THE MAGICIAN’S GUIDE TO
PALM READING
PAUL VOODINI
INTRODUCTION. I often feel that I’m a bit different from your average mentalist and magician. For a start I come from what I call a “shut eye” background, by which I mean that for a long time I really believed in ghosts and spirits, in the tarot cards and palm reading. It was only when I discovered and fell in love with magic (as opposed to magik) that my eyes were opened and I saw the psychology behind such belief patterns. Secondly, coming from such a background I have had very little contact with magic clubs and societies. In fact when I turned professional as a close-up magician, I had never even met another magician. This means that I had no idea of how things were supposed to to be done, and as such I saw absolutely nothing wrong with combining close-up magic with palm reading. It was only later when I worked alongside other magicians at events and parties that I realised I was doing things a little differently. The magicians I met practically threw their arms up in the air and ran out screaming when they saw me performing Do As I Do before following it with a palm (or even tarot card) reading. I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to do this - after all, nobody had ever told me differently! But I also noticed something else quite interesting. Although the magicians I encountered and worked alongside at larger events were very professional and their sleight of hand was wonderful (far superior to anything I could perform), it was me who had the crowds around him. It was me who the organisers begged to stay for another hour at double the fee. Long after the other magicians had packed their thumb tips and sponge balls and linking rings away and disappeared into the night, I still had a crowd of people around me begging for more. Why? Palm reading. People wanted their palm reading. People would beg me to read their palms. People would literally chase me across the car park of venues to get their palm read, with little regard to how tired I was or how many hours I’d been working at the event. People would thrust £20 notes into my hand and ask me if I would stay 10 minutes longer and read the palms of their wives. To put it plainly and simply - palm reading is popular. It is more popular than magic tricks. Many of you will have balked at that last comment. “How dare he? Palm reading more popular than my repertoire? He obviously obviou sly hasn’t seen my ambitious card routine! That always draws gasps of awe from audiences wherever I work!” Trust me on this and try not to get upset - palm reading is more popular with lay audiences than any magic trick. This is a truth that many magicians have trouble accepting until they try it for themselves. If you find yourself doubting my words, do yourself (and me) a favour - stick with this manual, don’t dismiss it just yet, and the next time you are performing, either for friends or professionally, just throw in a quick palm reading and see what reaction you get. We will discuss all of this in more detail later in the manual, but for now just stick with it and promise that you’ll give it a go, just out of interest. Okay?
NB - a clarification: Throughout this manual I use the term divination when referring to routines such as billet switches or magician-guesses-spectator’s-card. I do not use the term “divination” to indicate any psychic ability. I use the term divination as a catch all word that includes all manner of magical technique for discovering a secret. So if I was to say “the magician divines the number correctly”, I do not mean the magician uses his psychic ability to discover the number. What I actually mean is the magician uses his impression device, centre tear, billet switch etc to discover the number. This point probably doesn’t need making, but I just wanted to make sure we were all reading from the same hymn sheet. The 10 Points to Successful Palm Reading
I don’t believe that palm reading has anything to do with being “psychic”. But I must just quickly say this - of all the various forms of fortune telling and divination that I have practised over the years (tarot cards, aura, tea leaves, etc), palm reading is the one system that I think has “something in it”. Again, this has nothing to do with being psychic, but is more to do with the fact (as I see it) that different types of people tend to share common characteristics palm-wise. Analytical people who are good with numbers tend to have one kind of palm, whereas those more inclined to drift through life without ever making plans for the future tend to have an entirely different kind of palm. I make this judgement from experience and after reading the palms of literally thousands of people. Once you’ve done this for a while you will start to notice patterns and you’ll know with a fair degree of accuracy what kind of person you’re dealing with as soon as you first see their palm. So if we’re not talking about psychic powers, how exactly does one read a palm and divine the sitter’s past, present & future? It’s actually rather simple. Each point on the palm (and these will all be covered later in the manual) has a different meaning, and these meanings will act as a crib sheet for you. By looking at the palm, each line and each detail will remind you of what to say. Once you have learned the meaning of the lines and some other details (and there are only around 10 points in total to remember), you will be able to hone and customise each reading so that it fits each individual sitter. Once you know the 10 points, the rest is just practice and experience. But that’s not all. Once we know the 10 points, we can start to have fun by combining palm reading with magic tricks! And we’ll talk about that later too… Why Combine Palm Reading with Magic Tricks?
In the magic world, much is made of the “justification” behind tricks. It is reasonably easy (when we have the skill) to impress lay people with our dexterity and sleight of hand. But if we want our tricks to impress people on an emotional level and really produce the “wow factor”, we need a justification. It’s not enough that you manage to why you divine their freely chosen card. We need to demonstrate and explain exactly why you means. We need to take our spectator on a journey of managed such a feat and what it means. discovery.
