An Interview with Johnny Fincham
By Colin Whitby
Johnny Fincham has been a practitioner, researcher, writer and teacher of palmistry for twenty-two years. He offers palm readings and teaches workshops in the UK and worldwide.
His new book, ‘Palmistry – Apprentice to Pro in 24 Hours’ is the UK’s best selling palmistry book and is published by O-Books.
Johnny has kindly provided some articles for future Magic of Being issues which we will publish over the next two months, so watch out for these.
Colin.
Palmistry is often relegated to an end of the pier side show, how do you move people from their pre-conceptions of the 'Gypsy Rose Lee' image.
Yes, unfortunately palmistry is loaded with associations about an ominous fate marked in the lines of the palm and of terrifying predictions. The principle way to dispel these ideas is to press home the point that modern palmistry has lots of science to back it up. For instance, if your ring finger is much longer than your index, you have higher than average levels of residual testosterone and are more likely to take risks and to desire public attention in some way. Another angle to re-assure people is to emphasise the point that palmistry isn't about prediction, but about self-knowledge. I always say that having a palm reading isn't about being confronted by a fixed fate, but a moment of revelation, opportunity and change
On your web site you mention Chirology, Palmistry and Handreading - how would you describe them and what are the key differences between them.
The modern, enlightened, non-predictive approach to palmistry is often called chirology (from the Greek for 'hand-knowledge'). This is to put a little distance between this and the predictive fortune telling one, which palmistry has become associated with over the years. Another way to avoid the palmistry label is to call oneself a hand reader.
Your books offer and up to date method of learning palmistry, can it be applied by anyone?
Yes. I discovered how astonishingly difficult it is to learn palmistry from a book when I attempted to learn the art in my early days. I've written my new book for complete beginners, building the key stages of reading analysis in ten simple steps. To make it easier, I've ditched a lot of gobbledegook, dodgy astrological references and a number of false and misleading ideas.
When did palmistry first link lines and attributes of the hand to our emotional and spiritual development?
When the art moved from a predictive to an analytical approach. Really, the first book to initiate this angle was William Benham's 'A Practical Treatise on the Laws of Scientific Hand Reading'. Published in 1900
You illustrate how hands change over time, how do these changes reflect someone's personal development?
In various ways, both negatively and positively. For instance, a hand may show lots more fine lines developing over the thumb ball than were there before. This would show a person is entering a time of life when they are under a great deal more strain, particularly as regards home and family life. On the other hand (get it!) there might be a longer, stronger clearer earth line developing out of a short, fragmented one. This would show that a person has developed a great deal more sense of security, their digestion and diet would have improved and also their energy levels.
If someone was considering taking up Palmistry what would your advice be?
Not to take too simplistic an approach would be my main guidance. It isn't just a matter of looking at markings on the lines, but a case of having to put lots of points together. The skin texture, relative length of digits, the finger prints and the lines all have to be brought together to build a complete picture. Oh, and of course, I'd recommend my book, 'Palmistry - Apprentice to Pro in 24 Hours' because its' the easiest palmistry instruction book ever written. But then, I'd have to say that, wouldn't I?
Thanks very much for that Johnny, I look forward to publishing your articles on Palmistry over the next two months.
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