CAPRICORN & HANDS

Posted on December 28, 2018 by markseltman

In palmistry, no matter what your astrology says, flat square palms, short stiff fingers, square fingertips, and a combo of loop and arch finger prints is Capricorn. A Capricorn sun, moon, rising sign, planets, houses, or aspects makes you more pragmatic. Firm hands, pale tough skin, and self-assured handshakes embody practicality, responsibility, and reliability. When the middle finger leans or crooks toward the ring finger, seriousness, structure, and responsibility rule the person.

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

Middle fingers should always be longest. No matter your type, short middle fingers mean lives out of balance and control. Middle fingers symbolize a need for structure and discipline and embody capacities to be precise, practical, and pragmatic. Middle fingers reveal how serious and reliable we are and how we can best manage our frustrations, obstructions, obligations, shame, and guilt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The most famous Capricorn of all time was Jesus Christ, Jewish guru, and not for profit prophet. God spoke through Jesus, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus would have reformed religion. Who needs dogmas, doctrines, codes, rules, and regulations when you’ve got spirituality? Jesus was crucified for loving unconditionally and without expectation.

Mel Gibson accessed his dark side when he created ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Jesus’s spirit writhes in heaven as Mel irreverently punishes and blames humanity for torturing him to death. You get to see all the suffering and none of the revelations and victories.

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

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

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Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future haunt Bernard Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom. Ebbers made telecommunications competitive. He achieved his goal of power and wealth, but compromised his principles in the process. Preaching one thing and practicing another has a gloomy prognosis that can end a person in the slammer. Evangelical Christians had better get real soon or there may be another crusade!

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

MY CANCER BEST FRIEND

Posted on June 28, 2018 by markseltman

LLOYD WILSON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

URANUS in TAURUS

Posted on April 30, 2018 by markseltman

I sometimes quip, “Since I gave up hope, I feel much better”. People laugh, but it’s not a laughing matter. It doesn’t take a seer to see that the human race has become a race against bad shit happening. We’re being set up for a complete loss of faith and hope and the imminent undoing of the positive results of the hard lessons we learned and resolutions we implemented the last time Uranus was in Taurus from 1935 to 1942.

When Uranus transited Taurus last Century, the USA went off the gold standard. People began focusing on values and questioning materialism. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Labor organized, forming unions that went on strike and engaged in sit-downs across the nation. President Roosevelt defended the Four Essential Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Hmmm…

Uranus in Taurus gave us the autocrat, ‘Citizen Kane’. William Randolph Hurst and Orson Welles (both Taurus) bullied each other over the making and releasing of the film. Self-righteous and determined, Welles smugly modeled the notorious media mogul Charles Foster Kane after Hearst. Despite his abundant natural charm, brilliant portrayal, and exceptional directing, Welles’s Taurus was no match for Hearst’s Taurus and corresponding ability to influence public opinion. Welles persisted in his righteous defiance of Hearst, but he failed miserably as Hearst endlessly tortured Welles with legalities and constantly bludgeoned him with bad publicity until he could no longer afford his principles, rise to his challenges, or control his self-indulgences. Like Kane, Welles longed for his lost innocence at the end of his life.

‘Less is more’ learned Midas as he yearned for the touch of gold, got it, and instantly transformed his beautiful daughter and their loving relationship into a hunk of metal. His food turned to gold as it touched his lips. The moral of Midas is to be stable, secure, healthy, and happy without having to have more than we need. We can master our darkness, embrace good habits, nourish relationships, choose higher purpose, feel satisfaction, and find fulfillment without being wealthy. Having too much or too little raises our awareness of what truly matters. Everything and nothing are of equal value; identical in nature, but different by degree. A billionaire dying of cancer will trade his fortune for youth and good health. A glamorous celebrity with a brain injured child will gratefully and graciously scrub filthy toilets at Grand Central Station to heal her child.

The New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve are bulls. In May, Uranus will return to Taurus for seven years. I predict widely fluctuating political, financial, and structural systems along with an extremely nervous and fickle public. Our spiritual, ideological, and philosophical paradigms must shift by mid-2019 or we’ll be facing another Black Tuesday like we did in 1929 as transiting Saturn opposes the Stock Exchange’s Chiron and squares its Moon. Pluto will square Jupiter as Uranus conjuncts Venus and Neptune opposes Mars! Why must we learn the most obvious lessons in the hardest ways? Why must we lose what’s most valuable by not valuing it? People born from 1935~1942 understand sudden unexpected gains and reversals. If you have a more helpful interpretation for Uranus in Taurus, please feel free to share.

Clients ask, “How long is my life?” “When will I die?” Life is about quality, not quantity. Everyone dies. The magic is your alchemy. Alchemy isn’t about turning lead into gold. It’s about transforming Saturn into the Sun. A healthy spirit chooses virtue, honesty, integrity, dignity, and nobility. A healthy Saturn embraces a strong foundation, structure, discipline, responsibility, loyalty, focus, determination, and persistence. Shine the brilliance of your Sun on the most hopeful, helpful, and constructive qualities of your Saturn and you will be an alchemist and your own best friend and bull shit detector.

Hazards of Interpretive Software

Posted on March 12, 2018 by markseltman

I’ve been practicing palmistry, astrology, and tarot for over forty years.Recently, as I pondered my outer planetary trials and tribulations for 2018, I examined my three major astrological transits through the lens of the canned interpretations that came bundled with my ‘Solar Fire’ software. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from recognizing and understanding the hazards of canned interpretations is being responsible for my choices and accountable for my actions.

The science and art of palmistry has been carelessly misrepresented and completely misunderstood for over 5,500 years! It’s mind boggling to me that most people still see palmistry as a gypsy fortunetelling scam! Priceless information and precious insight lays buried, silently waiting to be discovered at the ends of our arms. I wonder why the human race hasn’t recognized that hands reveal character and are essential to knowing ourselves and others.

The truth is that palmistry has been relegated to the dark ages until further notice due to a surprising lack of curiosity, important literature, credible schools, teachers, students, certification, counseling skills, public relations, marketing, and spokespeople. Palmistry books are brimming with unreliable recipes, inadequate ingredients, and inaccurate statistics cloaked in esoteric and technical jargon, passed on for millennia. Valuable content is veiled beneath poor illustrations and cluttered with disconnected details.

The paradox is that palmistry is actually a more potent tool for assessing character than astrology, and yet astrology is more credible. The reason is that more credible people have embraced, nurtured, and promoted astrology. “What’s your sun sign?” was a question no one asked until 1968 when Linda Goodman published ‘Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs’. Sun sign columns legitimized, monetized, and popularized astrology.

Astrology has endless permutations and combinations of details. Each and every detail means something, but until you’ve decided on a basic character type and context, the details are superficial. The meaning of any detail can change because of the question asked and the balance of elements, planets, signs, houses, and aspects. Adding outer planets, asteroids, and man-made points to a natal chart can make an accurate reading nearly impossible.

