Cheiromancy, the art of foretelling the events of life by the
lineaments of the hand, derived its name from the Greek word
cheiros , the palm, and
manteia , to foretell, whence it has
been vulgarly called Palmistry—as it is named in a recent Act of
Parliament to forbid its practice for gain or reward. In
Coleman's Mythology of the Hindoos
, p. 202, it is written: "On the Buddha's foot is the mark
called the 'chakravarti,' wheel or discus, which should have been
on the palm of the hand, by which the sages at his birth divined
that he would rise to considerable eminence." He says (p. 19):
"Various data have been assigned to the period of Buddha's
existence. The most correct seems to be about 550 B.C., whence, as
the sages practised cheiromancy at Buddha's birth, its existence
must have been much earlier known among the Indians." "In the year
1652," writes Zadkiel, "the celebrated astrologer, Geo. Wharton,
Esq., published a translation of 'a matchless piece' as he terms
it, on the subject, written in Latin by Dr. J. Rothman." Since that
period the art of cheiromancy has gradually fallen into disuse,
chiefly from the extensive nonsense published by recent writers.
One of the writers makes a shallow attempt to disprove the
connection which exists between astrology and palmistry, while
another says it is based on the principles of the Kabalah, the
latter being nothing more than a mnemonical system of astrology.
From the writings of Dr. J. Rothman and Geo. Wharton, Esq., I
propose now to give, together with some of the choicest of those of
the East, the principal matter, and to explain in the ordinary
language used by palmisters such points as may require elucidation.
Mr. Wharton, a careful student in these subjects, clearly proves
that palmistry can only act in accordance with astrology, and that
the art of cheiromancy cannot be relied upon beyond the period of
from one to two years at most, for he observes in his preface,
"What more convincing than if, by inspection made into the hand of
any man, I truly pronounce this or that planet essentially
dignified or angular in his geniture, or in such or such a position
with other planets or stars, another unfortunate, afflicted or
defected? Or if, on the contrary, by looking first into the
geniture and considering therein the several positions of the
planets and their configurations one to another and with other
stars, I tell him, and that distinctly and truly, the lines and
signatures engraven upon his head or hand—what, I say, is or can be
more satisfactory than this to rational men, as touching the power
and influence of the planets and stars upon these inferiors, and
consequently of the lawful use and truth of the science called
astrology, cheiromancy and metoposcopia, between which three
sciences there appear to be such a secret coherence and
harmony?"
It is also written in the Book of
Job , xxxvii. 7: "In the hand of all men he shall
put a mark that everyone may know his own work"; but in our
translation of the Bible it is
written as follows: "In the hand of all men he putteth a mark that
every man may know his own work." This alone proves that Job
believed in this science.
The author does not claim that there is anything new in this
work, although the method of translating and setting may be
original.