LIBRA & HANDS

Posted on September 26, 2018 by markseltman

You don’t need a Libra sun, moon, planets, aspects, or houses to be Libran. As Thinking Types, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius hands have square palms and long fingers. Libran hands frequently have long clear downwardly curving unobstructed headlines that fork at the end. Librans can see every side of an idea or situation. That’s one reason they’re notorious for resisting making up their minds. Anyone who has long straight strong dominant pinkie fingers and large broad nails communicates clearly, frankly, and effectively. Strong index fingers are common on ambitious hardworking managers, directors, and leaders. Dominant bottom and middle phalanges are well designed for banking, real estate, and food businesses. Dominant top phalanges make great public speakers, lawyers, directors, journalists, educators, and religious leaders. Librans tend to be idealistic, romantic, aesthetic, and refined. Thinking types in general dominate PR, political, publishing, marketing, sales, and entertainment fields.

Wielding logic, tact, and diplomacy like Samurai swordsmen, Librans compartmentalize, analyze, and rationalize their thoughts and feelings until they achieve their desires. Having wide spacing between head and life lines reveals spontaneity, love of freedom, and a desire to initiate. The wider the space, the less the person cares what others think. Changing a Libran’s mind is like mental monopoly. Be direct and make good sense. Don’t get emotional. You’ll regret it.

Healthy Librans have firm sincere handshakes. Pink elastic skin with long graceful heart lines flow from the pinkie to the base of the index finger and embody a romantic and sentimental nature. A branch at the end of the heart line that reaches down to touch the head line means that the person may rationalize, analyze, and compartmentalize their feelings. Black and white and love and hate are cut from the same cloth, opposite only by degree. Librans with gently curving vertical lines within their life lines are lucky in love. Anyone with long vertical lines parallel to their life lines has intimate family ties and friendships. They’re wealthy in relationships.

Athena is a strong Libran archetype with powerful Aquarius and Gemini backup. She’s the Greek archetype for Wisdom and Justice. Clasping the ‘Scales of justice’ in one hand and the sword of thinking in the other, she balances ethics with action. Athena rules the strategic thinking required to win in war. Great warriors like Odysseus (Libra), Achilles (Aries), and Theseus (Gemini) worshiped Athena. Often pictured as a handsome Goddess in battle armor, she sports the shield of Intuition and supports the owl of Wisdom on her shoulder. Athena’s mighty sword is applied with icy detachment. She discards emotion for clarity of thought and cuts to the quick.

Libra is the Autumn Equinox, 7^th sign of the zodiac, 7^th house of marriage, a time for partnership, sharing, and giving. Librans strive for balance, idolize harmony, dislike discord, and despise unnecessary confrontation. As negotiators, they’re very decisive when it really matters. They’re notoriously indecisive when it doesn’t matter… where to eat, what to wear, and when to go… Librans can be annoyingly aggressive and vague at the same time. Most Librans prefer being frank and direct, but then they can’t figure out why some people don’t like them. ‘Nice’ is easy, but safe is not satisfying. It isn’t easy to be honest, but honesty is what makes good sense in the final analysis.

All of us have Libra, Venus, and 7th houses in our symbolism. Deep down, we know what’s true and fair. We must set ethical and moral values and boundaries in order to know right from wrong and see truth. It’s too easy to compartmentalize, rationalize, and analyze our feelings, thoughts, and actions. Some Libran aphorisms are: “Laws keep honest people honest.” “Locks keep honest people out” “Contracts are as good as the people who sign them”. Why must we lose what we value to not take it for granted?

“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 understood the truth behind the folly. It’s ironic that Libra rules our Laws and their execution. Legal power enables rich players to shirk social responsibility, manipulate laws, and justify personal and social behaviors and actions. Haves are innocent until proven guilty. Have nots are guilty until proven innocent. The American Dream is a birthright only for folk who can afford it. Poor folk will forever be scraping for pennies at the bottom of the barrel.

Librans must find a balance between ethics and honesty. Maybe a Libran knows something that would change an outcome, but fails to mention it. Philip Morris always knew cigarette smoking was unhealthy. Monsanto knows that ‘Roundup’ causes cancer. Bayer knows they’re killing butterflies. The powers-that-be in Flint knew they were poisoning the people who depend on their protection. Short-sighted Republicans care more for themselves than democracy. Our self-appointed Emperor has deceived, exploited, and manipulated the huddled masses with mountains of alternative facts, hordes of toxic pussy grabbers, and a limitless supply of poisonous propaganda.

Libras with square palms, long fingers, strong pinkies and well-balanced phalanges are well-suited for commerce. You’ll see them in chic designer clothing taking clients to trendy restaurants. Long unobstructed straight headlines are innately practical, honest, and dependable. Strong index fingers embody an ambitious strategic hardworking nature. Strong stiff thumbs along with a firm percussion under the pinkie finger reveal strong will power, dogged determination, and relentless persistence. A wide gap between head and life lines at their beginnings exposes an impatient, independent, freedom loving individual with plenty of initiative and corresponding need to take action.

The most challenging task in reading hands is learning to judge hands. One person’s long is another’s short. Your firm may be my soft, depending on the particular person. Rigorous practice (reading thousands of hands) and asking the right questions is essential to observing and interpreting human character as reflected in the topographical maps of our hands. The counseling part is another story.

Many of us behave contrary to our sun signs. Few of us are pure types. My brother, Gary is a Pisces, a mutable feeling type. Neptunian on the inside, Gary’s hands reveal a Libran character. His behavior is rooted in cardinal thinking.

Gary is a psychiatrist who specializes in geriatric clients. He’s a practical philosopher with an adventurous spirit. I used to threaten that I’d go completely nuts with age, but then (luckily for both of us), as a Gemini, I decided not to get old. Gary’s analytical and logical thinking graciously and gracefully merges with his intuition and compassion, enabling him to nourish and heal the most stressful of clients and situations. Pisces gives Gary a natural empathy that many Librans lack. They’re too busy analyzing, rationalizing, and compartmentalizing their feelings to trust them. Gary is a devoted husband, father, son, brother, friend, human being, and an awesome psychiatrist.

The first two hand illustrations in this post belong to Gary’s daughter, Andrea, my niece, a healthy Libra and person. When the sun sign and hands match, that can be very good or very bad or both depending on what the person chooses to do with their choices and free will.

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).

Aries and Hands

Posted on March 20, 2018 by markseltman

You don’t need an Aries sun, moon, ascendant, planets, aspects, or houses to be Arian. Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo, are Intuitive types with rectangular palms and short fingers. If you have an Aries sun and Aries hands, you’re Super Aries. Aries hands differ from Leo and Sag hands. Leo hands tend to be harder and stiffer while Sagittarian hands tend to be softer and more flexible than Aries hands. Aries percussions (passive Mars under pinkie) are fullest and firmest. Resilient elastic skin quickly springs back to normal when poked, pushed, or pulled.

Pink color energizes. Red pressurizes, especially when plump red puffy bumps bulge (aggressive Mars) where the thumb meets the hand. Red hands embody too much energy, anger, and passion. Aries normally has a rosy full ball of thumb (Venus).The quarterback (Mars) and the cheerleader (Venus) are always hot for each other.

Head and life lines separated on pure types reveal initiative and a need to be oneself. Wider gaps symbolize more independence, freedom, and rebellion. Head and life lines that intertwine at their beginnings reveal inertia. That person needs to be appreciated and must never be taken for granted. Strong Leo types have entwined head and life lines. They often procrastinate and take everything personally, even when it’s not.

As the most courageous and adventurous of all twelve types, Aries is a natural hero and inspired risk taker. His passion is contagious and optimism eternal. She never runs out of doors to knock on because (unlike Leo) she doesn’t take rejection personally. He’s ready and willing to compete with anyone at any time and place. An autonomous freedom lover, she hates criticism and abhors bureaucrats.

Pure Aries types tend to have low set thumbs. No matter what your type, low set thumbs were designed to quest for Holy Grails and for helping underdogs. Aries crusades relentlessly and persists untiringly until their objectives are realized. Worthy causes bring deep satisfaction and fulfillment.

Aries is not detail oriented. When they’re bogged down with paperwork or bookkeeping, they quickly become bored, restless, and frustrated. It’s best to stay out of their way if you can’t help them. In intimate relationships, physical chemistry is very important, but freedom is essential. Aries must stay far away from controlling, possessive, and jealous types. They must take care not to be too impulsive or in a hurry to ‘fall in love’ as an unhappy marriage often follows accidental pregnancy. Aries most important challenges are being patient, trusting their intuition, setting sensible goals, and building sound structures on solid foundations. Aries enjoys working with sharp tools. They’re unafraid of blood and make great butchers, surgeons, and soldiers. Mars also rules executives, military leaders, policemen, firemen, salesmen, barbers, sports, and everything fiery.

Aries rules War. Ancient warrior cultures 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 manufactured an Aryan race. The British barbarized and then colonized the globe. Japan was atom bombed in World War II. Modern Japanese warriors wage wars of commerce, communications, transportation, and electronics.