In my metaphysical practice, every detail must be examined within the context of the whole picture and every other detail at the same time. Comparing and contrasting combinations of details is vital for observing, examining, and analyzing behavior. One danger in interpreting isolated details out of context is in substituting one form of predeterminism for another by reducing individuality to cookbook formulas. That’s what most metaphysical authors do. It’s the main reason I don’t make predictions. I believe free-will rules. We can choose what we think and how we feel no matter what happens. Canned readings may be a good place to start, but they’re no substitute for time and experience. Other people’s generalizations should not be taken too literally or seriously.

Herein lays the problem of interpretive software. Having read Solar Fire’s forecasts for my transits, I felt happy to be a seasoned astrologer. Many novices are superstitious and suggestible. Commercial interpretations that use words like “confusion, depression, lethargy, dull, block, painful, stressed, and highly unlikely” can negatively influence an impressionable person to transmute subtle suggestions into self-fulfilling prophecies.

Transiting Jupiter in Scorpio is completing its twelve year cycle and has come home to my first house (opposite Mars in Taurus and trine Mercury in Cancer in the 9^th). Jupiter powerfully influences my consciousness. At 70, my quest is for spiritual enlightenment. Nothing is more important than being healthy, whole, centered, peaceful, and loving. I’ve chosen courage, strength, grace, and wisdom as the four pillars of my sanctuary.

Note: I’ve used many different astrological software programs. Solar Fire is my favorite. I love being able to look at astrology graphically. Solar Fire satisfies those needs. I’ve got an older version and realize that the interpretations have probably been updated, but they’re still canned and should be used only as a guide to understanding and not as an official gospel of the symbolism, regardless of the credibility of its author.

I published the Solar Fire interpretation of my transits first, then my version. I’ve italicized words that weren’t helpful to me. Actually, they did raise my consciousness about recognizing, understanding, and responding to gloomy suggestions.My interpretations below have been written as though I know you, but I don’t. Being archetypal and subjective at the same time, each of us can only truly know ourselves. Everyone should create their own cookbooks.

Salvador Dali “Without Hope”

Transiting Saturn Square Radix Neptune (canned)

This is a time of confusion, lethargy and possibly depression. It is as if everything has taken on a dull sheen. If you were a writer you would call it the experience of the writer’s block. Rather than force matters, take some time to contemplate your life in a gentle, reflective light. By the end of the transit you should have a renewed sense of where you are heading, even though right now that seems highly unlikely.

Transiting Saturn Square Radix Neptune (my interpretation)

This is a time for clarifying confusion, dissolving depression, and transmuting lethargy into accomplishment. It’s as if everything is being bathed in bright Neptunian light. Now is the time to observe and examine where and what you’ve been hiding or escaping from (Neptune) and tune into being more whole, centered, and peaceful. By the end of this transit you’ll have clearer vision and a more committed direction in your life because you’ll be more structured, disciplined, focused, and have done the work (Saturn).

Transiting Uranus opposite Radix Chiron (canned)

…later in life you are also likely to be exploring new territories testing your will in the world. You may feel that others are testing your limits, even standing in your path. This could be a painful experience especially as you are determined to push ahead. You need to use your intuition and wisdom to ensure that you are striking the right balance. You need to be true to your inner self, but not so selfish that you walk all over others.

Transiting Uranus opposite Radix Chiron (my interpretation)

This transit will take place a couple of times in your life. Later in life, you’re more aware of where you have healed, still need healing, and have learned how to use your healing abilities. You may suddenly or unexpectedly find yourself in a situation where you need to use those abilities. It’s possible you could face painful early memories or challenges arising from your past. It might be a good idea to seek counseling or a mentor if you do. Perhaps you’ll be a counselor for someone else. The sign and house position of Uranus and Chiron will shed more light on the specific nature of your situation.

Transiting Pluto Opposition Radix Mercury (canned)

You feel that the world is out to stop you communicating your true self and in fact, it is likely that news from external sources is particularly disturbing during this period. Someone else may be forcing their opinions on you or an unexpected crisis may arise stretching your communication skills to the limit. Written negotiations and contracts may not run smoothly as someone puts a cog in the wheels. At times you may feel stressed, irritable and overworked. Relax as much as possible and remember that the time will pass and the reasons behind the mix-ups will become clear.

Transiting Pluto Opposition Radix Mercury (my interpretation)

This is an important time when you must carefully craft your communication skills so that your words and ideas can be most effective. You’ll become more powerful as you wield language more decisively, skillfully, and artfully. When transiting Pluto shows up, power issues also show up. Someone else’s ego trip may be your problem or maybe you fear losing control of someone or something and are acting out. There’s often an obsessive quality to Pluto. You’ll get the best results by choosing good sense, tact, and diplomacy. In Roman myth, Mercury was messenger to the underworld. Depending on the sign and house positions, it’s more or less challenging for Pluto and Mercury to work in harmony. Gemini vs Sagittarius and Scorpio vs Taurus are natural placements.

CAPRICORN HANDS

Posted on December 22, 2017 by markseltman

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Capricorn1/15/1929 – Aries 4/4/1968) was martyred for his fervent beliefs. “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” As a Baptist Minister and passionate Social Rights Activist, Dr. King led the black civil rights movement in the United States from the mid 1950’s until his assassination in 1968. Dr. King’s mission was the pursuit of truth, peace, justice, and equality for all. His dream has become his racial legacy and a legal holiday.

You don’t need a Capricorn sun, moon, rising, planets, houses, or aspects to be Capricorn. Dominant types have flat square palms, short stiff fingers, square fingertips, and a combination of loop and arch finger prints. Self-assured handshakes, firm hand consistency, and pale pink hard working skin embody practicality, responsibility, and reliability. When a middle finger leans or crooks toward a ring finger, you see seriousness and responsibility for all types.

A combination of dominant middle fingers and prevailing first and middle phalanges makes Capricorn more practical and pragmatic than Aries, Cancer, and Libra. Every thought and action must have a rational reason and purpose. Successful business leaders and managers embrace their responsibilities with commitment and dedication, carrying out the specifics of mundane business while maintaining a long-range vision of their goals. As structured, focused, disciplined, and dependable beings, they expect you to be on time and do as you say. Saturn has little patience for excuses. As natural skeptics, they don’t trust slick and flashy types. As workaholics, they don’t think twice about coming in early or staying late to finish tasks. They patiently wait for the right conditions, relationships, and timing.

Middle fingers should always be longest. No matter what type, a short middle finger means a life out of balance and control. Middle fingers embody our need for structure and reveal our abilities to focus, discipline, be responsible, and practical. Middle fingers show us how serious and reliable we are and how to best manage our restrictions, obstructions, obligations, and guilt.

