Palmistry 101

Alrighty y’all so this is the first informational post in my palmistry post series, where I share my personal notes and information I’ve gathered through experience as a semi-professional palmist. The first post, Palmistry 100, is available here if you’d like to read it.

This post will be a bit long, so everything is available under the cut!

Okay so the first thing we’ll cover is which hand to read. Short answer? We absolutely read both hands. We do this to get a more complete and full understanding of someone’s personality. The dominant hand shows the outward personality, actions, and what they’ve done with what they were given, sorta like the sun sign in astrology. The non-dominant hand shows the more inner workings, someone’s inclinations, and more of their way of thinking/reflections, sorta like the moon sign in astrology. Think conscious versus subconscious. So what do we do if someone is ambidextrous? First, I ask them which hand they default to when it comes to writing. Most of the time, they will tell you clearly. On the rare chance that someone says they write with both, check the flexibility of their thumb—the hand with the less flexible thumb is their dominant hand.

That’s cool, now we know to read both hands, now what? How do we study this before going out into the world offering our friends and families readings? Because that’s a lot of pressure. Slow down there tiger, you’ve probably got a long way before doing an in-person reading, especially for someone with a lot of questions. The best way to study palms can be broken down into 2.5 parts.

Number 1, take a print! All you need is some paper and ink. Cover your hand in ink (one at a time of course) and push firmly into the paper. If done correctly, you should be able to clearly see the lines in your hands and even your finger prints and palmar ridges. Here’s an example:

Prints are fantastic for learning, because not only are you able to clearly see the lines and use them as a reference for study, but now you have a print that you can use to compare your hands in the future, because a lot of the lines in your hands will change over time. Having a print allows you to take your time when studying and learning to read palms, much better than asking your curious mom to check her palms and then getting a borage of “What do you see?” and “What does that mean?”

Number 2, pictures! Phone cameras have come a very long way over the years, and most people are able to capture a fairly good image of someone’s palm. The reason this is less preferred than a print is because not only will some of the minor lines and the palmar ridges be basically invisible, but you also won’t be able to measure the fingers against each other (which we’ll get into in a different post). That being said, they’re still a great resource to have, especially if you’re not able to take a print for any variety of valid reasons.

2.5? 2.5 includes pictures of celebrity hands, which can be found accompanying readings from other palmists sometimes, just like is done with celebrity astrology. I would recommend to ignore the other palmist’s reading and just study the palms, especially of the dominant hand, and try to match your findings with the way said celebrity portrays themselves, especially in interviews. For example, Hillary Clinton has a simian line, which in short, makes a lot of sense for her based on her career in politics. Jim Carrey has a long ring finger, sometimes known as the Apollo finger, which is found in a lot of people drawn to being the star of the room, and some people in the public eye like actors and comedians (and I’m not just saying that). You can also find plenty, and I mean plenty, of palm pictures on reddit, specifically r/palmistry, which I will absolutely recommend to beginners as a studying resource once you learn a few things to pinpoint.

So we’ve identified some great ways to get your hands on some other hands, which is fantastic. Learning to read for strangers helps you to build you objectivity when reading—it removes bias from your readings, which sharpens your knowledge on the topic.

In the next post, we’ll begin the discussion on the major lines of the palms, which is where I usually start my readings.

Low Energy/Effort Witchcraft

Are you perpetually busy? Never have any spoons? This might be the post for you. Note that not everything here may be considered low energy or low effort to everyone, and that's okay :)

Carry a crystal around based on what you need. I have a black tourmaline bracelet that absorbs negative vibes throughout the day. I stick it on a selenite slab when I get home to cleanse overnight, then rinse and repeat in the morning.

Put a bay leaf in your wallet to attract money. If you have time, draw a sigil or a $/£/€ on it.

Dedicate anything you drink to your deities if you have any. I dedicate water and black tea to everyone and my favourite raspberry tea to Hathor. Coffee is for Caim.

Enchant your pill case so you remember to take them on time. Enchant your pills to work efficiently. ("Anxiety begone. Ye be banished" on all of my anxiety pills ✌️)

Draw a sigil on your body wash bottle to remove bad vibes or carve a sigil in a bar of soap.

Enchant your moisturizer to repel the evil eye. I fucking love this one.

Incorporate colour magic into the socks you wear (Goths who wear hot pink socks, I'm looking at you).

Enchant your charger so it doesn't break and so you don't lose it. Enchant your phone too while you're at it.

Sorry, I love enchantments--

Uhhhhh

Match those big ol jar candles to different intentions. Burn a cedar candle to cleanse/banish. Burn a cinnamon candle to draw in prosperity. Burn a citrus candle to uplift mood. This one is fantastic for broom closet witches.

