meant it.

Blending astrology and hands is how I view character. Few of us are pure types. Most are mutts. Richie’s fingers may seem short for a thinking type. He’s got dominant air and fixity, and very strong Aquarian energy. Richie loves new ideas and enjoys sharing his opinions with incorrigible tenacity. I might see Richie’s hands differently if I didn’t know him. Libra opposes Aries as Autumn opposes Spring. A Libra and Aries opposition is a quest for higher awareness and a journey from light to darkness and back. Odysseus fanned the flames of Jason’s inspiration on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Richie quests to untangle truth, maintain inspiration, channel passion, and harness desire. Healthy intent, right thinking, careful actions, and a handful of good luck wins the fleece.

VIRGO~HANDS~HEALTH

“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 Virgo. Practical types (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo) have square palms and short fingers. Virgo is a mutable modality and the most adaptable of all three types. Virgo often has strong middle and pinkie fingers, dominant middle phalanges, and square fingertips. Virgo hands are much more flexible than Taurus hands. Their skin is more pink and elastic than Capricorn with whitish flat palms and developed first knots on lean stiff closely held fingers, embodying a frugal and pragmatic character.

CROOKED FINGERS

Virgos are frequently accused of being critical. They can be, but they can also be their own worst critics. Their methodical approach and need for natural order is embodied in their square palms and fingertips. Large second knots and short fingernails add order, preciseness, utility, and purpose. Middle fingers that lean or crook toward ring fingers strive for perfection and need personal space. Fire rising or watery moon have less knotty and crooked fingers. Intuition and feeling adds passion, inspiration, and empathy to practicality. Chewed nails are self-critical and critical of others. Nails bitten to the quick embody a contrary person who chooses another side of an argument, just to make a point, even if they agree with you. Grilled lines beneath middle fingers confirm frustration and lack of satisfaction.

Famous for cleaning up everyone else’s messes, Virgo obsesses on details. Contrary to popular belief, Virgo doesn’t like details. They’re thorough and meticulous, but need to see the whole picture. Virgo is happiest and most desirable where reliable, modest, orderly, and discriminating service is required.

Short fingered folk (Practical & Intuitive) generally dislike details. Details are a nuisance. Others can do them better, but who can do them better than Virgo? Virgo selflessly rationalizes and wills herself to do what must be done. She knows her value, but asks too much of or too little for herself. Others must value and appreciate her. Virgo works hard to be useful. Never take a Virgo for granted. Virgo is symbolic of the harvest time.

Virgos who have worked hard and have been rewarded for their efforts are Agatha Christie, Leonard Cohen, Alan Dershowitz, Marcia Clark, J.P. Morgan, Warren Buffet, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Paul Walker, Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Michael Jackson, Beyonce’, Margaret Trudeau, Lyndon Johnson, George Wallace, Yasser Arafat, and John McCain (Taurus hands). John’s short index finger, conical tip, prominent knots between phalanges, and a thick 3rd phalanx made him a bundle of contradictions. His slightly crooked pinky with intuitive tip says ‘what you see is not what you get’. Few knew John’s secret truths.

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

HERMES

Mercury, (Hermes) winged messenger, holds a caduceus (medicine). Virgo rules healthcare. Virgo is earthy, practical, and represents the technical aspects of thinking. Feminine in gender, Virgo is empathetic, logical, healthy, and helpful. Gemini is masculine, intellectual, and clever. Gemini rules communications, thinking, and wit. Imagination and thinking must be balanced through practical action. This Gemini needs Virgo friends, city, and country homes to maintain his sanity and create the balance and harmony needed now and always to overcome darkness.

You can see everything in hands! This is true and not true. A hand is a small space for a large life. A seasoned palmist can see many things, but it’s not what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters. When you’re focusing on something specific, combinations of qualities and markings will confirm your search. I began practicing palmistry in my early thirties. A young man showed up one day asking “When am I going to die?” He was a Virgo, healthy, well proportioned, energetic, smart, and multi-talented. He appeared in perfect 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 purpose, determination, and adaptability. Basic lines were clear and deeply engraved. What a lucky man, I thought, but fate had chosen a different future for him with AIDS as his life focus.

AIDS was a death sentence at the time. I hadn’t a clue how to see the dis-ease. Nothing stood out. I lacked the experience to counsel him. “I’m sorry, only god can answer your question”, I awkwardly replied. “You’re a naturally healthy person. If anyone can beat this, you can.” I lauded his positive qualities, but he didn’t want to hear that. We chatted, like friends, about what he planned to do. He wanted to be proactive. I helped him plan a future of healthy food, exercise, sleep, honesty, meaningful relationships, and quality time management.

My curiosity and desire to make a difference inspired me to volunteer at Bailey House, an AIDS housing organization. I showed up 2X weekly for 2 years to examine hands, share astrology, and interpret tarot cards for clients and staff. Metaphysics was my lens for viewing their issues and challenges. My job was to help them choose what’s next. In the final analysis, I entertained, listened, and cared for whoever was there at the time.

I printed hands in the AIDS community monthly to monitor the progress and regress of the disease. Lack of adequate funding, limited time, and not enough statistical data made it impossible for me to be thorough or scientific. I did notice changes in skin ridge patterns on the percussion of the hand. Ridges got smoother and began to disappear as a person got sicker. People with AIDS suppress their potentials because they obsess on the harsh realities of their impending mortality. I supported their talents and strengths and inspired some to continue making positive choices and taking meaningful actions.