Saturnians are well organized, efficient, patient, dependable, and faithful. Obsessive order, methodology, punctuality, and perfectionism can be seen in stiff knotty joints, bent middle fingers, long middle phalanges, square tips, and short broad nails. The most self-critical of all types, Capricorn must habitually “lighten up and smell the roses”. Traditional music and dry humor helps. Many Saturnians are cynical and sarcastic with a fatalistic sense of humor rooted in a pessimism they’d prefer to hide. Practical, prudent, and persistent, Saturn becomes quickly frustrated and aggravated when their strategies don’t go according to plan. Inflexible ideologies, too many responsibilities, and overdeveloped senses of obligation make them feel guilt, shame, and depression. They can be offensive and defensive at the same time. Pure types pride themselves on their ingenuity, but they rarely stray from provincial, traditional, and conventional.

Dominant middle-fingered folk are tall, slender, and angular in appearance. They may have dark hair, large bones, stern features, and bland complexions. As loners, they need private time, including family, friends, and partners. The prevailing physical sense is smell. Purists love string instruments and prefer classical music tinged with sadness.

Saturn rules all structure. Saturnians eventually have maladies with teeth, knees, ligaments, rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, or deafness in the left ear. When a middle finger leans toward a ring finger, there’s perfectionism and a need for personal space. I’ll bet Donald Rumsfeld is always cranky and irritable. Check out the inner frustration that goes with this face. Many conservative businessmen, distinguished scientists, technical specialists, researchers, writers, craftsmen, therapists, night watchmen, undertakers, morticians, and derelicts have dominant middle fingers.

“Father Time” is about quality, not quantity. The Hermit is alone, but not lonely. Turning lead to gold is a metaphor for shining the brilliance of the Sun on Saturn. Where structure, discipline, and focus are required, Saturn is present. Saturn can be prosperous, healthy, happy, wise, and compassionate. He can also be extremely frustrated, controlling, greedy, and self-destructive. Capricorn must do the work or suffer the consequences.

The most famous Capricorn of all time was Jesus Christ. This not for profit prophet was the first self-styled Jewish self-help guru. Jesus would have reformed the business of religion had he stuck around. Who needs rules, regulations, dogmas, codes, and doctrines when you have spirituality? Jesus shared God’s essence as he spoke, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus was crucified and martyred for loving too much.

Capricorn Mel Gibson irreverently exploited the dark side of love in his ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Jesus’s spirit writhes in heaven as Mel continues to punish and blame us for torturing him to death. Mel can capitalize on Dr. King’s final moments. He can call it LETHAL WEAPON 666 and give us even more reasons to spread shame, guilt, fear, hate, and terror. Mel would be less harmful as a used Hummer salesman. He could sell ‘already been road-warriored’ models, like worn jeans or distressed furniture.

Capricorns strive to be number one. Muhammad Ali was King of Boxing. Elvis Presley was King of Rock ‘n Roll. Tiger Woods was Prince of Golf. David Bowie and Rod Stewart are musical stars. Daniel Day-Lewis (Taurus / Saturn) played Abraham Lincoln, a Saturn type. Clint Eastwood is a Gemini with dominant Saturn. Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse were Saturnian Post and Neo-Impressionist French artists. Albert Schweitzer was a humanitarian. Louis Pasteur pasteurized.

Master criminals are Saturn ruled. They don’t depend on cleverness like Gemini, spontaneity like Aries, or grandiosity like Sagittarians. Saturn strategizes and waits. Scrooge is the epitome of his darkest, stingiest, greediest, and least generous self. Relationships are only important as they relate to profit.

Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future haunt Bernard Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom. Ebbers contributed to society by making telecommunications competitive. He compromised his principles to reach his goal of power and worldly achievement. Bernie played both sides against the middle and got caught in the squeeze.

Janet is a Capricorn with crooked middle fingers and separated head and life on her dominant hand. This combination makes her a very independent freedom loving perfectionist with over developed senses of responsibility, obligation, and guilt. She’s great at what she does, but there’s always a ‘should’ or ‘supposed to’ in the way of the adventure she’d prefer to be having.

Scorpio Hands

Posted on October 29, 2017 by markseltman

You don’t need a Scorpio Sun, Moon, houses, aspects, planets, or planetary placements to be a Scorpion. Scorpio is a fixed feeling type with long rectangular palms and long fingers. In my experience, pure Scorpions have stiffer fingers and thumbs, denser palms, and less elastic skin than Cancer and Pisces. When head and life lines closely intertwine at their start, Scorpions procrastinate at beginnings and endings and care too much what others think (no matter what they say or how they act). With long broad nails and straight pinky fingers, they tend to be almost ruthlessly open and frank. I’ve observed a lot of Scorpions with dominant first and third phalanges, rounded and conical tips, loop prints, developed knots on second joints, and very few vertical lines within the lifeline. Scorpios with no vertical lines are untrusting and untrustworthy. Scorpio has many wonderful qualities. I’m focusing on the dark side today.

Author’s note: I’ve used Donald Trump to illustrate this post, though he has nothing in Scorpio except his I.C. If you’re curious about my symbolic take on D.T. – click here.

Hands share the same mythology as astrology and tarot. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, lord of darkness. As the Roman god of sex, death, and transformation, Pluto is master of the sexual orgasm (little death). In ancient Greece, Hades was god of the underworld. In tarot, Death, High Priestess, and the Queen of Cups are Scorpio ruled. Voldemort, Darth Vader, The Mummy, and The Big Bad Wolf are modern versions. Religious extremism is the Devil’s playground.

Scorpio is black, controlling, compulsive, jealous, possessive, fearful, resentful, obstinate, secretive, suspicious, manipulative, and subversive. Scorpio seduces, covets, and betrays your sacred trust. Seduction turns him on, while betrayal gets him off. Pluto tantalizes terrorists, rewards rapists, and reassures religious predators. An eternity in hell excites, terrifies, and beckons them. A path of many dark secrets leads to the palace of sociopathy. From your first breath to your final exit, Pluto awaits your arrival. Executioners, coroners, undertakers, and morticians are ruled by Pluto.

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

False tweets and fake facts create more opaqueness and distract us from real secrets about sex, money, and greed. A troll rationalizes the most bizarre behaviors, believing he will get away with them. His deepest and darkest fears and desires propel him towards mental, emotional, and spiritual bankruptcy and perversion. Like an evil Priest, he feigns love and compassion while physically and spiritually raping the innocent souls he has been entrusted to protect. Guilt, Shame, Remorse, and Fear faithfully guard his evil secrets.

Scorpio rules my unconscious. Gemini rules my sun, hands, and corresponding behavior. Scorpio rises in my natal chart conjunct the asteroid, Chiron (hand). Jupiter in Scorpio in my first house is a singleton in that hemisphere of my natal chart. Pluto in Leo is in my tenth house closely conjunct Saturn in Leo in my ninth. Sun Uranus and Venus Node conjunctions are in Gemini in my 8^th house, along with Vulcanus, my Vertex, and a few asteroids.

