Individual Markings on the Hand

 

Transverse Markings

A transverse marking is an evil sign that serves to drain the positive qualities of any mount it is found upon. Though a person may have the markings of a heroic mount, these qualities can be reduced to depravity if bespoiled with a score of transverse lines. An example of such a misfortune are transverse lines across the Mount of Mercury, which indicate that the bearer will use their talents of diplomacy and tact for deceit and guile for ill gains.


 

Vertical Markings

Vertical markings are not to be confused with sister lines, which accompany a major line on the palm. They are, however, still a beneficent sign. If found on the mount, they heighten its positive qualities and assist in annulling any poor signs also located on the mount. They are the antithesis of the aforementioned transverse markings. To use the case of the Mount of Mercury as expressed above, vertical markings upon this mount will bring a great deal of tact and loquaciousness to serve for pleasant communication and camaraderie. It will emphasize science and business skills. In fact, two vertical lines on the Mount of Mercury are often the symbol of a doctor or biologist.


 

The Grille

The grille is a point at which the energies of the hand dissipate. If grilles enmesh the entirety of the hand, the power of its bearer is constantly drained by vexations and imagined slights. If a grille appears on the mount, it saps or thwarts the qualities of the mount, e.g. such a mar on the Mount of Apollo will forever dash the attainment of any true success in life.


 

The Cross

Crosses denote troubles, disappointment, danger, and when found on lines, the harm to the bearer may be aggravated. Occasionally it can refer to a dramatic change in one's life due to a crisis or hardship. They should always be considered an ill omen save for two cases: when found on the Mount of Jupiter and when located between the head and heart lines, known as the "Croix Mystique". The bearer of such a symbol is purported to possess a greater degree of mysticism, occultism, and superstition. The length of the head line in conjunction with the Croix Mystique is quite important; should the bearer demonstrate a short (hence, unimaginative and uncreative) Line of Head, they will tend to be quite superstitious, bordering on paranoia. One with a longer Line will have a greater affinity and comfort with the occult.

The position of the "Croix Mystique" is also quite important. If located high up, near the Mount of Jupiter, the bearer will exhibit belief in mysticism only for their own gain. When their future is divined, they care not for the means and the circumstance of their oracular prediction, but only for how it will relate to their life. Those with crosses further from the Mount of Jupiter will care more for the principles and methods by which the mystical experience was expressed rather than its immediate application to themselves.

If it be at the other extreme, near or on the Mount of Luna, the bearer ascribes great feeling to mystical experiences, and possesses a flair or affinity for sensationalism and miracles.

 

The Star

 

 

 

 

 

The star is a symbol of great and sudden brilliance in a person's life. This brilliance is often arbitrary and unexpected, and is always an event that the individual can exercise little control over. A line that ends in a star signifies the greatest accomplishments possible; however, the star often carries with it an unpleasant price. For example, put it the case that the Line of Apollo ends in a star: this denotes great fame, but this often results in the bearer suffering the loss of their private sphere to their successful public sphere. Though the bearer is now extremely famous (or perhaps infamous), they may find their accomplishments to announce a hollow victory.

A star on the mounts will naturally denote great proficiency with the mount's corresponding traits, yet these traits may consume some of the other bearer's qualities. It is no enigma that the star on the Line of Head may at times be the harbinger of blindness or damage to the eyes, for its brilliance is so great as to tumble the most virtuous of individuals. The star is certainly a sign to be viewed with great caution. Seek temperance and balance when marked with such a capricious blessing.

 

The Island

The Island is always a negative sign, save for some systems in determining an individual's fecundity. It is often a sign of some hereditary evil, such as a heart condition or intemperance with spirits, but it may just as easily represent non-congenital emotional stress or a dire pecuniary situation.

Unlike the star or the cross, the island is a gradual and prolonged, and oft times subtle period of strife in an individual's life. It could represent mounting stress on the line of the head, and manifest itself as headaches. Because of the gradual nature of this malady, the bearer may not have even noticed that they are in a darker period of their life. On the Line of Fate, It could be a period in which the individual finds themselves surrounded with mounting debts that peak at the widest point of the island.

In accordance with the interpretation above, it should come as no surprise that these misfortunes will last to the extent that the island is long.



The Square

The square is almost always a beneficent symbol. It denotes an especial significance when covering an area that is experiencing turmoil, such as chained, broken, or dotted lines. In this instance, difficulties will arise (whose nature are to be discerned from the line), but the bearer will persevere and the crisis will be averted. Damage may be reduced or prevented all together. A square after perturbations in a line signifies repair.
The one instance in which the square denotes negative influences is when it is found on the upper portion of the Mount of Venus near the life line, where it portends detention or incarceration.

The Circle

The circle is a very rare marking in cheiromancy, and little is said about it. It is an evil mark unless it be on a mount, in which case it usually augments the powers and promise of a mount. If it touch any line, it brings inescapable misfortune importuning to the line it touches. "...In other words, he will, as it were, go round and round in a circle without being able to break through and get free.