Anyone can learn to examine and reflect on their hands and the hands of others. Hands are mirrors that empower us be true to ourselves and each other. Once you’re good at interpreting hands, you can be your own best friend and bullshit detector. Hands are morphological and topographical maps of character. Hands reveal our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In the days before computerized medical diagnosis, doctors combined knowledge, experience, and intuition to diagnose illness as they tasted a patient’s urine, looked into their eyes, examined their tongue, skin, and especially scrutinized their hands.

Fingernails are windows to a person’s health. 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 can be seen in nails.

Few palmists actually diagnose illness. Most of us observe symptoms. When I see a potential health problem, I let the person know I’m not a medical palmist and suggest they see a specialist. Dozens of stress related illnesses and several types of cancer can be seen in the ‘dermatoglyphics’ (skin ridge patterns) of hands. Conditions of lines can indicate conditions of heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and stomach in males and females.

Health challenges are natural predispositions to specific character types. Know the type and understand the corresponding potential health challenge. The following list of health issues are gross generalizations that correspond to a person’s dominant astrological sign and hand features. You can click on links to learn more about how a finger is dominant, what that means, and about other features and qualities embodied in hands.

Dominant index finger ~ Sagittarius ~ blood disorders, liver trouble, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, problems with hips, thighs, throat, and temptations to overindulge in rich foods and drinks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pointed finger tips / yellow skin / islands on health line ~ Pisces ~ problems with feet, toes, bunions, gout, colds, mucous discharges, tumors, addictions, and liver trouble.

LEO PAWS

You don’t need a Leo sun, moon, ascendant, planets, aspects, or houses to be Leo. Leo’s character and behavior can be readily seen in the morphology and topography of their paws. All three Intuitive (fire) types have long rectangular palms and short fingers. Leo’s hand shape is identical to Sagittarius and Aries. Fire (intuitive) and air (thinking) are masculine in gender. Earth (practical) and water (feeling) are feminine. Practical types have square palms and short fingers. Thinking and feeling types are long fingered. Thinking types have square palms. Feeling types have long palms.

Leo is a fixed modality. He hates change. Leo’s hands are less flexible than Sagittarius and Aries. His skin is less elastic than Aries (cardinal). Sagittarius (mutable) hands are softer and less stiff than Leo’s hands. Leo loves his pleasures and being center of attention. Sagittarius can be a self indulgent pleasure-seeking optimist. Their secret fear is that the pessimists are right! Aries acts without thinking and has to learn the hard way to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Clear line formations reveal clarity, resolution, choice, and commitment.

As a highly spirited enthusiastic individual, Leo hates details, needs to see the whole picture, and feel free to express himself naturally. Leo’s great ideas need to be supported by inspiration, passion, commitment, teamwork, and an occasional kick in his procrastinating butt by someone who cares about him. Leo is masculine. As an independent objective thinker, Leo must learn to set realistic goals and channel his pride and passion through the lenses of honesty, integrity, dignity, nobility, and virtue.

Leo’s eager fans await his contagious humor and compelling stories. Creative, enthusiastic, dramatic, generous, and fiercely loyal, when Leo chooses ‘you’, he lavishes you with ‘praise’, then expects you to love, admire, and worship him forever.

Closely braided beginnings of head and life lines reveal folk who care too much what others think, even though they act opposite. The longer the chain, the stronger the need to be appreciated. Once Leo’s on the defensive, it’s impossible to reason with him. He often takes what you say personally, even if it wasn’t personal. Leo needs to feel liked and appreciated. Encourage, support, and give Leo permission to be himself. Don’t allow him to let himself be taken for granted. He’ll be much happier and so will you.

Leo’s physical sense is sight. The spiritual equivalent is enlightenment. Leo must learn not to be judgmental of others, to keep his expectations real, and to choose courage, dignity, love, and truth over false pride and future losses. Leo’s most common health problems are poor eyesight, damaged heart, and poor circulation. Leo must focus his light inward to heal himself. Many multi-talented Leos spread themselves too thin. Later in life, they look back at having become a jack of all trades, master of none. 

Our character, values, thinking, feelings, will power, work and health issues, relationship potentials, creativity, philosophy, purpose, career possibilities, hopes, dreams, fears, and spirituality are waiting to be seen at the ends of our arms. A seasoned palmist can readily interpret a person’s character from their hands. Despite the accuracy of the science of hand reading, human nature cannot be defined through details. The ‘art’ of palmistry is in connecting with another being through touch, sight, dialogue, intuition, and then interpreting combinations of details. Our hands reveal our physical, mental, and emotional choices and actions, and provide context for our behavior. Palmistry is a metaphysical method of observing and interpreting human nature through knowing hands.

Cultivated Leos have strong ring fingers Rounded and square shaped tips are common. You’ll find spatulate tips on innovators and problem solvers. Balanced finger proportions with dominant second and third phalanges are common and embody a love of family, home, food, and natural style. Short straight fingers, developed second knots, and broad nails tell us “what you see is what you get”. OCD at times, everything must have their designated places. Qualities of lines such as breaks, islands, and chains show what challenges and obstacles a person has had, is having, and may have on his path to knowing his purpose. Consistency and flexibility of hands and elasticity of skin reveal three modalities. Whorl fingerprints (concentric circles and spirals) add originality, spontaneity, eccentricity, and unconventionality. Loops embody adaptability. Arches tend to be more practical and conventional with respect to the meaning of the particular finger.