When Saturn in Scorpio transited my ascendant in November of 2012, it also squared my Midheaven and natal Saturn and compelled me to deepen my foundation, build a stronger structure, and commit my life to less distraction and more discipline and focus. Saturn forced me to achieve realistic goals and challenged me to let go of everything and everyone that wasn’t working for me. I did. Thinking critically, listening carefully, and seeing clearly enabled me to rise like a phoenix from my ashes.

Jupiter is in and will remain in Scorpio until Nov. 2018. It’s transiting exactly conjunct my ascendant at this moment and will be transiting its natal position in my horoscope for much of 2018. Having spent the past seventy years with Jupiter in Scorpio, I want to share my take on the subject. Jupiter in Scorpio has been both a blessing and a jinx for me. My natal Jupiter is within minutes of opposing my stubborn 7^th house Mars in Taurus and trine my sensitive ninth house Mercury in Cancer. Looking for shortcuts and finding easy paths to success has been my nemesis. Always coming out the shithouse smelling like a rose has been my blessing. William Blake said, “The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom”. I tend to learn the hard way.

Before After

I was the hand reader at Harvey Weinstein’s wedding celebration. It was mind boggling to observe an old stale bagel and a fresh young pastry as a couple. Harvey must have spent millions creating an unforgettable extravaganza packed with famous people. I’ve read many celebrities, but none on that day. In hindsight, I wish I’d convinced the event planner to let me stroll instead of parking myself in a corner. Famous people frequently avoid me because they fear I may see what they want no one to see. Many of my favorite actors and actresses were within inches of me and yet so far away. I’m sure I’d have enchanted a few if I had been free to approach them. I sat at my station for four hours as many celebrities walked by. I mostly read the hands of their curious friends and family who lined up for miles.

Harvey Weinstein is a Pisces. Harvey’s time of birth is unknown; however, according to his day of birth (3/19/52), Mars is in Scorpio closely square Pluto in Leo. One interpretation of that combo is being a ‘sexual predator’. Harvey’s hands are Taurus with broad square palms, short plump fingers, and large fleshy pink balls of thumb revealing an acquisitive and pleasure loving nature.

I expect to see much more sexism, philandering, insider trading, evangelical hypocrisy, and partisan political power plays by November 2018. Here is my biased Scorpio perspective on our political landscape. I’m unhappy with both political parties. Republican politicians are spiritually bankrupt sadists who only smile when they’re hurting us. Democratic leaders are poverty conscious masochists, who desperately beg for a dollar or three as you sign their petitions, fill out their surveys, and pledge loyalty to their urgent causes. I sign plenty of petitions and have given a lot of $ (for me) to my favorite causes such as the ACLU, SPLC, NRDC, Sierra Club, etc., but as the saying goes, “Money talks and bullshit walks”.

Sadly, money truly is power in our world. Plutocrats are devaluing our democracy by betting on their present and ignoring our future and the future of our planet. Our entire world, society, and culture has been corrupted by a handful of greedy moguls who own our raw materials, energy, communications, transportation, food, healthcare, finance, religion, and politics. There are over 1,500 billionaires.

Many of life’s most painful lessons are a result of choosing money over values. It’s easy to rationalize the blackest behavior when your head rules your heart. I never intended to hurt anyone. No one did anything they didn’t want to do. I may not have told the whole truth, but I didn’t lie. I’m sorry for my part. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

LEO RULES

Posted on August 5, 2017 by markseltman

“The most difficult job in the world is not being president. It’s being a parent.”

Bill Clinton is a Leo. Born three months after his real father died in 1946, Bill was raised by an abusive alcoholic stepfather. Like so many Leos, Bill spent much of his life searching for approval from father figures. His was mentally and emotionally absent during Bill’s formative years. Bill’s quest is a hero’s journey to conquer his fears of failure, abandonment, and disapproval and become a devoted parent who loves unconditionally and without expectation. Bill’s Sun, Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto are in Leo. Like many Apollonian types, Bill’s hands sport strong ring fingers. Bill adores music, women, and politics. Even though Bill has a bachelor like attitude, he enjoys being married. Bill has very high expectations of Hillary, in spite of his own personal shortcomings.

People judge Bill for his character, but Bill is his character. Apollo and Zeus are a powerful blend of charismatic forces in the real world. Zeus was infamous for his seductions and philandering in ancient Greece. Apollo was irresistible. It was impossible to say no to him. It’s hard to find healthy creative outlets for so much libido. The world is strewn with Leosterone. Powerful men and women throughout history were and still are philanderers with sexual addictions. Bill might have graciously and gracefully fulfilled his job as a national role model had he not tempted fate and lost his way. Hubris along with a powerful solar eclipse like the one coming up on August 21, 2017 was his Waterloo!

Bill loved being boss. His greatest challenge was not being too slick to believe that he wouldn’t always come out of the shithouse smelling like a rose. Zeus could have any female mortal he wanted. Unfortunately, his conquests and their offspring were cursed by Hera, who punished Zeus for his philandering. Defiance of fundamentalist values undermined Bill’s power. You can bet Hillary booted Bill’s behind when he was caught shtooping his intern. I’m glad he escaped impeachment. Resisting temptation is challenging when you’re a celebrity, a mortal, and a President.

“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED”

Four US Presidents were born under the sign of Cancer. They were all were deeply wounded and flawed, the vilest of all being (in my opinion) George W Bush. His Leo hands synchronize with his Leo ascendant to reveal the worst qualities of Cancer and Leo in his intentions and actions. George has Mercury and Pluto in Leo conjunct his ascendant and Venus in Leo in his first house. Hopefully, Prescott’s dark karma and the Bush dynasty have finally ended.

When our daughter was in fifth grade, fifteen years ago, George W Bush was President. Cass was so concerned about what was going on in the world that she wrote a letter to the editor of a local East Village newspaper (who published it). She also sent a copy to the President.

Dear Editor,

I’m a 5^th grader at the earth school in the east village of Manhattan. A lot has been happening in the world and this is a paragraph to explain my point of view. I wrote it at home this afternoon and it is unedited and done completely by myself. I was wondering if you would be interested in publishing it in your newspaper. Sincerely,

We are deeply worrying about Saddam’s toxic and chemical weapons but what we are not realizing is that we are using just if not more as dangerous toxicants in our everyday life. Eventually at the rate we are going and the life style we are living we will kill ourselves off. The only difference with Saddam’s weapons is it will happen faster. Really all it takes to turn the world evil is one bad mind. We can easily find excuses to do certain uncalled for horrible things. What we need to do is think positive and constructive for our own benefit. We have to also be cautious about who we elect for president because that one bad mind could be his and make all the difference. We are being so concerned with Saddam Hussein, but you should think about it like Saddam Hussein is one ant in a whole anthill. The only reason ants survive is because they work as a team to carry food and build that huge hill. Even without war we are still heading towards a bad future. If we continue to pollute our earth we are going to have nothing left. If we get good ideas and stop polluting right now we will still have a chance to save our earth and the people on it.

