So often I find people who are not living their lives as the person they have built themselves to be, as if by becoming something else, things would somehow be OK. Hands have taught me that it is incumbent upon each of us to let our Personality emerge in its inherent form and to work with that Personality on the goals that from a Soul Level we have selected for this lifetime. Errors arise when we either attempt to void the Personality or forget that it is only the vehicle for our Life Purpose, not the Purpose itself. Allow me to explain.

Three Peas in a Pod

Last night I came across three pairs of hands that, although they couldn't be more different in appearance, the key line marking and the Life Purpose shown in the fingerprints were the same. This curious juxtaposition of divergent personalities affords me the opportunity to illustrate a key aspect of Soul Psychology.

The first pair of hands belonged to a slightly built woman, angular in appearance and serious in manner. Clearly, all unnecessary fat molecules had disappeared from her body years ago, banished in disgrace. A trace of mirth peeked out from behind her eyes, furtively watching me, slightly amused at the process of having her hands being read. The rest of her face seemed haggard, as if she alone was responsible for taking inventory at the world's largest Wal-Mart. Halfway between stand-tall 'attention' and indifferently-slouched 'at-ease', she opened her hands for inspection.

She had one of the Artist-type Life Purposes (right Apollo as the dominant fingerprint) and her hands showed a Star of Apollo, the perfect marker for creative endeavor. The Star of Apollo represents "Fame and Fortune in the Arts" according to the ancient palmists; modern day hand readers more or less agree, seeing the marker as representing inclination and capability for self-expression on a grand scale. In typical form, however, the Star of Apollo is incredibly more revealing than simply indicating artistic intent. Let's look at this marking more closely.

The prototype Star of Apollo has six points with a common center and is located midway between the Heart Line and the beginning of the ring (Apollo) finger. Each of the six pieces represents another ingredient necessary for the creative urge to turn itself into successful creativity. The exact location of the center point (closer to the finger or the Heart Line, slightly off center towards the middle or little finger) the condition of the nexus (precise or not), the condition of each of the spokes (clear or broken, evenly spaced or not) and how they interact with other line formations as they radiate outwards over the palm allows the coding system of the hands to convey a large amount of information with economy and elegance. In the hands of my client, one of the 6 spokes was missing.

This is a common malady (see diagram above). Her Star of Apollo was 5/6 complete, awaiting the appearance of the line that represents Discipline and Due Diligence. No wonder more Stars of Apollo are missing this line than any other. When was the last time you met an artist-type person who was precise in appearance and perpetually on time and under budget? The irony in this case is that the woman in question couldn't be more exacting in her personal accountability if she was head timekeeper at Greenwich. So what, if anything, is the problem?

Her Fate Line was deep, clear and uninterrupted, ranging from the wrist all the way up to the middle (Saturn) finger. This is the marking of the straight arrow, the completer of tasks; the type of Fate Line seen on those with the strongest sense of duty and responsibility. Apparently, although she had all the discipline one person could possibly need, none of her discipline was devoting itself to creative endeavors (hence the absence of this 1/6 of the Star of Apollo).

As a matter of fact, in a creative twist, she was using her Responsibility Department as a hiding place to avoid the performance anxiety also visible in her hands. "I'm too busy to pay attention to that creative stuff. I'll get to it when things settle down around here. Besides, it's kind of frivolous anyway compared to the big responsibilities I must attend to. Excuse me, that's my beeper%#133;"

This might all be fine and dandy if her Life Purpose wasn't to express her Apollo nature. As long as this aspect of her self was ignored, she could not open the door into her Right Life. I can just imagine her at the Cosmic Laboratory, mixing the ingredients into the pot that eventually would be her personality make up. "Let's see, I'll pour in a lot from the Jar of Creativity (after all, this is going to be a lifetime devoted to creative pursuits, at least, that's what I really want), but let's add a solid dose from the Jar of Responsibility (that last lifetime was such a waste: all that talent never amounting to anything). Oops, maybe that's too much Responsibility. Oh well, let's see what I can do with it."

Next thing you know, she is walking through Wal-Mart with a clipboard, light years away from the art classes that energized her in High School. Then again, it is still early in her life movie, plenty of time for breakdown and breakthrough. We'll just have to wait and see how this one turns out.

Pea #2

Next up at the palmistry seminar was Sponge Lady. Her hands looked like they had been soaking in water overnight: not quite bloated, but getting there. The fingers had a sausage-like appearance and her body, although still attractive and only marginally overweight, seemed poised to add on thirty pounds at a moment's notice. Consistent with the wideness theme, her Mount of Moon bulged wide dominating my field of vision. She smiled with extra-genuine sincerity as she leaned forward, hands slightly too close to my lap, ready to hear what her hand reader would say.

Spongy looking hands are not all that common, but do show up from time to time. Sometimes they are Advanced Sponges: persons who soak up information, keenly aware fonts of wisdom. Other times they are from the Less Advanced Sponge group: a bit lazy (or more than a bit), short of backbone, too easily influenced by everyone and everything. The consistency of the hands often tells the story. Springy feeling hands most often are of the first category, marshmallowy feeling hands, the latter. My subject was somewhere in between.

