Élan's palmist Vernon Mahabal has written a guide to palmistry called The Secret Code of you Hands, An Illustrated Guide to Palmistry, which you can buy online here.

"I've got to hand it to you, your really know what you're doing and where you're going!"

That's always nice to hear. Funny to think that I'm being told this just by having my hand looked at.

Today I'm speaking with a palmist. My decision for doing this was out of mere curiosity – anything that will broaden my horizons. Well, okay, not just anything, but most things.

So, the brief background on palmistry is that palmists understand life as a continuum, and for them your hand is the divinitive tool for cultivating your true talents and abilities in life. To them the hand is a guide, providing ease and access to the world through the sense of touch and direction. The hand is the instrument and translator of touch, the elemental sensation. Palmistry views the hand as culturing intuition or, in other words, promoting your self-awareness to your strengths and abilities, and to your very life-purpose.

Palmist Vernon Mahabal enhanced my understanding of palmistry. Palm reading is a symbolic landscape of the hand and all its parts. Palmistry is the belief that the hand is a decoder to each individual's true talents and strong abilities. In a sense, our hands are a sketched-out road map of our purpose and place in the world.

When Vernon looked at my hand I was shocked to find that he hit right on many areas that I enjoy. He also had talked a little bit about my family history, but I found my experiences to be a little different than he had described. Nonetheless he said that I had a lot of writing in my future, writing books and articles. He also went on to say that I was a teacher or instructor in life, which is very true to my personality.

Vernon was introduced to palmistry after reading an ancient book written 100 years ago. It was about an ancient form of palmistry, which fueled him with the practice's rich history, and with the drive to learn more. Palmists believe that everything happens for a reason: events are not merely coincidences, but are the magnetic energies of the planets. We are all connected to certain purposes and people due to our past life. It is our goal to understand our purpose and connect with those we are drawn to in life.

It's imperative to be intuitive to yourself. The hand provides a tool in cultivating how to focus our strengths and the areas where you thrive the most. Some people may be skeptics, but it is worth trying something that others claim to be "the science of the hand". There is no scientific support of the divinations of the hand. However, it is an experience to enhance your awareness and adventure in life. Palmists believe it to be an art form that is closely tied to the cosmos or related closely to astrology.

Now I don't know much about the cosmos, but it is an interesting concept, the idea that the forces and energies of the planets and stars guide us in our journey. So my stars sometimes are shining bright, and other times are fading, leaving me without direction! Maybe when I'm in disarray it is due to the cloud-filled skies so common in winter in my town. This only means one thing: I must move to the Caribbean and live life as a beach bum! The universe has shown me the way; I am connecting with my calling in life. Well maybe not, I'm probably forcing that one due to my yearning for sunshine!

So you, palmistry has to do with a lot more than just hands. In our modern age, films present palm readers as merely analyzing the lines on the palm, which provides you automatic answers to life, death, love, and the future. However, this is only about 10-15% of the analysis. It is not as simple as just looking at the lines of the palm.

Hand analysis is an array of symbols that intertwine to determine your influence and strength in world. For palmists such as Vernon, everything about the hands – your handshake, the length of your fingers, your dominant hand, even the very color of your hand – is a trail that sets out a path of discovering your characteristics, life talents and abilities.

Your fingers also are factors in a palm-reading, and are named from left to right: Mercury, Sun, Saturn, Jupiter. Source: The Secret Code on your Hands.

In Vernon's book The Secret Code on your Hands, he talks about the hand's 10 main decoders. The lead many palmists to journey into discovering your life purpose, and they include the following:

• Colors (pink, red, yellow, white, blue): The code of feelings
• Shapes of the palm (square, rectangular, round, triangular): The basic description of your personality
• Lines: Code for peaceful life characteristics and hardships
• Hard or Soft Hands: Reaction and Interaction with others, boldness, softness or shyness of personality
• Mountains (upraised pads on the palm): Significant determinant of personality traits and character
• The Fingers (length, shape of joints, segment lines for each of the 3 parts of the finger): "Forest of Talents"
• Finger Prints: Instruct and direct our life path and purpose (this is the most important significant readout of our life purpose)
• The Thumb: The "Lightning Bolt Generator," as Vernon calls it, is the "opposable digit of manipulation," and pertains to willpower and determination.
• Finger Lines: "Rivers of Consciousness" , or the conscious self

Now, this is just a general overview of my personal experiences with and understanding of a palmist. Each person is different and individual in his or her own interpretations, and the attributes above all have their own individual significances and what-not. Every palmist practices with a different uniquely learned style and belief. Vernon writes in his book, "Every person is an individual, therefore every hand is completely different. When you look into a person's palm, you are entering the gateway to their soul."

I've come away looking at palmistry as a source of further insight to your true purpose or passion in life. It is an instrument in which to understand and connect with happiness in your life by being in-tune with the surrounding world, other people and your existence in it. Palmistry nurtures the ultimate aim to cultivate certain aspects of your life, which will promote happiness and personal achievement and success.

Have a Hands-on Experience
Curious? Well, get out there and get your own palm read! Take a cosmic journey: Experience and discover a new realm of art or planetary science. Palmistry, if nothing, more or less is a fascinating instrument to better understanding of you. You don't have to believe in palmistry, but just giving it a go could help you see some interesting things about yourself and your life.

As the saying goes, "Everything goes hand in hand". So, treat yourself to a hands-on experience!

If you would like further information on palmistry or would like to learn about the practice, the source I visited on the web was: www.skepdic.com/palmist.html You can also check out and buy Vernon Mahabal's book online by clicking the title: The Secret Code of you Hands, An Illustrated Guide to Palmistry.

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