✋Vedic Palmistry 101 🙏
by @tabootarotreader
Dearly Beloved💗Vedic Astrology teaches that the Microcosm of the Human Body is an intricate & interconnected web of energetic relationships influenced by the Macrocosm of the Universe #asabovesobelow
I am a mere novice in my studies of Astropalmistry, but I find its implications endlessly fascinating. The Vedic Astrology system is truly a profound Wisdom system which connects Astrology, Ayurveda, & Palmistry into one holistic system underneath the Framework of the Chakras. The Ancient Vedic Sages valued Palmistry perhaps most of all, as they taught that the entire Natal Chart - i.e. the imprint of the positions of the Planets & Constellations at the moment of birth - is encoded in the palms and can be inferred via Jyotish AKA Divination (which literally translates to "Reading the light").
I have recently studied the works of well-seasoned Palmists Vernon Mahabal & Sulabh Jain's book Valmiki's Astropalmistry. I am not a professional palmist, therefore, but an eager student. With that being clarified, my intention with this blog post is to provide a 101 "Crash Course" for any student of Astrology who desires to begin studying their own palms intuitively! Having studied Yoga for nearly 10 years as a certified Instructor in Indian Hatha Yoga & Chinese Yin Yoga, I feel confident enough to speak about how Palmistry, Astrology, & Yoga are interconnected via the Subtle Body. Astropalmistry - i.e. the study of the palms as the proto-Astrological Natal Chart - has connected the dots between the various influences of the Doshas, Chakras, & Planets in my personal Practice.
In Vedic Astrology ~ the ancient Cosmic Science of the Great Hindu Civilization ~ everything is interconnected, and separation is an illusion called "Maya" in Sanskrit.
Yoga opens up your Chakras, which connect to the different Planets' spheres of influence within your Psyche. In the Ancient Cultures which developed the Sacred Science of Astrology - in order to practice Divination in the temples - spiritual initiates had to devote to the Practice to purify their Mind, Body, & Soul. Over time once the Chakras reached alignment, the human body could attune to Subtle Energies and become a true Cosmic Channel to the Divine. The implications that the lines on the palm of your hands are a cosmic imprint of your Natal Chart are very significant: the hands in ancient cultures were viewed as the instruments of the Soul.
The blueprint of the moment of your birth - as encoded in the palms of your hands - reflects the basic Subconscious Impulses, Desires, & Spiritual Lessons encoded in your Soul Contract AKA your Fate & Destiny. There is certainly a lot of carry-over imprints & information from Past Lives sitting in the cellular memory of the physical body, so why not start decoding this Mystery via palm reading? To truly experience the Mystery of your Body, Mind & Soul as energy, you must be willing to deep dive into the mystery of the Subconscious. The ancients perceived any physical illness as the "surface level" or conscious manifestation in the physical body of a subconscious energetic imbalance of Chi or Prana - the life force energy - in the "Subtle Body" or the Chakras. The lines on the Palm are carved by Chi: rivers that reflect the flow of Subtle Energies.
Yoga as a practice is the gateway to becoming the Observer of what is manifesting both within you and around you.
In the greater energetic environment of your Soul, there lies the forces we call Fate & Destiny. Your Soul Contract can be interpreted via the astrological Natal Chart. Vedic Astrology stresses that in order to experience the greater Cosmos AKA Kala Purusha, one must become a Channel or Conduit to Subtle Energies via the practice of Yoga and work through each of the 12 Zodiac Archetypes within Self. Through this ancient Practice one can become objectively aware via subjective experience of the Subtle Energies which the physical Tarot cards represent as symbols. There would be no Tarot without Astrology - and vice versa - for these two timeless wisdom systems are sister sciences. Tarot evolved out of Astrology, really.
The Tarot - just like the Birth Chart - represents a Mandala or roadmap for personal development of the Soul. Working with the Archetypes - i.e. the subconscious Subtle Energies which affect the Collective Unconscious of the human Psyche across cultures, space & time - naturally leads one to the awareness of how the Planets' energetic fields affect life on Earth. Astrology could therefore be defined as the study of the correlations between Astronomy, Cosmology & the Microcosm of human consciousness versus the Macrocosm of the Solar System/Universe. These correlations can be observed at the personal level via life events, relationships, etc. and on the collective level via historical & current events.