Aries is Greek. Mars is Roman. Everyone has Aries and Mars in his or her symbolism. Aries rises at the Spring Equinox. An invincible warrior and lusty lover, the god of war is symbolized by an erect penis. Built physically to match with a strong athletic body, dominant chest, and rock hard head, he’s not called ‘Ram’ for nothing. My life partner, Joanna, is Aries with Venus in Taurus rising. I call her ‘Rambull’. Believe me, she can be obstinate and that’s grounding for me. I’m Gemini with Scorpio rising. You can believe her when she calls me a ‘piece of work in progress’.

Aries are amazingly resilient. They innately bounce back, always landing on their feet. Their strong sense of inner strength, courage, and persistence make them formidable foes. Aries conquers procrastination, overcomes inertia, takes action, and rules physical energy. Health issues are inflammations, fevers, headaches, and high blood pressure.

Our Aries ancestors are heroes like King Theseus of Athens, Jason and his Argonauts, Joan of Arc, Xena, Mulan, Robin Hood, and his popular eastern cousin, Aladdin, orphaned son of the king of thieves, handsome adolescent street rat, and diamond in the rough, destined to become a prince. The hand above belongs to a real life Aladdin. Click here for his story.

Al Gore’s rectangular palms and short fingers reveal a link between his intuitive personality and his Aries Sun. Al’s Mars, Saturn, and Pluto are in Leo and his Jupiter is in Sagittarius. That’s a lot of fire. Inspiration motivated Al as he passionately informed the masses of environmental truths. Al and his Argonauts bagged the coveted Nobel Peace Prize while opening masses of minds to the hazards of Global Warming.

As a conceptual thinker, Al loves the idea part of his process. Al’s greatest asset is his ability to see the big picture. With no time and little aptitude or patience for details, Al is a salesman who can sell anything he truly believes in. Al’s long index finger enhances his egocentricity and ambition. Al knows what he wants and gets the facts he needs to make the case for his cause. Armed with a lightning bolt from Zeus, Al is a human of great influence, privilege, and wealth. It’s vital that Al remain vigilant of the size and quality of his personal footprint and practice what he preaches.

U.S. ex-Secretary of State, ex-General Colin Powell is an Aries with Sun and Mercury in Aries (April 5, 1937). Rectangular palms, short fingers, and widely separated life and headline are the embodiment of King Theseus of Athens. Theseus escorted Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece. He defeated the dreaded Minotaur (Saddam Hussein, a Taurus) and united the warring Greek factions under his rule.

Secretary Powell’s powerful practical personality persuaded Americans to keep the faith while we invaded Iraq. He believed he would make a difference, but ended up being goldenly fleeced by the Bush administration. Our Emperor pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes as he proudly wore Powell’s noble charisma, flawless credibility, and ethical principles on the front lines of international diplomacy. Colin’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. An evil empire that can take revenge on Powell’s family keeps his truths secret. If Colin Powell is a true hero, he must cleanse his karma by shining the light of absolute truth on the many shades of gray in his life.

Largest of energy giants, XX is an Aries with first trade March 25 1920. This predatory power broker must shift its greedy paradigms to embrace philosophical and spiritual laws of nature and humanity. Our mother’s creative juices were created equal to be shared by all. XX pumps mom’s blood from natural reservoirs into pipelines, artificial tanks, and finally to our personal storage tanks through our umbilical cords. Our planetary good health is at risk. X-Secretary of State and X-CEO of XX, Rex Tillerson, could have made a positive difference, but didn’t. XX must be a guardian for, not a Seller of our Souls. XX has become XXX by choosing $$$ over us. ‘Haves’ need not be Emperors. ‘Have nots’ need not be servants and slaves of haves.

Libran Hands

Posted on September 23, 2017 by markseltman

You don’t need a Libra sun, moon, planets, aspects, or houses to be Libran. All Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius hands have square palms and long fingers. I’ve read many Libran hands with long deep clear gently curving unobstructed headlines that fork at the end. Librans see every side of a situation. Straight strong pinkie fingers communicate clearly, effectively, and frankly (with full broad nails). Strong index fingers are pervasive on ambitious hardworking managers and powerful leaders. Dominant bottom and middle phalanges are well suited to banking, real estate, and food businesses. Dominant top phalanges make great public speakers, lawyers, directors, journalists, educators, and religious leaders. Librans are idealistic, romantic, aesthetic, and refined. You’ll see Librans in chic designer clothing taking clients to trendy restaurants. Thinking types dominate political, PR, publishing, marketing, sales, and entertainment fields.

Wielding logic, diplomacy, and tact like Samurai swordsmen, Librans analyze, rationalize, and compartmentalize their thoughts and feelings until they fulfill their desires. A wide space between head and life lines reveals initiative and spontaneity. Wide spaces care less what others think of them. Changing a Libran’s mind is a game of mental monopoly. You must be direct and make good sense. Don’t get emotional. You’ll regret it.

Healthy Librans have sincere handshakes. Firm pink elastic skin with a long graceful heart line flowing from the pinkie to the base of the index finger symbolizes a romantic and sentimental nature. A branch at the end of the heart line that reaches down to touch the head line means the person can think their feelings to oblivion. Black and white and hard and soft are the same, only different by degree. Librans with vertical lines within their life lines are very lucky. Anyone with long vertical lines parallel to their life lines has intimate family ties and friendships. They’re wealthy in love and spirituality.

Libra is the 7^th sign of the zodiac, the 7^th house of marriage in western astrology, and the autumn equinox, time for partnership, sharing, and giving. Librans strive for balance, idolize harmony, dislike discord, and despise confrontation. As negotiators, they’re very decisive when it really matters, although they’re notoriously indecisive when it doesn’t really matter like what to eat, what to wear, and where to go. Librans can be aggressive and vague at the same time. Many prefer being frank and direct, but then they can’t figure out why some people don’t like them.

Athena is a Libran archetype with Aquarius and Gemini backup. Greek for Wisdom and Justice, Athena rules the strategic thinking required in combat. Scales of justice and an owl on her shoulder symbolize balance and wisdom. Odysseus (Libra) and Achilles (Aries) worshiped Athena. Pictured as a handsome Goddess in battle armor, she holds a shield of Intuition in one hand, and a sword of Thinking in the other. Athena’s mighty sword is applied with icy detachment. She discards emotion for clarity and cuts to the quick.

We all have Libra, Venus, and 7th houses in our symbolism. We know what’s honest, true, and fair, and must set ethical and moral values and boundaries in order to know right from wrong and see truth. It’s easy to compartmentalize, rationalize, and analyze the ideas, thoughts, and actions of ourselves and others. Some Libran aphorisms are: “Laws keep honest people honest.” “Locks keep honest people out” “Contracts are as good as the people who sign them”. Laws protect us only after the reason for those laws has been severely abused. Why must we lose what we value in order not to take it for granted?

Truman Capote understood the truth behind the insanity. “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.” Legal power enables players to shirk social responsibility, manipulate others, and justify whatever personal and social behavior and actions. Librans need to balance ethics and honesty. Maybe a Libran knows something that would change everything, but fails to mention it. Did Philip Morris know cigarette smoke is unhealthy? Does Monsanto know that ‘Roundup’ causes cancer? Do Republicans know they do not care about the masses? Mountains of money have been amassed by self-appointed Emperors who have deceived, exploited, and manipulated the huddled masses. Cream rises to the top. Poor folk will forever scrape for pennies at the bottom of the barrel.

Many years ago, an Athena type of questionable ethics came for a private consultation. As a corporate strategist and master business plan writer, he seemed totally out of place in my east village tenement apartment, dressed in his expensive designer suit and power tie and me in my “Since I gave up hope, I feel much better” t-shirt and worn jeans. His friend had been to one of my palmistry talks and encouraged him to see me.

Athena rules arts and crafts, especially weaving. My client’s specialty was weaving tailored cloaks of investment opportunity for himself and his clients by threading a weft of his finest illusion through a warp of potential profit. He’d revive floundering companies by creating innovative new products and services that pointed them toward prosperity. An emperor of crystal clear vision, Athena would charge a substantial fee and generous stock options in exchange for a first class business plan and assistance in executing it. Athena would revive companies who’d been competing for pennies forever. He shifted their paradigm by changing their thinking. As Athena’s plans came to fruition, his stock would become more valuable. He guided management through the churning rapids of dramatic change within company structure. When the project could survive on its own, Athena sold large chunks of stock and invested in his next project. Although his visions sometimes failed, Athena always prospered.

Athena had been indicted in a $150,000,000+ securities fraud. Insider trading is much more common than you know and extremely discreet. Knowing something secret can be very powerful, but getting caught is bad for everyone. The IRS was a monkey on his back. He desperately needed a strategy for what to do next. He wanted to take a symbolic look at his situation. Despite our totally opposite worlds, we hit it off. Thinking types can bounce ideas off each other for hours. Athena was Pinocchio. I was Jiminy Cricket, there to be his conscience. Brilliant, but surprisingly naïve, Athena easily rationalized being legal, unethical, and immoral at the same time. He got his nose pruned by sticking it in the wrong place at the wrong time. Athena offered me a generous retainer to be his “Jiminy Cricket”. I declined, but accepted occasional gifts and payments for my time and advice.

