Western palmistry (II): fingers
As already seen in the previous article (part I), regarding the shape of the hand, we found the popularity of a system that differentiated the shapes of the palm and the fingers in order to make a first general reading, without classifying the hand, as a single entity, but multiple. We turn now to the analysis of reading the shape of the fingers.
The fingers
The importance of treating the fingers goes further, since each finger must be treated separately, since the vast majority of hands are mixed, - and it would be an error, within palmistry thought, to deny the classification by the general shape of the hand and yes accept it about the general shape of the fingers. To talk about the observation of the fingers within palmistry, we must know that the thumb has a separate place, which will be reviewed in the next sections. The fingers take the name of the mountain on which they are born. And they are related to the characteristics associated with it. The index is from Jupiter and indicates leadership, control and initiative; the middle or heart is from Saturn, it talks about constancy and balance; the ring finger is from Apollo, and indicates luck, creativity and fame; and the little finger is Mercury, which represents both intelligence and cunning.
One of the ways to analyze them is to check their flexibility backwards, with the most flexible being the one that determines the most predominant quality. If when thrown back they lean to one side, they are considered cunning fingers, adding cunning to the characteristics of the mount, while if they cost a lot or remain anchored, it is supposedly a forecast of the inversion of the qualities of the mount to which they belong. But this can also be done inward, in which case the characteristics would focus on the person and not on their external exposure.
The crooked fingers, or those towards which the others are directed, are considered predominant of the same, that is to say, that the finger towards which another leans marks or affects the expected quality of that: For example, if the finger of Saturn (middle) is crooked and Jupiter's (index) seems to lean or stick to it, then Saturn's finger will affect Jupiter's qualities. In these situations there is also talk of two brothers, when some give in to others. The height at which the fingers are born is also important for the analysis of the influence of said fingers. These influences will be balanced if they all arise at more or less the same height from the palm, but if, for example, the little finger were to be born a little lower, the qualities of Mercury would be somewhat undermined.
It is also taken into consideration if the fingers are more united, which is called marks of distrust, self-enclosure, arrogant, extremely formal or prickly, or separated, which would be the opposite, a person to a certain extent bohemian, free , of easy friendship, and nothing conservative. The separations or unions of the fingers are also looked at one by one. If the index-Jupiter and middle-Saturn are united, he will be a person close to conventions, while if he has them separated, he will be a person with his own ideas; If the heart-Saturn and ring-Apollo are united, it would mean a foresighted, ceremonial, organized person, while if they were separated, it would indicate the degree of extravagance and disorder of the individual. Finally, the union between the ring finger-Apollo and the little finger-Mercury would show the correlation between thinking and acting, while the further apart they are, the more distant would be the way of thinking and acting accordingly. These senses are extracted from the mountains of the same name from which the fingers are born, and which will be analyzed in the third part of this series of articles.
-The phalanges and knuckles.
There are those who associate this individual interpretation with astrology, and those who associate it with Kabbalah, since in both cases the number 12 (3 phalanges for four fingers) has a special meaning. Each of the phalanges will provide the palmist with transcendent information, within the quality denoted by the finger, in turn indicated by the mountain on which it is born. In this case, the longest phalanx is taken into account, thus coinciding with the greatest development of this characteristic. The first phalanx belongs to the mental world, the second to the practical world, and the third to the passionate or rougher world: a classification similar to that of the whole of the hand in general that we already saw in the previous article on Palmistry. It will also depend on their thickness. Its greater width will determine the rudeness of its interests, while its narrowness will indicate an insatiable and more twisted character, without prejudice to the fact that this turn of the screw may lead to good or bad actions.
As for the knuckles, their importance lies, according to tradition, in how prominent they are, influencing the quality indicated by the finger. In addition, depending on whether the first or the second is the most marked, it will be known if the person is more mental and calculating, or more passionate and incendiary.
-The tips of the fingers.
About the tips of the fingers there are certain discussions between palmists and chirologists, since, in general, the hand shows the same type of tip in all the fingers, thus offering an almost identical personality message in all aspects that, as we saw, indicated each finger.
The tips are usually classified as spatulate, square, sharp and conical. Of the wide and flat spatulates, it is usually said that they like physical activity and manual labor, affectionate, firm and easily adaptable. They therefore have personal independence, originality and initiative. From the square ones, palmists deduce orderly, homely, courteous, punctual, skilful and precise spirits, even somewhat strict. From the sharp points, which "stand out" from the whole of the hand, it is possible to identify dreamers and idealists, those who have "the world against them", but also capricious ones. Finally, the conical, rounded points imply intuition, more or less depending on the cone that is formed, emotional, kind, and, in general, that they allow themselves to be influenced a lot by feelings and impressions rather than by objectivity.
-The thumb.
The thumb is born from the mount of Venus, so what the finger will supposedly reveal to us will be about sexuality, love, and relationships with others.
In this way, if we realize it, it completely distances itself from the messages that the other four fingers gave us, focused on the internal characteristics of the person and their expression, but not on their relationship with other human beings. The thumb, likewise, is analyzed from birth with the hand extended, to see if it is born in the lower, middle or upper part of the palm, considering that the higher it is born, the lower the capacity for emotional intelligence and adaptability. of the individual with others, since it would be more similar to the other fingers; In the same way, a thumb with a low birth could denote an excessive emotional dependence, as well as too much dedication or generosity, being the average height the one that allows us to see towards which of the two extremes the life of the analysand will be guided.
