The Fingers

Most hands are of the mixed type. Each finger must be considered separately.

The fingers, being instruments of the brain, connected with it through the tiny telegraph wires of the nerves, certain qualities.

Each finger indicates specific talents or failings.

The size of the finger, its shape, its texture and proportions, modify the basic qualities represented by that finger.

Good fingers are:

• straight, in proportion to the rest of the hand
• set level with each other at their bases.

A low base detracts from the qualities represented by a finger.

Fingers set close together indicate a formal, restrained, suspicious nature. Wide spaces show unconventionality and a free and easy trend.

In chirology, there are only 4 fingers (see plate 9).

The thumb is so important that it is classed by itself.

1. The index finger is called the first, or finger of Jupiter.
2. The middle finger, the second is the finger of Saturn.
3. The ring finger, third, is the finger of Apollo.
4. The little finger, fourth and last, is the finger of Mercury.

Palmistry was associated with astrology. And so the four fingers received the names of planets, more remotely, of Roman gods.

I retain the traditional finger names, though I do not connect them with the schematic in superstitions of astrology.

Long And Short Fingers

The important things to note are:

1. Whether the fingers as a whole are long (see plate 10) or short (see plate 11)
2. Which one or two fingers are dominant ones.

Length cannot be judged entirely from the relative size of the fingers and the palm, for a hand may have an unusually long palm with normal fingers, which would make the fingers appear short rather than normal.

When the palm is approximately the same in width as in length, normal fingers would be about as long, reaching almost to the wrist if doubled over.

Long ones would reach the wrist or even beyond it, and short ones would end above. This test cannot, however, actually be made by bending the hand, for the stiffness of the hand and its thickness, almost as much as the fingers’ length, would determine how far the fingers reach.

The best method is to judge the distance by eye or actual measurement.

For ideal balance, the thumb should be as long as the fourth and the first as long as the third. Of course, greatness rarely with ideal balance.

It is the unusual strength of certain traits which creates geniuses and leaders as well as crackpots and criminals.

Long fingers, on the whole, indicate patience, love of detail, system and order.

Short ones go with impulsiveness, action, speed.

Width And Contour Of Fingers

Thick fingers are the practical, materialistic ones.

When they are very thick, they show love of luxury and a tendency towards self-indulgence.

Thin fingers may show indulgence of a different kind petulance and worry for thin fingers are exacting and nervous.

As to the contours, smoothness when the joints do not protrude indicates an open, frank, company-loving nature, light-hearted, talkative and somewhat shallow. Knotty joints go with seriousness, thought and mental self-sufficiency.

Flexibility

Whether the fingers are flexible or stiff is extremely significant.

Firm fingers show an intense, passionate, violent nature, one which might accomplish great things individually or as a leader, but which cannot cooperate with others or work as a subordinate.

The drawbacks of such fingers are intolerance, stubbornness and lack of tact.

The last is especially pronounced when the fingers are short as well stiff.

With flexibility goes an intensification of the qualities of the mount and finger. Supple fingers indicate adaptability, tact, wit and success in social contacts, though not necessarily a love of company.

Crooked Fingers

Crooked fingers (see plate 12) show distortion or misuse of the which go with the misshapen finger, but the knotty, bony structure of the profound hand should not be confused with bent or qualities crooked shape.

Nor is crookedness the same as a slight bending to one side.

Fingers bent laterally (see plate 13) always emphasize shrewdness, and this indication should be studied in conjunction with the particular qualities ascribed to the finger having such a bend.

A finger twisted on its axis exaggerates the moral or physical defects associated with that finger.

Dominant Fingers

In most persons, the fingers differ greatly in length, smoothness, thickness,etc. from each other.

It is therefore important not only to determine which qualities predominate for the hand as a whole, but to relate them to the traits which go with each particular There will, of course, be contradictions.

In some cases, these for most of us are indicate actual conflicts within the personality.

Most of us are complex, made up of many warring desires and characteristics.

In other cases, a dominant trait may completely negate the signposts of an opposing quality.

This is why I have found it extremely important to decide, quite early in the process of an analysis, just which are the dominant characteristics.

Size, both length and thickness, and the general contours of a hand will indicate which finger is the dominant one.