Athena’s hands revealed a healthy Libran type. He was charming, calming, and curious. Astrology described his behavioral patterns, life cycles, and timing. Tarot cards provided insight into business relationships, but no matter how many times we spread the cards, tact and diplomacy could not save the King of Swords from being tortured by the eight of swords, judgement, and the Tower. Athena needed to learn his lesson the hard way.

Athena’s square palms, long fingers, strong pinkies and well-balanced phalanges are great for commerce. His long unobstructed straight headline is innately practical, honest, and reliable. Ambitious strong index fingers embody a strategic hardworking nature. His strong stiff thumbs show determination and persistence. Separation between his head and life lines reveals initiative, impatience, and independence. I would never have seen his problem in foresight.

I had no idea how to help Athena with his problem. Blinded by desire for power and wealth, Athena had unwittingly compromised his morals and ethics. His natal chart appeared to be healthy and well balanced, but his astrological transits weren’t promising. There seemed to be no positive outcome unless it was spiritual. I knew I needed to be direct and make good sense. The horizontal lines crossing Athena’s dominant vertical lines showed he was no stranger to challenges and obstacles. He was very good at bouncing back and landing on his feet. Jiminy Cricket guided Pinocchio to find his truth and become a real boy. Athena and I never got that chance.

Athena lost everything. Too late for hindsight, there was little I could do. I appealed to his future. “Does the world really need another greasy French fry, addictive beverage, or pornographic violent video game?” Why not design and market healthy products like Paul Newman? Why not give profits to charitable causes? I suggested ‘Vita-Fries’, the world’s first truly healthy French fry. Why can’t the same resources be used to create healthy products and services? A graceful heart lines extends to Athena’s index finger, revealing a romantic and sentimental nature. Check out the long gracefully curving vertical lines within his ball of thumb, Athena has a healthy and loving support system.

“Why not make products more expensive and exploit less people on the way?” I asked. Athena loved the idea, but rationalized needing more personal financial stability before giving money away. “More expensive means more grease”, he told me. Higher prices mean more time and money spent romanticizing and glamorizing products and services. More for less is a great concept, but doesn’t come cheap. “It’s the grease”, Athena said. Why pay more for caffeine at $tar Buck$? Why buy expensive designer brand names when you can get the same generic item for much less? Revolutionary new products and services do happen ~ like when Kleenex became generic for tissues, ubiquitous in the marketplace, and highly profitable. Most products are variations on a theme.

In Libran style, Athena started over again with fresh enthusiasm, new ideas, and a dollop of grease. Last time I heard, he was offering virtual alternatives to utilitarian products that make good economic sense. Pinocchio is wheeling and dealing and mastering his Libran nature. He and Jiminy are friends, but no longer consult for $.

The most challenging task in reading hands is learning to judge hands. One person’s long is another’s short. Your firm might be my soft, depending on the person. Rigorous practice is necessary to truly observe and judge hands.

Few of us are pure types. Many behave contrary to our sun signs. My brother, Gary, is Pisces, a mutable feeling type. He’s Neptunian, but his Libran hands reveal a cardinal thinking type. Gary is a geriatric psychiatrist. Lucky for him, I used to threaten I’d go completely crazy with age, but then as a Gemini, I decided not to get old. Gary’s Libran temperament graciously emerges and gracefully merges with his Pisces sun to sooth the most stressful clients and situations. Pisces gives Gary natural empathy and the intuition that many Librans lack. He’s an awesome psychiatrist, partner, father, brother, son, friend, and human being.

Fingers and Planets

Posted on July 12, 2016 by markseltman

twelve hands

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

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

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

Fingers and career

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finger length

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

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

George Tenet

Is this man telling the truth?

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

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

LEO – Search for Father

Posted on July 24, 2015 by markseltman

Intuitive types (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) are highly spirited, enthusiastic individuals who dislike details, need to grasp the whole picture, require a lot of freedom to express themselves naturally, and pride themselves on their honesty. As objective independent thinkers, they must set inspiring goals to channel their energy and passion into. They become easily bored with the mundane and routine. They must cultivate far vision and enduring patience. Often accused of ‘being opinionated’, their point of view is crucial. Communicating clearly and effectively is a must. The best way for these extroverts to flourish is to behave responsibly, honestly, patiently, and naturally in relationships.

Leos are fixed intuitive types who love being the center of attention. They’re creative, dramatic, generous, enthusiastic, and fiercely loyal. They’ll try to adopt you into their ‘pride’ when they’re feeling admired and appreciated. Their fans look forward to their humor and stories. Don’t ever take a Leo for granted. Unlike Aries they take rejection personally, even if they haven’t been rejected. As creatures of habit, they can cling to obsolete behavioral patterns, depressing situations, and fruitless relationships. Leos must learn to let go of false pride, pay attention to the handwriting on the wall, and cut their losses by letting go of whatever’s not working. Leos can also spread themselves too thin and become the notorious multi-talented jacks of all trades, masters of none.

Their positive side is charming, creative, talented, and versatile. They’re generally healthy types with physical problems being eyesight, heart, and poor circulation. Leo’s dominant physical sense is sight. The metaphysical correspondence is shedding light.

Donald Trump is a Gemini with Leo rising. His Leo hands embody the most negative attributes of Leo’s will power and behavior that include being self-centered, self-indulgent, superficial, ostentatious, egotistical, ruthless, greedy, bossy, seductive, and a lousy role model.

How many gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, golden pedestals, and graven images do we require? Beauty queens, shark tanks, and celebrity idols are our heroes. What has happened to Donald’s (and our) humanity and spirituality?

You don’t need to have a Leo sun to be a Leo type. Leonine hands are like Arian hands in shape, consistency, and coloration. Leo’s joints are stiffer, especially the thumb. The elasticity of Leo’s hands is tenser and the consistency is denser than their Sagittarian brethren. Leo life and head lines are closely intertwined where the thumb joins the hand. Pure Leos have strong ring fingers. Shapes of the tips, proportions of phalanges, knots, nails, and other markings reveal more about the person. Whorl fingerprints (concentric circles, spirals, fire / intuitive) add originality, independence, and unconventionality.

Ring fingers symbolize artistic and aesthetic abilities, drama, versatility, salesmanship, showiness, and gambling proclivities. No matter your archetype, long ring fingers on dominant hands add versatility, adaptability, creativity, and expressivity. Cultivated types savor beautiful things with a highly developed sense of taste and style. I’ve noticed that long ring fingered types are more likeable than short ring fingered folk. A ring finger is judged for length against the middle finger. When the tip is shorter than the middle of the first phalanx of the middle finger, it’s considered short. When longer, it’s long. Long index fingered Leos love being boss. Last time I checked, there were more Fortune 500 and NASDAQ (over 10%) LEO CEO’s than any other sign. I’ve seen similar ring fingers on hands of gamblers. They win, but don’t know when to stop betting. I’ve also read the hands of many architects, designers, photographers, craftsmen, and curators with long ring fingers.

Free will is the most important reason for learning to read hands. Willpower is the esoteric correspondence for Leo. Our thumb is the location of will in our hands. It’s the reason we dominate our simian ancestors. Our minds developed because our thumbs oppose our other four fingers. A thumb is a small body part that takes up a huge space in the cerebral cortex of our brains. We’ve designed all of our tools from a simple pencil to our most complex computers as a result of the placement of our thumbs.

Our hands manifest the messages of our minds. In turn, our character, thoughts, feelings, and experience are mapped in the shapes and proportions of our hands. Our stories are engraved in the topography of our hands. It’s paradoxical that so few of us are aware of the priceless treasure waiting to be discovered at the ends of our arms. The beauty of palmistry is that our changes reveal themselves in the mirrors of our hands over time as our thinking and circumstances change. Freewill is a choice and opportunity for change.

Our thumbs symbolize our three most valuable natural resources: will power, logic, and ability to love. These precious qualities must be balanced. Thumbs, like our other fingers, have two joints that form three segments known as phalanges. The top phalanx is will power. The second is reasoning ability. When will is longer than logic, we may act before we think. If logic is longer, we may figure everything out, but get stuck in thinking. Then we procrastinate when we should act. A bit more logic than will keeps us in check.

Knots symbolize a need for more order in the area the knot represents. The knottier the joint, the more order is needed. The top knot is mental order (or disorder). The second knot needs physical order. If the middle phalange on your pinky is shortest, it may not be easy to keep things in their place. Huge knots may be arthritic or they can alert you to possible OCD. ‘Everything must be as I need it to be.’ The third or bottom phalanx is the ball of thumb (contained by the lifeline). Balls of thumb provide information about our capacities for sympathy, nurturing, maintaining intimate connections, loving, and valuing children, animals, nature, art, and music. Without love, empathy, and sympathy, all the passion, logic, and will in the world will never be healthy.

Thumb size is important. A thumb must be judged in relationship to the whole hand. Does a thumb look large or small in comparison to a hand? Is a thumb high or low set? The ‘normal’ length of thumb (held closely to hand) is even with the middle of the third phalange of the index finger. If longer, it’s long. If shorter, it’s short. A large thumbed person is a natural leader who wants useful practical results. Small thumbed folk are impressionable, sentimental, and easily led by their heartstrings. A tiny flexible thumbed person might stay home in bed, watch soap operas, and eat bonbons. Read my version of the “Three little pigs and their thumbs”.