Let’s quickly talk about a hypothetical situation. Imagine for a moment that a spectator randomly selects a card. The trick is quite simple in design. The idea is that you, as the magician, successfully divine the name of that card without ever having seen it. It’s very clever and the successful conclusion will no doubt impress the spectator. But it has no depth, and it has no reason. How can we add depth, reason and meaning to this simple routine? Well, firstly we could think on our feet. While chatting to our spectator it will be possible to discover some personal details about her. If she was a mother with three children, we can try and tie this into the card chosen. Perhaps if the card chosen was the 3 of hearts, we could say that the hearts represent the spectator’s role as a mother figure and the number 3 could represent the number of children that she has. This then is the “reason” why she chose that card. For our hypothetical female spectator many cards could be tied into her situation. Clearly any queen card can be tied in, any heart, any number 3, etc. With a little imagination many cards can be made to tie in with any spectator. And by doing so we are giving our simple routine new layers. The trick now has meaning and depth. This wasn’t just a randomly selected card. The spectator was drawn to the card because of her situation in life, and the reason you were able to divine the card was because you sensed this link between the spectator and the card. The routine now has a reason to exist, and it has matured from a simple “how very clever of the magician” routine to something that has some emotional resonance with the spectator. This is where palm reading comes in. It is the perfect tool to give reason and depth to any number of magic tricks, and it involves the spectator on a personal level. The trick is no longer about you, the magician. It is all about the spectator. Let us consider once more our hypothetical female spectator, and this time introduce a palm reading into the equation. The spectator freely chooses a card (or has one forced onto her, it doesn’t matter). By spending five minutes giving your spectator a palm reading, and through this action learning some details about her, we can them tie all the statements from the palm reading together and then claim that from the information gleamed we believe the card she would have chosen would be the 3 of hearts. Therefore the whole routine has depth, meaning and an emotional pay-off for the spectator. And will, hopefully, have been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all. The “palm reading to divine the unknown” blueprint can be applied to all manner of magic and mental routines. Billet switches, centre tears, impression devices… all can be elevated by introducing a palm reading. A quick example - a spectator is asked to write a number down on a pad, rip off the sheet of paper that she has written on and then hands the pad back to you. You give the spectator a palm reading and through this process you are able to gleam the number that you believe would have entered the spectator’s mind. This is a process that I have used probably thousands of times, mainly with the “freely chosen card” plot but also with impression devices and billets/centre tears. It always goes down very well, and often people will tell you afterwards that although the final
revelation was great, what they really enjoyed was the actual palm reading. We must not “scrimp” on the reading. We must not rush through it in order to get to the final pay-off. The reading must impress, and our own mind-set must be that we need the palm reading in order to reveal the secret information. Even though we know (usually) the information before we even start the palm reading, our “internal dialogue” (I hate that phrase but it gets the point across) must be that the palm reading is necessary and through it we will unravel the mystery. Be Prepared!
When working at a wedding reception or a corporate event, be prepared for the people you are entertaining to be more interested in the palm reading than the magic. When you are working a table and you use the “palm reading to revelation” plot line, you will find that the people on adjoining tables will have witnessed the palm reading and will want their palms reading too. “I’m not bothered about the magic,” they will say, palm thrust out beneath your nose, “just read my palm.” And indeed the people at the table you have just worked will will ask (and often often beg) you you to read their their palms too. Before Before long you you will find yourself surrounded by people all demanding that you read their palms. It is, as I stated earlier, very popular. And that will make you very popular too. You will no longer be the magician. You will be the magician who can read palms. That will make you a far more attractive proposition to prospective clients, and you will find your rebooking ratios increase. You will be the most popular person at any event that you work at. I always get a thrill from seeing the jealous looks I receive from other magicians I’m working with at larger events. I will invariably have a gaggle of people around me at all times, and the other magicians will be beating themselves up trying to figure out what my secret is! In Summary. So to summarise what exactly we intend to do:
We intend to give our routines that include some form of divination (number, card etc) added resonance and meaning by introducing a palm reading. As far as our spectators are concerned, the palm reading is the method by which we divine the secret item (number, card etc). Obviously this is far from the case, but in the spectator’s mind the palm reading demonstrates the method and the justification for the routine, and thanks to the palm reading each routine is personalised to the specific spectator. No two routines will ever be the same. The palm readings when incorporating a magic trick/routine should only last around 5 minutes. And likewise, if other people ask for palm readings without the magic, keep the readings quick and punchy. At a walk around gig you’ll need to limit each reading to a couple of minutes or you’re never going to get around to everyone who wants a reading. So, let’s learn how to read palms!
