Consult the Oracle

by Gabriel Nostradamus

  PEOPLE TO BE AVOIDED

  Be as circumspect as possible in the presence of a corpulent, choleric man who continually speaks loud, is never at his ease, and looks round with rolling eyes; who has accustomed himself to the external parade of politeness and ceremony, and who does everything with slovenliness and without order. In his round, short, snubbed nose, in his open mouth, his projecting protuberance-producing forehead, his sounding step, are contempt and harshness – half-qualities with pretension to super-eminence, malignity with the external appearance of civility and good-humour.

  DISCORDANT CHARACTERS

  If you have a long, high forehead contract no friendship with an almost spherical head; if you have an almost spherical head contract no friendship with a long, high, bony forehead. Such dissimilarity is especially unsuitable to matrimony.

  PALMISTRY

  MANY people regard palmistry as mere guess-work. This it is not. It is claimed by its professors as an exact science founded on careful observation. Much has been said against it, but it is as ancient as the science of medicine, which also in earlier times had its facts disputed.

  GENERAL DIRECTIONS

  Each line, mark, or sign may be read by itself, but the student of this wonderful science must not imagine that he will thereby get a correct reading of the character. The signs must be taken as a whole, for one sign aids in the interpretation of another. For example, in a fairly good hand we may meet with a bad sign: now that bad sign would be greatly modified by the good signs.

  A HINT TO STUDENTS

  Before you confidently draw a bad inference be sure you have found the unfavourable sign clearly marked in both hands.

  The first thing the student should take note of is the shape of the hands and fingers, together with the skin and nails. These all relate to the hereditary influences of character and disposition. Next he must give his attention to the mounts, lines and markings which record past and present events and, it may be, reveal the future.

  By preference reliance is to be placed on the markings of the left hand, but the right hand is to be consulted for corroborative evidence.

  THUMB AND FINGERS

  The thumb and fingers are each divided by the joints into three phalanges. In the first of these, that nearest the tip of the finger, we have the intuitive faculties represented; in the second, the middle one, we have the reasoning powers; in the third, that nearest the hand, the material instincts are to be found.

  THE MOUNTS

  The fingers are named (starting with the forefinger), Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, and Mercury, and the fleshy pads found at the base of each finger are known as the Mount of Jupiter, Mount of Saturn, and so on.

  The third phalange, or “Ball” of the thumb, gets the name of the Mount of Venus.

  There is a Mount of Mars below the Mount of Jupiter, and another below the Mount of Mercury.

  Extending from the last-named mount up to the wrist is the Mount of Luna, or the Moon.

  On the centre of the palm is the Plain or Triangle of Mars.

  Here is what we find denoted by the different Mounts –

  JUPITER denotes ambition, pride, self-respect, &c.

  SATURN – Caution or prudence, sadness, doubting, &c.

  APOLLO – Love of art and genius, celebrity.

  MERCURY – Science and industry, speculation, conceit, cheerfulness, &c.

  VENUS – Love of pleasure, love of music, love of beauty, and the company of the opposite sex.

  MARS (beneath Jupiter) – Courage, control, warlike spirit.

  MARS (beneath Mercury) – Resistance, command, resignation, anger.

  MOON (Luna) – Imagination.

  THE LINES

  The leading lines of the palm with their characteristics are as follows –

  THE LINE OF LIFE – This should begin near the Mount of Jupiter, and run round the base of the thumb towards the wrist. If perfect it should completely encircle the Mount of Venus. A long, regular line, deep but narrow, and soft in colour, is an evidence of long, healthy life and a good character. On it may be read the actions of life and its changes.

  THE LINE OF MARS is an inner or sister line to the Line of Life. In soldiers it denotes success in warfare; in civilians violence in their passions.

  THE LINE OF THE HEAD – This starts from the Mount of Jupiter, near the beginning of the Line of Life, and runs across the palm to the Mount of Mars. If even, narrow and long it shows strong will and judgment and acute mental perception. The intellectual force is more or less according to the development of the line.

  THE LINE OF FORTUNE, OR FATE, OR SUCCESS – This line should run in an unbroken line from the wrist or “Bracelet” to the base of the second finger. The general direction often varies. Success or good fortune depends on the condition of this line. Observations should be taken from both the right hand and the left when drawing inferences from the Line of Fate.

  THE LINE OF THE HEART runs from the Mount of Jupiter, at the base of the forefinger, to the Mount of Mercury, at the base of the Mount of Mercury. In this line we get a knowledge of the affections. If deep, of a good colour and narrow, it shows a strong good heart, lasting affection and even temper. Should the heart line be more strongly developed than the head line, we may safely infer that the person will be governed by the heart rather than by the head, but it will be the other way if the head line is the more marked.

  THE LINE OF APOLLO OR BRILLIANCY – This line runs parallel to the Line of Fortune and terminates at the base of the third finger. Those who possess it are fortunate. It stands for fame in the arts.