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

Ex-President Bill Clinton is a Leo. Born in 1946, three months after his real dad died, Bill was raised by an abusive alcoholic stepfather. Many Leos spend much of their lives searching for approval from father figures because theirs was physically, mentally, or emotionally absent during their formative years. One of Leo’s quests in their life is a hero’s journey to overcome the fear of abandonment and become a devoted parent figure who loves unconditionally without expectation. Bill’s Sun, Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto are in Leo. He has Leo hands with a robust ring finger that enjoys marriage, but has very high expectations of his mate. As Commander and Chief, Bill was a polyamorous player of political games, musical instruments, and women.

People judge Bill for his character, but whether you like him or not, Bill is true to his character. Bill’s Sun and Jupiter blend Apollo and Zeus, two powerful, charismatic, and sexy gods in Greek myth. Zeus was famous for his seductions and philandering. Apollo was irresistible. It’s not easy to find healthy creative outlets for all that libido. Many of the most powerful men and women in the world are philanderers with secret sexual addictions. Excess testosterone comes with the territory.

Bill loved ruling the free world, getting away with shameful sex, and playing his saxophone at the same time. Zeus could possess whatever mortal he wanted. His challenge was getting away with it. Hera was famous for kicking his butt by punishing his conquests and their offspring. Due to our culture’s fundamentalist socio-religious values, Bill Clinton’s sexual behavior undermined his position and power. It’s hard to get away with much when you’re both mortal and a celebrity. You can bet Hillary (Scorpio) booted Bill’s behind when he was caught with his pants down around his ankles and his cock in his intern’s mouth. Hillary is less likeable than Bill, but she’ll be a better President if she gets the chance.

Successful actors, artists, designers, businessmen, teachers, salesmen, politicians, and diplomats are Leo ruled. Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Whitney Huston, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Ben Affleck, Steve Martin, and Kenny Rogers are Leos.

“I’ll be back”

Apollo and Hercules are solar archetypes of ancient Greece. Samson was Judaic, Osiris was Egyptian, Parcival was English, and Narashima was Indian. The Lion King and Goldilocks are fairytales that Walt Disney popularized. One Leo who feared his father and made a myth out of himself is the ‘Terminator’ / ‘Conan the barbarian’, former governor of California. Arnold’s short index fingers (may appear short when folded inward) reveal deep issues and challenges about his self-esteem and spirituality. Curved pinkies please while avoiding real confrontation by pretending things are better than they are. They act nice when they don’t feel nice. Arnold’s large flexible thumbs are adaptable and versatile. He can become distracted and unfocused. People accuse Arnold of being a bad actor. Arnold chooses great plots. He’s much more clever and adaptable than people realize. Arnold’s Arthurian myth is the search for the Holy Grail. He must ask the right questions to find a balance between his head and heart.

In April of 2001, I read Martha Stewart’s hands on her TV show, ‘Martha Stewart Living’. A critical father encouraged Martha to be obsessively ambitious and compulsively hard working. Born August 3 1941, Leo rules Martha’s Sun, Pluto, and Midheaven. Her multi- talented hardworking Aquarian hands are well designed for gardening and crafts. I didn’t see “fame” in Martha’s hands. I saw an extremely strong index finger on her dominant hand. Martha earns and deserves whatever she achieves.

Martha’s large stiff thumbs symbolize persistent will power, dogged determination, and fiery passion. As a host, Martha was gracious. As a boss, she’s demanding. I observed dozens of hip young people who make sure Martha always looks good. Her intention and mission is to give her fans valuable information and resources. In hindsight, I regret not doing a better job explaining palmistry. I was nervous. When I got home, I examined Martha’s hand prints along with her astrological chart. I wish I could share them with you, but don’t have permission. I realized 2002 was going to be a challenging year in which Martha’s integrity and reputation might be challenged. I offered to discretely share my insights with her. She didn’t reply.

When the ImClone stock scandal broke, people who knew I’d been on her show began calling to ask if I’d seen it coming. They made cruel jokes and suggested I remove her from my press materials. I was disgusted by how many people found joy as Martha crashed and burned. The media dressed Martha in wolf’s clothing and she became their sacrificial lamb. Meanwhile, real criminals, like George W Bush’s buddy, ‘Kenny Boy’ Lay (Enron), Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco), and Bernie Ebbers (WorldCom) were getting away with capitalistic genocide. I wrote to Martha to offer my insights. Again, there was no reply.

I see Martha as an honest person with straight fingers, firm elastic skin, strong healthy palms, and clearly defined lines. Martha became a high profile casualty of corporate greed and corruption. Innocence or guilt was not the issue. Martha’s Leo pride got in the way. She used poor judgment. She wasn’t thinking “I’m insider trading” when she sold her stock. Sure, she should have known better. Rich people are privy to exclusive information. They can choose to enrich themselves with or without it. Secret actions and absolute discretion are a win win scenario.

Martha should have chosen humility like Mufaasa. Instead, she behaved immaturely like young Simba. Where were Pumbaa and Timon when she needed a refresher course on the laws of the jungle? Goldilocks may have enhanced the porridge and decorated the beds more beautifully, but the bears were still pissed when they get home. Martha demonstrated the hubris that destroyed the gods and heroes in Greek and Roman myth. As a queen, she must always take the high road. She should have apologized to her loyal fans and offered the profit to a great cause. Trust will be re-earned as Martha serves her fan’s needs, battles her ego, and shows true humility and generosity of spirit.

An appropriate archetype for Martha is the Greek goddess Athena, who ruled Arts and Crafts. In peacetime Athena is pictured with a spear in one hand and a bowl or spindle in the other. She looked after weavers, potters, and craftsmen. Athena clashed with a mortal named Arachne, an incredible weaver. People compared Arachne to Athena and it went to Arachne’s head. She should have given Athena credit. Instead, she arrogantly challenged Athena to a weaving contest. She made matters worse by poking fun at Athena’s family with her art. Her creation was magnificent, but Athena transformed Arachne into the greatest weaver for all time, the arachnid (spider). It’s not a good idea for mortals to mess with Gods.

Martha is dominated by Athena, but she’s not Athena. She has enormous mental, spiritual, and physical energies and resources and is capable of making positive differences by weaving powerful webs of strength, beauty, hope, and faith. Martha can inspire the masses with her good deeds and catalyze positive changes in our world.

Leo is our sun, royalty, and celebrity. I’ve read many celebrities, CEOs, and mega-rich people that live like self-appointed royalty. People ask, “Did you see fame and great wealth in their hands?” NO is the answer. Fame and wealth are not fate, but choices. Hands reveal how a person’s potentials are fulfilled. You too can be wealthier if wealth is your top priority (even if it’s not a priority in your hands). Palmistry books tell us of fame lines that form a perfect ‘star’ under the ring finger. Sarah Bernhardt is the example most palmists use. I’ve seen two perfect stars of Apollo in forty years; the first was on Katie Couric’s right hand and the second on Susan Sarandon’s left hand. I’ve mostly read a diversity of hands with a variety of challenges and solutions to problems with self-esteem, wounded hearts, and confused minds. I can’t be more specific because I must be discrete. Powerful people have the same challenges as everyone else. Many successful people have been driven to succeed because of their fears and insecurities. I’ve learned that money can and does help iron out some of the wrinkles.

I’ve personally turned away opportunities for more celebrity. I was offered a live reality TV series. I’d read hands of people who were chosen by the producer. I refused. I didn’t want to be offensive, defensive, or end up being the ‘Jerry Springer’ of the metaphysical world. A person’s inner life is private and should be respected, even if they don’t respect it. Dog and pony shows may be popular, but I have zero desire to be part of one.

When the producer from ‘The View’ called to ask if I’d be on their show, I initially said ‘no’. I didn’t want to defend myself and palmistry. The producer promised that wouldn’t happen. She insisted I’d have a venue to offer viewers a real taste of palmistry. Unlike Martha’s show (which was taped and edited), ‘The View’ is live with a live audience.

Sure enough, as the cameras commenced, the banter and jokes began. Star Jones challenged me with learning what I was telling her by watching the show. You’ll enjoy my response. In fairness to the producer, they did give me five-minutes to say what I wanted. Please excuse the quality of snapshots. They were captured from the shows.

Alan and I met in the mid 70’s, before I moved to NYC. Alan’s rectangular palms and short fingers reveal an intuitive type. His thumbs and fingers are very stiff and his head and life lines are closely intertwined where his thumbs meet his hands. Alan is a Leo with Leo hands. His lower set curved index fingers, bent pinkies, and crooked middle fingers tell his tale of striving for and achieving personal transformation.

Alan was born poor. His real father died when he was four. He lived on a commercial street in a rich Jewish neighborhood. Alan’s mother was obese and in bad health. She loved Alan, but in desperation, remarried a horrible man who became Alan’s evil stepfather. I saw this creepy guy at funerals before I knew Alan. He was employed by the local home to be a part-time mourner at small gatherings. Alan was an unwanted stepchild in his own home, a tiny shabby apartment located above a smelly butcher shop. While other kids wore monogrammed shirts, smelled of fancy colognes, and drove sporty cars, Alan looked over his shoulder to make sure no one would see him climbing the dingy stairs to his very depressing world.