Got a humidifier? Fill it up with moon water. You're welcome ;D

Politely ask the spirits of your plants to ward your space. Feed two birds with one scone this way.

Witchy social media. Scrolling on Tumblr and learning something new about witchcraft counts as witchcraft imo. Saving tarot spreads from Instagram for later counts too. Making Pinterest boards for literally anything also counts.

Keep a digital grimoire if doing it on paper costs too many spoons. I have used Google docs & drive in the past but I currently use Notion (You can copy and paste this way!)

If you still want a physical grimoire, print your stuff out and stick it in a binder or glue it in your journal. Boom. Physical grimoire

Listen to witchcraft related videos in the background while you do other tasks or chores in your home

Preparing a meal? Toss in spices that correspond with good health and drawing in positivity, or any other intention you have

Enchant your glasses to help you focus and "read between the lines" or see what wants to remain hidden (this one is a lifesaver at my job)

15 Enchantments for your Day-to-Day

Enchant your pill case to remember to take them

Enchant your water bottle to make you want to drink more

Enchant your sunscreen to protect you

Enchant your lipstick to make you more persuasive at work

Enchant your shoes to lead you on safe pathways

Enchant your wallet to attract more money

Enchant your humidifier to cleanse your space (fill it with moon water for extra oomph)

Enchant your wifi router to protect your home

Enchant your workspace so you are productive while sitting there

Enchant your favourite mug to bring you mental clarity when you drink from it

Enchant your favourite writing utensil for creativity and productivity

Enchant your files so they're never lost and always in order

Enchant your shoes to feel more comfortable throughout your shift (not a substitute for wearing comfortable shoes and insoles if you need them)

Enchant your office plants to protect you from workplace gossip

Enchant your sticky notes so you remember you used one and where you put it.

Dua Bast! Dua Bastet!

This is probably the best meme I've ever made and I can't believe I never posted it here

Dua Anpu! Dua Anubis!

Quick Witch Tip 3

Put sigils on sticky notes that having matching color correspondences for an extra boost of intent.

Fold them up and keep them in your wallet, a locket, bag/backpack, keychain, workspace, etc.

Or keep them all in a jar and burn one whenever you need to release its effects.

Dua Sekhmet! Dua Sachmis!

Candied Orange Peels

And homemade orange syrup!

You can make the candied peels yourself using this recipe, which is the one I loosely followed.

For the syrup: I took what was left over from making the peels, and boiled it down until most of the water had evaporated. I added an extra splash of vanilla extract and allowed the syrup to cool before I bottled it. It set up really well overnight and was very "syrupy" the next day :)

Okay well what can you do with the syrup?

It's fantastic over ice cream, in teas or coffee, in simmer pots, in potions, in sweetener jars, to anoint candles, as an offering, etc.

Orange has correspondences of abundance, happiness, divination, strength, courage, health, creativity, success, attraction, and prosperity

And vanilla has correspondences of love, calmness, money/wealth, good fortune, emotional balance, improving one's mood, peace, comfort, and restoring lost energy

Of course, you can skip the vanilla extract all together if you want. And you can even substitute the oranges for lemons or grapefruits

I highly recommend labeling your bottle or jar with what's in the syrup and also the date you made it. This way you can keep track of it better, especially if you have a lot of homemade things in bottles & jars in your refrigerator

Have fun with it, be creative, and stay witchy! :D

🔅🌀🥚🧂🪬🧿🪬🧂🥚🌀🔅

~I am spiritually protected~

⭐Likes charge, reblogs cast⭐

Dua Sutekh! Dua Set!

Palmistry 100

Okay so these aren't exactly notes per se, but this is the first post in a series I'm planning to make about palmistry, and this post is dedicated to breaking down misconceptions and false information that I've seen a lot of people hold onto in their palmistry practice.

This post is a bit long, so I've put everything under the cut!

So first off:

Palmistry doesn't tell you "the future", it's not at all like typical divination methods where you can divine stuff about the future (knowing that it's always changing of course). Palmistry also doesn't tell you when you're going to die or the cause of death like is shown in plenty of movies and shows.

Palmistry does give you insight into someone's character, both externally and internally (which we'll get into later on). A good palmist can also offer advice about strengths and weaknesses in someone's personality, and offer communication techniques as well.

Anyone can learn palmistry, regardless of intuitive abilities or background.

A very common misconception is that because the practice is referred to as "palmistry" that only the lines on the hand are read. This is false, as the entirety of the hand is read from the major and minor lines, to skin texture, to finger length, angles of some knuckles, dermatoglyphics (fingerprints and palmar ridges), and even the way someone holds out their hand for you to read. You can actually get a very solid reading based on finger length, skin texture, and dermatoglyphics alone without reading into the major and minor lines on the palm.

