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Palmistry
Alternatively known
as
Cheiromancy,
Chiromancy, Palmomancy, Chirology, Cheirognomy and
Chirognomy.
An ancient
divination
technique, consisting of prediction and character analysis by interpreting
the lines of the hand and palm bumps and mounts, as well as by the shapes of hands and
fingers.
This method of
divination was very popular in the
Middle Ages,
practitioners believing that the lines in the hand were stamped by occult
forces and would reveal character and destiny. The lines, digits and bumps
on the hands allegedly all have astrological
correspondences, which suppose to indicate such factors as longevity, general health, intellect,
love, money, and so on.
According to the ancient
Tuscan legend of the
'Queen of the Witches', Aradia — daughter of the moon goddess Diana and
Lucifer — was dispatched to Earth in order to introduce
Witchcraft to mortals
and to bestow upon them the ability to "know the secret of the hands,"
palmistry.
The art and practice of hand analysis is
divided into two aspects: Cheiromancy (Chiromancy) and Cheirognomy
(Chirognomy and Chirology). Cheiromancy is divination of the past, present
and future from what a palmist reads in the lines of the palm, fingers, and
wrist, while Cheirognomy reveal's a person's personality, character and
potential.
Palmistry is believed to have originated in either
China or
India around the
year 3000 BC, and was introduced in Europe in the 15th century by the nomad
Gypsies. Subsequently the
Church banned the
practice, and after the
Enlightenment palmistry became little more than a
parlor trick.
Modern
palmistry differs from ancient methods in concentrating on interpreting the
character, the psychological type and the inclinations of the person (Cheirognomy)
at the expense of the other aspect, prediction and divination (Cheiromancy).
See
Divination,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Dunwich, Gerina,
A Wiccan's Guide to Prophecy
and Divination, Carol Publishing Group; (2)
Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism,
Carol Publishing Group; (3)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing.
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