A Little History.
Judging by the number of hands painted in prehistoric caves it would seem that reading the human palm is right up there with the casting of bones when it comes to being the oldest method of fortune telling! In all seriousness, it is probably the oldest form of fortune telling - certainly several millennia older than it’s more flirty cousin, the tarot card! The emperor of China used his thumbprint when sealing documents in 3000BC. Information on the laws and practice of hand reading have been found in Vedic scripts, the Bible and early Semitic writings. Aristotle (384-322BC) discovered a treatise on palmistry on an alter to the god Hermes. The Greek physicians Hypocrites and Galen (130-200) were both knowledgeable about the use of palmistry as a clinical aid. Julius Caesar (102-44BC) judged his men by palmistry. The practice of palmistry was unfortunately branded as devil worship by the Catholic church in the middle ages. However even in a staunchly Catholic country like France, the art of palmistry continued to flourish and the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) relied upon it heavily when making decisions. His personal palmist was Madame Le Normand, who also gave us the rather beautiful fortune telling cards named after her. th
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For much of the 19 and 20 Centuries palm reading tended to be the domain of Romany gypsies who passed on the knowledge of palmistry from one generation to another by th word of mouth. However in the late 20 Century an interest in all thing esoteric was reignited by the New Age movement, and palm reading once again became fashionable. Palm reading has several advantages over other forms of fortune telling as you need no props to perform it. Talk about packs small, plays big! Past, Present, Future?
The palm reading I will be teaching you does not predict the future or dwell too much on the past. My palm reading technique is more along the lines of character profiling, revealing the traits and characteristics of the person you are reading for. I find this more satisfying as a magician and mentalist, and it steers us nicely away from many of the moral issues that surround fortune telling and the psychic arts.
THE TEN POINTS TO PALM READING Please also refer to the illustration on following page.
1. Check Both Palms.
Before you start your reading, ask if your spectator is right or left handed. If she happens to be left handed I always use a bit of unashamed flattery. “Great,” I’ll say, “well straight away I can tell you that left handed people are more creative and more imaginative than right handed people. They also tend to be more intuitive.” This bit of back-slapping does have a basis in esoteric law, but I tend to use it as a way of “buttering up” any spectator who happens to be left handed. And listen to the response of your spectator. Very few are going to contradict the statement that you make, but occasionally someone will. They may respond by saying: “Oh, not me. I’m not creative at all!” Well, okay, that gives you some great ideas about what to say in your reading! Sounds like this person is down to earth and practical and not at all prone to flights of fancy. That really is all the information you need to provide a great 5 minute reading. Once you know if the spectator is right or left handed, ask to see both of her palms at the same time. Explain that her right hand (if she’s right handed) is the palm that represents her everyday life while her left hand (if she’s right handed) represents what’s going on “deeper down, subconsciously”. Clearly for a left handed person it’s vice versa. Have a quick look at both palms (looking rather studious), and then explain that as this will be just a quick reading you will only be concentrating on the right hand (for a right handed person) as this is the “main” hand. All of this is true to the esoteric tradition, but what you have actually done, rather sneakily, is check whether your spectator is married or not! Cool huh? ( NB Just in case somebody out there doesn’t get it - you look to see if there’s a wedding ring on the left hand!)
2. The Angle of the Thumb.
The thumb is probably the most important part of the palm when it comes to reading. Holding the spectator’s palm in front of you, note the angle of the thumb to the rest of the palm (see illustration). This angle will normally be just less than 90 degrees. Gently attempt to increase that angle by pulling the thumb further away from the palm and down towards the wrist. Some thumbs will be very stiff and will not move at all, some will move to a moderate degree, and some will move quite a distance, completing the full 90 degree angle or even more. Always start your palm reading with this check of the thumb’s angle. It will start your reading off with a smile and get your spectator (and perhaps her friends) talking. Why? Because the wider the angle, the worse the person is with money! A
thumb that doesn’t move much represents someone who is very careful with money, and a thumb that moves only a short way suggests someone who is sensible with money. This is a great opening gambit and with a touch of luck your spectator will start talking about herself and not stop, thus saving you a lot of work! Of course this doesn’t always happen, but I find as soon as I mention how good or bad the spectator is with money, she will laugh and her friends will start chipping in with various anecdotes. If her friends are very vocal, I find it is great to involve them too and check how good/bad they are with money as well! So my opening line is always: “So, first of all I’m going to see how good or bad you are with money.” And then I wait several seconds while I check the thumb. During that momentary silence I’m waiting for someone to say something, either the spectator or her friends. Invariably they will, and it will often be something along the lines of: “Oh I’m terrible with money! Honestly!” Quite clearly with that sort of information being imparted freely, you don’t need to even check the angle of the thumb! However I will always reinforce what the spectator says. “Oh yes,” I’ll say, “that shows itself quite clearly here!” And I will reinforce her statement by demonstrating the angle of the thumb to her. “Look,” I’ll say, “here’s something for you to remember and try out on your friends. The wider the angle here, the worse people are with money. So now you can check your friends or perhaps more importantly your boyfriend/husband!” So hopefully the whole “flexibility of thumb/good or bad with money” test will have relaxed your spectator, you will have shared a few laughs, and the spectator will start to warm to you. Time to move on…
