Taking a break from writing recently I found myself walking in the warm autumn sun in a local park. As it was mid afternoon on a weekday, a park consisting of five acres of green with a lazy river down one side was shared by six of us.
Leaves were turning red and brown around me as I sat on a bench seat, beside a harassed looking mother. Her young daughter ran past, attempting to catch a few crimson leaves which scurried off in search of a quiet corner in which to hide from the incessant wind. Soon she returned, panting for breath as she sat between us. Her mother looked to me and said
“She never stops.”
“Well she wouldn’t. Not with those hands,” I replied before I had time to catch myself.
“Those hands?” echoed the mother.
“Yes. If you look at her fingernails, they are triangular in shape. This represents physical stamina and a love of the outdoors.”
At this the women reached for the girl’s hands and examined the fingernails in the bright sun. I leaned over to show her what I meant. The short nails were broadest at the tips, tapering down to a narrow base, in the shape of an upside down triangle.
“Is her father sporty?” I asked.
“Not really,” came the reply.
“A grandparent perhaps?”
“Yes. My father can’t sit still. I’ve never seen him sit and watch a movie. Not even the news!”
“So what else is there?” she asked, keen to discover more about her daughter. I asked the child to open her palms to me and she did momentarily. I examined the mounts, or fleshy pads around the edges of the hands and beneath the fingers. I prodded the firm, dry hands and asked the mother.
“Five hours sleep a night?”
“On a good night,” she sighed. At this point the girl snatched her hands away, stood up and ran off again.
As she played in the distance a woman in a track suit strode towards us with a golden retriever on a lead. It was her third lap of the oval and her pace had not slackened.
“What else did you see?” the girl’s mother prompted, sweeping her dark mane of hair into a ponytail and holding it against the wind.
“She’ll probably love horses,” I began. “Encourage her towards competitive sports, camping, drama, and tire her out if you want to sleep a full night. Keep matches away from her as she is likely to enjoy fire and tends to act on her curiosity.”
“She’s into everything already. Knives are out of bounds, along with scissors, the garden hose and dad’s tool box,” she explained. I laughed at the image this conjured in my mind.
“Don’t tell me. She prefers a rope ladder to dolls and an archery set to a tea set.” The woman nodded, her gazed fixed on the girl who was now almost 600 metres away.
Not all palmistry readings take place in a clinical setting. Elementary palmistry can be practised on a bus, while watching actors in a film or over a shop counter, if you are observant. Parents of older children are often concerned about guiding their offspring into a suitable career. Recently a mother brought her 15 year old son Daniel for a reading.
Her aim was to show Daniel that there was a life for him beyond the highs and lows of the teenage years, in the hope that he might take heart and look forward with confidence. Daniel was rudderless, his father having left five years before.
There seemed to be few positive male role models around him and he possessed an air of quiet desperation. His square hands revealed a boy who needed routine around him to ensure a sense of stability within. He was likely to stay with the one career for life, if he found the right career early enough.
Being sensitive and thoughtful isn’t easy for a 15 year old, but I pointed out that girls appreciate sensitivity more than boys, and what he considered a liability he’d one day discover was in fact an asset. I pointed out that while the heroic guy is out impressing the girls on the sports field or performing some other feat, the quiet sensitive male is sitting beside the girls, listening to them and deepening his relationships. He nodded nervously in agreement.
His hands pointed to a career in the hospitality industry, with other possibilities including architecture, design, computer design, writing advertising copy, photography, the printing industry or accounting. His soft hands also suited him to working in a book shop, and evening or night work was likely to suit him better than early mornings.
Sometimes clients need to hear that there are rewarding opportunities ahead, and this knowledge gives them courage to tackle immediate obstacles.
Possessing hope that there are periods of fulfilment ahead can strengthen resolve to pursue life with confidence. Palmistry can offer a glimpse of future triumphs to strengthen your resolve when it is needed most, when you’re down in one of life’s valleys, a long way from a mountain summit.
(c) Copyright 2012 Paul Fenton-Smith.
Paul offers palmistry readings in person, from photographs and he runs a beginners palmistry course each year.