At the end of her letter, Cass asked George not to send her a signed picture of his head. I altered what she got back as my contribution to exposing the true nature of a beast that has no clue how beastly he is. Truly no child should be left behind. We must all be more loving, helpful, and attentive to all children at all times.

Barack Obama is a Leo. Born August 4, 1961, Barack’s Sun, Mercury, Uranus, and North Node are in Leo. With a warm heart and a smile, Barack practiced healthier Leo merits than his predecessors while setting new precedents for future Leo ruled presidents. Despite the constant barrage of partisan prejudicial politics, Barack served with nobility, integrity, and dignity. His intuitive hands reveal an Arian personality. His narrow less meaty hands reveal a warrior of ideas and ideals. Barack is independent, freedom loving, energetic, enthusiastic, takes calculated risks when inspired, and can accomplish anything with enough inspiration. Passion is contagious and optimism eternal. Barack does his best at what he chooses and doesn’t take rejection personally. As a naturally rebellious type, he detests bullies and bureaucrats. Barack’s Holy Grail was taking responsibility for a damaged bureaucracy aimlessly racing towards bad shit happening.

Barack is a natural hero and great crusader for good causes. He campaigns tirelessly until he realizes his aspirations. Barack’s head and life lines are separate at their beginnings where the thumb meets the hand. Combined with the little crook in the top phalange of his strong middle finger, he needs plenty of personal space to sort out his thoughts and feelings. Because of Barack’s highly developed sense of responsibility and obligation, he always chooses objectivity and practicality over freedom. Barack’s pinky’s smallest phalanx is the bottom. Barack is motivated by freedom, family, and good causes, not money.

Barack is a naturally healthy type. The clear and unfettered quality of his basic lines reveals a healthy clarity in his thinking and feelings. Barack’s heart line swings up from the percussion of his hand to the space between his index and middle fingers. He’s passionate and practical about his feelings. Barack’s headline gracefully arcs downward toward the heel of his hand, revealing balance between creativity and objectivity. He can blend creative imagination with clarity of vision. Barack’s fate line travels all the way from the bottom of his palm to the base of his middle finger. He has worked hard and remained focused on his personal goals since he was a small child. The lines in the ball of Barack’s thumb parallel his lifeline revealing a true friend to those who have earned his trust over time. Despite rampant unpopularity with Republicans, Barack served our country to the best of his ability with dignity, integrity, and nobility.

Donald Trump is a Gemini with Leo rising. His small Leo hands with their rectangular palms, short fingers, and head and life lines closely entwined at their beginnings confirm his Leo nature. Donald has embraced the worst traits of Leo and will forever be notorious as the worst President in history.

A lot has been said about Donald’s tiny hands. Small handed people are big picture people. They hate detail and love grand ideas. Despite his callous behavior, Donald secretly craves your approval, wants you to love him, and cares a lot about what you think of him, although he doesn’t care about you. Look at how Donald’s attitude and behavior pathologically embodies shameless grandiosity along with other negative attributes of Leo’s character. He’s narcissistic, self-centered, self-indulgent, superficial, ostentatious, egotistical, ruthless, greedy, bossy, seductive, and lousy role model.

Why do we prostrate ourselves before an opaque self-appointed emperor on a polished brass pedestal? How many gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, and celebrity idols do we need? It is mind boggling to see how a person with so much potential to create a positive difference for all of humanity instead chooses a path of spiritual bankruptcy for all.

Donald’s Mercury square Neptune and corresponding curved pinkie fingers confirm his pathological dishonesty. Mercury’s dark side is a trickster, magician, con-artist, and pick-pocket. The court jester was supposed to remind the king to keep his ego in check. Jiminy Cricket was Pinocchio’s conscience. Donald’s north node in Gemini is Mercurial. The North node in Gemini is a karmic invitation to join society in order to share higher consciousness and lend a helping hand by exercising higher mind. It’s plain to see how Bill Clinton (Leo) and George Bush (Leo rising) blew their Gemini north node potentials. Donald Trump has done more than his share of damage. Perhaps he is fulfilling his karmic obligation by clearly exposing the dark underbelly of politics, democracy, and capitalism. We’ll certainly never take our health and the health of our world for granted.

Donald’s day of reckoning is coming. During 2016, Uranus in Aries squared Donald’s Saturn Venus conjunction in Cancer. It continues to be square in 2017. At the same time, transiting Saturn opposes Donald’s Sun and conjuncts his Moon. If you want to speed up his meltdown, millions of people can tweet: “YOU’RE FIRED” on these dates in 2017 – August 7, 12, 20, and 30, October 11, November 8 and 17. Anytime is good, but these dates will be most effective. It’s time for Donald to get a hearty spanking from Saturn. Donald’s hubris will take him down when the critical mass of horrors he has perpetrated will no longer be acceptable to the masses… the sooner the better.

Author’s note: many people have curved pinky fingers. They are not pathological liars. A majority of people with curved pinkies are just trying to avoid confrontation. They’re peace makers because they learned as children to ‘be nice’ and ‘not make waves’. Many too often end up choosing safe over satisfying in their lives.

Hands Columns

Posted on December 6, 2016 by markseltman

Character of the Month

The archetypes that our hands embody are metaphors for our corresponding personality traits. Our inner and outer characters and the internal and external dramas they play out embody our positive and negative potentials. By knowing the myths of our archetypes, we can understand what kind of person we tend to marry; what kinds of relationships we have with our families, friends, and neighbors; what work we are likely to choose; whether we will be rich or poor; and even what kinds of potential health problems we may have. Armed with knowledge and insight, we can employ our free will to embrace the positive aspects of our characters in order to revise our hands and restage a bad script in our lives. We can choose the right kinds of people and roles for ourselves. Click on the hands below for a full description of each type.

Greek and Roman and contemporary fairy tale characters will be explored. Superficial profiles of twelve fairy tale heroines have been used as illustrations for the purpose of elucidating this idea. Copyright permissions would be required for mass publishing.

April / Aries ~ Belle (Beauty)

As an adventurous, independent, and freedom loving type, Belle makes up her mind and fearlessly pursues her desires. Her impatience and impulsiveness get her in trouble as she instinctively charges forward. Belle becomes bored and restless when she gets caught up in mundane details. She needs to grasp the whole picture. Ultimately, she somehow manages to turn a beast into a prince.

May / Taurus ~ Princess Jasmine

Princess Jasmine is practical, responsible, reliable, dependable, charming, and affectionate. She’s also stubborn and obstinate and doesn’t like change. She enjoys good food, comfortable surroundings, art, music, and sensual pleasures. She’s attracted to Aladdin (Aries) types because they spice up her fantasy life, but in real life, she knows they don’t make the best long term partners for her.