I couldn't miss the irony, however, as her Star of Apollo stared out at me, also 5/6 present as her fingerprints revealed another right Apollo Life Purpose. Border line bon-bon queen and ascetic disciplinarian, one right after the other. Each pair of hands with the same key marking, each with the same Life Purpose, yet each with a Personality distinct and apart. Could Pea #1 use her discipline to focus her creative skills? Could Pea #2, take Advanced Spongeness to the level of art form? Two Souls in search of their Creative Voice: they couldn't be more different; they couldn't be more the same.

For Sponge Woman, the missing spoke of her Star of Apollo was the Moon spoke: the line associated with imagination and spirituality. Yet, the hands in front of me were the hands of a decidedly Moonish nature, so much so that she was in danger of going over her edge. Usually, when a spoke of the Star of Apollo is missing, the owner has an absence of the quality in question. In these two hands, the opposite was true: each woman was faced with an embarrassment of riches (too much of a good thing). For Pea #2, imagination was rampant, but would it fuel her Star of Apollo or would she spend her days staring out the bay window, immobilized, lost in a private domain? Good question.

Pea #3

Two readings later, the third pea of the pod showed me her hands: the hands of a tortured poetess. Staring into her hollowed out palms I was reminded of a reading from years ago. A fourteen year old boy, unusually creative but not the happiest camper was the readee; his reading being a birthday present from his mother, also present. Unlike so many other teenagers who are dragged into my office, the young man was eager to claim his gift. Like the older woman in front of me last night, both had a degree of torment easily visible: Cup of Tears, Discoloration on the Mound of Venus - no need for all the details here. Also visible: the Star of Apollo, this time all 6 points in proper position. Here was creativity poised for action.

The mom wanted only the best for her son. She had introduced him to meditation and the like in every attempt to cure him of his apparent morbidity. The son, to his credit, had not turned into a total curmudgeon - he was more like the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street: personable, interesting, but with an edge. I told them both to revere that edge, because without it, his Apollo Life Purpose could not sustain itself. Would Bob Dylan's songs have been so popular if he was pleased with life? Should Barbara Streisand get a nose job? The apparent flaw is the very beauty of it all. "Nonetheless," asked Mom, "Don't you think he would be happier if he just did some yoga with me every day?" The teenager gave me one of those smiles that cartoonists convey with a wiggly line.

In the hands of the woman in front of me, Pea #3, the melancholic seemed to have taken over. I brought her to the Cosmic Laboratory to watch as she built her Personality for this lifetime, reminding her of the reason she included such a dark side. "Well, so much for the Creativity Jar… let's see what else shall I put into the stew. OOH, the Dark Side Jar. YES! I just hate all those goody-two-shoed-pollyannas. I'll have an edge this time." "Careful, her Guidance Counselor might have said, "too much of that edge and your creativity may get buried." "I think I can handle it, " was the reply. So far, at least, she hadn't.

Soul Psychology

These three women serve to highlight the validity of the Personality. In each case, the Personality could serve to animate the Life Purpose or repress it. For the straight arrow woman, her Creative Emergence is not a discipline issue (as her 5/6 Star of Apollo might suggest); nor could she expect that working harder would ever yield the security she seeks. Her Life Purpose (and hence her happiness) depends upon her Vulnerability Skills (as shown in her fingerprints: Life Lesson: Loops). If Pea #1 learns to open up, the process of doing so, with all its twists and turns, is what both supports and give structure to her Creative Voice. Of course, she stands to become a highly disciplined creative type. What else could possibly be expected to happen?

In the case of Sponge Lady, there is no shortage of Moon energy available to the Personality. However, to connect her imagination and spirituality to her Life Purpose, Sponge Lady would have to protect her boundaries, learn to repel violation (notice her left Jupiter Life Lesson). If and when she manages to stand her ground, she won't have to search for her Creative Self, it will find her. If it does, that font of wisdom that is the advanced version of Spongehood would be the culmination of her self-actualization and the doorway into her Life Purpose.

Nor does the unhappy / edgy woman need to change the type of person she is in order to do her Life Purpose. Staying away from people because she is too depressed to have company over is not the ultimate solution, but neither is swallowing some happy pills to dispel her angst. It is her life challenge to work with her own dark side, to give it expression through her Apollo Star.

In each case, the Personality is just fine the way it is. It is the person's job to connect that Personality to the Soul's Agenda by doing combat with the issues of growth shown in the fingerprints, permanent issues that at the IIHA we call a person's Life Lesson.

The Personality is both attracted to and resistant to the task at hand. It is only through experiences garnered by the Personality that the Soul has a chance to accomplish its mission.

The Personality is the vehicle, the Soul sets the agenda. Neither can exist here in this three dimensional plane without the other.

We are neither all Soul nor all Personality. The dance between the two is what makes life the interesting drama it is.