 

The Triangle

The triangle is nearly always a positive sign, though strong significance should be ascribed to it only when it stands as an independent mark, not composed of intersecting lines. It denotes mental flourish and success corresponding to the location of the mark, i.e., if it were to be found upon the mount of Apollo, it would denote an artistic success, such as music or acting. If found alongside a line, it will naturally take on significance dependent upon the line, marking a point at which satisfaction and accomplishment is achieved through the exercise of mental powers. The triangle will never reach the great heights of success that its cousin, the star, but it possesses balance and will not carry with it the backlash that so often accompanies the star.

The Spot

The spot is a sign of a distinct event or malady, though it often comes in groups that betoken a chronic disorder. If found on a line, it typically signifies a temporary illness corresponding to the demense of the line, e.g., a spot on the Line of Head portends some violence to the head or brain fever.

If located on one of the mounts, it is the bearer of unique and possibly lasting meaning. Cf. the individual mounts for their specific meaning.

 

The Trident

The trident is a most propitious marking wherever it may lay. If it rise from a line, it will expound the qualities of that line and draw additional power from the mounts or lines that the branches on either side head towards. If found on a mount, the trident carries with it great flourish of the properties of that mount in conjunction with its neighboring mounts. The trident is such a powerful symbol that it eclipses the star in beneficence.

The Tassel

The tassel one may liken to a frayed rope, whose tightly-coiled energy and structure has dissipated in the wake of stress, age, or a sudden calamity. A tasseled line can oft be found at the end of the lifeline; as the individual weakens and deteriorates with age, so too does the line. Such is the case with the Line of Head, where it denotes a weakening of mental clarity and approaching senility; the Line of Heart with a deteriorating heart condition or emotional trauma that has left the individual enfeebled and unstable, et cetera.

 

Drooping Offshoots

Lines that droop from any larger line each indicate a disappointment in life. Along the Line of Heart, it denotes disappointment in love or an unfortunate event in which the individual became too emotionally involved. Along the Line of Head, it may signify the thwarting of one's ideals or disillusionment.

 

Rising Offshoots

Rising offshoots are the inverse of drooping offshoots. They represent periods of sudden inspiration, fruition, and happiness. When determining the nature of the offshoot's properties, it is essential to observe in which direction the offshoot is headed. It will draw upon the qualities of the mount that it is directed to. For example, an offshoot springing from the Line of Head and nearing the Mount of Mercury is a sign of scientific prowess--perhaps an invention, or a discovery, or a synthesis of concepts that have long been drifting through the individual's mind, but had hitherto been dissociated.

Sister Lines

Sister lines bolster the line along which they follow. Some sister lines are quite common, such as the Line of Mars, which accompanies and strengthens the constitution denoted by the Line of Life; some cheiromancers feel that the Line of Apollo is a sister line for the Line of Fate, as it serves a similar function and accentuates the fulfillment one feels in the course of their career.In a more generalized sense, however, sister lines protect and heal lines that are broken, crooked, frayed, or side-by-side. Lest a line exist with several negative markings, sister lines will be the guiding hand that shall shield the bearer from the brunt of life's assaults.

 

The Lines.

This point marks the beginning of the navigation of the lines within the palm itself. Before the reader embarks upon this journey, it should be assured that he keeps the lessons discussed in previous sections in his memory, for though each line and mark carry their own particular import, these inferences should not be announced lest they be collaborated by accompanying marks (or their absence). For

no single evil mark must be accepted as decisive. If the evil is important, almost every principal line will show its effect, and both hands must be consulted before the decision can be final. A single sign in itself shows only the tendency; when, however, the sign is repeated by other lines, the danger is then a certainty.Also of importance are the mounts, which may prove to cancel some of the qualities read within the lines. Though an individual may have a strong Girdle of Venus denoting a great force to the passions which may eventuate in carnal gratification, it would be unwise for any cheiromancer to declare their subject a sensualist without first consulting the mount of Venus, whose great flatness could annul the overabundant qualities embodied within the Girdle. These things being considered, the reader is presented with a choice. Below are discourses on the five principal lines of the palm, and eight auxiliary lines:

Disciplines Being Lacking in this Treatise

 

Though the reader may find this primer quite thorough in the demenses of the lines on the palm and the mounds, and though these markings may suffice to foretell a score of predictions and insights, the following elements, which are wanting in this treatise, will lend much-needed accuracy and completion to extrapolations:

• Cheirognomy

  • Basic hand shapes

  • Fingertip shapes

  • Size, length, and meaning of the phalanges

  • The hairs on the hands and phalanges

  • Nails, their constitution and appearance

  • The patterns of the fingerprints

• Cheiromancy

  • The quadrangle

  • The great triangle

To a lesser extent, this work will not expound upon the specific maladies and organs governed by the lines. Though they be of especial importance when predicting the death and sufferings of an individual whose hand bears ill markings, the emphasis of this book lays in predicting the character, potential, and significant events in the life of the bearer.