  THE LINE OF HEALTH starts diagonally from the wrist and goes to meet the Line of the Head close to the Mount of Mars or at the top of the Mount of Luna. In many hands it is wanting.

  THE GIRDLE OF VENUS below the Mounts of Saturn and Apollo is often absent, which is not to be regretted, as it is, on the whole, a mark of a character to be avoided.

  THE VIA LASCIVA (Milky Way) runs from the wrist parallel to the Line of Health across the Mount of Luna. It is sometimes mistaken for the Line of Health. It is a sign of a faithless and cunning spirit.

  THE BRACELETS OF LIFE are found encircling the wrist. They indicate long life, fortune, and happiness. According to some chiromancers they indicate each thirty years of life.

  The palm reveals its secrets through the varying condition of the lines and mounts; careful observation must also be made on the general shape and aspect of the whole hand. Every joint of each finger on each hand is dedicated to and is under the protection of some saint or celestial being.

  RIGHT HAND

  The top joint of the thumb is dedicated to God; the second joint to the Virgin; the top joint of the forefinger to Barnabas, the second joint to John, the third joint to Paul; the top joint of the second finger to Simeon Cleophas, the second joint to St. Catharine, the third to Joseph; the top joint of the third finger to Zaccheus, the second to Stephen, the third to Luke; the top joint of the little finger to St. Christopher, the second to Mark, the third joint to Nicodemus.

  LEFT HAND

  The top joint of the thumb is dedicated to Christ, the second joint to the Virgin; the top joint of the forefinger to St. James, the second to St. John the Evangelist, the third to St. Peter; the first joint of the second finger to St. Simeon, the second joint to St. Matthew, the third to St. James the Great; the top joint of the third finger to St. Jude, the second joint to St. Bartholomew, the third to St. Andrew, and the top joint of the little finger to St. Mathias, the second joint to St. Thomas, the third joint to St. Philip.

  CHARACTER JUDGED BY HANDS AND FINGERS

  DIFFERENCES OF HANDS

  The differences of hands, according to age and sex, are very significant. The woman’s hand, independently of the effects of different occupations, is naturally smaller, narrower, softer, less hairy, and more delicate than the man’s, and the fingers are more roundly formed.

  When these characters are reversed, they mark as clearly as any other misplaced
features do the similarly displaced mind: they betray the strong-minded woman and the effeminate man.

  THREE TYPES OF HANDS

  Hands are divided into three types: the pointed-fingered, or spiritual; the square-fingered, or intellectual; and the spade-shaped, or material. Points, squares, and spades refer to the tips of the fingers.

  POINTED FINGER-TIPS

  These go with poetry, art in its highest forms, religion, heroism, quickness of body and mind, rapid intuitions, strong likes and dislikes, gifts of imagination, impulsiveness, and many other kindred qualities.

  SQUARE HANDS

  Intellect, practical gifts, power to plod on unflaggingly, success in life, often belong to square hands – that is to say, to square finger-tips.

  SPADE-SHAPED TIPS

  Stamp the type as material. A little pad of flesh sticks out at each side of the nail, and the fingers look as if they had been chopped off by some sharp instrument. This is the hand of the sons of toil.

  AN IMPORTANT FINGER

  The thumb is by far the most important part of the hand. Here we look for the great controlling powers, will and logic. A small, ill-formed, feeble, badly balanced thumb indicates a vacillating disposition. Small-thumbed persons are governed by the heart, while the large-thumbed are ruled by the head. Independent, self-reliant people have large thumbs, or ought to have them, while pliant, dependent, and easily governed natures may be known by the marked smallness of that digit.

  OBSERVATIONS ON THE FINGER-NAILS

  The dispositions of people may be made out by observing their finger-nails.

  BROAD NAILS indicate a gentle nature, timid and bashful.

  IF THE NAILS GROW INTO THE FLESH at the joints or sides it is a sign of a desire for luxury.

  A WHITE MARK on the nails bespeaks misfortune.

  PALE NAILS show people of a weak disposition, subject to persecution by neighbours and friends.

  NARROW NAILS belong to ambitious and quarrelsome people.

  ROUND NAILS indicate lovers of knowledge and persons of liberal sentiments.

  FLESHY NAILS usually show indolent people.

  SMALL NAILS are characteristic of small-minded, obstinate, and conceited people.

  RED AND SPOTTED NAILS show choleric people, delighting in making a disturbance.

  CHARACTER SHOWN BY HANDWRITING

  IT is a generally acknowledged fact that the leading points of a person’s character can be ascertained from his or her handwriting; indeed, the reading of character by handwriting has in these days become almost a regular profession.

  A REASON FOR DIFFERENCES OF HANDWRITING

  There is a physiological reason, no doubt, for diversities of handwriting, and that is, temperament. “Let us take,” says an authority on this subject, “a man with light auburn hair, blue sparkling eyes, a ruddy complexion, ample chest, and muscular, well-rounded, agile frame. When such a man sits down to write, he makes short work of it. He snatches the first pen that comes in the way, never looks how it is pointed, dabs it into the ink, and then dashes on from side to side of the paper in a full, free, and slipshod style, his ideas – or at all events his words –flowing faster than his agile fingers can give them a form.