As always there is an element of symbolic Mystery to the greater Cosmos as reflected in the Palms of your Hands.
The sacred Hindu text the Ramayana AKA Ramayan encodes a secret Astropalmistry guidebook as written by Master Palmist & Sage Valmiki. The Ramayana is full of Astrological & Cosmological symbolism. It is certainly not just a simple, literal battle between the forces of "Good & Evil". Valmiki's personal account of the clash between Rama & Ravana was really a coded attempt to bridge or synthesize two different schools of Astrological thought. Rama represents the tradition of Solar Astrology within Vashista's School, while Ravana represents the tradition of Lunar Astrology within Pulatsy's School. Valmiki truly was very vise for realizing there is no separation in the Universe, only reflection of polarity energies at different points in cycles #asabovesobelow This theme of synthesis between Solar & Lunar rhythms is so important to understand the Vedic Lunar Calendar AKA The Nakshatras.
In Valmiki's Astropalmistry the 9 Planets AKA Navagraha each has a major palm line while the 12 Zodiac Archetypes make up the digits of the four main fingers (excluding the thumb).
The index finger corresponds to Aries, Taurus, & Gemini. The ring finger corresponds to Cancer, Leo, & Virgo. The pinky finger corresponds to Libra, Scorpio, & Sagittarius. Lastly the middle finger corresponds to Capricorn, Aquarius, & Pisces. Each phalange of these 4 fingers is roughly 30° of the Zodiac's ecliptic. Planets' influence are not just manifesting as the main lines on the palms of the hand (stay tuned) but also as smaller lines on the phalanges: vertical lines represent auspicious (benefic) energy, and horizontal lines represent inauspicious (malefic) energy. These smaller lines can be used to cross-compare a calculated Birth Chart.
Furthermore each finger also corresponds to a different Planet (which has dualistic aspects depending on the hand). Mercury (AKA Shatrughan & Dushan in the Ramayana) is the pinky finger, Jupiter (AKA Hanuman & Kumbhkarna in the Ramayana) is the index finger, Saturn (AKA Lakhsman & Vibhishana in the Ramyana) is the middle finger, the Sun (AKA Bharat & Khara in the Ramayana) is the ring finger, while the thumb represents Ego, Intelligence, & Determination. To note: in Valmiki's system the right thumb represents the Rama Paramathma AKA the "Seat of the Soul" which corresponds to the Solar Ascendant sign, while the left thumb represents the Lunar Ascendant sign. To get the most accurate information when reading your palms, it is recommended to read your dominant hand first. The right hand AKA the Solar Hand corresponds to Rama and waking Consciousness, while the left hand AKA the Lunar Hand corresponds to Ravana and the Subconscious. There are many layers of deeper symbolism in the Ramayana related to the four hands of Vishnu, and of course, it is all open to further interpretation!
Valmiki's System - as decoded by Chariot Palmistry's brilliant breakdown of the basics -provides the foundations to begin studying your own palms from a 5D perspective.
To recapitulate: Valmiki's system states that Jupiter's line (running across the palm from the thumb) is called the "Line of the Head" and corresponds to Mind, Thoughts, & the Physical Head. Venus' line (running across the palm from the index finger) is called the "Heart Line" and corresponds to Relationships, Emotions, & Romance. Saturn's line (running down the palm from the middle finger) is called the "Line of Fate" and corresponds to Hard Work, Discipline, and Money. The Sun's line (curving down the palm from the ring finger) is called the "Line of Apollo) and corresponds to Success, Expression, & Self-expression. Mercury's line (curving down the palm from the pinky finger) is called the "Line of Business & Health" and corresponds to Wit, Intelligence, & Communication.
The Moon's line (looping around the outer edge of the palm from the pinky finger to the wrist) is called "The Line of Intuition" (rare in most people) and corresponds to the Subconscious Mind plus Intuition as a function of Mind and not emotion as in the Western system. Mar's line (running straight down the palm between the thumb & index finger) is called the "Willpower Line" and corresponds to Physical Vitality, Action, and Movement. Rahu AKA The North Node's lines are smaller (crossing the life line usually) and can correspond to Illusions/Delusions, Karma. & Ignorance. Last but not least Ketu AKA The South Node's lines (also smaller and on the wrist like "bracelets") can correspond to Detachment, the Spiritual Realms, & Isolation. In the Ramayana, the antagonistic character Ravana represents the Moon, Lunar Ascendant, plus the Lunar Nodes Rahu & Ketu by proxy.