Look to ring fingers for insights into artistic and aesthetic abilities, dramatic talent, versatility, salesmanship, satisfaction, recognition, and reputation. No matter what your archetype, long straight ring fingers add mental and/or emotional adaptability, creativity, and expressiveness. Cultivated Leos love beautiful things and savor their sense of taste and style. Most long ring fingered Leos are likable and they know it. Leo’s greatest weaknesses are bossiness, showiness, hubris, and gambling.

The ring finger is judged for length against the middle finger. If the tip is shorter than the middle of the first phalanx of the middle finger, it’s short. When longer, it’s long. Many actors, artists, architects, designers, craftsmen, photographers, curators, businessmen, teachers, salesmen, politicians, and diplomats have long strong ring fingers. The luckiest gamblers have very long ring fingers. Their challenge is knowing when to stop.

No matter your archetype, people with square tips and stiff knotty joints are more practical, methodical, and cautious than those without. Crooked middle fingers embody perfectionism, self-criticism, and crankiness caused by a need for personal space and not having enough of it. A widely spread pinkie is another indication of a need for personal space. Crooked pinkie fingers embody avoidance of conflict and a compulsive need to make the peace. On the dark side, it can symbolize manipulating bullies, liars, and grifters like Donald Trump and his clan.

Defective Genes Hard at Work

Healthy Leos like to shine like the sun. Their strength and courage are heroic! Leo is naturally charming, talented, and versatile. They’re natural designers with an ability to balance objectivity with creativity. Liabilities are self-consciousness, insecurity, vanity, clinging to obsolete circumstances, perpetuating unhealthy behavioral patterns, cultivating confusing situations, and nursing fruitless relationships. Leo needs an inspiring quest or risk mundanity and mediocrity. He must cultivate clear vision and enduring patience. Naturally restless, impatient, and impulsive, it’s best you stay out of his way to If you can’t help him. Don’t ever take him for granted unless you want to make him angry or scarce.

Leos are at their finest when they’re responsible, honest, patient, and natural in their behavior and relationships. Frequently accused of ‘being opinionated’, Leo’s point of view is very important. Clear and effective communication is a key to Leo’s success. Leo’s greatest obstacles and challenges are setting clear boundaries, knowing his limitations, overcoming inertia, and letting go when the handwriting is on the wall.

Our four most recent Presidents are dominated by Leo

Bill Clinton is a multi-talented charismatic Leo. Bill’s 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. Philandering is a common challenge of having power. Bill’s hubris undermined the power he worked so hard to acquire. I’ll bet he and Hillary had a “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” partnership. Bill wasn’t supposed to do anything stupid or get caught! Rest assured that Hillary (Scorpio Sun/Capricorn hands) gave Bill a spanking they’ll never forget!

Unearned power is a curse. People born rich or beautiful take it for granted. Many believe they actually deserve what they have. George W. Bush desperately wanted to be a ‘good old boy’ like his dad. Unfortunately, George clung to his frat boy mindset, well into his Presidency. George is a Cancer with Leo rising and Leo hands. Ego and false pride controlled George and ruled us. You can bet that George is ashamed of his poor choices and bad behavior as President. A broken mirror, Donald Trump has taught George Bush humility. He’s happy not to be the worst President.

Barack Obama is a Leo with Aries hands and Aquarius thinking. A warrior of ideas and ideals, Barack embodies many of the best qualities of Leo. He’s proud, respectful, and very loyal to family and friends who have earned his trust. Barack’s greatest challenge as President was trying to be bi-racial and bi-partisan in a partisan world. Barack should have grabbed power when Democrats ruled congress. Repuglican’t opposition has been truthless, ruthless, relentless, remorseless, and shameless.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Donald Trump is Gemini with Leo rising. His small stiff Leo hands, braided head and life lines, and crooked pinkies reveal Donald also cares more than you know about what you think of him. While flaunting the worst qualities of Gemini and Leo, his flippant attitude toward others, ignorance of our planet, and constantly intimidating behavior is wrecking havoc on a human race against bad shit happening. How many polished brass towers, glitzy gambling casinos, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, celebrity idols, screwed contractors, scared people, and have-nots scraping for pennies at the bottom of the barrel does it take to screw in a light bulb? Donald’s minions have mistaken ‘no love’ for ‘tough love’. Too many horrible role models are being reincarnated every day into darkness, despair, and fear that support Donald’s emptiness!

Pestilential presidential practices and partisan political paradigms poison public psyche. Pious philosophies and prejudicial policies pollute our collective psyche. We analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize Trump’s insane beliefs, illogical ideologies, and illicit actions, while we sacrifice our dignity, integrity, nobility, and virtue on the altar of nonsense.

The Presidency is not a job. It’s is a calling! The Presidency is a mission for a spiritual person with a balanced mind, heart, healthy attitudes, a strong need to give, and a desire to make a real difference. Donald Trump blew his golden opportunity to be truly loved by choosing to rule with fear, anger, hatred, and greed. How much tyranny, intimidation, and avarice must we endure before we lose our humanity, health, family, friends, and planet?

Donald’s failure to help humanity is a symptom of his desire to hurt humanity. His story is an allegory that teaches us not to take what we value or have failed to value for granted. In November, Donald’s humiliation, shame, and fall from grace will bring great relief and satisfaction to masses of people! Shouts of hope and joy will echo round the globe. The Trump brand will become worthless and symbolize evil in the 21st Century.

