S1 E28 Astrology & Palmistry

Asteria

Title

• Greek Goddess of Astrology, prophetic dreams, falling stars and dark magic.

Description

• A beautiful woman seated with a laurel wreath above her and a lyre at her side

Duties

• Presided over prophetic dreams

Lineage

• Daughter of Coeus and Phoebe
• Sister to Leto
• Consort of Perseus
• Mother of Hecate

Stories

• After the titan wars Asteria was given a seat on Olympus. Unfortunately for her her close proximity to Zeus and her beauty caught his eye. She wanted none of it so she fled. First turning herself into a quail Zeus turned himself into an eagle. She then dove into the sea turning into a moving island. Some myths have her avoiding Poseidon's advances as well.

Interesting Facts

• Leto, Asteria’s sister, gave birth to Artemis and Apollo on her, in her island form, as it was the only refuge she could get on earth from Hera.

Symbols

• Dolphins, quail, falling stars, stars, islands

Superstition

Itchy Palms

If your right hand itches it's said to mean that money is coming your way and left hand means you will likely be losing money. The non dominant hand is the inactive hand (meaning stagnancy) and the dominant the the active hand (equalling movement). So it may pertain more to the dominance of the hand rather than left vs right.

The right hand can refer to possibilities of money lost being found, the pricing of an expensive item coming down, playing games of chance might be more lucky (this is superstition so make smart choices), and of course money could be coming your way.

The left hand itching is a time to be logical, analytical, and responsible where money is concerned. Be sure that your bills are paid up, maybe don’t make big purchases at this time, and by all means games of chance should be off the table. Make sure things are working in their right order like things around security, such as making sure you protect yourself and the important things around you- house, life insurance, job, etc..

There also seems to be some difference between gender and the form the luck takes. A feminine itchy left hand indicates luck whereas a right hand indicates unlucky. It is reversed for the masculine. I could not find the reasoning behind this part of the superstition, here I have found sources opposing each other as to how it really goes, Female vs Male. I speculate if this portion of the belief didn’t stem from some aspect of women being considered lesser than men. This is me contemplating it but have nothing to back it.

Now what about both palms itching? If this were to be the case it would indicate balance in the affairs of luck and money. Comings and goings equal each other.

From all that I have gathered here, if I were to believe in superstition I would go with what felt like it made the most sense. Which is to say that I would ignore the Male vs Female philosophy and go with the most known and commonly talked about system of belief.

The most common beliefs goes, as I have written here, however there are some who believe the exact opposite to be true. On that note one such variance can be found in the book “Italian Folk Magic: Rue’s Kitchen Witchery '' by Mary-Grace Fahrun. Her belief in the luck arriving would be through a negative means. Like stealing it or such.

History

In Indian culture it is believed that the Goddess Laxmi coming through your right hand indicates receiving and entering your body but the opposite is true of the left hand where she would be leaving your being. Laxmi is the Goddess of wealth, prosperity, power and more. In India it is also thought that the giving of money, in using your right hand it will return, in some form, back to us. As we will see later much of Palmistry stems from Indian culture and itchy palms are part of palmistry / fortune telling.

The Christians and their bible state that the right hand is favored by God and is used for any action of giving within that religion.

History of Astrology

People were looking to the sky since forever ago. The oldest evidence of awareness of the stars and heavenly objects dates to around 32,000 B.C. Lunar calendars would be carved on to small pieces of stone, bone, or antler. All the better to carry them along with.

It was, however, a long time before a major revolution happened, at least one that’s been historically recorded. It was in the time of the Babylonian’s 1st dynasty ( 18th to 16th centuries B.C.) when people looked for omnia or omens in the sky. Omnia were less fate and more warnings, as one could act before what the omen was foreshadowing came to pass. They were also read pretty exclusively for the king, his family, and the kingdom at large. The omens weren’t written down together in any documents until somewhere around 1,000 B.C. Even though they, the omnia, were written down there wasn’t really any agreement across documents suggesting that each was specific to its owner.