3. Flexibility of Thumb and Thumb Tip.
Still holding the palm and the thumb, you will now gently attempt to push the thumb down, as though you are trying to push the thumb back down towards the floor. Do this gently - no need to cause a palm reading related injury! The person who’s thumb pushes down very easily is a bit of a tree hugger. They tend to be very trusting of people, and take everyone at face value. Because of this they have perhaps been hurt in the past and let down by people. They may at times have expectations of people that are simply too high - nobody can live up to their expectations. But the expectations are high because this person can see what other people are capable of. They see the good in people and they are disappointed when people turn out to be human and flawed. They can be quite idealistic. People with thumbs that are very stiff tend to be quite world-weary and cynical. They struggle to make new friends, and tend to prefer their own company or at least they like their life to be run to routines. Any deviation to their routine upsets them. EG If it’s Thursday it must be be sausages and mashed potato! People with stiff thumbs can be quite pig headed and stubborn, and they will struggle to express emotions. If they say something is “not bad”, they actually mean it is bloody brilliant! They’re stuck in a rut,
but the rut is okay with them. They’re happy to be there! Their family/friends however may have a different outlook and would love them to be more open and willing to try new things. However, show caution when expressing how their friends and family view them. A quick five minute reading doesn’t need to go too deep. A thumb that is neither very flexible nor very stiff is representative of someone who started out life being very optimistic and trusting, but the years (and the disappointments) have taught her to be a little more wary around people and not expect too much.
Very flexible thumbs tend to belong to females, and very stiff thumbs tend to belong to males - usually middle aged to elderly, and usually quite successful businessmen or salesmen. From the flexibility of the thumb, we move on to the thumb tip (the real thumb tip, not a silly piece of plastic!). Pressing the tip of the thumb in nice and gently will reveal much about the spectator’s personality. The tip of a thumb that bounces back out again and regains its shape quickly demonstrates someone who is good at bouncing back from adversity. Someone who doesn’t let life get them down. They’re a bit of a fighter. A nice thing to point out here, particularly if your spectator is a female, is that they are stronger than people around them realise. This strokes their ego but also gives them a nice boost and a pat on the back. Plus it makes them even more inclined to like you! The tip of a thumb that remains indented for several minutes after you have pressed it in is representative of someone who finds it difficult to deal with upset. This person can be quite sensitive, something of a worrier, and may even be prone to illness. Again, no need to go too deep here. Keep it nice and upbeat. A statement like “Goodness me, you’re a bit of a worrier aren’t you?” will suffice. Say it with a smile, be understanding, and let the spectator know that you’re on their side. The tip of a thumb that will not push in at all is very similar to a stiff thumb - it represents someone who is quite hard emotionally and refuses to let emotions or upsets affect him. And it is usually a him. We noted earlier that stiff thumbs usually belong to males, and likewise stiff thumb tips usually belong to males also.
4. The Mount of Venus.
The Mount of Venus is the fleshy ball that lies at the base of the thumb. Avery plump and fleshy Mount of Venus indicates someone who likes to enjoy the better things in life. They are prone to being over-excessive - the kind of people who can’t help but finish the entire packet of biscuits after opening them, or polishing off that bottle of wine rather than just enjoying a single glass! However, again, please be sensitive when relaying this information. Some people will quite gladly agree and even have a giggle about it, others may see such statements as being a bit intrusive. Be sensible and use your powers of observation to judge who can take a bit of a joke and who need to be treated a bit more
reverently. A flatter Mount of Venus represents someone who often prefers their own company and may be at their happiest in their own home with the outside world firmly shut outside. They may enjoy pottering around at home, immersed in the gardening or their hobby. Social situations may fill them with dread, and although they may grudgingly attend such events they will be at their happiest when they finally get home and can kick off their shoes and exclaim, “Thank goodness that’s over!” People with very flat Mount of Venus’ tend not to suffer fools gladly, perhaps so much so that the rest of the world may view them as grumpy! A Mount of Venus that is somewhere in-between, neither too plump nor too flat, is the happy medium.