June / Gemini ~ Pippi Longstocking

Pippi is smart and very clever. Her restless nature ensures she’s always on the go. She’s fiercely independent and unafraid to speak her mind. She can conjure up a reason or rationalization for almost anything. Adaptable to all circumstances, Pippi is elusive when anyone tries to pin her down. Her animus is Peter Pan.

July / Cancer ~ Snow White

Snow White is soft and emotionally vulnerable. Controlling or overprotective mothers compel her to become over-sensitive and emotionally cautious. She does her best to avoid confrontation and repress difficult feelings. Cutting ties with controlling females helps her become healthier and happier. She’s a great friend once trust is earned.

August / Leo ~ Goldilocks

Goldilocks loves being center of attention. She wants to be adored and worshipped and can be a drama queen. She needs to be appreciated and must never be taken for granted. Pure types may have fathers who were emotionally or physically absent during their formative years. Goldie craves healthy male role models, but attracts fixer-uppers. Because she so stubbornly fights change, she must learn to recognize that when the bears come home, it’s time to let go.

September / Virgo ~ Cinderella

Cinderella is a practical hard working type. Discriminating, meticulous, and orderly, she needs to feel useful. She’s service oriented, often straightening up other’s messes. She can be overly fastidious and critical sometimes. She’s a good communicator who needs to be valued and appreciated for her integrity. Though her work is often mundane and her rewards meager, Cinderella needs to cherish whatever she earns.

October / Libra ~ Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty searches for balance. She loves harmony, fears discord, and is often indecisive as a result. She can be charismatic and beautiful. She seeks her Prince Charming to help her feel complete, but needs to see him for who he is and not who she wants him to be. Unfortunately, there are way too many frogs and beasts out there and very few princes ready, willing, or able to save her.

November / Scorpio ~ Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood has powerful emotions and a strong sense of purpose. She’s imaginative, captivating, and resourceful. You’re happy being yourself when you’re with her. When she truly wants something, she manages to get it one way or another. She has a mysterious dark side that attracts and is tempted by Big Bad Wolves who desire to corrupt her feigned innocence.

December / Sagittarius ~ Alice in Wonderland

Alice is a traveler and philosopher. She’s friendly, sincere, optimistic, and open minded. She loves her freedom and needs a lot of space to explore her ideas and environment. Alice has a tendency to see life through rose colored glasses. She must take care not to be overly opinionated, judgmental, or self-indulgent.

January / Capricorn ~ Maleficent

It’s not easy to find a positive female fairy tale character that’s pragmatic, ambitious, structured, disciplined, and focused. Capricorn types are planners who make it to the top of whatever field of interest they choose. As serious withholding types, their dark side is frequently represented by Scrooge like characters that are cold, selfish, and rigid. Maleficent is Capricorn with strong Scorpio backup. Her dark side is depressive and diabolical; she’s a person who plans carefully and tries to avoid the negative consequences of her evil actions. These types are late bloomers. They get younger while their peers get older.

February / Aquarius ~ Pocahontas

Pocahontas is outgoing, progressive, independent, and revolutionary. As a community minded individual, she loves in a kind of detached way. Her unconventional freedom loving nature can get her into awkward situations. Spending much time in her private world of ideas and inventions, she prides herself on being unique and eccentric. She’s opinionated, but makes an exciting friend.

March / Pisces ~ Little Mermaid

Ariel is the most sensitive and least acquisitive of all types. Capable of incredible foresight, she’s often misunderstood when she conveys her spiritual visions to others. It’s not easy for others to let go and take a leap of faith. Ariel can swim anywhere in the ether and dream whatever she pleases. She must be sure not to escape from reality and must also watch out for Ursula the Octopus who wants to possess her.

Hands of the Month

Stories of individuals whose corresponding character and career matches the nature of their hands and astrological sign of the month. Applicable themes will be covered:

MONTH CAREER ESOTERIC

April Sports Character

May Banking Values

June Education Thinking

July Psychology Feeling

August Acting Will Power

September Medicine Health

October Law Partnerships

November Sex / Death Creativity

December Politics Philosophy

January Career Purpose

February Technology Dreams

March Religion Spirituality

Philosophical & Spiritual Advice Column

Readers send in hi-resolution pictures of their faces and hands and ask personal questions to be answered by a master palmist from practical, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. Questions such as, “How can I…?” or “What can I do to…?” are better than “What’s going to happen?” Queries requiring yes or no answers will be rejected. I’d like to write this column if I can find the right venue and way to market the project. Ideas?

Stay tuned for modern palmistry book concepts.

Hillary Clinton’s Horoscope from a Palmist’s Perspective

Posted on October 27, 2016 by markseltman

In palmistry, the shape and proportions of the hands, like the ascendant in astrology, symbolizes a person’s basic character and behavioral tendencies. There’s a lot of confusion and controversy around Hillary Clinton’s time of birth. Last week The Washington Post and LA Times wrote feature articles about the dilemma. The Wall Street Journal devoted its front page to the issue of Hillary’s birth time on September 29. Many astrologers have agreed that Hillary was born around 8 am. That gives her Scorpio rising. I disagree.

Hillary has a fiery earthy Capricorn hand with square palms, straight short fingers, and separated head and life line. She has no earth in her horoscope except for her north node in Taurus. I believe she’s got either Capricorn rising or Saturn in Leo on her ascendant. If Capricorn is rising, her birth time is between 11:05 am and 12:59 pm. If Saturn is rising, her birth time would be around 12:17 am. That fits her personality best.

Hillary Clinton is a Scorpio with a Pisces moon square Uranus in Gemini. There’s no doubt that Hillary has secrets. She’s all water and fixity. Hillary is also a natural manager who embraces the responsibility of delegating every aspect of daily business while maintaining a long-range vision. She has no problem starting early or staying late to finish a task. She’s structured, disciplined, and focused, expects you to be on time, and do what you say. She has no patience for excuses and inherently doesn’t trust slick and flashy types (though she married one).

Hillary is much less conservative than most people think. She’d prefer to stray from the rules, but continues to support and be supported by a system that she doesn’t know how to change. Practical and prudent, she patiently bides her time until circumstances are right. She’s independent and freedom loving and hates bureaucracy, despite being a hostage of one. She becomes quickly bored and impatient with routines. Hillary must have a worthwhile quest for her life not to become too mundane. She’s not possessive, but demands too little of her partner in her emotional life (low set pinky).

Hillary must listen more to her natural intuition and less to her handlers and backers. She’s got less charm (doesn’t need anyone’s approval), but greater executive abilities than Bill. Hillary’s powerful north node in Taurus opposes her Mercury in Scorpio. One of her great lessons in life is to understand the difference between what she wants and what she needs. From a karmic point of view, Hillary’s job is to help humanity wrap its psyche around humanitarian values and issues that really matter. I believe that if Hillary does become President, she’ll rise to the occasion.