Alan decided early that he would not be poor when he grew up. His bible became Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. John Lennon was his hero. Alan stubbornly persisted and finally earned his law degree by selling ironing board covers and light bulbs door to door. Lawyers with crooked pinkies are notorious for bending the truth and the law. Alan was as clever as the best of them, but he chose to turn his ingenuity toward marketing himself. With truth on his side, Alan could bend everything else. He became a clever pioneer in legal advertising. Other lawyers who didn’t know Alan saw him as a greedy ‘ambulance chaser’, but Alan’s marketing mind put his clients’ needs and interests first. He once told me, “It doesn’t take winning too many good cases to make a great living.”

While walking in our office in the forest one day, Alan proclaimed, “I used to dream I’d be successful and own a lot of stuff and now I do. I’m glad I proved to myself that I can do it. I no longer need any of it to be happy.” I immediately challenged him to let go of everything. We both knew the truth ~ that it would require a miracle or a catastrophe.

When Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto passed through Leo in the twentieth century, enormous changes were taking place in personal, collective, and governmental rights and power. Uranus (Aquarius), planet of change, transited Leo from 1955 to 1962. The sun shined on strong will, rebellion, determination, vitality, forcefulness, and civil rights. Rosa Parks defied a segregation ordinance by not giving up her bus seat to a white man in Alabama. The Supreme Court upheld her civil rights a year later. The University of Mississippi was forced to enroll its first black student. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock Arkansas to enforce school desegregation. President Kennedy ordered the National Guard to keep schools open in Alabama. Cultural shame cultivated seeds of positive change. Equality and civil rights is still an embarrassment.

New inventions promoted convenience and provided more time for recreation and leisure. Kentucky fried chicken was introduced. Play-Doh became popular. Davy Crocket and coonskin caps became fashionable. Pampers became the first disposable diapers. Crest was the first fluoride toothpaste. The first electric toothbrush was produced. The Teflon Company introduced non-stick cookware. Smith Corona introduced the first portable electric typewriters. Mattel Inc. introduced Barbie. Felt tipped pens became popular. Soft drinks were packaged in aluminum cans for the first time. K-Mart and Wal-Mart opened. Bank of America and American Express issued the first credit cards. The first transatlantic telephone cable began working. The first transcontinental helicopter flight was made. That was only half a century ago.

Neptune (Pisces) takes fourteen years to change sign. When it does, the collective goes through confusing and ambiguous changes. Neptune transited the sign of Leo from 1916 to 1929. Phenomenal world confusion was happening. War brought tremendous prosperity to Wall Street while soldiers earning $16 a month were being killed in the trenches. England blacklisted and prevented over 80 US firms from dealing with neutral countries because they were suspected of trading with Germany. Prescott Bush was one of them. Influenza caused over two hundred deaths a day. Approximately one quarter of the US was sick. Half a million people were dead before the end of 1919.

Daylight savings time began. Arkansas farmers dedicated a monument to the Boll Weevil, whose devastation of the cotton crop caused them to diversify and become more profitable. By 1927, the farm population had dropped dramatically. Countless farmers hopelessly and desperately sold their farms.

Neptune rules alcohol. The underworld, mafia, and gangs thrived. National prohibition began in 1920. Liquor smuggling and bootlegging became big business. Marijuana is the new alcohol.

Congress set a quota limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country.

A senate subcommittee was formed to investigate the Teapot Dome oil leases.

Walt Disney released the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in 1928. George Eastman created the first color motion pictures. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was performed for the first time as a new form of symphonic jazz.

Doubt, fear, and panic caused the stock market to crash, leaving farmers, businessmen, and both haves and have nots in a state of terrible confusion and crisis.

History repeated itself in the opposition as Neptune transited Aquarius (1998 – 2012). War is still bringing prosperity to Wall Street. Agribusiness and chemical companies like Monsanto are still crushing small farmers and deluding consumers. Immigrants are still being persecuted. Oil and energy companies are still controlling and manipulating us.

The planet Pluto (Scorpio) takes approximately twenty years to change sign. When it does, it disintegrates, destroys, and transforms collective consciousness. Pluto is the dark side of the force. As Pluto transited the sign of 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.

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. 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.

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.

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 still 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 when Uranus returns to Leo (2039-2046).

Cancer and Hands – Search for Mother

Posted on June 30, 2015 by markseltman

Cancer is a feeling type. Feeling types have the strongest potential of the four basic types for expressing their highest spiritual nature. They’re intuitive, empathic, sensitive, and very aware of the needs of others. They can be very hard to understand because they tend to hide their true selves. They take cover in their shells when you try to pry into their private lives. They’re cautious because they feel deeply vulnerable. Cancer types must learn to be frank and direct, rather than wield tact and diplomacy to avoid emotional confrontation. Avoiding confrontation doesn’t mean they won’t cultivate intimacy wherever and whenever they can. Cancer feelings can swing from loving and devoted to secretive and reclusive to obsessive and fearful. When Cancer types are feeling 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. Healthy family ties and close friendships nourish their naturally nurturing natures. Having organization, structure, and detail helps them feel more stable and secure.

Healthy types have no problem expressing love, compassion, sympathy, and devotion. They communicate best with other feeling types and feel safe with practical types who are responsible, reliable, and dependable. Feeling types are thinking and intuitive type challenged. They’re nervous they’ll be left holding the psychic garbage bag and forced to deal with the emotional fallout when idealism, optimism, enthusiasm, and logic wane, and they do. Having acute consciousness of one’s own emotional needs is essential.

Pure types tend to be internally secretive and externally ambitious at the same time. They’ll work extremely hard as long as income matches output. That income provides food, family security, and fertile ground for their roots and resourceful imaginations.

Demeter is the Greek earth goddess of grain and the harvest. I chose her to represent Cancer and water because she’s a powerful mother. Cancer mothers (not all) are thought to be controlling and overprotective of their children. When Pluto abducted Persephone, Demeter exercised her mother power over all the gods, goddesses, and mankind by creating winter (death of flora) for the months that Persephone is with Pluto.

You don’t have to have a Cancer sun to have Cancer hands and behavior. Rectangular palms and long fingers (often held closely together) indicate dominant feeling types. Healthy Cancer hands are firm in consistency and moderate in flexibility with pink elastic skin. Joints are less stiff than Scorpion and less flexible than Piscean types. Healthy types have a firm sincere handshake. More lines add more sensitivity. Head and life lines may separate at their beginnings. Long head lines gently slope downward toward well-developed heels of the hands while long heart lines gracefully curve upward toward the index finger. I’ve observed a lot of round or conical fingertips with long nails and a majority of loop fingerprints, but not enough to generalize.

“You’ve got to play to lose”

Forty-one years ago, this moment was captured in a photo booth at Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lloyd and I met while employed part time at a metal, plastics, and woodworking machine shop where we fabricated preschool children’s learning thingamajigs. We made toys for ourselves on our own time. We were about to graduate from different colleges. I’d become an industrial designer. Lloyd would continue to be an artist. We were actually a couple of Peter Pans on our way to Neverland.

Once upon a time, we hitchhiked to a local auto drive-away place, surveyed some pins on a map, and impulsively decided to drive a brand new black Cadillac Fleetwood limousine from Pittsburgh to Miami Beach. We had three days to get there. With a lot of caffeine and humor, we made it in twenty-four hours. We visited Lloyd’s older sister when we arrived, pretending we were successful entrepreneurs. While we were out shooting skeet and racing go-carts at the local track, Lloyd’s sister thoughtfully washed our laundry for us. We came home to find our ragged underwear and socks hanging on her clothes line. The jig was up. Then we drove the Caddy to the beach in search of horny females, but didn’t enchant any.

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”. Fifty years of friendship have witnessed many challenging lessons in humility for us. We delayed our outer world from harmonizing with our inner world by always choosing to learn the hard way. There were no shortcuts. We had to finally let go of our need to be more and greater than we were.

Lloyd’s slender rectangular palms and long fingers harmonize with his Cancer sun, which is conjunct my Mercury. His Gemini ascendant harmonizes with my Gemini sun. Lloyd’s head and life lines are tightly intertwined at their beginnings and reveal his desire to feel appreciated. He was a sensitive child who needed love and support, but didn’t get any. Lloyd tried hard to fix his broken parents, but they were too sick to give him approval and appreciation. Instead, they judged, criticized, and abused him. Lloyd can survive without anyone’s approval, but he thrives on appreciation. He’ll give his friends the shirt off his back, but they had better not take him for granted. Lloyd has literally given me the shirt off his back in my moment of need. I was on my way to an important meeting and got a nasty stain on my shirt. Before I could blink, Lloyd took off his shirt and traded with me.

Lloyd’s a quick thinker and extremely clever with words. Soon after we met, he was on the TV word show “Jeopardy”. When the host asked, “What do you do Mister Wilson?” Lloyd replied, “I’m a sculptor”. “What kind of sculpture do you make?” Not having a quick easy explanation for his broad eclectic mind and artwork, Lloyd sized up the marketing opportunity and responded in his deep resonant voice, “Expensive Sculpture”.