CANCER & HANDS

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

GEMINI & HANDS

You don’t need a Gemini sun, moon, ascendant, planets, or house placements to be Gemini. No matter what your astrology says about you, pure Gemini types have square palms, widely spread long fingers, flexible joints, supple thumbs, dominant first phalanges on slightly knotty fingers, and rounded and spatulate fingertips. Thinking types sport square palms and long fingers. More mentally adaptable than Aquarius  (fixed) and socially adaptable than Libra (cardinal), Gemini is mutable. Lines in thinking hands that split at their ends symbolize being able to see many outcomes and having many choices and decisions to make.

Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water signs. Ambivalent feelings are embodied in chains and islands on heart lines, especially when they’re magnetically drawn toward head lines. When the end of the heart line reaches down to touch the beginning of the head line, analyzing, rationalizing, and compartmentalizing feelings is much easier than verbalizing them. Most people have challenging journeys. Having a physically or emotionally absent parent as a role model during the formative years is a recipe for a lifetime of questioning and struggling to learn to value oneself. Look for a short index finger to go with the head ruled heart. Most split lines are split for many reasons.

It’s impossible to accurately foretell your future or what you will do with your potentials from a natal horoscope. Astrology reveals potentials. Your astrological symbolism may or may not reflect what you choose to integrate into your character and behavior. Hands are topographical maps of character  in past, present, and future. When you embrace your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses, you can exercise your free will, change your thinking, modify your behavior, re-script your story, and observe the results over time, clearly reflected in the ever changing morphology and topography of your hands.

Healthy Geminis have long straight pinkie fingers. Pragmatic minds, critical thinking, clear communication, and the ability to focus can make good sense out of nonsense. Common sense isn’t working well these days.

Gemini has firm pink elastic skin and long fingers with loop prints. Long ring fingers  with whorl prints add attractiveness, salesmanship, risk taking, talent, and good luck. Knowing when to stop is key to winning. Dominant  middle fingers with square tips and developed first knots add technical, scientific, and pragmatic attributes. Strong index fingers increase writing and oratory abilities, career opportunities, and ambitious goals.

I’ve worked at special events with magicians with dominant pinkie fingers. They astound audiences while deceiving the eyes and minds of their beholders. Geminis make great lawyers, bankers, doctors, orators, writers, engineers, teachers, salesmen, accountants, and shopkeepers. Dominant pinkies play small musical instruments that require physical and mental dexterity, which makes sense since hearing is Gemini’s physical sense.

Cultivated Geminis are consummate communicators, social magnets, intuitive geniuses, and great judges of character. Most social of all, Gemini is often accused of being an impractical dreamer because he loves ideas so much. He can detach himself from mundane reality while remaining objective about everyone and everything else. He overvalues intellect and undervalues emotion and feels threatened when his ideas and opinions are ignored without good reason. He can accept your viewpoint, even when he disagrees with you. He’s easily distracted and doesn’t like being responsible for making decisions before knowing the consequences. Longing to be free and unrestricted, he desperately needs to stay focused, disciplined, and structured. Being rewarded requires doing what needs to be done with courage, strength, wisdom, and grace.

Hermes (Mercury) was the shortest god. The pinkie is the shortest finger. When the tip is longer than the crease between the first and second phalanx of the ring finger, it’s long. If shorter, it’s short. Dominant pinkie people are often short in stature like Ed Harris (Sag) with a slender body and face. Pure types are animated, with dark hair and penetrating eyes with crow’s feet in the corners. Gemini is the most youthful of all types, forever childlike and loving children. Men sport thin beards like Johnny Depp (Gemini). Michael Jackson (Virgo, ruled by Mercury) was a Peter Pan who actually lived in ‘Neverland’. Peter needs Wendy. Someone must be practical and responsible. Peter had Brooke, Liza, and Liz.

Gemini is androgynous. In Greek myth, Hermes & Aphrodite (siblings) had an incestuous fling that created Hermaphrodite. Dominance of Hermes in a psyche (known or not) creates bi-sexual tendencies. David Bowie was Capricorn with strong Hermes. Mick Jagger is Hermes with Leo sun. Kate Blanchett is Mercury with a Taurus sun. Bob Dylan is Gemini. Boy George is Gemini. Grace Jones (71) is Taurus with Mercury conjunct Uranus in Gemini. She didn’t get eccentric from Taurus!

Our pinkie finger reveals 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. Many women with 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 symbolizes 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 Gemini. I’ve coped with Tinnitus (ringing in my head) for many years. It’s the worm in my apple.

Gold and diamond rings are normally found on the ring finger. They’re often on the pinkie fingers of acquisitive people. Pinkie rings symbolize sublimation of sexual energies to accomplish something that requires libido. I once examined a group of fifty young people born into powerful families in the 80’s. Considering the prosperity of the period, it seemed paradoxical that every one of them 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, personal matters, and values will drive these individuals.

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 powerful pinkies (mostly inwardly curving). Don’s curve inward, confirmed in his natal astrology by a close Mercury Neptune square. It’s not what you do, but what you can get away with that matters. Our trickster is not masterful at hiding his dark side. We’re the conned contractors, jilted beauty queens, and fired apprentices. Our Emperor is grabbing our pussies while abusing our mother. If you think mom is happy about what’s happening to her body, respiratory system, circulatory system, and spirit, you’re the crazy one!

