Part science and part art, the craft of chirology (from the Greek kheri – hand and logos – knowledge) is a blend of eastern and western palmistry, modern counseling and coaching systems, intuition, channeling, and through the holding of the hands, therapeutic touch.
Our hands are perpetually in use as servants of the brain; as expressers of our selves, our will, thoughts, ideas and emotions, their vast concentration of sensory nerve endings are constantly transmitting and receiving information via neural pathways to and from our brains. Their shapes, textures and markings are a map, or a printout of our inner nature. On this fertile and receptive bed, our physiological, emotional, psychological and spiritual orientations are recorded. and when subjected to codification and interpretation, a wealth of insight is yielded.
Encoded in our hands is our authentic temperament, our character, our persona, what makes us tick, our personal coping skills and habituated patterns of behaviour, what works for us, and what doesn’t. Hands reveal skills, talents, strengths and weaknesses, emotional climates, preferences, sensitivities, and vocational aptitudes.
We all have our uniquely personal challenges; broadly speaking these will be in categories of health, finances, relationships and spiritual realms, but more often than not, those who seek readings are questioning their life path; they present with the longing to find a fulfilling life purpose, to decide or to re-define their career direction. This applies to young teens looking for subject choice guidance, as well as to those of any age who don’t yet know the ingredients in their ‘sacred bundle’.
Our sacred bundle can be defined as being comprised of those uniquely personal skills and talents that we are charged with offering, those ingredients which together blend to facilitate the sense of authentically walking our life path. In the bundle is “the assignment that demands fulfilment” **, in other words, the gifts we bring to the the world. But while we are told “your passion is your purpose”, many of us struggle so acutely with first of all finding our passion, and then with figuring a way to make a viable income doing what we are good at and most enjoy.
In a reading, the foundation of the enquiry into optimizing life purpose is built on an honest look at self-esteem, on the client’s sense of inherent value. Self-doubt, seen, for example, in features like short water (index) fingers, weak thumbs and pale hands, is the arch enemy that can inhibit or even paralyze their ability to respond to life from a place of worthiness.
Through dialogue, and with the words that are “the medicine of our profession”, we address building confidence and self-worth as a fundamental first step, this along with the capacity to harness discipline (seen in the forms of thumbs, the consistency of the hands, and in the strength of the lines), innate courage (seen in the hand’s consistency, courage loops, Mars mounts, forms of fingers) and the willingness to take responsibility (seen in middle fingers and lines on the mounts beneath).***
To assess potential vocational directives, we might begin with the evaluation of the basic shape of the hands, which is then combined with the texture of the skin. We have four elemental skin types, and four archetypal hand shape types; each also governed by an element, either earth (square palms, short fingers), water (oblong palms, long fingers), fire (oblong palms, short fingers) or air (square palms, long fingers). With “what is my life purpose?” being the most alive realm of enquiry for so many people, the binary analysis of the compatibility of hand shape (which reveals how the person expresses in the world) and the skin type, (which reveals how the world impresses on the person) is key. Analysis of shape and skin texture provides the initial guideline to the working environment to which the person is best suited.
From this foundation (of how we give, and how we receive), we then look to lines, distribution of dermatoglyphics, the thumbs and the fingers to assess optimal career directives. Are they born for service, the arts, the sciences, or business? Certainly a general sense of where the person will feel most ‘on purpose’ can readily be determined. Even those who are well advanced in self-development could find helpful assistance towards reclaiming even more of the greatness that they already are.
Other factors also influence the situation, for example, our hands reflect potential and manifest illness. While diagnosis of serious disease is beyond the scope of a chirologist, there are many ailments, such as back problems, digestive issues, heart conditions, headaches, emotional balance etc. that can be observed in a set of hands. On the relationship front, by looking at the water (heart) line, we pick up with considerable accuracy current and past relationships and the constellations of key people, their compatibility and their influences on the person’s life path.
Hands have a very personal story to share, a story about you and what type of person you are. We readers provide a forum for clients to tell their tale; there is magic, an alchemy, in the telling. As one of the finest vehicles to self-discovery known to man, the dialogue therapy that is chirology is a hugely powerful ‘know thyself’ (and others) tool.
In closing, for those who for whatever reason cannot be ‘bigger, better, faster’, who have not and can not acquire a specific life purpose, we might reframe for them the meaning of the concept ‘life purpose’.
The Shambhala Buddhism teacher Cynthia Kneen says: “Purpose is the soulful confidence that what I am is worthwhile” and “True success is measured by the amount of authentic happiness we can feel in a day.” Our ‘purpose’ is a present moment state of inner being, it can be experienced as a space, a sensation, of grace, acceptance and inner love. For some, this perspective can be very comforting.
- 5 element chirology is one of several systems for interpreting hands. Sourced in ancient Buddhism, the simply structured 5 element method composes a universal relationship between the scientific principles of the 5 elements earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the physical, emotional, vocational, mental and spiritual layers of our human experience respectively. These are known in chirology as ‘the 5 Realms’. To interpret hands, we use ‘the language of the elements’; we define the unknown (the hands) in terms of the known (the scientific principles of the elements).
** Victor Frankl.
*** These are just some of the hand’s features that might guide the chirologist, a thorough cross-referencing is always required.
Jennifer Hirsch
Cell: +27 082 415 0653
Bio
Jennifer Hirsch is an ambassador for the craft of chirology and palmistry. Her purpose is to share the intuitive and counselling and coaching components of hand reading. Jen has pioneered chirology in South Africa since 1991. She teaches that our hands are our unique, personal guide and tool for self enquiry and that their forms and markings depict our physical, emotional, vocational, mental and spiritual realms. She has authored 5 books on how to read hands, all of which are available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Hirsch/e/B07QC3JL2H/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Visit Jen’s YouTube channel for regular tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSlNvdo9VG9wVC2iNyo4Gpg
For more information about consultations (online, based on photographs, or in person) and training courses please contact jen@cheiro.co.za or call Jen 27 082 415 0653 or visit www.godgivenglyphs.com
Author: Spirit Connection
Spirit Connection is an online platform to facilitate connecting light workers with people seeking their help.