Vernon Mahabal also teaches that each Chakra can correspond to one of the major Palm Lines.
When I first started studying Palmistry, I was surprised that many Western Palmists had low Astrological awareness even though there is a lot of Astrological terminology in Palmistry. So I went looking for bodies of work that would teach me the deeper connections between Astrology & Palmistry. That is when I discovered Mahabal's "Talk to The Hand: A Field Guide To Practical Palmistry", which opens (ever so slightly) the hidden portal to Vedic Astropalmistry. I personally very much resonate with Mahabal's Chakra interpretations as further detailed in his "64 Palmistry Cards" deck. It provides an interesting Interface - which he likens to the "Human Ley Line System" - that can aid any novice Astropalmist.
In a nutshell, Mahabal's work summarizes that:
1) the thickness of a Chakra line indicates strong (thick) or weak (thin) chakra potency
2) the character of a Chakra line being either curved, straight, or wavy can indicate important personality factors
3) where one Chakra line intersects or breaks another can give important information about an individual's life path
There is so much more depth to the study of Palmistry: Fingerprints, Planet Star Points, Planetary Power Plants, Crosses, Symbols, Hand Shape & Length, Phalanges Length, & the Thumb's dexterity itself. Again I want to stress I am not a professional Palmist, but simply an eager Student at the beginning of this journey to deep dive into the Mystery of Astropalmistry. This ancient Art form requires years and years of dedicated study to put into practice and perform palm readings. However all students of Astrology can begin to cross-compare their own Birth Chart with their palms! Self-study is so, so important to understand the Mystery of your Birth Chart. Assuming you are still reading this blog, I hope you are curious to know the secrets encoded on your own hands!
The Vedic Astrological concept of Kala Purusha AKA "The Cosmic Human" implies deeper connections between the Chakras, Planets, & 12 Zodiac Archetypes.
To recapitulate: Kala Purusha perceives of the 12 Zodiac Archetypes as Cosmic impulses affecting every human being's Psyche. This energetic process is related to the awakening of Kundalini energy which Yoga seeks to cultivate, activating the Chakras. According to classical Vedic Astrologer Bepin Behari:
Etymologically, Kala Purusha is related to the positive creative principle operating in time. Primeval subjective potentiality externalizes Time and Duration, wherein all forms of evolving entities are produced. Nothing flows back to this ever active cosmic energy: it is ever in all forms of creation and at all levels of functioning. Pleasure and pain, creation and destruction, attraction and repulsion, all feelings, emotions, and thoughts are part of this Cosmic Human who remains unaffected by the backward reflection of creation. Kala Purusha is always a positive influence, the personification of Eternal Time which causes the universe to revolve around itself.
One of the uses of the Kala Purusha concept is to superimpose the personified human form on the natal chart of the individual to assess the vitality of the different aspects of their life. With the personified Cosmic Human, one may associate the various yogic force-centers or chakras emanating from different parts of the human body. Depending upon which chakras are activated, different kinds of paranormal forces are energized and related faculties strengthened. On superimposing the personified representation of Kala Purusha, one will find some of the chakras lying within the zone of certain house divisions. The literature on yoga identifies seven such chakras, each with a specialized function and operating in a different part of the human body.
The Muladhara or Root Chakra is located at the base of the spinal cord where the Serpent Fire or kundalini lies coiled. The Svadhisthana or Sexual Chakra is ruled by Libra, while Scorpio has dominion over the Muladhara. The vitality flowing from the Sun is absorbed by the Svadhisthana Chakra. Part of that vitality nourishes sexual urges while another portion of it is directed to the Manipura or Navel Chakra, coming under the rulership of Virgo. The Anahata or Heart Chakra in the zone of Cancer, receiving its share of solar energy, enables the individual to understand the nature and feelings of other people and life forms. When the energy flows to the Vishudha. or Throat Chakra in the region of Gemini, the individual acquires the faculty of clairaudience. At the Ajna Chakra, located between the eyebrows in the region of Taurus, the individual can maintain continuity of consciousness between dreams and waking life , as well as between different incarnations. Reaching the Sahasrara or Crown Chakra under Aries, the individual is said to attain liberation and is free from the bondage of birth and death.