NOTE: Many wonderful people have curved pinkies. They learned as children to ‘act nice’, avoid confrontation, and be peacemakers. A lifelong challenge is to learn to say ‘NO’ (especially with large ball of thumb). They must stop trying to please and being what everyone else wants and needs them to be. If you’re pretending everything is OK and it isn’t, check your pinkies.

Virtual Metaphysics

I can’t think of many activities more intimate than reading hands. In the past, I refused to read anyone remotely. I turned away numerous virtual metaphysical opportunities. It was hard to imagine not holding a client’s hands in mine, looking into their eyes, and having a meaningful conversation. For over forty years, I’ve given five-minute readings to more than 75,000 guests at corporate special events and exclusive private parties. I’ve also served over 1,000 private clients. Every person is the most important person in the world for five minutes or two hours. After examining a client’s hands for a few moments, I’m able to address their challenges, analyze their underlying issues, define and refine their current circumstances, and give them wise counsel according to their personal needs and concerns. It’s not only what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters.

Palmistry is not gypsy fortunetelling. Hands are topographical maps of a person’s character, values, thinking, feelings, relationships, health, creativity, purpose, hopes, dreams, fears, and spirituality. The value of reading hands is in understanding basic character and what a person has done, is doing, and is likely to do with that character. A hand is a small amount of space to interpret a whole life. A tiny change in a direction or quality of a line can symbolize a huge change in a life. The magic of palmistry is in seeing hands change as thinking and circumstances change. The power of palmistry is in making decisions, exercising free will, and then seeing the corresponding changes reflected in the morphology and topography of hands over time.

Favorite reviews from clients: https://blog.markseltman.com/2017/01/10/my-favorite-reviews/

As Above, So Below

Hermes law of polarity teaches us that astrology is a harmonic system that resonates innate potentials for everyone and everything that has a correct date, time, and place of birth. Natal horoscopes are cosmic maps of specific GPS locations in time and space that correspond to specific character types, behavioral patterns, and life cycles that enable us to make choices such as exercising our free will and selecting auspicious timing. We can observe and interpret natural talents, abilities, challenges, and purposes through the Cosmic Science and Art of Astrology. Many people are seeking clarity about their behavior, relationships, responsibilities, obligations, career, health, and spirituality. Positive personal and collective transformation is about tweaking our consciousness, affirming what we already know, see, and understand, and then choosing the healthiest options we can envision.

Choose Tarot to examine hidden things. Other people’s motivations and behaviors can not be seen in charts or hands. Tarot reveals subconscious knowledge, motivations, and desires. I wish everyone could read their own hands, cast and interpret their charts, and choose their tarot cards, but that’s not possible these days. If you want to learn, you can search online for opportunities to grow and stretch in healthy ways. Beware scams.

Stuck at home? Want to explore your symbolism? I’m confident in my ability to guide you on a symbolic journey through who you’ve been, are, and are becoming. My metaphysical mission is to affirm, confirm, and inform you in hopeful, helpful, and meaningful ways. Call or email.

I’ll be happy to return your money if you’re unsatisfied with my work.

Wishing you good health and personal fulfillment during this incredibly challenging time!

markseltman1@gmail.com H. 518 677-3513 C. 917 656-8119 www.markseltman.com

HOW TO SET UP A VIRTUAL CONSULTATION

HAND READING CONSULTATION

Take hi-res photos of both hands (held perpendicular to camera lens). Take close ups of your palms and fingertips. Attach and send them to markseltman1@gmail.com. I need as much detail as I can get. The hand you write with is your dominant hand. We’ll observe your gestures and feel your hands for flexibility, elasticity, and consistency. You’ll need to spend at least an hour with me. Ask questions. I’ll address them first, then examine other issues. I can also look at your parent’s, partner’s, children’s, and friend’s hands… a wonderful gift. $150

HANDS ~ ASTROLOGY ~ TAROT

A full metaphysical consult is normally 1 1/2 ~ 2 hours. I’m not a clock watcher and never back appointments up against each other. I’ll spend whatever time it takes to see and address whatever needs to be seen and addressed. $250

ASTROLOGY

Give me your accurate birth info ahead of time. I need your full birth name, date of birth, exact time of birth, and location of birth (city). Tell me what you hope to gain insight into by consulting with me. I’ll cast and examine the corresponding charts before we speak.

TAROT

No ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers please. Give yourself agency by asking questions like ‘How can I?’ or ‘What can I do to?’ I prefer you pick your own cards, but no matter what or how you choose, I’ll interpret your cards using your deck or mine. Tarot will dig deep into your psyche for insight into your questions. Your past, present, and future life are reflected in your cards, hands, and horoscopes.

After we choose a date and time to meet, I’ll bill you on PayPal, prepare, and look forward to meeting you.

TAURUS & HANDS

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You don’t need a Taurus sun, moon, ascendant, aspects, or house placements to behave like a Taurus. ‘Taurus archetypes’ have square fleshy palms, large stiff thumbs, and short stiff fingers representing stubbornness, determination, and tenacity. Their firm, pink, elastic skin, and dense bulging percussion of hands under pinkie fingers embody their relentless persistence. Having full rosy balls of thumbs symbolizes love of family, nature, children, comfort, art, music, luxury, and all that’s refined, graceful, and beautiful. When a ball of thumb is surrounded by a long clear deep life line, that person is blessed with a healthy body and attitude. Long clear deep fate lines reflect strong purpose, goals, and destiny.