With Saturn about to oppose and then square Hillary’s Moon Uranus square, you can bet she’s plenty frustrated right now and feeling distant from everyone. Unlike her opponent, it’s hard for Hillary to fake her feelings and not be real. She’d rather show than tell any day. If she’s elected she’ll meet with a lot of prejudice and staunch partisan opposition to everything she tries until the end of 2017. 2018 will be a year of reform for her and us as Uranus opposes her Sun.

If Hillary does have 21 degrees of Leo rising, her outlook is much better. Transiting Uranus has been trine instead of inconjunct her Saturn / Ascendant. At inauguration time, transiting Saturn will be trine her Saturn / Ascendant while Jupiter will be sextile them. This new ascendant may also explain Hillary’s attraction to Bill as his Leo Sun is conjunct that ascendant. The outer planets will leave Hillary’s Leo ascendant without hard aspects for her first couple of years in office.

Astrology Palmistry and Politics

Posted on September 22, 2016 by markseltman

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

Hands reflect basic character. Astrology gives character context by defining life cycles, highlighting behavioral patterns, addressing habits, selecting timing, and understanding mass mindset in a generational context. Astrology views history through outer planetary transits and progressions and their interrelationships with their planetary brothers and sisters, ancestral fixed stars, and asteroid cousins through the astrological signs and houses. Astrologers practice Hermes principle of polarity “As Above, So Below”.

Hindsight is 20/20. History repeats itself. Let’s observe generational astrology through the lens of politics. George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump share a Gemini lunar north node (December 24 1945 ~ August 11 1947). People born August 6 1964 ~ February 21 1966 (50–52) and March 15 1983 ~ Nov 1 1984 (32–33) share the same karma. It’s an invitation and responsibility to join society to share higher consciousness and lend humanity a helping hand so we can all exercise higher mind. It’s easy to see how Bill Clinton and George Bush screwed up their chances. Donald Trump has already done more than his share of damage. How many gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, golden pedestals, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, and celebrity idols do we need? Bill (Leo), George (Leo rising), and Donald (Leo rising) all have damaged Leo egos and corresponding hubris. The dark side of the force is alive and well in them. Darth Vader plans to become the emperor and control the evil empire. We need Luke Skywalker, Yoda, and the Jedi knights. We must look in the mirror to find them.

The celebrities below share outer planetary symbolism. Notice how many actors have traveled between light and darkness in a paradox between the person they are and the roles they play. One person’s hero is another’s villain. There’s a lot of humanity and just as much inhumanity. Saturn and Pluto conjunct in Leo has much to do with justified violence and the struggle for power. My Saturn Pluto conjunction closely straddles my Leo mid-heaven. Thanks to a series of business disasters, I was able to let go of my hubris and get my priorities straight. It’s challenging to find a healthy balance between opposing forces when the dark force is so strong. I share a lot of planetary symbolism and karma with Donald. I’m taking responsibility for my Gemini north node by offering you a helping hand ~ your own.

Uranus changes sign every seven years. In Aries, (1927–1935) Uranus brought fierce individualism, pioneering spirit, abundant energy, and limitless financial resources to bring concepts to fruition. It was the only outer planet to transit the sign of Aries in the twentieth century. Uranus invigorated the collective psyche through revolutionary and technological changes. Physics and astronomy created the “Big Bang” theory of an ever-expanding universe. The Neutron was discovered. Mao Tse-Tung began his `22 years in the wilderness’ where he developed guerrilla warfare tactics that ultimately conquered China. Leon Trotsky was expelled from the communist party. The federal government entered the field of hydroelectric power with Boulder Dam. The stock market crashed, forcing people to re-examine their values and institutions.

Uranus completed its eighty-four year cycle in the spring of 2011 as it turbulently returned to Aries to crumble regimes, topple demagogues, ignite cities, and fuel the Arab Spring that spread across the Mid-East. Devastating earthquakes in Japan forever changed how governments look at nuclear power policies. Protestors in Spain set the stage for Occupy Movements in New York and London. Osama Bin Laden was killed. His sighting appeared on Twitter before it was officially announced by the Whitehouse. WikiLeaks raised our consciousness of government secrets and conspiracies. We’ve seen our share of extremes ~ 1% vs 99%, capitalism vs values, partisan politics vs democracy, religious fundamentalism vs spirituality, and humanitarianism vs terrorism.

People born from 1935 to 1942 have Uranus in Taurus. Society began focusing on their values and questioning materialism. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Labor organized, forming unions that went on strike and engaged in sit-downs across the nation. President Roosevelt defended the Four Essential Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Partisan politics has steadily undermined those freedoms, including social and national security. The wealthy have expectedly gained, while so many people have experienced sudden and unexpected reversals. Uranus will return to Taurus after 84 years in early 2018 for another seven years. The New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve are bulls. Expect unexpected extreme financial fluctuations, public outrage, and mass rebellion that will begin a fundamental philosophical paradigm shift in global values.

When the planet Uranus transited the sign of Gemini from 1942 to 1949, the emphasis in this country shifted to education. The U.S. Supreme Court abolished religion in public schools. The GI Bill enabled thousands of people to go to college. Occupations in communications fields like radio and television became more prevalent. In 1946, the first computer calculation began at the University of Pennsylvania. It was called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 rpm “long playing record”. The Atomic Energy Commission was created. The United Nations held its first session in London. The United States joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

Bill, George, Bernie, Hillary, and Donald have Uranus in Gemini. Bill and George have Uranus conjunct their north node. Donald has the sun and Uranus conjunct his north node opposing his moon in Sag. You’d think that with all the north node in Gemini karmic debt, our public servants would be gratefully and graciously serving their country while raising the bar on education, energy, environment, each other, and the rest of us.

Bill, George, Hillary, and Donald have Neptune in Libra. While the planet Neptune transited Libra from 1942 to 1957, nuclear weapons began proliferating. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. President Truman instructed the Atomic Energy Commission to produce an even bigger `Hydrogen Bomb’. The United Nations began blossoming. International cartels became firmly established. The European Common Market was recognized. The civil rights movement flourished. Group psychology became popular. The World Council of Churches was established. Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the first American citizen canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. You’d think our public servants with Neptune in Libra would be promoting peace, tolerance, and caring.

The art world went through dramatic changes. Allen Ginsberg became a popular poet writing, “I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness”. When Neptune left Libra in 1957, the bestselling novel was Peyton Place, focusing on sexual intrigue in a small town. Certainly, Bill, Hillary, and Donald have shared their shocking sexual melodramas. People born between 1942 and 1957 tend to be overly idealistic in relationships. We must learn to harmonize, compromise, and sacrifice or maybe we should resign ourselves to living among a dysfunctional humanity in a lunatic world.