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 hurt him. Lloyd’s mother committed suicide, his father was committed to a mental institution, and his beautiful sister, who I’d met in Florida with her two young children, great husband, and apparently idyllic life, suddenly and unexpectedly blew her head off with a shotgun.

Lloyd’s very 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”. He probably doesn’t realize it, but the gold ring on the bottom middle finger of Lloyd’s unconscious hand symbolizes his need to have clear boundaries, be frugal, and not give everything away.

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

Lloyd Wilson is Pittsburgh’s best kept secret because he loves his anonymity. His artwork reveals a magical spirit, but few will ever get to know it. Lloyd personifies Cancer’s best qualities. He’s supportive, sympathetic, receptive, reflective, intuitive, imaginative, and extremely devoted to friends and family. It’s no surprise he’s my best friend.

USA PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY

Mission Accomplished?

There have been four US Presidents born under the sign of Cancer. The most recent and worst (in my opinion) President in history was George W Bush. His intuitive hands and personality match his Leo ascendant. George manifested the worst qualities of Cancer and Leo in his presidential intentions and actions. Here’s my rant I featured him in.

There were three previous Cancer Presidents. It’s interesting to look at the similarities.

Like George W. Bush vs. Al Gore, the 6^th President, John Quincy Adams finished second in the popular vote behind General Andrew Jackson. No one had a sizable majority. The choice was put before the House of Representatives. The House Speaker, Henry Clay, swung the election to Adams. When Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State, the Jackson followers cried, “Corrupt bargain”.

Unlike Bush, Adams was not re-installed. Here’s a quote on Adams by W.H. Littleton. “Of all the men whom it was ever my lot to accost and to waste civilities upon, he was the most doggedly and systematically repulsive. With a vinegar aspect, cotton in his leathern ears, and hatred in his heart, he sat… like a bulldog among spaniels”.

The 30^th President, Calvin Coolidge, shared his (July 4) birthday with the US Declaration of Independence. His most famous characteristic, “holding his tongue”, earned him the title, “Silent Cal”. Two infamous sayings of his were, “If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it” and “The business of America is business”. William Allen White described him, “He was an economic fatalist with a God given inertia. He knew nothing and refused to learn”. “He was weaned on a pickle” declared Alice Roosevelt Longworth

The 38^th President, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., didn’t learn that he had been adopted until he was seventeen years old. His wife Betty performed the domestic chores because Gerry wouldn’t lift a finger around the house. As Speaker of the other house, Ford passionately pleaded for escalation of the war in Vietnam. He urged members to “unleash devastating air and sea power”.

Ford launched an unsuccessful crusade to impeach liberal Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas as a favor to his buddy Richard Nixon. Ford ultimately granted Nixon a “full complete and absolute pardon” for all his crimes relating to the Watergate scandal. Ford also blamed the democrats for the disastrous rate of inflation and warned that electing more democrats would “jeopardize world peace”. He admitted that he almost never read books, but did find time to watch football on TV. Here are a few quotes from some of his celebrated critics.

“I cannot dislike him personally — he’s cordial and gracious. But he’s consistently wrong and consistency is a virtue of small minds. He’s never proposed a constructive solution to anything”. Congressman Robert Drinan

Lyndon Johnson accused Ford of “playing too much football with his helmet off”. “Jerry’s the only man I ever knew who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time”.

“Ford isn’t a bad man, but he’s dumb—dumb. He shouldn’t be dumb either. He went to school just like everybody else”. Reverend Duncan Littlefair

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

In contrast to George W Bush, the Dalai Lama is “the reborn soul of Buddha” and Nobel Prize winning pacifist. In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a singer, priest, healer, poet, and musician who could charm anyone. Orpheus enchanted Pluto into letting him enter the collective unconscious to retrieve his beloved Eurydice. In a moment of weakness, Orpheus looked back at death after being warned not to by Pluto. Orpheus lost Eurydice. He symbolizes the wounded healer who can heal others but not himself. The Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet in 1959. He lived as a “simple monk” in a remote corner of Northern India. His lifetime goals are to promote peace and love in the world and return to Tibet. You can bet whatever we owe China that it won’t happen anytime soon.

As the planet Pluto (god of sex, death, and transformation) transited the sign of Cancer from 1913 to 1938, partisan politics, nationalism, and isolationism transformed the world. World War I ended. World War II began. In 1913, President Wilson pressed a button in the White House that blew up the Gamboa Dike resulting in the destruction of the Isthmus of Panama. That action transformed travel by sea by creating a canal between oceans. Wilson legislated the Carter-Owen Bill that established a Federal Reserve System that transformed the strangle hold on the nation’s currency and credit system by banks.

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

Everyone was encouraged to “Do your bit”. Liberty Bonds and wheatless-meatless days were promoted. By the end of 1919, the Influenza pandemic had peaked causing over half a million deaths while almost one quarter of the nation’s population were sick. Prohibition banned liquor for all U.S. citizens. A huge black market and bootlegging industry began to thrive. Black leader Marcus Garvey organized The Empire of Africa that attracted over 500,000 followers. He led the largest mass exodus of Blacks in U.S. history. There was little sense of brotherhood.

In 1929, doubt, fear, and panic upset the stock market which faced its darkest hour and most difficult crisis in history. Traditional foundations of home and family transformed. People born during this period spent much of their lives taking care of family. Parents with overdeveloped guilt and obligation trips motivated children of this generation to become dropouts and runaways.

As the planet Uranus transited the sign of Cancer from 1949 to1955, Mothers stopped staying at home and went to work. Women began wearing the “bikini”, a fashionable French bathing suit. ‘I Love Lucy’, a comical show about a housewife and Cuban bandleader husband became the most popular show on TV. Ranch houses and basement playrooms became popular. The subconscious mind was explored in psychology. People born between 1949 and 1955 with Uranus in Cancer may be oversensitive and easily hurt by irrational fears, or they may be rational, aware, and strong by choice.

Stay tuned for LEO – Search for Father…

Taurus – Understanding Values

Posted on April 24, 2015 by markseltman

Pope Francis was designed to blend love and spirituality with healthy values and good sense. He’s a Sagittarian with Sagittarius / Taurus hands. Notice there’s barely a bottom phalanx on his pinkie finger. Francis doesn’t care about stuff. He truly loves humanity and practices what he preaches.

Pope John Paul ll was a radiant light of Taurus. He asked the rich to share their wealth with the poor. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue and encouraged Catholics and Jews to love one another. Nearly assassinated, he also survived countless chaotic messes and reforms in the church.

Many popular and powerful people in the world were born under the sign of Taurus.

Krishnamurti, a spiritual guide, shared his good sense with whoever would listen.

Leonardo da Vinci, great artist and inventor, was a real Renaissance man.

Sigmund Freud was father of modern psychoanalysis.

Karl Marx developed the theory of socialism.

Martha Graham was mother of modern dance.

Katherine Hepburn was Grande Dame of American stage and movies.

Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair have been anchors for Great Britain.

William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles (both bulls) battled stubbornly over the making and release of the movie, ‘Citizen Kane’. Kane was a Midas who Welles immodestly modeled after Hearst. Despite his natural charisma and brilliant acting and directing, Welles was no match for Hearst’s financial fortune and ability to influence the masses. Hearst was stubborn, acquisitive, possessive, and controlling. Welles was determined and persistent in his righteous defiance of Hearst. Hearst tortured Welles with legal obstacles and bludgeoned him with bad publicity until he could no longer afford his principles, rise to his challenges, or control his self-indulgences (a peril for Taurus).

“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one”

A cruel Taurus is a zealous extremist in desperate need of spiritual guidance. From the darkest depths of Taurus arose a German dictator from 1933 to 1945. Adolph Hitler was responsible for over thirty million deaths. He transformed the world by harnessing the power of fear and terror and linking it with the power of symbolism to control and manipulate the masses. Jim Jones was a fanatic cult figure who led a thousand people to their mass suicide in 1978. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh showed no remorse for his evil act. Saddam Hussein (Iraqi President from 1979) was shamed and publicly slain by the United States.

Most Taurus types are inherently honest, hardworking, and dependable. They won’t bend the truth or perform a song and dance act for anyone. Their basic need for physical security fuels a practical and responsible nature. I read a lot of these types at corporate special events. They thrive in real estate, investment, and banking. Years ago, the wives used to drag them over to me. I was young and their husbands were too skeptical or superstitious of anything occult to come on their own. I assured them I was also a skeptic. I’d say, “I’m not here to prove anything. Take what works. Leave what doesn’t.”

I’ve been reading hands at corporate events for over thirty years. Once I’ve set up and settled in before the guests arrive, event planners bring the top brass to test my powers of observation. Everyone is curious to hear what I have to say about their character. I bet I’ve read more CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and COOs than any reader of anything anywhere. Sometimes, I work events where all the guests are CEOs. Normally they’re impossible to meet. I hold their hands in mine, make eye contact with them, and reflect on their personal issues for five-minutes. The magic of Taurus is in knowing and sharing true value.