Another common misconception is that only one hand—the dominant hand—is read. Any good palmist knows to read both hands and they would show different aspects of someone (this is something I'll go more in depth on in the next post)

And last but not least, the palms—or hands, rather—change over time. Skin texture, minor lines, knuckles, the plushiness of the thumb, and other signs will change over time, especially with age. I can point out specific minor lines on my own palms and say "This one wasn't here 6 years ago," or "This one has gotten deeper and more prominent in the past 4 years," or "There used to be a line right about here 2 years ago." A good way to keep track of changes is with taking a print, which I'll also explain in the next post.

Also, not a misconception, but something I see in a lot of palmistry resources is gendered language. I find that relying on gender to determine different qualities of a factor in someone's hand is lazy, cheap, and exclusionary. My younger brother has some qualities on his hands that are considered "feminine" or "usually found on a woman's hands," and I don't subscribe to that sort of language when reading palms because it's often exclusionary and doesn't offer any information or true insight. You can't take something as diverse as people's hands and try to shove them into two boxes, it doesn't work that way.

Also not a misconception, but something I want to address now before moving forward with this series of posts is a brief note about "parlor palmistry" and "elemental hand shapes". I'm sure many of you have seen those posts going around explaining the different elemental hand shapes, and I'm not going to discount it; because when I was a beginner in palmistry, I used to base a lot of my knowledge of someone off of the basic shape of their hand, and I was usually fairly accurate. I consider this part of parlor palmistry, which is usually done in very brief readings and is mainly for entertainment. It offers a very broad look at someone's personality without much deep insight. And it's perfectly fine to do in the right setting, like at summer camps or cafes, or doing a free reading in the break room at work. Parlor palmistry should never be done for profit, however, as it offers no real and deep insight, sorta like trying to tell someone details about their inner ways of thinking based only off of knowing that they're a capricorn. So that being said, we won't be going over parlor palmistry in this series—we'll be going into the nitty gritty details of true palmistry.

So there we have it, those are some common misconceptions and brief points about palm reading that I wanted to make before we get started with this series. Also, as this is a very visual practice, I will be using real pictures and diagrams to show certain points when necessary, because I personally can't stand reading about palmistry and not being able to see an example of what they're talking about!

I'm still drafting out how I want to format these posts, especially when I get into more detailed topics (I'm afraid of the dermatoglyphics posts, I'm going to need sooo many example photos). So if y'all have any questions about anything or points you want me to explain/cover, please feel free to comment under this post or send me an ask or message.

I'm absolutely going to start collecting pictures now from any willing volunteers. If you have any marks or lines or features you think would make for a good example in my posts, please send them my way! Anyone who sends me a picture will get a brief explanation of the visible features as a thankyou :)

15 More Enchantments for your Day-to-Day

Enchant your glasses to help you focus and "read between the lines” or see what wants to remain hidden

Enchant your charger so it doesn't break and so you don't lose it. Enchant your phone too while you're at it

Enchant your curtains or blinds to protect your home from prying eyes

Enchant a bell and hang it from your bedroom door so every time you walk in or out, it cleanses your space

Enchant your pet’s collars to keep them protected

Enchant your keys so you don’t misplace them

Enchant your guitar pick to stay where you put it

Enchant your air purifier to transmute negative energy to positive energy

Enchant your blankets to keep you calm and comforted

Enchant birthday cards with extra good fortune for your friends and family

Enchant your breakfast or morning coffee or tea to help you feel motivated throughout the day

Enchant your socks so they stay in pairs through the wash

Enchant a fidget toy to help you focus and receive fresh ideas

Enchant wrapping paper to release joy when ripped (I have a spell for this one coming soon!)

Enchant your bookmarks to help you remember what you’ve read so far

Dua Hetheru! Dua Hathor!

10 Shadow Work Prompts

This set of prompts are all in the form of questions. You may not resonate with all of these, but that's okay—everyone is on their own path of healing.

You can answer these prompts in your head, journal and write out all your answers, make art to represent how these prompts make you feel, or anything else you feel comfortable with that works for you.

When was the first time you apologized to keep the peace? Why?

Who told you that you weren't enough? Why did you believe them?

Why did you give that person so many chances? Was it worth it?

Why do you keep blaming yourself for what happened? If someone else were in your shoes, would you still blame them?

If you could speak to yourself from 5 years ago, what would you say?

Do you believe in "white lies"? Why or why not?

Why do you always stop yourself in the middle of talking about your hobbies or interests?

If you used to be a giving person, what happened to change that? If you still are, why?

What is the first thing that you think about when you think of "anger"? Vent about it, let it all out.

What is your relationship with shadow work? Do you think this helps? Why or why not?