Bill, George, Hillary, Bernie, and Donald have Pluto in Leo. Pluto takes approximately twenty years to change sign. When it does, it disintegrates, destroys, and transforms collective consciousness. Leo is the light source. Pluto is the dark force. While Pluto transited Leo from 1938 to 1957, national and personal pride and power transformed. Despite The New Deal, ten million people were unemployed in 1939. President Roosevelt increased appropriations for building the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Congress adopted the Naval Expansion Act. Roosevelt transformed the Federal Reserve by creating the ‘withholding tax’, which was the beginning of social security. He became the first president to appear on television. These days, thanks to the media, politics has become entertainment and people vote for their favorite entertainers.

The House investigated un-American activities. It was the beginning of huge multi-national business conglomerates. Western Europe tried to appease Hitler with the Munich Pact, which turned Czechoslovakia over to Nazi Germany. Polls showed Americans approved. These sentiments have reawakened with Donald Trump. The Nazis invaded Poland, which caused Great Britain and France to declare war. Winston Churchill asked President Roosevelt for help. In 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans paid a high price as they were forced from their homes into concentration camps where they became innocent victims of hate and prejudice. Fundamentalist devotion to ideologies and tyrants began to crumble. In 1943, the fascist dictator Mussolini fell from power. By 1945, most of the world knew that six million Jews had been slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps. Can an emperor still catalyze this kind of consciousness and chaos these days? Youbetcha is the answer.

The atomic bomb was the ultimate plutonian weapon. After we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. In 1949, we supported a war in Korea that ended up killing three million Koreans in less than a year. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy began his sensational tirade against communist subversives and traitors in the US. Julia and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to the electric chair for stealing bomb secrets. Perhaps a wall should be built around the USA to keep us from infecting the world.

In 1951, the United Nations complex was completed in New York City. AT&T became the first company with over a million stockholders. Christine Jorgensen became the first transsexual to go public in 1952. Norman Vincent Peale’s best seller, The Power of Positive Thinking was published. The first kidney was transplanted. The first mechanical heart was made to work. Chevrolet introduced the powerful sexy Corvette in 1953. The US launched the Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine in 1954. The Soviet Union opened the world’s first atomic power station. Reigning British Monarchs made their first visit to American soil. We reached for outer space.

Better known as the `ME NOW’ generation, people born between 1938 and 1957 have used technology to build personal power. Pluto in Leo rules capitalism and democracy. Rest assured, plutocrats will have little problem finding money, rights, resources, and technology to own, harness, package, distribute, and sell our Sun’s energy to all of us as we struggle for our independence when Uranus returns to Leo (2039-2046) and Pluto (in Aquarius) opposes it near the end of its cycle.

Many people are preparing for ‘End Time’. It’s no surprise. The human race has become a race against bad shit happening. Rigid partisan beliefs and self-righteous attitudes have transformed us into horrible role models and lousy judges of our own characters and actions. Pious philosophers and pointless politicians pollute our greater purpose. Partisan paradigms and pestilent practices poison our psyche. Faulty families feast frenzily on flawed feelings, vague values, and toxic thinking that stimulate our fear, desperation, and hatred.

While we compartmentalize, analyze, and rationalize our ideologies and beliefs, we sacrifice our spirituality, virtue, integrity, dignity, and nobility on the altar of nonsense. Our selfish excesses compromise the immune system of our planet and the spirit of our people. We ignore root causes and treat symptoms with placebos as we wander aimlessly in the desert, worshipping sacred cows and coveting golden calves.

Let’s have a look at the hands and astrology of the candidates.

Donald Trump is a Gemini with Leo rising. His Leo hands embody the most negative attributes of Leo’s behavioral patterns that include being self-centered, self-indulgent, superficial, ostentatious, egotistical, ruthless, greedy, bossy, seductive, and a lousy role model. Why do people prostrate themselves before a naked self-appointed emperor on a gilded pedestal? What has happened to Donald’s (and our) humanity? It’s baffling to witness how a person can be so wealthy and spiritually bankrupt at the same time.

Mercury’s dark side is the trickster, magician, con-artist, and pick-pocket. Donald’s north node in Gemini is conjunct that archetype. Mercury square Neptune and corresponding curved pinkie fingers confirm Donald’s pathological dishonesty. If I were looking for dirt, I’d be checking the exact dates in 2011 and 2012 when Pluto squared, then opposed Donald’s Mercury Neptune square. I’d look for shenanigans on dates in 2012 and 2013 when Uranus opposed and squared that same combo.

Donald’s head and life lines are closely intertwined at their beginnings. Despite his aloof behavior, Donald craves your approval and cares a lot about what you think of him, though he doesn’t care about you. Donald’s day of reckoning is coming. In 2016, Uranus in Aries has been squaring Donald’s Saturn Venus conjunction in Cancer and will oppose it in 2017. His hubris will finally take him down when something so horrible that he has done that no one can accept will be exposed. George Bush had a similar problem. Hopefully, he’s gained some humility with hindsight.

Author’s note: many people have curved pinky fingers. They are not pathological liars, although a majority of people with curved pinkies are just trying to avoid confrontation. They’re peace makers because they learned as children to ‘be nice’ and ‘not make waves’. Many too often end up choosing safe over satisfying in their lives.

Hillary Clinton is a Scorpio with a Pisces moon square Uranus in Gemini. Her birth time is questionable, although most astrologers seem to agree that she has Scorpio rising. There’s no doubt that Hillary has secrets. She’s all water and fixity. Her only symbol in earth is her north node in Taurus. Hillary’s hands reveal a Capricorn personality, though she has no planets in Capricorn. Her square palms, straight short fingers, and separated head and life line reveal a natural manager. She embraces the responsibility of delegating every aspect of daily business while maintaining a long-range vision. She has no problem starting early or staying late to finish a task. She’s structured, disciplined, and focused, expects you to be on time, and do what you say. Hillary has no patience for excuses and doesn’t trust slick and flashy types (though she married one).

Hillary used to be an idealist. She’s much less conservative than most people think. She’d prefer to stray from the rules, but continues to support and be supported by a system that she doesn’t know how to change. Practical and prudent, she patiently bides her time until circumstances are right. She’s independent and freedom loving and hates bureaucracy, despite being a hostage of one. She gets quickly bored and impatient with routines. Hillary must have a worthy quest for her life not to get too mundane. She’s not possessive, but demands too little of her partner in her emotional life (low set pinky).

Hillary must listen more to her natural intuition and less to her handlers and backers. She’s got less charm (doesn’t need anyone’s approval), but greater executive abilities than Bill. Hillary’s powerful north node in Taurus opposes her Mercury in Scorpio. One of her great lessons is to understand the difference between want and need. There’s more than enough to go around in this world. From a karmic point of view, Hillary’s job is to help humanity wrap its psyche around humanitarian values and issues that really matter. I believe that if Hillary does become President, she’ll rise to the occasion.

Mark Seltman's Real Palmistry Blog

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