As creatures of habit, Taurus must learn to pay attention to their habits from the get go. One lesson that must be learned is ‘procrastination produces inertia’. Once Taurus takes initiative, they must let go of what isn’t working, accept what needs to change, trust their intuition, and share their bountiful harvest of true wealth. I believe all wealthy people should be spiritually taxed to make a commitment to a worthy social cause where they can make a real difference. They can choose their cause.

Dr. Bryks

No matter your sun sign, authentic Taurus hands are meaty with large full balls of the thumb, square fingertips, developed second knots, large broad pink nails, and deeply engraved basic lines (very few peripheral lines). The head line is often closely intertwined with the life line.

‘Less is more’ learned King Midas when he wished for the touch of gold, got it, and turned his lovely daughter and their magical relationship into a hunk of metal. His food turned to gold as it touched his lips. Midas teaches us about values. He shows us how we can be stable and secure so that we can clearly know what we want and need. He teaches us how to be flexible and to let go of our outer wants by raising our awareness of what truly matters. Aphrodite (Greek) and Venus (Roman) rule Taurus and symbolize the pleasure loving nature of the bull. She’s creative, bountiful, and appreciates all things sensual and beautiful.

Large balls of thumb belong to givers. Saying “No” is a huge challenge for them (even more so if the thumb is flexible). Red color adds lusty passionate energy to the personality. Pink is normal. One symptom of intimacy problems that can be seen in the hands is when there are no lines parallel to the lifeline within the ball of the thumb. Even a partial line can indicate a significant intimate relationship for that length of time, along with an ability to be intimate and vulnerable. Taurus trust and generosity must be earned, honored, and nourished like a garden.

“Have you ever seen any hands that freaked you out?” When I first touched Manuel’s hands, I felt nauseous. It was sweltering hot day and an icy chill gripped my spirit. Manuel’s huge hot sweaty red balls of thumb had no lines in them. They looked as if an extra-large egg had been stuffed into them. Manuel’s tremendous desire and passion had nowhere to go because he had zero ability to be intimate with another being. He was a child serial killer. Click here to read his hands and story.

When a child reaches thirteen in the Jewish tradition, he or she becomes a man or woman after passing through a religious rite of passage. Rituals take place in synagogues and require the terrified adolescent to read Hebrew from the Torah, sing, and earn their passage to adulthood. I’ve read hundreds of teenage hands at Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties. I work at dozens of these celebrations each year. They range from modest family gatherings to gigantic extravaganzas. I get to work with the world’s best magicians, caricaturists, and performers at these events. I used to be the “psychic” with my black velvet purple satin lined cape, crystal ball, and large lighted magnifying glass. Over the years, my role has transformed from psychic to five-minute best friend and bull-shit detector. It’s amazing how much value can be given in minutes.

It’s not always what you see, but what you say and how you say it that matters. An entourage’ of kids accompanied their Taurian friend to his reading. He looked like a thirteen year old CEO with his very expensive designer suit and tie. His soft pudgy square palms and short square fingers had never seen a lick of physical work. His friends jokingly urged me to “Tell him he’s gay”.

“Do you know who he is?” one of his friends asked. To me, he was one more kid with a lot of challenges ahead. Turns out he was one of the richest kids in the world. I asked his entourage’ to “back off” as I spoke with him about working harder to express his true feelings and learning to behave naturally. I could see from his eyes and body language that he wasn’t interested in what I had to say. Later that evening, he came back alone and acted like I’d never met him before. I tried to penetrate his thick shell by repeating the same advice. When I finished, he said, “I fooled you. You already read my hands”.

“I know who you are” I replied. “You’re the (so and so) boy. I’m going to offer you a valuable piece of free advice”. I looked into his eyes while holding his hands firmly, “Your money doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Your power is unearned. You’ll be old one day like everyone else and have relationship, work, and health challenges. You need to decide what you truly value. How can you make a positive difference with your abundant resources in a world that needs your help?” With eyes dropped and shoulders rounded, he slinked away. I hope he’s realized the difference he can make.

I once read hands at a sweet thirteen party at a fancy New Jersey country club. A shopping center magnate was competing with his Jewish neighbors. He must have spent $250,000 on this party. I worked my usual four-hour shift. As a five-minute palmist, I read up to 48 people in 4 hours. As I was packing my bag and preparing to head to an evening party in Manhattan, Midas arrived. He gruffly requested that I read his hands. “I’m sorry, I’m finished and in a hurry to get to another party”.

“You don’t understand” he bellowed insistently, “I’m the one who’s paying you”. I politely replied, “The party planner has already paid me”. “Then I’ll stop payment on his check!” I didn’t want to alienate my planner, so I re-plugged in my lighted magnifier. “OK hold up your hands”.

I stared intently at his square palms and short fingers. His long crooked middle fingers had grilles (peripheral lines crisscrossing) beneath, indicating a highly self-critical nature. His bitten down nails revealed an argumentative and critical nature. “Go ahead, tell me how fucked up I am”, he said.

“I won’t tell you you’re fucked up, but I will tell you what is fucked up. You’ve worked so unbelievably hard for everything you have and yet you don’t have a clue how to truly enjoy the fruits of your labor. You’re a frustrated perfectionist, extremely self-critical, and critical and judgmental of others. Lighten up and smell the roses! ” He stood up, “That’s enough. They said you were good and they were right”.

When Uranus transited Taurus from 1935 to 1942, the USA went off the gold standard. People 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 our freedoms, including social and national security. People born between 1935 and 1942 have Uranus in Taurus. Many have experienced sudden and unexpected gains and reversals. Uranus will return to Taurus after 84 years in early 2019 for another seven years. The New York Stock Exchange and The Federal Reserve are bulls. Expect extreme financial fluctuations.

Capitalism and the banking industry are ruled by Taurus. Capitalism is characterized by individuals and businesses who exercise their financial freedom in whatever ways they see fit within law. Driven by supply, demand, innovation, and competition, capitalism raises our standard of living by heating, cooling, and lighting us. It enables us to travel freely, independently, and communicate on a grand scale. We can acquire many products and services and are empowered by money to afford them.

Capitalism is wealthy, but not wise. In theory, Capitalism can be great for all. In practice, we must be more responsible and vigilant. Like religion, the bright side of capitalism uplifts while the dark side promotes prejudice, pain, guilt, shame, and suffering. Power corrupts when real value and integrity are compromised. Capitalism fans the flames of larceny by segregating haves from have-nots. Too much temptation for too many greedy dishonest humans makes trouble for everyone. Capitalism’s heart is hard and its head is even harder. It’s easy to rationalize the most horrific of actions when they’re not happening to us. We’re closer to Armageddon than Eden. The trappings of Capitalism are its failings. Where does the light of Capitalism end and apocalyptic darkness begin?

The esoteric side of Taurus is values. Everything and nothing are of equal value; identical in nature, but different by degree. A billionaire dying of cancer will gladly trade his money for youth and good health. A famous celebrity whose child is brain damaged will gratefully scrub toilets in Grand Central for her child’s recovery. People ask, “When will I die” or “How long is my lifeline?” I remind them they will definitely die. I tell them, “Only God knows when. It’s about quality, not quantity”.

Many people apply formulas for success, and yet few are truly successful. Unhealthy values point us down a path of self-destruction. Our challenges are not physical, but philosophical and spiritual. Success is a state of mind, heart, and spirit. Our good health and the health of our world is a reflection of our thoughts and feelings. Must we learn to value what we have by losing it?

Everyone needs good sense and wise counsel. Taurus helps us believe in ourselves, have faith, cultivate right attitudes, think positively, and set realistic goals. She teaches us honesty, responsibility, discipline, structure, focus, courage, determination, and persistence. We can all be our own best friends and bull shit detectors.

Palmistry – Fact vs Fiction

Posted on May 13, 2014 by markseltman

Fact: Everyone has hands. Hands contain valuable information about a person’s character, relationships, purpose, and health.

Fiction: Palmistry is a fortune telling scam.

It was never my intention to become the face of palmistry, however, since I’m nearly 67 and no one else is doing it, I’m assuming the responsibility. I’d like to share with you six lessons that I’ve learned while attempting to become a spokesperson for palmistry.

Most people are resistant to change. It’s amazing how many strangers over the years have asked me if I “really believe this stuff”, or they deny palmistry, saying it’s bunk, even though they’ve never bothered to study or research a drop of it.
It’s hard work shedding light in the dark. Much of my work is mundane. I spend many hours each day social networking and corresponding via snail mail. I often spend an hour or more a day just addressing envelopes by hand.
It’s a lonely journey and not much fun. I crave solidarity, but mostly get solitude, “at a boys” and pats on the back for my efforts. Fortunately, I have a few educated peers to bounce ideas off of, but generally, I experience a lot of apathy from most people. I wish I had access to a think tank or mastermind group.
It’s very expensive to finance my efforts. Just printing a few hundred books and sending them out can cost a couple of thousand dollars. I’ve signed up for a variety of expensive monthly internet services. I’ve also paid for advertising on Facebook and other social networks. I spend a huge amount of time writing articles for free in exchange for publicity. Life in general has become very costly.
People call me a great palmist, but I’m actually a great counselor. By combining my knowledge of palmistry with my understanding of astrology, numerology, tarot, mythology, and psychology, I’m able to deeply understand people’s needs.
Publicity is the best form of promotion.