Deeply engraved life, heart, head, and fate lines and clear skin ridges are distinct paths on the topographical maps of our hands that can be navigated by anyone who wants to learn to see and interpret the cartography. Taurus has less peripheral lines than feeling, thinking, and intuitive types. Needing security and stability, Taurus feels, thinks, and intuits in practical ways. Long graceful heart lines ending under the index fingers are romantic and sentimental. Being ‘old fashioned’ comes naturally, like crying while watching old movies is typical. Long heart lines see others as they want them to be, instead of how they really are. Time is Taurus’s friend. They must make others work to earn their trust and love or risk being taken for granted.

People with closely intertwined lines of head and life procrastinate, care too much what others think, and need to feel appreciated. Being taken for granted is the beginning of the end. Fingers with loop prints and flexible first joints add mental adaptability. Arches and stiff joints embody fixity and practicality. Square finger tips represent a need for order and stability. Developed second knots are about needing everything in its place. I’ve seen folk with very large second knots stealthily adjusting something you picked up and moved a few molecules from where it had been. Middle phalanges embody practicality. Bottom phalanges embody physicality and sensuality. The hand pictured above belongs to a Pisces with a Taurus character. Dreamy, visionary, and spiritual on the inside, he’s extremely practical on the outside.

Taurus is driven by their physical senses. Responsible, practical, pragmatic, objective, dependable, and reliable, Taurus manages and maintains our material world. Taurus trusts what they can see and feel, not ideas, intuitions, or inspirations. As creatures of habit they get addicted to routine and order. The more bogged down in practical and mundane matters, the harder it becomes to access abstract abilities and imagination. A huge challenge is procrastination at beginnings and endings. It makes no sense as it opposes a basic need to get things done. Taurus needs to be stable, responsible, caring, and appreciated.

Aphrodite’s desire for comfort and beauty manifests in Taurus. She gives form to wealth and power. Venus loves family, friendships, home, food, nature, art, and music. Her need for physical security and stability drives her practical attitudes. She’s honest, dependable, trustworthy, and valued for her natural warmth and good sense.

A healthy Venus won’t bend the truth or perform a song and dance act for anyone. She’s loyal, affectionate, and charming, but she can also be jealous, controlling, and possessive. She’s charismatic, but not the best salesperson as she takes rejection personally. Taurus thrives in real estate, banking, food, and fashion. Taurus challenges are learning to trust their gut, give up control, and let go when it makes no sense to hang on. Taurus can be the best bull or the worst Minotaur.

TAURUS LEADERS

Pope John Paul ll had many positive Taurus qualities. He got the haves to share with the have-nots. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue. He encouraged Catholics and Jews to love one another. An assassination attempt nearly killed him and yet he rose to address countless chaotic messes in the church.

J. Krishnamurti, a spiritual guide, shared good sense with all willing to listen.

Leonardo da Vinci, an original hipster, was a great artist and inventor

Sigmund Freud fathered modern psychoanalysis

Karl Marx developed a theory of socialism

Martha Graham mothered modern dance

Katherine Hepburn was Grand Dame of American Stage & Movies

Queen Elizabeth ~ Prime Minister Tony Blair ~ Anchors ~ Great Britain

“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one”. The darkest depths of Taurus brought humanity a Monster from Hell from 1933 to 1945.  Adolph Hitler transformed our world by inspiring and empowering anger, fear, and terror, and manipulating masses with powerful imagery of strength and unity of pandemic proportions. Adolph Hitler was responsible for over thirty million deaths.

 

Jim Jones, fanatic cult leader, led 1,000 followers to mass suicide in 1978

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh had no remorse for his evil actions.

Saddam Hussein, (Iraqi President 1979~2006) was shamed, then slayed.

Alchemy isn’t turning lead into gold. Alchemy is balancing Saturn with our Sun. Virtue, honesty, integrity, dignity, nobility, persistence, determination, discipline, structure, and focus are keys to healthy humanism. Taking responsibility, cultivating healthy attitudes, nourishing cherished values, exercising critical thinking, promoting realistic goal setting, prioritizing planning, and choosing right actions will transform our inner and outer worlds. Taurus encourages us to find clarity in our values, embrace our best qualities, and master and manage our darkness. Everyone has Taurus in their psyche by degree. Taurus gives us the time and space to blend practicality with grace, responsibility with love, and comfort with joy. We can all be our own best friends and bull shit detectors.

ARIES & HANDS

No need to have an Aries sun, moon, ascendant, planets, aspects, or houses to be Arian. No matter what your astrology says, Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo are Intuitive types with rectangular palms and short fingers. Having an Aries sun with Aries hands is very Aries. Aries hands differ from Leo and Sag hands. Leo hands are noticeably harder and stiffer than Aries hands. Sagittarius hands are softer and more flexible. Aries hands have full firm heels of hands (upper Mars under pinkie). Aries bounces back and lands on their feet after obstacles and hardships. Resilient elastic skin embodies a resilient energetic person. Elastic skin quickly springs back to normal when pushed or pulled.

Pink energizes. Red pressurizes. When a plump red puffy bump bulges where a thumb meets a hand (lower Mars), a person is more aggressive than another person with little or no bump. Red hands embody too much energy, anger, passion, and pressure. Healthy Aries have rosy full balls of thumbs (Venus).