5. Length of Fingers.
The length of the fingers will give you a good indication of what kind of person you are reading for. Essentially people with long “piano player’s fingers” are creative and imaginative people who are also good organisers. They will often be very good with numbers and will be masters at crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s. However they are very capable of moments of inspiration and are able to “think outside of the box”. In many ways a concert pianist is the best analogy for them - their precise, organised nature is ideal for reading music while their inspired, creative side would find the perfect outlet via the actual production of music from the piano. These people are great planners and will often have detailed ideas (in their head at least) as to where they want to be in life in the next 5 and 10 years. They are certainly not the kind of people to simply drift aimlessly through life. People with short stubby fingers (usually accompanied with small chubby hands) tend to struggle through life on a day to day basis. They rarely plan for the future - it’s enough for them just to get through each day. If their job pays them on a monthly basis, they will often be left with no money before the next pay packet is due! They don’t tend to be very good planners at all! Work wise, they will often be employed in a manual or factory setting, or perhaps in retail. This will be a career that they just sort of “fell in to”. However they are very often great fun people to be around. Many times they will be the life and soul of the party and will enjoy a good gossip! They do sometimes find themselves in trouble with friends or family members after saying something inappropriate or disclosing secrets to the wrong people. They really do struggle with forward planning, so much so that they will fail to predict the possible result of what they say in the heat of the moment. People with short fingers that also have the three middle fingers all the same length can be quite stubborn alongside having this lack of foresight that we have just mentioned.
This can lead them to make the wrong decisions in life but steadfastly refuse to see the error of their ways. And obviously - a person with fingers that are neither overly long nor short and stubby is a person that sits nicely between the two extremes.
6. Fingers Open or Closed?
This is a nice, simple way to determine whether or not your spectator is an introvert or an extrovert. Someone who presents their palm to you with fingers stretched open is more of an extrovert, whereas someone who keeps their fingers tightly squeezed together has a tendency to be more introverted. With this small piece of information at our disposal, we can wax lyrical in a manner not dissimilar to this: Fingers open - “I see you as someone who can most certainly be the life of the party when you put your mind to it. You enjoy being the centre of attention, you like having friends and family around you. A big celebration is an environment that you can really look forward to and enjoy.” BUT…. always keep an eye on the spectator’s reaction! If they look like they’re not agreeing at all, don’t be afraid to change your mind completely. “I see you as someone who is amazingly outgoing, the life and soul of the party (spectator doesn’t look convinced), but someone who also needs their own space and time to do their own thing. Sometimes you even seem to be quite shy…” Fingers closed - “I see you as quite an introvert, someone who prefers to not be the centre of attention, someone who would prefer to be in the shadows rather than under the spotlight…” etc. And again, don’t be afraid to backtrack. IMPORTANT NOTE: This backtracking technique applies to all your readings and all reading techniques. Do not be afraid to contradict yourself. Observe your spectator and edit your readings accordingly.
7. Heart Line.
The heart line is the horizontal line at the top of the palm that runs from the edge of the palm near the little finger towards the far side of the palm (see illustration). The heart line (as the name suggests) talks about the spectator’s emotional well-being. An ideal scenario is for the heart line to be nice and strong, and for it to be curving up to point between the first finger and middle finger. A nice strong heart line indicates a person that feels comfortable with their emotions and
isn’t afraid to discuss them. A thin, whispy heart line would indicate someone who is not altogether happy discussing emotions, doesn’t feel comfortable with their emotions, and would prefer to bury their head in the sand and wait for any emotional issues to disappear. A female’s heart line would tend to to be strong while a male’s heart line would tend to to be fainter and more whispy. This is a huge generalisation of course, but it is a tendency. If you find a man with a strong heart line it gives you an opportunity to note how he tends to be more in tune with his emotions than perhaps his friends are, he isn’t afraid to discuss emotional issues, which is great to see because most men tend to shy away from such issues, etc., etc. You may have also noticed that when discussing the palm I use words and phrases such as tend , perhaps, indicate, and often. By using such words when reading a palm I leave the door firmly open to backtrack if needed. Indeed a nice trick is to examine a spectator’s palm and use the palm to almost give the spectator a palm reading lesson. So if I was looking at a strong heart line on a male for instance, I might say: “Now you have a strong heart line, which would tend to indicate someone who may be quite in touch with their emotions.” Suppose the man replies, “Oh no, not me. I don’t like discussing emotions at all!” I would carry on, “Exactly! A strong heart line is supposed to indicate someone who is happy discussing emotional issues, but that’s not true with you is it? You tend to try to ignore emotional issues, so it’s very interesting to see how the accepted meanings of the palm don’t hold true for you.” Always leave that door open! If the heart line curves upwards and points towards the gap between the first and middle fingers, this is someone who’s love life has been quite average. There have been good times and there have been bad times - like most of us. A short heart line, one that fails to reach the middle of the palm and shows no indication of curving upwards would indicate someone who has had a lot of disappointment emotional. Things haven’t been plain sailing with relationships. No need to go deeper than that - remember, keep it upbeat and punchy. However quickly mentioning that their emotional life has often been something of a battleground will add deeper resonance to the reading and give you an added air of genuineness. A heart line that is very long, goes straight across the palm without a curve up towards the first and middle finger, represents somebody who is a bit hard work emotionally, someone who is high maintenance, and someone who needs constant reassurance that they are the centre of their partner’s life. Of course you don’t have to be nasty or blunt when pointing this out to the spectator. I would simply say, with a cheeky grin, “Gosh, you can be a bit high maintenance, can’t you?” Nobody has ever taken offence at that. They usually bend over laughing and say “Yes, I can be!” Remember - positive, upbeat, fun!
