Part II: Cheiromancy
Before I proceed to explain the more intricate details of cheiromancy, I wish to address a few words to the student, as well as to the casual reader who may take sufficient interest in this study to glance through this book.
In the first place, in my earnest desire to make this work a thoroughly reliable guide in all matters connected with palmistry, I have been compelled to bring the details of the study prominently before the reader and to enlarge on certain points that may be considered dry and uninteresting. This the student may resent during the commencement of his enthusiasm, but later he will, I think, see its advantages, as I have endeavored to make even the details as graphic as possible. I have not confined myself to the set theories of any particular school; I have gathered whatever information this book contains from, I may say, the four corners of the earth, and in presenting this information to those who desire to learn, I do so with the knowledge that I have proved whatever statements I make to be correct. The one point I would, however, earnestly desire to impress upon the student is the necessity for conscientious study and patience. As there are no two natures alike, so there are no two hands alike. To be able to read the hand is to be able to read the book of nature—there is no study more arduous, there is none more fascinating or that will repay the time and labor spent upon it with more interest.
To do this study justice, I cannot and will not pretend, as do the generality of writers on this subject, that it is an easy matter, by following this, p. 70 that, or the other map of the hand, or by taking some set rules as a guide, to be able to “read the hand” without any exercise of the student’s mentality. On the contrary, I shall show that every line, without exception, is modified by the particular type to which it belongs, as, for instance, a sloping line of head on a square hand has a completely different meaning from the same sloping line on a conic or philosophic type, and so on. I have written this book with the object of making it not only interesting to the reader, but useful to the student. I have endeavored to make every point as clear and concise as possible, but the student must bear in mind the enormous difficulties that lie in the way of making a clear explanation of every point in connection with such an intricate study.
The next point to be borne in mind is the difference of opinion which will be met with, and which is often used as an argument against palmistry. Now we must remember that it is only through the concentration of different minds, and the consensus of different opinions, that we can ever hope to reach the truth on any subject. No better illustration of this can be found than in the divergency of opinion that has existed and always will exist in religion, as well as in scientific study. What body of students have, or can have, more divergency of opinion, for instance, than medical men? I must, therefore, say, in the words which a celebrated physician once used to his pupils, that we should, in the pursuit of any particular branch of study, take the teachings which we have the most reason to believe are correct, and that by building upon such a foundation we will attain greater heights of knowledge than the individual who follows every new teacher who for a moment, like the will-o’-the-wisp, flits across the shifting sands of human fancy. Particularly in palmistry, I would say, take some work which you have good reason to believe is at least near the truth, and by following that out with the light of your own mentality and reason you will be more likely to succeed than those who, shifting their ground according to every fancy, find themselves at last without faith, without hope, and, worse still, without knowledge.
The chief point of difference between my teachings and those of other writers lies in the fact that I class the various lines under different heads, treating of each particular point.
This will be found not only more easy and less puzzling for the student, but also more in accordance with reason. For instance, I hold that the line of life relates to all that affects life, to the influences which govern it, to its class as regards strength; to the natural length of life, and to the important changes of country and climate. I regard the line of head as related to all that affects mentality, and so on with every other line, as will be seen later. This plan I have found to be the most accurate, as well as the simplest, and more in accordance with those teachers whose ideas we have every reason to respect.
As regards dates, I depart from the usual formula, and instead advance a theory which has been considered “at least interesting and reasonable,” in the dividing of the life into sevens, in accordance with the teachings of nature. I will illustrate this when I come to that portion of this work dealing with time and dates.