Head and life lines are separate at their beginnings on pure types. These individuals need freedom of thought, action, and to be rebellious when necessary. Mars has plenty of initiative, cherishes his independence, must trust his instinct, and always be true to himself. Many Leos have closely intertwined head and life lines at their beginnings. They’re less free than Aries because they’re motivated to act by and for others. Leos like being in charge, but procrastinate at beginnings and endings because they care too much about what others think. They’re easily hurt when criticized or taken for granted and take opinions of others personally, even when they’re not.

As the most courageous and adventurous of all types, Aries is a fierce warrior and inspired risk taker. His passion is contagious and optimism eternal. Never running out of doors to knock on, he doesn’t take rejection personally. He loves sports and is ready to compete with anyone at any time and place. He has an innate need to catalyze new beginnings and new projects. A freedom lover, he detests bureaucrats.

Note: Aries is male in gender. In practice, he and his is also she and hers.

Cardinal types tend to have low set thumbs. No matter what else is happening in a person’s hands, low set thumbs were designed for quests and causes. Saving underdogs, strays, and fixer-uppers, and rescuing damsels in distress are specialties. Combined with strong index fingers and pinkies, they make great fund raisers. Aries crusades relentlessly and persistently until his objectives are realized. Committing to ideals and working on worthy causes brings deep satisfaction and personal fulfillment.

Aries is not detail oriented. They’re easily bored, restless, and impatient. Stay out of their way when they’re bogged down in mundane activities, especially if you can’t help them. They need to stay far from controlling, possessive, and jealous types. Trust is a must. Intimate relationships require good physical chemistry. The football player (Mars) and cheerleader (Venus) are hot for each other. Aries must not be impulsive or in a hurry to ‘fall in love’. Unhappy marriages follow unplanned pregnancies. Aries must be patient, trust their intuition, and set sensible goals. Unafraid of blood and sharp tools, Aries make the best soldiers, butchers, and surgeons. Mars rules executives, salesmen, barbers, sportsmen, military leaders, soldiers, policemen, firemen, and anyone full of fire and burning with desire.

Aries is resilient. They bounce back and landing on their feet, no matter what. Their innate sense of inner strength, courage, determination, and persistence make them formidable foes. Aries conquers procrastination, overcomes inertia, and acts with inspiration, passion, and energy. Health issues tend toward headaches, inflammations, fevers, and high blood pressure.

Aries rules War. Ancient warriors practiced their lustiest mating rituals from late June to late July to seed future generations of Aries warriors. Aries rules Germany, England, and Japan. Hitler created the Aryan race. Britain barbarized, colonized, and ‘civilized’ the globe. Japan was bombed with atoms in World War II. Modern Japan wages battles of commerce, communications, and transportation.

Invincible warriors, lusty lovers, and gods and goddesses of war are symbolized by an erect cock. Aries is Greek. Mars is Roman. Aries is Spring. E veryone has Aries by degree. Mars is in everyone’s symbolism and psyche. Aspects of all types interact with aspects of all other types. Your dominate archetype’s relationships with other types determines your destiny.

Strong, athletic bodies, dominant chests, and rock hard heads embody an Aries psyche. They’re not called ‘Ram’ for nothing. My best half, Joanna, is an Aries with Venus in Taurus rising. I call her ‘Ram-bull’. She’s obstinate and also very grounding for me. I’m Gemini with Scorpio rising. She calls me a ‘piece of work in progress’. We’re both right.

Aries ancestors are warriors and conquerors. King Theseus of Athens, Jason and the Argonauts, Joan of Arc, Xena, Mulan, Robin Hood, and his eastern cousin, Aladdin, orphaned son of the king of thieves, handsome adolescent street rat, diamond in the rough, destined to be a prince. Above is a real life Aladdin. Click here for his story.

Al Gore may be history these days, but his rectangular palms and short fingers reveal a link between his intuitive nature and his Aries Sun. Al’s Mars, Saturn, and Pluto in Leo and Jupiter in Sagittarius are a bundle of fire. Inspiration motivates Al as he educates consumers about the hazards and truths of Global Warming and Climate Change. Al and his Argonauts bagged the coveted Nobel Peace Prize while opening masses of minds to massive consumption, extreme waste, and our need to shift our paradigm of ‘me first’.

Al is a conceptual thinker. He loves the idea part of his process. Al can sell anything he believes in. His greatest asset is his ability to see the whole picture. He has no time and little aptitude or patience for details. His long index finger embodies his egocentricity, ambition, and obsessions. Al knows what he wants, gets the facts, and makes the case for his cause. Fortified with lightning bolts from Zeus, Al has great personal influence, privilege, and wealth. It’s vital that Al remain vigilant about the size and quality of his own footprint. Al must practice what he preaches to be truly powerful and effective.

Ex-Secretary of State, ex-General Colin Powell is an Aries with Sun and Mercury in Aries (April 5, 1937). His short fingers, rectangular palms, and widely separated life and head lines embody the spirit of King Theseus of Athens. Theseus escorted Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Colin defeated the dreaded Minotaur, Saddam Hussein, a Taurus, who controlled the warring Arabic factions under his rule.