8. Head Line.
The head line travels across the palm from the middle of the gap between the top of the thumb and bottom of the first finger (see diagram). The length of the head line indicates
how creative and intuitive a person is and how down to earth they are. Basically, a long head line that travels past the middle of the palm indicates somebody who is creative, imaginative and also quite intuitive. A short head line (one that fails to pass the middle of the palm) indicates someone who is very down to earth and isn’t prone to flights of fancy. Basically the longer the head line the more creative/intuitive, the shorter the head line the more down to earth. It may come as no surprise to you that men tend to to have a short headline, and women tend to have longer head lines. If you come across a man who has a long headline, there is a good probability that he will deny being at all “intuitive”. However he will happily agree to either being lucky, or good at predicting football scores, or good at the casino. Bear that in mind, and if he disagrees with believing himself to be intuitive you can then wax lyrical about how intuition comes in many varied guises. He may not believe himself to be remotely psychic (or even believe in the existence of psychic ability), but perhaps his intuition manifests itself in more “male oriented” ways - successful at gambling, good at judging people at first glance, etc. When looking at a short head line, phrases that I tend to use would go along the lines of, “You tend to be quite down to earth. You’re not really prone to flights of fancy. You’re more likely to believe in material things and not really have too much time for more esoteric ideas.” Again I have highlighted the words I use that allow me to back track and change my mind completely should I need to! A long head line allows you to be more straight forward and confident in your reading. After all, not too many people are going to deny being creative, imaginative, or intuitive. But sometimes they do (as I mentioned, particularly males), so it pays to remain clever and alert with the words you use. “You’ve got a very long head line, which would indicate that you’re quite an intuitive person. You may sometimes have an idea of who is on the phone before you pick it up, or you may instinctively know if it’s good or bad news, that kind of thing.” Again I’ve highlighted the ‘get out of jail free’ words, but also take a look at the first sentence - “You’ve got a very long head line, which would indicate…” By using sentences similar to this you are covering your own back. What you are in fact saying is “The commonly held belief is that a long head line (or whatever line you’re looking at) indicates an imaginative person…” Therefore if it’s wrong, it’s not your fault. You are only the messenger and you are just relaying the message from commonly held beliefs. And as mentioned earlier, words such as “often” and “sometimes” allows you to back track and change direction quickly and effortlessly should you need to.
9. Life Line.
Of all the lines on the palm, the life line is the one line that needs to be handled with care. It is the line that arcs around the base of the thumb (around the outside of the Mount of Venus - see diagram).