The analysis is also divided into short or long thumb. If we keep the thumb extended, glued to the hand, and the tip reaches at least the middle of the third phalanx of the index, it will be called long, and if it does not reach, short. This will be associated with the phalanges of the thumb, three, but normally only two clearly visible. The upper or first phalanx determines willpower, the second, reasoning ability, and the third, sympathy, passion and love in general, as it is practically sunk in the mount of Venus. The long or short of these phalanges will determine what predominates more in people's relationships.
This is also deductible from how much the thumb moves away from the hand when leaving it stretched out and at rest. Thus, a thumb stuck to the hand would represent a cautious person, not very open, reserved and difficult to approach, perhaps even unkind. The more separated, the more outgoing, frank, faithful and friendly. This, together with the flexibility that the finger allows, would also speak of extravagance or strictness. In addition, some chirologists and palmists believe that the hills of the palm would influence the phalanges of the thumb that were closest to them.
The end of the finger would be classified in the same way as in the others, being notable that a different type of tip can be found in the thumbs, due to its isolated situation and, of course, its great use in general life. The same happens with the knuckles, more easily marked or overdeveloped. Precisely because of this continued use of the thumb and all that it entails, there is an internal classification of types of thumbs:
- Elementary thumb: basic, underdeveloped, rustic and clumsy. It is associated with rude, tactless, and even a little ignorant people, somewhat inconsiderate people, but not always because of malice, rather because they go headlong into everything and against everything, without stopping to think.
- Nervous thumb: something flat and soft, defines people who are flaccid of character, easily influenced, nervous and unbalanced. They tend to get close to what they identify as strength, but they never make use of it or know how to take advantage of it.
- Wide thumb: Robust and somewhat rounded appearance. He speaks of healthy but also aggressive people, with personal drive and great determination, but who lack a bit of self-control in their actions.
- Strong thumb: it has a balanced diameter throughout the entire finger. It determines people with the gift of people, intelligence, firmness in purpose and willpower. Therefore, he would stand out in perseverance and diplomacy, without exerting physical force.
- Rowing thumb: It tries to resemble the shape of said object, flatter only at the tip, without reaching the nervous thumb. It is usually associated with people of great spiritual strength, and not necessarily physical, so they tend to collapse before action.
- Flexible thumb: as mentioned before, regarding the flexibility of the fingers, if, in this case, the thumb is extremely flexible, to the point of going free, it is associated with a brilliant and versatile character, but prone to extremes, unfocused, extravagant, and perhaps even spendthrift.
- Stiff thumb: unlike the previous one, a person with this thumb would be defined by great common sense, caution, possessiveness and perhaps even parsimonious. They would be very reliable individuals, but also somewhat conformist.
- Garrotte (bludgeon) thumb: this last type is also the strangest due to its deformity, with a thick, rounded tip, and a thinner body. It has been called in some cases "assassin's thumb", but, evidently, an attempt has been made to avoid this association, which is mainly due to cold-bloodedness and violent obstinacy, driven by anger. There are those who say that, due to its physical peculiarity, it is a hereditary characteristic, but, once again, pointing it out in this way would put both the consultant and the palmist at risk.
-The nails.
To finish with the interpretation of the set of fingers of the hand, it is mandatory to make a hole for the nails. The brittleness or hardness of the nails is associated with people's nervous disorders, as well as their health. This may be a no-brainer. But the nails always present many problems for chirologists, especially given the general states of arrangement (painted, manicure, care) or disorder (bitten, broken, sick). For this reason they tend to focus on their shape and, if possible, texture, although there are those who give special value to colours, spots and the cuticle, when they have not been treated.
Due to their shape, they would be classified as narrow, called "psychic" and wide, the former being an indication of mental health, and the latter of physical health. Likewise, they divide them into short and long, being the short a sign of a critical spirit, stubbornness, and the long ones, of more flexible people.
The termination of the nails, rounded or square, is difficult to analyze given the arrangements to which we subject them. However, if they were visible naturally, the rounded ones would be open and frank people, with broad criteria, while the square ones would be somewhat more closed-minded people, and also in the personal aspect.
As for their figure, if they are bulbous or recurved, something similar to colors and spots happens: medical associations are made. In this way, the bulbous ones indicate internal diseases, the recurved ones, respiratory and throat disorders. Blue nails owe their tone precisely to circulatory problems; the yellow ones are usually due to some infection; the black spots are associated with kidney problems, the white ones with liver problems, and the veins are linked to the nervous system. Some of these things correspond to medical patterns, and some do not. For example, many of the small white spots on the nails arise from small lesions that the nail heals naturally; there is also a tendency to link someone with very red nails, due to high blood levels, to being a fiery and impulsive person.
There is also a "medical" side to the cuticles, considering that "detached" nails are less healthy than those in which the cuticle grows well. However, for quite a few palmists, the cuticle is a kind of "continuation" of the finger, and therefore, it shows their greater or lesser dominance over the deducible characteristics of the nails.
As can be seen, both in this and in the previous article we have focused on matters of pure observation, in some cases deductive and in others not so much. Henceforth, future articles will fully explore the issues of mancia itself, but, as seems natural in any process, it was considered that presenting the general shapes of the hand and the deductions/divinations of the personality implied a challenge. first unavoidable step to be able to continue smoothly in the investigation.
Pietro Viktor Carracedo Ahumada - pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
Bibliography:
-Caro Baroja, J. Historia de la fisiognómica. El rostro y el carácter. Ediciones Istmo, Madrid, 1988
-Fadh. T. La divination árabe. Études religieuses, sociologiques et folkloriques sur le milieu natif de l'Islam. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1966
-Lawrence-Mathers, A., Escobar Vargas, C. Magic and Medieval Society. Routledge, London & NY, 2014.
-Servier J.(ed.) Diccionario crítico del esoterismo. Akal, 2006
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