San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-09-27
CHARACTER In HANDS.
THE OCCULT ART OF PAlMlSTRY
NOW A SERIOUS STUDY.
What Its Advocates Claim for 1.-THE
Scientific Basis on Which 1t Rests-Physi-
cal and Mental Peculiarities Are Read
as Easily as an Open Book.

Chiro-psychometry is the technical name
for palmistry, or the reading Of ones indi-
vidual characteristics from an examination
and an Interpretation of the hands PALMS.
try is older than sculpture, painting or medi-
cine 1t is older than history itself, for in
the dmmest traditions of the remotest past
there are distinct illusions to the brayest
warriors ana the grandest kings consulting
the priestly palmister, as an oracle whose
mystic messages were of the most sacred
character-and, hence, of the greatest i'm
portance Palmistry is an art with philo-
sophical basis, a scientific justification and a
practically useful application. 1t is as philo-
sophie in its principles as is any theory of
the union and relationship of the human soul
and body. 1t is as scientific in its founda-
tions, methods and results as painting, music
or medicine, for the technique in these de-
partments is scientific, while the practical
application is always an art. In common
with medicine, palmistry has human anatomy
for scientific basis; and in common with
painting, colors and shades are all important
factors; while form is as much an essential as
it is in sculpture. Palmistry, therefore, to
be at all successful must, like sculpture.
painting, medicine or music, have an artistic
application of its philosophical theories and
SCleulIlc lOulludClO1lS anu uleIuOuS.
WHAT PALMISTRY Is.
Any one of ordinary mental capacity can
| learn the science and understand he philos.
ophy of palmistry. In its practical use,
however, the artistic ability of the palmister
is that which gives charm, en- tertainment
and usefulness. The philosophical basis of
palmistry is the doctrine that the soul creates
the body for itself, and that the body is
~ q
suit of material clothing for the spiritual
soul The body is, therefore, in the likeness
of the soul within it, because the only pecu-
liarities of the body are those impaired to it
or impressed upon it by the indwelling soul,
which has developed the body for its habita-
ton, convenience and use
Then il is an old and sacred occult maxim
that all the powers of the man are conferred
in the hand-or represented by the hand.
The conclusion is, therefore, that the hand
is to him who can translate its divine hero
glyphics. the likeness and the representative
of the soul. The scientific foundations of
palmistry, like all other scientific bases, con-
sst in the agreed upon results Of many care
full examinations and the more or less exact
notifications of the theories above stated
when put to the test of practical application.
Palmistry, then, practically, is the transla-
ton of manual peculiarities into mental
characteristics, and so far as the palmist is
accomplished in his art, can read from the
hands of his client his Tor herr physical
peculiarities, temperament, appetites, pas
sons, impulses aspirations, mental endow'
ments, character and tendencies.
The palmSter does not suppose or teach
that the character is dependent upon the pc
culiarites of the hand, any more than that
the time of day depends upon the position of
the hands of the clock, but that just as the
hands of a good clock indicate the time of
day, so does the popularity of the hands in
dictate the character of the individual A
man is not mechanic or musician on ac-
count of any peculiar shape or size of his
hands, but being of any definite character
mentally man is provided with hands which
are the best adapted to fully and promptly
give expression To his special abilities.
The term palmistry is somewhat mislead-
ing, for it gives rise to the common mistake
that the art is confined to an examination of
the palm and the lines therein found where
as the fact is that every pecUilariry of the
entire hand is considered by the intelligent
hand reader
GYPSY FORTUNE TELLERS.
Palmistry as practced principally by the
Sypsies and even less perfectly by few I'M
principled Or misguided pretenderS, as
means of fortune telling has never been rec
ognized by intelligent artists as other than a
pastime or a harmless delusion, and at the
present day the art is used almost entirely in
delineation of character, while the fortune
telling feature is left to the ignorant the
curious and the superstitious. 1t must not
be inferred from this that the fortune telling
palmists, and especially the gypsies read the
hand at hazard This would be very far from
the truth, for nearly every one who pays any
attention to this line of the art works in ac-
cordance with more or less definite rules, so
that any fairly experienced palmist-even
though mistaken-would read substantially
the same fortune from the same pair of hands
at different times-not from memory of the
hands, but from the application of whatever
rules he might be in the habit of using. More
than this, any number of well instructed
gypsieS would read substantially the same
fortune from any pair of hands, within few
days of each other, without any consultation
or collision with each other.
No one has two hands alike The left hand
that is, the less active hand-shows more
nearly than the right hand ones natural or
inherited peculiaritieS, while the right hand,
or the one more active, always exhibits more
fully the acquired characteristics. This diff
ference in hands, which is universal, informs
the palmist as to which way the man or
woman is growing and is therefore one of
the keys by which to unlock many of the less
easily solved mysteries of the soul Hands
differ indefinitely in size, ranging from the
extremes of large and small, and this differ
ence extends to the three dimensions SO that