The International Institute of Hand Analysis had its starting point in the hand reading classes taught by Richard Unger at the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1969 and 1970. Richard expanded his original program into a more comprehensive set of classes offered at the Esoteric Philosophy Center in Houston, Texas from 1975 through 1981. Traveling the country from 1981 to 1983 in a series of lectures and workshops, Richard eventually chose Marin County, California to be the birthplace of the IIHA. As of 2004, the Year Long is in its 20th year in Marin and has expanded to Los Angeles, Houston and Zurich, Switzerland.

Richard’s First Palmistry Class

After four months of basic training in South Carolina and two months of commune hopping across North America I am back in college where I belong. Since my return, I have been reading hands in the snack bar using The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading by William Benham as my guide. Though my data base is limited, an entire part of me that I was but dimly aware seems to emerge each time a pair of hands open before my eyes. I didn’t realize it then, but an irreversible alteration in my life had begun.

Jack is one of several of the curious at the table in the snack bar, asking questions about his hands and hands in general. He has this beautiful, enormous smile, which is a good thing, since his beard is so bushy you wouldn’t notice it otherwise. I truly admire Jack, and not just for his facial adornments and interest in hands. President of the Senior Class in 1968, Jack used his knowledge of the University administration to sue the school and create a new position: his current job. Given the 18% unemployment in Binghamton, any job was a good job but Jack’s was a dream come true. He is responsible for spending approximately a $100,000 of student activities fee money on whatever he deems most interesting. That’s it. Set your own hours; health insurance included. Not a bad deal.

Jack says that instead of teaching hands for free in the snack bar he thinks he can arrange for me to be paid as part of the “Campus Activities Program,” funded by his office. Sounds good to me. Besides, the $190 for seven classes was almost a month’s income back then. A small notice goes into the campus newspaper, two signs go up near the snack bar, and I start prepping for my first formal class. I am nervous, but expecting only a half dozen students, I am not too concerned.

The location selected for me was one of the new science lecture halls. The hall holds about 150 people: 30 rows, 50 seats to a row, staggered vertically so that the students can be as close to the teacher as possible. The effect is like a Greek auditorium in state funded burgundy and gray. I have my notes in hand as I walk across campus toward a classroom I had previously known only as a student. This is going to be fun. I open the door and stare amazed: 72 students (I counted), and a photographer from the Binghamton newspaper. I do the class in a state of total shock.

I teach several semesters at SUNY, and as a famous man of the same era once said: I have a dream. I dream of a school for hand analysts, extended training, an international journal (can you believe there isn’t one already?), research programs, a library, and more. But I also dreamt of a new generator for my car so I wouldn’t have to hitchhike to campus and that dream seemed slow to materialize. So, a generation and several generators later, the IIHA has made it to four cities, the manuscript for my first book is done and I look forward to watching the rest of this dream as it continues to unfold.

IIHA Philosophy
The IIHA focuses on understanding one’s life from a Life Purpose perspective. What have you come to do in this lifetime? What must you learn from experience in order to be capable of doing it? Where are you now? What is your next step?