There were common groupings of omens, however. Four in fact, named after the chief gods Sin, Shamash, Adad, and Ishtar. Sin was the moon and so had lunar happenings in its section. Shamash was the sun and dealt with solar omens. Adad the god of weather was associated with weather phenomena and earthquakes. Ishtar, who was represented by Venus, dealt with planetary happenings. Looking for omens lost popularity somewhere in the 4th century B.C. Luckily some of the omen reading made it to other lands.

Babylonian astrologers (if you can call them that yet) started using omens according to the planets in the 3rd century. How they were positioned relative to the horizon, lattitiudes, and positions at birth ( or when they guessed one was born). This was still far from the astrology we know today though.

In Egypt, under the Ptolemies ( a Greek dynasty) were the people who, under the impression that the earth was the center of the universe, came up with the ecliptic being divided into 12 (the ecliptic is the apparent line the sun and planets run through the sky on). They also came up with houses and decans. Houses are each ruled by a planet. Decans are further divisions within signs. There was the places of high exaltation an places of low exaltation ( places of high and low power for planets). This was somewhere between 305 and 30 B.C. They also came up with the correspondence between larger forces and smaller forces ( As above, so below anyone?). In the second century A.D. Claudius Ptolemy (an astrologer) even tried to make more accurate maps so that he could make better charts. He came up with the word “geography”.

The four elements were attributed to the signs of the zodiac as well. Aspects were done in this period too. The conjunction, opposition, quartile, trine, and sextile. Each of those aspects is found by looking at the degrees between planets in the chart. They also decided that the houses would be done by having the first house on the horizon, the second below that and all the way around to the 12th house being above the horizon.

Using all of this an astrologer cast a horoscope keeping in mind the place (latitude and longitude) and the time; placing all the planets in the chart as they were in the sky at that time and place, then calculating the rest out.

Somewhere in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. this system was brought to India. They added their own meanings and philosophies to their zodiac as well as using their own system of elements. They also added complex systems such as lunar mansions, planetary combinations, and others.

Astrology also became a part of Islamic society for several hundred years, between 8th century and the 13th century when it declined in popularity among intellectuals. From there it moved out to influence other cultures again the Latin West, India, and Byzantium. Islamic scholars brought astronomy forward, naming many stars that retain the names they were given in this time today.

In Byzantium astrology was popular during the 5th and 6th centuries, but a decline of intellectualism and opposition of the church killed astrology here until it came back in 800, or roundabouts. Until 1200 A.D. astrology would flourish here again.

In the 13th century A.D. astronomy was included in the medical arts in Europe. By the 1500’s doctors across Europe were required to figure out the position of the moon before surgeries. Unfortunately only a little of astrology remained in Europe as the loss of Greek wisdom and the attacks by the Church destroyed much of what had been known there. However astrology was still found in university education along with astronomy. During the Renaissance court astrologers would use not only the known astrology, but incorporate new discoveries into their predictions. Unfortunately at the end of the Renaissance science was on the rise and astrology diminished. Kepler (a scientist that helped prove the sun was the center of the solar system) tried, but ultimately failed at making heliocentric astrology a thing. The discovery of a heliocentric solar system along with physics of the time ( 1600’s to the 1700’s) destroyed the scientific interest in astrology.

Modern Day Astrology

Today astrology is most well known by one's sun sign horoscopes done in papers, magazines, and websites. As many as 90% of people in western countries know their sun sign. The sun sign is only one part, however, of a complex system. The most important signs are the sun sign ( your outward personality), moon sign (emotional makeup), and your ascendant ( internal motivation). There are many resources to find those signs and more in books and websites ( at which you can get your birth chart calculated for free). It takes knowing your birth date, time of birth, and location to get the most accurate chart. Here for your convenience we have signs, planets, and houses.