From the above, it can be observed that the last three chakras (Vishuda, Ajna, and Sahasrara) are concerned with higher levels of consciousness, while Anahata (Heart Chakra) purifies human emotions and produces sympathy and compassion. The first three chakras (Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura) are more concerned with nourishment of the physical and psychic faculties. On finding the relationship between these chakras with different house divisions of the horoscope, one may comprehend the deeper forces activating the various levels of one's being and the direction towards which they are channeled.
Via "Fundamentals of Vedic Astrology", 2003, pg. 163-166, Bepin Behari
It is important to remember that other ancient Wisdom Systems from various cultures also have their own Chakra systems.
I highly recommend to read Cyndi Dale's fantastic "The Subtle Body" encyclopedia for the deep dive regarding different cultural Chakra systems and legitimate Scientific research into the existence of the Chakras. The fact that across the Ancient, pre-colonized world there existed various Chakra systems - each with their own terminology and distinct flavors - suggests this Sacred Knowledge was inherited from a long gone Mother Culture (some may argue this was Lemuria/Atlantis as we understand it). Some cultures argue that there are even up to 8 or 12 Chakras. I resonate with the number 12, personally, for obvious reasons as an Astrologer.
The Chakras could also be perceived as potentially 12 non-physical energy centers symbolizing the Interface between the Physical & Subtle Bodies.
The Chakras are just a metaphysical or holistic way of describing the processes of the physical glands - or mysterious Endocrine system - regulating libido, hormones + DMT production in the body. The Ancients understood everything is interconnected between the physical and non-physical realms via the Mirror Principle. Biology and procreation is influenced by Cosmology and cosmic evolution. Thus the Endocrine system is still very mysterious to us modern humans and certainly represents much more than just physical processes in the body.
The Elevated Ancient Ancestors perceived the relationships between different glands and organs as energetic exchanges of subtle energies like Prana or Chi. The electromagnetic system of the Meridians or Nadis superimposes or underlies the entire physical nervous system: it is a parallel program, if you like. It is important to also remember that different Planets also influence different Chakras, and that different Chakras can affect more than one Zodiac Archetype. E.g. I personally intuit that within the Vedic system, Aries is just as much related to the Root Chakra as it is to the Crown chakra. Same goes for Pisces, logically speaking, since they are the first and last Zodiac signs #asabovesobelow
What other empirical evidence exists proving the Subtle Body vibrates in a different frequency than the Physical Body?
In Alchemy the Subtle Body AKA the Astral Body was also called the "Firmament" by Paracelsus. Carl Jung also theorized extensively regarding the Subtle Body's existence and connected it with the "Objective Psyche" or that part of the Soul which is now popularly understood as the Higher Self. Jung argued that the Subtle Body exists - even though in his time it could not be empirically proved - due to the "Knowledge Gap". I.e. we all know we have individual organs even though we can't see them physically with the naked eye. We know nothing about the internal conditions of our organs until someone else infers information based on external symptoms. Jung therefore concluded that this implies a "gap" exists between the layers of the Soul - which we understand as "Mind and Body" - and that there must be a Subtle Body superimposed or vibrating in the in-between space. The Psyche could therefore be defined as the highest intensity of psychic or mental energy in this space. To simply summarize Jung's complex hypothesis about the Subtle Body: physical energy & psychic energy are two aspects of one, Supreme energy.
According to Archetypal Psychologist Marie-Louise Van Franz:
The idea that individual parts of the body can be coordinated with certain gods (archetypes) is very richly developed in the Far East. In the Chinese taoistic view of the world, for instance, man is a microcosm (as in Western Astrology) whose subdivisions correspond exactly with the “floors” of Heaven and witch its constellations. A subtle psychophysical life energy called ch’i circulates throughout this physical cosmos. Every organ, indeed every smallest part of the body, has its deity, and this deity is described as the “highest officer” or the “highest function” of that part. If the deity should abandon its organs, the latter then ceases to function and decays. Such divinities of the body must, therefore, be taken care of through meditation, through one’s diet, etc. One must “unify them through the body” in order to attain long life, even immortality.