I’ve been laboring over a press release for the past couple of weeks that I intend to send out to the mass media. I’m attempting to capture the essence of modern palmistry and to compel the mass media to embrace the idea of accepting palmistry as a valuable form of self-help. I’ve asked all of my friends, fans, and followers for feedback and advice and have received many interesting comments on my most recent blog post. The consensus is that less is more and I need to condense my proposal.

I tend to recoil at suggestions that I reduce my pitch to superficial sound bites such as predicting ‘love’, ‘money’, or ‘the future’ from hands. I know that it’s what a lot of people want to hear, but that’s a myth. A literary agent once approached me to write an article for Cosmo magazine, “How to increase your bust size through palmistry”. She thought I was crazy when I refused to participate, because the money was substantial. People are hooked on quick fixes. I refuse to become a snake oil salesman or dispense miracle pills for eternal happiness and enlightenment.

The most popular palmistry book (and my least favorite) is called “Palmistry, From Apprentice to Pro in 24 Hours”. You truly can’t judge a book from its cover. If claims like this one were true, there would certainly be a lot of people in the world enthusiastically reading hands and learning all kinds of valuable stuff about themselves and each other.

Here is my most recent version of my press release. Any comments, thoughts, ideas, advice, opinions, and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

New perspectives in palmistry are featured in this freshly published ‘Hand Book’ that revolutionizes how people see their hands.

In the 20^th Century we asked “What’s your sun sign?”

In the 21^st Century we’ll soon ask, “May I see your hands?”

Mark Seltman, author of ‘Real Palmistry’ (e-book), shifts the paradigm of palmistry as a fortune-telling scam to seeing hands as a valuable tool to knowing oneself and others. “Priceless insight is waiting to be discovered at the ends of our arms” says Mark, who has been featured in the New York Times, The View, CBS Evening News, New York Magazine, Family Circle, and recently has been named one of The 100 Top Psychics and Astrologers in America 2014.

In our complicated world, the value of reading hands is in being able to readily and easily identify basic character and motivation. Hands change as a person’s thinking and circumstances change. A tiny change in the direction or quality of a line can symbolize a huge change in a life. It’s time for the ancient science and art of palmistry to be reborn; initiating compelling new opportunities for people to interact and get to know themselves and others better.

Palmistry is simple and fun. You don’t have to be an expert palmist to see relationship, career, and health potentials in your hands. Self-knowledge and understanding is easily acquired through a visual and tactile examination of hands. ‘Hand Book’ will motivate readers to look at their hands and teach them to see their character in action.

Mark explains how the size, shape, and proportions of hands reveal four basic archetypes: Intuitive, Practical, Thinking, and Feeling. The texture, color, elasticity and consistency of skin explain how we initiate, maintain, and adapt to new ideas and circumstances. The attributes of individual fingers, shapes of fingertips, and qualities of nails reflect our relationships with others. Lines in the hands and gestures reveal detailed information about our life choices and circumstances.

You can ask your hands:

Like a Myers Briggs personality test incarnate, our hands are topographical maps of our character. As we study them to identify our strengths and weaknesses, we can alter our thinking, exercise our free will, and transform our negative thought patterns into positive behavioral patterns. As we make decisions and take action, we can see our successes and failures reflected in the mirrors of our hands over time.

‘Real Palmistry’ is a must read for anyone who’s curious about what their hands reveal about who they really are.

Mark Seltman has read many thousands of sets of hands. He’s been featured on Martha Stewart Living, Queens, FOX Good Day NY, WNYC Radio, NY Newsday, Where NY, the Daily News, Village Voice, Time Out New York, Modern Bride, INSTYLE, Refinery 29, and many other publications.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent Real Palmistry e-book review on Amazon.com.

I’ve read more than a few palmistry books and this is something else. It does teach palm reading, but differently from any other book I’ve read. This book is about concepts like will power, creativity, health and perception. Sure he talks about the mounts and lines and fingers, but he presents it in an interesting and unique way. Mark tells stories and anecdotes about his life as a palm reader (and his life) and dispenses his philosophy. There are many pictures that illustrate his points and he includes web links as further reference. There is much to be learned in this unique book and I think the format will help the reader learn and understand it faster and longer.

Reviews drive search engines. I have extra copies of Hand Book. If anyone would like to receive a free copy, leave your mailing address in the comments section of this blog (I won’t publish it). I’ll send you a copy. If you like it, please review Real Palmistry (e-book) on Amazon.com. It’s basically the same book as Hand Book and is a better value for the $.

A Famous Athena Type

Posted on January 10, 2014 by markseltman

Back in April 2001, I examined Martha Stewart’s hands on her CBS TV show, Martha Stewart Living. Born August 3 1941, Martha has her astrological Sun, Pluto, and Midheaven in Leo. Although the Leo character type has a rectangular palm and short fingers, Martha is an Athena type with a square palm and long fingers.

As a thinking type, Athena has always been one of my favorite archetypes. She was the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Justice. Athena sprung from the head of Zeus and rules the strategic thinking required in battle. Greek heroes like Odysseus and Achilles worshiped her. She’s most often pictured as a handsome Goddess in battle armor with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. In metaphysics, swords always symbolize the thinking function. In Libra, Athena holds the scales of justice. She’s sometimes pictured with an owl which symbolizes Wisdom. Athena was notorious for conveniently shedding emotion in favor of thinking with crystal clarity.

Raised in a large traditional Polish family, Martha grew up compulsively ambitious and hardworking. Her very strong, talented, hardworking hands are well suited for gardening and crafts. Her hands are natural and peasant like with regard to their consistency, texture, and elasticity. I didn’t see “fame” in Martha’s hands. I saw an extremely powerful index finger which indicates an incredibly ambitious hard working person. Martha also has large stiff thumbs with well-developed full balls of the thumb. I admired her will power, passion, and determination. She was a very gracious host. As a boss, she’s very demanding. I observed dozens of hip young professionals scurrying around making sure Martha and her work always looks good. Martha’s intention and mission is to truly give consumers something of value. In hindsight, I regret not having done a better job explaining palmistry to her audience.

Several days after the show, I examined the prints I had taken of Martha’s hands along with her astrological chart. I wish I could share them with you, but she didn’t give me permission to publish them. I saw that there was likely to be some confusing and challenging years ahead in which her integrity and reputation might be challenged. I wrote and offered to discretely share my insights with her. She never replied.

When the ImClone stock scandal broke, friends who knew that I had been on Martha’s show began calling and asking if I had seen it coming. They suggested that I remove her from my press kit and made cruel jokes about her. I felt sickened when I realized how many people found pleasure as Martha crashed and burned. There were so many real white-collar good old boy criminals playing higher stake games and getting away with them. The media had dressed Martha in Wolf’s clothing while she became their sacrificial lamb. I wrote again to offer my insights. I had heard that Martha personally reads most of her mail, but there was still no reply.

Martha is an honest person. Her fingers are straight and the lines in her hands are clear and well defined. She became a high profile casualty of corporate greed and corruption. Guilt or innocence was not really the issue. Martha’s pride got in the way. As a former financial planner, she used poor judgment. She wasn’t thinking “I’m insider trading” when she sold her stock. She was taking advice on not losing money from her stock broker. She should have known better. Many mega rich people insider trade all the time without thinking twice about it. They get away with their actions because they’re not under public or private scrutiny, they know how to avoid being flagged, and because they’re very discreet and keep secrets well.

The irony here is that Martha cares what people think. Her closely connected head and life line symbolize how diligently she tried to get approval from her highly critical father. Whenever you see such a strong connection, you can assume that the person has a desire to be liked and wants your approval. If you want to piss them off, then don’t appreciate them or take them for granted. I would have advised Martha that as a heroine she must always take the highest road possible. I’d have urged her to apologize to her loyal fans and publicly offer whatever money was involved to some great cause.

Martha should have chosen humility like Mufaasa, but instead behaved irrationally like young Simba. Where were Pumbaa and Timon when she needed a refresher course on the laws of the jungle? Goldilocks may improve on the porridge and decorate the beds more beautifully, but the bears are still pissed when they get home. Many fans resent Martha for demonstrating the hubris that destroyed the gods and many heroes in Greek and Roman Mythology. As Martha reclaims her throne as Queen of mass taste, she must also re-earn people’s trust by remaining truly humble. I hope she’s learned her lesson.

Here’s an appropriate myth. In peacetime, the Greek goddess Athena ruled Arts and Crafts. Athena is often pictured with a spear in one hand and a bowl or spindle in the other. Athena looked after weavers, potters, and craftsmen. Athena battled with a mortal named Arachne (Martha). Arachne was an incredible weaver. Other mortals compared her to Athena. Arachne should have given Athena credit, but instead, she arrogantly challenged Athena to a weaving contest. Arachne made matters worse by poking fun at Athena’s family in her weaving. Her creation was magnificent; however Athena still transformed Arachne into an arachnid (spider), the greatest weaver for all time. It’s not a good idea for mortals to mess with Gods. Martha is not Athena. She’s not our savior. Martha is a great teacher who is capable of making a huge difference in our world while weaving tasteful and meaningful webs of strength, beauty, hope, and faith.

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