  “On the contrary, select a man with deep black hair, black eyes, brown or sallow complexion, and thin, spare form. After weighing well his subject in his mind, he sits down deliberately, selects and mends his pen, adjusts his paper, and in close, stiff, and upright characters traces at a snail’s pace his well-weighed and sententious composition.”

  NATIONAL DIFFERENCES

  Even nations are distinguished by their writing – the vivacity and variableness of the Frenchman, and the delicacy and suppleness of the Italian, are perceptibly distinct from the slowness and strength of the pen discoverable in the phlegmatic German, Dane, and Swede.

  THE LEADING CHARACTERISTIC

  The characteristic that is most sure to come out in handwriting is individuality. A remarkable man or woman –one with a distinct personality – very seldom writes a quite commonplace hand, and conversely a very distinctive handwriting is generally an index to something distinctive in the character. This is the quality in handwriting that strikes us usually at first sight.

  For example:

  DISTINCT AND CLEAR WRITING

  When the writing is distinct and clear, with short-tailed letters and few dashes, the writer is quiet, sincere, and truthful, with a strong inclination to religion.

  A FINE RUNNING HAND

  In a fine running hand, the letters having long tails and curved endings, we see a character enthusiastic and witty. If there are many dashes the writer is as a rule selfish, and we expect to find him or her talkative.

  BOLD HANDWRITING

  Bold handwriting shows candour and generosity, but at the same time usually indicates a want of tact and sympathy. Should the letters of a bold hand be twisted and marked by flourishes we may infer a hasty temper.

  STIFF WRITING

  Stiff writing is a sign of reserve, and is often the characteristic of those who are marked by their double cunning. When the up-strokes are thin and broken the writer is of a nervous temperament.

  BOLD CAPITALS

  Bold capitals indicate pride, united often with a passionate though generous disposition.

  UPRIGHT WRITING

  When the handwriting is upright and almost perpendicular we may infer love of study and a mind taken up with noble thoughts. If there are no flourishes it shows a fondness for solitude, but an upright hand running into many flourishes is a sign of a social disposition.

  INDISTINCT AND CROWDED

  When the handwriting is indistinct and the letters are crowded together suspect an uncertain temper, a readiness to take offence at nothing, and a reluctance to make peace after a quarrel.

  REGULAR AND WITHOUT FLOURISHES

  Writing of great regularity with no nourishes goes with a strong mind, characterised by common sense and mechanical taste.

  FLOURISHES AND DASHES

  Handwriting with many flourishes and dashes indicates a love of display; in most cases, too, it points to a hasty temper.

  SPRAWLING WRITING

  Sprawling writing shows an untidy character. We may also infer extravagance and a decidedly frivolous turn, united with a love of fine fashions, but the taste in dress will be bad.

  DELICATE HANDWRITING

  In the case of even, delicate handwriting, we usually find the sense of time well developed. The habits are also methodical, and the writer will be fond of children.

  ECCENTRIC HANDWRITING

  Eccentric handwriting does not necessarily impress us with a sense of personality; nor, again, does eccentricity of character at all certainly betray itself in eccentricity of handwriting.

  A SMALL, CRAMPED HAND

  If the writing is small and cramped, the ends of the words being made straight, then the writer is probably mean in financial affairs, reserved, obstinate, and narrow-minded. When there is a flourish at the ends of the words a hasty temper is to be looked for.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  WE TELL THE MEANING OF YOUR DREAMS

  THE oldest dreams on record are those of sacred history, and it is clear from the Bible that dreams are often made use of as a means of revealing things to men, of conveying warnings to them and of lifting the veil that hides from them the future. We must lay ourselves open to receive impressions and have our minds less harassed and obscured than they usually are by the worries of the world if we are to appreciate dreams at their true value and see what a wealth of meaning they sometimes contain.

  There are a few points to be kept in mind by all who wish to have a correct understanding of this important subject –

  Morning dreams are more reliable than those of any other time, and of morning dreams those of the morning twilight are most valued.

  A Friday’s dream is the most important dream of the week –

  “Friday night’s dream

  On a Saturday told
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  Is sure to come true

  Be it never so old.”

  A dream – even a Friday’s dream – is only to be absolutely relied upon if repeated three times. It must also be pointed out that there are some dreams as false as can be, put into people’s heads by humorous or ill-disposed spirits. Fun and malice are by no means confined to our little corner of the universe.

  In the following pages we have given the meaning of a considerable number of dreams. Once the fundamental principles are grasped, interpretation is easy. Giving all dreams was out of the question, for the land of dreams is as extensive a territory as our waking world.

  ABSENCE

  To dream of grieving over the absence of any one is a sure sign that the person dreamt of will soon return. To dream, however, of rejoicing at any one’s absence denotes that you will shortly receive intelligence you would rather be without.