People often have an idea that the length of the life line is an indication of how long they are going to live. This is a hang over from the Victorian method of palm reading, when the esoteric was all about death, dying, pain, illness, suffering and more death. These days, in what is known as “modern palmistry”, the length of the life line does not indicate how long a person is going to live. Whether you are going to live to a 100 or to 45, the life line will not indicate this no matter how long or short it is. The life line does however indicate how healthy a person is going to be, and can often show up any major illnesses along the way. The life line starts at a point on the edge of the palm above the thumb. It then arcs around the Mount of Venus towards the bottom of the palm. Some life lines are long and will actually reach the bottom of the palm, while others will be shorter and may peter out half way around the Mount of Venus. Remember, the length of the life line does not indicate length of life. Wherever the life line comes to an end, then that represents the end of the life. The start of the line above the thumb indicates the birth. Any lines that cross the life line, and any gaps, breaks or complications with the line would indicate changes, upsets and serious illnesses in the person’s life. To start talking about such issues during what is billed as an “upbeat, short, punchy palm reading” would, I believe, be a mistake. There is a strong possibility that you will found yourself being bogged down in discussion, desperately trying to dig yourself out of a hole, if you start discussing somebody’s health and the likelihood of serious illness. It is best just left alone. The well-being health of the spectator is out of your remit (and the remit of this manual). You are not a doctor (unless you are a doctor, in which case, go for it!). Seriously, this manual is about providing fun palm readings to augment close up magic. Death, health, illness etc do not fit well into that scenario. I tend to just simply ignore the life line. Or I may just quickly say, “And there’s your life line, nice and strong so nothing to worry about there at all.” You will often get a spectator asking, “Which is my life line? Am I going to die young?” I will then quickly explain that the length of the life line does not indicate how long a person is going to live for, and I will often reassure my spectator by quickly saying something like, “But your life line is nice and strong so there are no worries there anyway.” I may be just making it all up of course, but I personally think it’s very important to leave people feeling better about themselves after leaving me than they felt before they met me. The worse thing in the world would be if they left me and felt worried about what I had told them. “I’m very worried now. He said something about a short life line and a serious illness. I wish I’d never met him.” That would be awful.
10. Gap between the life line and head line.
The top of the life line and the start of the head line are often fused together (see diagram). However sometimes there is a definite gap between the two lines.
When the lines are fused together, this is representative of a person who has a strong sense of their roots, of where they come from, and where they feel they belong. This is a person for whom the ancestral home, the home they were brought up in, may always, deep down, feel like “real” home. They will usually not wander far from the city where they were born, and no matter where they end up in the world there will be a definite place that will always be “home” and that they will always feel compelled to return to. Where there is a gap between the life line and the head line, this person is very independent. They are determined to prove that this life is their life, and they are not walking in anybody else’s footprints. They can happily move from the city or town where they were born without a backwards glance, and in the words of an old Marvin Gaye (and Paul Young) song, wherever they lay their hat, that’s their home. So, from New York to London to Sydney, as soon as they arrive they happily make it their home. They feel no pull to return to the place of their birth. It’s all about moving forward. This sense of independence can occasionally lead them into conflict with authority because they quite simply don’t like being told what to do. They are far happier working for themselves than working as part of a large organisation. If they are employed within a large organisation they will either be constantly planning their escape or they’ll work damned hard to make sure they get to the top of the pile. Extra Points.
Some people have what are called “rings” around their wrists (see diagram). Quite simply, the more rings a person has the luckier they will be in life. You will sometimes be asked about marriages and children. I always inform my spectators that it is of course impossible for the palm to predict how many children or marriages they are going to have. However people often look disappointed when I try to fob them off, so I will usually go along with it under the proviso that this is “all for fun” and not to be taken too seriously. If you look at the edge of the palm (the part that would be used to “karate chop” a piece of wood or, indeed, a person), there will often be small lines running horizontally in the space between the bottom of the little finger and where the heart line begins. These small, often faint lines represent marriages or very serious relationships (not merely casual partners or short relationships). And even smaller lines that lead off vertically from these relationship lines are supposed to represent children. But of course it has no basis in reality, but sometimes if the spectator is keen it can be fun to demonstrate.
ROUTINING & PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER. Getting Used to the Intimacy.
Palm reading is quite an intimate experience, both for yourself and the spectator. You are usually holding their palm, you have to sit quite close to each other, and you are talking openly about some of the most personal facets of the spectator’s life. Such intimacy can get some getting used to. I’ve never had a problem with it, but I know that some people can find it quite intimidating. Although it has never been an issue for me, I do sometimes smile inwardly when I’m holding the hand of a big burly bloke and telling him that he’s a lot more sensitive than people realise! I wonder what the scene must look like to someone who’s just wandered into the room! On that issue, several times I have felt like I was close to being hit by the boyfriends/husbands of women I am palm reading for. This usually happens when I’m working at a wedding reception or private function and I approach a table. Perhaps the boyfriend/husband of the woman chosen to be my volunteer is away at the toilet or the bar. He comes back to the table to find me holding his lady’s hand, stroking her palm gently and gazing into her eyes! For some reason the more hot blooded men can get the wrong idea! Now I don’t want to blow this out of all proportion. I’ve been using palm reading professionally for around 7 years now and I’ve felt genuinely intimidated perhaps only 5 times, so it’s not like it happens all the time. But it can happen, and if you feel intimidated or if the woman who’s palm you’re reading suddenly looks very uncomfortable and is clearly worried that she’s upsetting her partner, simply bring the palm reading to a hasty close, finish your routine quickly, and get out of there. A common statement uttered by women to their partners while I’m reading their palm is, “How come this guy understands me better than you do?” Be Sensible.