Secretary Powell’s powerful and practical personality persuaded Americans to keep the faith while we invaded Iraq. Powell believed he could make a positive difference, but was goldenly fleeced by the Bush administration. Emperor George II, pulled the golden wool over everyone’s eyes as he proudly wore Powell’s threads of charisma, credibility, and principles on the front lines of international diplomacy. General Powell’s greatest battles are yet to come as he approaches the end of his life and wages war with his personal loyalties, honesty, integrity, dignity, and truth.

Rest assured Colin Powell is horrified by our current leadership! An evil empire can take revenge on a person’s family and force even the truest hero to remain silent and keep secrets forever. Colin must cleanse his karma by shining the light of absolute truth on the many shades of gray in his life. Maybe he should publish a brutally honest auto-biography to be released posthumously by his family when they’re ready.

HAND READING & SOCIAL DISTANCING

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“The Lips of Wisdom are Closed, except to the Ears of Understanding”

I’m practicing social distancing. It’s a challenging experience for me as I have a basic need to touch, feel, and spend intimate quality time with people. It feels unreal to not be holding a client’s hands, looking into their eyes, and having a meaningful dialogue about their current and major life issues, challenges, responsibilities, and rewards. In the past, I’ve refused to give remote readings, except for long term clients. I never envisioned using Skype and choosing PayPal to communicate with clients. Now I’ve been forced to rethink my choices and decisions.

I discovered palmistry well over forty years ago while I was designing and building custom furniture in a loft in NYC. My client’s wife was a serious professional palmist. She looked at my hands and began to tell me about myself. I was totally mind-blown! My perfect teacher had appeared at the perfect time. I soon became her best student. She taught me that hands are topographical maps of a person’s character in past, present, and future. Anyone can learn to navigate their map and chart their destiny with the right information, instruction, and guidance.

As I was learning to read hands, I also began taking astrology and tarot classes and workshops. I felt inspired by several amazing teachers, and by how easily accessible the information was and how precise interpretations of esoteric sciences and arts can be. Differences between the metaphysical languages quickly became evident. While astrology shows a person’s potentials, hands reveal what a person has actually done, is doing, and is likely to do with their potentials. Valuable information and precious insights are in plain sight at the ends of our arms. There’s no need for accurate birth info, complex calculations, or infinite combinations, permutations, and probabilities.

Astrology is a symbolic language that I use primarily for identifying behavioral patterns, examining life cycles, and understanding timing. Hands are much better for revealing basic character. Tarot is best for getting at hidden issues, like learning about other people, what’s actually happening in a particular situation, and examining what can’t be seen in hands or horoscopes. A seasoned reader can readily see a person’s issues and know how to guide them to change their thinking and behavior. The rest is counseling and doing the work.

Astrology was obscure for thousands of years. In 1968, with no e- social networking to make astrology go ‘viral’, Linda Goodman published “Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs” and popularized astrology. Everyone was suddenly asking, “What’s your sun sign?” Magazines and newspapers everywhere began publishing horoscope columns.

Palmistry is older and more accessible than astrology. As I learned to read hands, I was mind boggled that everyone wasn’t asking, “May I see your hands”? I decided my mission was to popularize palmistry. I’d write a book. I called Linda Goodman’s literary agent to secure an endorsement from him. He told me he wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything esoteric. He didn’t need the money or the hassle. He’d become wealthy by stealthily acquiring e-rights for all the best selling authors and their works before the big paperback publishers realized they had never addressed e-rights in their original publishing contracts.

I self-published HAND BOOK, a paperback, which took a lot of work and time and ended up awakening me to the fact that I was unable to generate public interest in palmistry. I printed books because low-tech esoteric folk asked to see, smell, and feel a ‘real book’. My e-book version is called REAL PALMISTRY. It’s much better than the paperback because it’s less expensive, better quality, full color, and has links to corresponding information. I poured my time, energy, and resources into promoting books and sold less than 5,000 copies.

I remember how my family used to joke about kids from Pittsburgh who left home to find their Guru or better yet, to become a Guru, and then flaunt it. Yet here I was, a serious palmist, trying to share a language with many, that few will ever know or understand, and hoping that people would somehow get it. As a young person, I would not have imagined being on ‘The View’, ‘Martha Stewart Living’, CBS News, Fox’s Good Day NY, cable, and satellite TV. I was surprised at how many people were impressed and excited about my being on TV, but not curious about their own hands. I was interviewed by major magazines and newspapers everywhere and featured in dozens of articles about reading hands to no avail. Perhaps palmistry is destined to remain a gypsy fortunetelling scam in most people’s minds.

Palmistry has been good to me. I’m not complaining. I love my clients and they love me. We can have intimacy and clear boundaries. There are no ‘me too’ complaints. As a five-minute hand reader at special events, I get to go right to the gusto and directly address a person’s current and major life issues and challenges. My goal is to be constructive, helpful, and leave my clients feeling hopeful. I’ve read many of the richest and poorest people in the world. All hands are equal. I still dream of palmistry becoming “viral”, but that idea has been relegated to a back burner while survival has become my priority.

If hindsight truly is 2020, now is the time to clearly see everything as it is and not how we want it to be. Hopefully, social distancing and mass consciousness will help us be more introspective, curious, and concerned for ourselves, others, and our planet. Learning to read our own and each other’s hands would certainly help.

If you’re curious about palmistry, check out my refurbished website, read some content, click on some images that link to short videos, and share your thoughts, ideas, opinions, advice, suggestions, and epiphanies. All communication is welcome, appreciated, and valued! www.markseltman.com