The organs are also the seat of the “heavenly feelings”; that is, feelings such as benevolence, displeasure, sorrow, and joy are determined by the heavens in much the same way that certain basic moods are seen by us as having been caused by planetary influences. In this spiritual hierarchy, the heart is the monarch in which spirit and clarity have their source; the lungs are the seat of the official who is in charge of organization and order; the liver is the seat of strategy and planning; the gall bladder of decision-making and judgement; the large intestine of instruction in the correct way of doing things and of transformation and change; the small intestine of development; the kidneys of the power of action, etc. These seats correspond to images of the stars in the macrocosm …
Similar ideas are also to be found in the Tibetan medicine and in Indian tantrism. The entire system of Indian tantric yoga is based on the idea that the body is an image of the cosmos, is a complete union of the spiritual and material. The yogi realizes that he is himself the divine universe. Inside the material body he possesses a subtle body, composed of the omnipresent psychophysical energy which concentrates in special “knot points” (chakras). In the puja (an act of veneration in each ceremony), as well as in the tantric ritual, the individual making the offering “honors” himself by covering certain parts of his body with glower garlands, ointments, perfumes, etc. In this way he completely transforms his nature into something divine; every part of his body receives divine nature, exactly as in the Egyptian mummification process the only difference being that this transformation is performed on a still-living person. In this way the subtle body is the invisible vehicle of transformation …
Similar views are to be found in the West in astrologically influenced medicine, although it is less systematized there than in the East. According to the astrology of antiquity, specific celestial gods and signs of the zodiac “govern” different parts of the body; for instance, Scorpio rules over the genital organs, Capricorn over the knees, Pisces over the feet, etc. These view were held without any great change throughout the Middle Ages. They were repressed, it is true, with the victory of Christian monotheism, as they also were in Islam, but they were never completely eradicated and had a great rebirth during the Renaissance.
These ideas were once again very vividly expressed by Paracelsus. In keeping with the tradition, man for him was a microcosm with an end-somatic heaven, as it were, which called the “firmament”, “astrum”, or “sydus”. This is a part or a content of the visible body and is the source of all natural illumination by the lumen naturale. Saturn influences the spleen and its therapy, Jupiter the liver, the sun the heart and the imagination, Venus the Kidneys, Mars the gall bladder and the power of individual development, the moon the brain, etc. Illness, too, all belong to such star constellations. Furthermore, the Archeus (Archasius), a creatively nourishing spirit, operates in the stomach. The “astral body” as a whole forms the “Adech”, that is, the cosmic “Greater man” who lives in every individual.
Via “On Dreams & Death”, 1984, pg. 96-99, Marie-Louise Von Franz
In Conclusion: the connections between the Physical Body, the Subtle Body, & Astropalmistry have very significant implications deserving greater study.
The Chakras are the Interface system between the Microcosm & Macrocosm, the Physical & Subtle, the Material & Spiritual. To learn more about the Planets' correlations to various Chakras and organs, check out my other blogs on each Personal Planet. There are clearly massive differences in perception between ancient Astrology schools of thought like Vedic & Mayan versus Western Hellenistic Astrology. The resistance in Western astrology to these more Holistic system may be due to different Calendar systems. Did you know that in India it is a whole different date & time than in the Western Gregorian calendar? Time is Relative, as Einstein theorized. Obviously most Sheeples have no idea the origins or inner workings of the Gregorian calendar which controls their entire life. Astrology opens up a portal for any Initiate to become the Master of your own Time, versus a slave to it. Why? Astrology teaches us that implied meaning is a matter of perception, and everything is relative to the observer given what Calendar you use. Thus perhaps a walkaway message is: Time is right here, right now.
With all that being offered: I personally put much more faith in the ancient Vedic & Mayan calendars versus the modern Gregorian calendar #lol
The Vedic & Mayan Calendar systems have withstood the tests of thousands of years of Time. Meanwhile, the Christian Gregorian calendar is only a few hundred years old. I personally also believe that the Gregorian Calendar is a control mechanism, while the Ancient Calendar systems are actually observational tools. Despite whatever Calendar you choose, the palm's "Natal Chart" cuts away all the dross & potential confusion between differing Time systems. It also douses any skeptics' deflection of Astrology as a legitimate and Sacred Science coming from the Ancient world. No one can argue with the tangible evidence as encoded in the physical body. Implied meaning ultimately boils down to interpretation of the information as encoded in the palms, feet, & even the face. No one ultimately can deny, deflect, devalue, & discard inconvenient truths we can see and touch.
Peace & Blessings,
🙏🌺💞
Treille Bon
AKA Flower Prince
bit.ly/tabootarotreader
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