I’ve covered this earlier in the book, but when giving readings please be sensible. Don’t say anything that could cause upset or worry. Remember you’re an entertainer not the angel of death. Upbeat, entertaining, and punchy! That’s the way! Routines.
Hopefully you will already have some ideas in your mind as to how you can incorporate palm reading into your existing routines or perhaps new routines have started to form in your mind. I mentioned earlier the divination of a chosen card using palm reading, and here are a few
more ideas to think about:
Billet switch, centre tear, impression pad, peek device. A number correctly divined using palm reading, or perhaps a happy memory, name of a celebrity, holiday destination, or star sign. These are all things that the lay person may believe it would be possible to divine from the palm. “Having read your palm and getting a good idea as to what kind of person you are, I believe, and I’m probably wrong here, but I believe that you might be drawn to a celebrity like Jordan. Jordan? Is it? It is! Fantastic!” I’m a big fan of Simon Shaw’s “Director’s Cut”. Have your spectator chose a film poster while you fan the cards towards them, and then using your palm reading skills figure out what kind of person they are and what kind of film they would be drawn to. Marked or forced playing cards or tarot cards. The tarot cards would play well alongside the palm reading, but in my experience the playing card has a stronger impact. This is probably because everybody knows that there is only one (for example) king of hearts in a deck of playing cards, whereas for all most people know there may be a dozen king of cups in a deck of tarot cards. And remember that once people at an event have seen you read one person’s palm you will be inundated with requests for palm reading and most of these people won’t give a hoot for the magic element. The palm reading is by itself a hugely popular “routine” and one that you can “perform” for every person at an event and never worry that there’s no variety in what you are doing. Each palm reading will be different due to the fact that each time you are interacting with a totally different human being.
So Come On, Just How Popular is Palm Reading Really?
In the past I have been lucky to have been employed to work at many great weddings in some wonderful stately homes in England and Scotland. A couple of memorable occasions stand out and I’d like to just share them with you so you get an idea of how popular the palm reading is and what you can expect to happen once you start integrating palm reading into your repertoire. At one wedding a lady took me by the hand and took me into a deserted room within a stately home. She sat me down and insisted that I gave her a “private reading”. I agreed but simply gave her the same reading I would have given her had we been interacting in the dining room or bar area. Once I’d finished she thanked me profusely and shoved a £20 note into my hand. At another wedding the serving of the wedding breakfast was delayed for 15 minutes while the bride, the mother of the bride, and the bride’s friends had their palms read. The bride actually asked me, “How many times am I going to be married?” I was very diplomatic and said “Just the once”! Drunken brides can be great fun! At one wedding I was booked to work the tables during the wedding breakfast. It was a two hour booking. The bride, a little tipsy it must be said, hijacked me and had me read the palms of all her friends. Then when I tried to move on to the other tables she grabbed me back and insisted I stayed at her
table doing “weird things”. Luckily I had my tarot cards and a pack of Bikes with me, so spent a very agreeable two hours with the bride and her friends. At one point someone mentioned to the bride that none of the other guests had seen any ‘magic’. “I’m the one paying him!” she exclaimed. “He’s staying here with me!” I’d just finished a very successful booking at a wedding when the bride and groom approached me. They asked if I would stay on for another 30 minutes to give them a private reading. They handed me an extra £100 and I, of course, agreed. This will happen a lot. I can recall many occasions at weddings, private parties, corporate events etc. where I’ve been asked to stay for an extra hour or so and have had money literally thrust into my hands. This is great of course, but sometimes it can be very tiring. You will need to be firm sometimes and turn down the extra work, particularly if you’re feeling tired or have a long drive ahead of you.
In Conclusion.
In conclusion, have fun with it! There’s no more to be said really. I’ve already mentioned being careful and not upsetting anyone with your readings, so I won’t go there again. Really all you need to do is enjoy it, be enthusiastic, and allow that enthusiasm to rub off onto your spectators. Now, get ready to be the most popular person at the next event you work at or are invited to! As soon as you mention the words “I can read palms” prepare to have a dozen sticky hands thrust underneath your nose! Good times.
Paul Voodini October 2010 www.readerofminds.co.uk Paul is available for private workshops and group lectures. He is available to lecture on séance magic, cold reading and a combination of the two. He is happy to provide private workshops on séance magic and/or cold reading.