Aries is associated with assertiveness and is the ruler of the first house ( self) ruled by Mars ( passion). Taurus is associated with earthly pleasure, is the ruler of the second house (money) and is ruled by Venus ( love). Gemini is associated with communication, is the ruler of the third house ( mind) and is ruled by Mercury (communication). Cancer is associated with sensitivity, is the ruler of the fourth house ( home life) and is ruled by the moon ( emotions). Leo is associated with courage, is the ruler of the fifth house ( pastimes) and is ruled byThe Sun ( ego). Virgo is associated with conscientiousness, is ruler of the sixth house ( work) and is ruled by Mercury ( expression). Libra is associated with equality, rules the seventh house ( companionship) and is in turn ruled by Venus ( desire for harmony and peace). Scorpio is associated with passion, rules the eighth house ( transformation) and is ruled by Pluto ( rebirth) and Mars ( energy). Sagittarius is associated with learning, ruler of the ninth house ( exploration) and is ruled by Jupiter ( expansion). Capricorn is associated with strength of character, rules the tenth house ( social standing) and is ruled by Saturn ( boundaries). Aquarius is associated with independence, rules the 11th house ( friends) and is ruled by Uranus ( enlightenment) and Saturn ( responsibility). Pisces is associated with dreaminess, rules the twelfth house (soul growth) and is ruled by Neptune ( dreams) and Jupiter ( possibility).

Just from this little blurb you can see that a lot goes on. In your natal chart the positions of the planets, what house they’re in and what sign, is only part of the equation. You also have how the planets relate to each other, called aspects. There’s even more but in the spirit of not going too far I’ll stop here.

Palmistry

The History

Palmistry aka Palm Reading, chirosophy (kie-rah-so-fy), and chiromancy (kiro...). This is when the lines and fluctuations in the palm are interpreted in order to tell the future. Those who read palms are known as hand readers, palm readers, chirologists (kei), and palmists. It’s not known for sure where this began but there is some speculation it started in India. The ancient Sanskrit writing ‘Hasth (hays) Samudrik Shastra’ is one of the first connections between the hand and its palm as having association to the ability to predict the future. Palmistry has been seen dating back to cave drawings and how it pertains to different parts of the physical body. These paintings can be seen in the Lascaux (Lah-skoe) Caves in France, many caves in Africa and the Santander (sahn-tahn-day) caves in Spain. It eventually spread to China, Persia, Egypt, Tibet, Mesopotamia and then in Greece where it really took hold and was further developed. It is speculated that over time the original forms of fortune telling stemmed from the Roma’s (Gypsies) of India and was spread in part by them, along with tea-leaf and tarot card readings. As you can imagine the art must’ve changed through all of its travels and yet seems to have held on to its core concepts.

Chiromancy was frequently used in medieval times to interpret the palms for signs of the devil during the witch hunt times. Any unusual pigmentation was seen as indication of the presence of evil. The Christians saw palmistry as black magic and those caught doing readings were placed in jail or worse if they were deemed a witch, particularly under the watchful eye of King Henry VIII.

Chirosophy did manage to make a comeback in a positive light during the Renaissance.

Efforts were made to develop and explain the reading of palms in the 17th century where the basic principles were popularized through giving rationalized foundations through science.

Later, although it was being well distributed as a practice in Europe it suffered setbacks in Britain when it was once again banned.

After another ebb, in the Age of Enlightenment there was a revival during the 18th and 19th centuries through work done by Casimir d’Arpentigny (dah-pon-tin-ay), William Benham and Sir Louis Hamon aka Cheiro or Keiro (1860-1936) who was credited for most of the preservation of palmistry.

Yet another time of renewal came through with the followers of Carl Jung.  Also through Julius Spier who published the first major work appearing in 1944 - The Hands of Children; An Introduction to Phsycho-Chirology. Other scholars quickly followed with their own writings on the subject.

Over the centuries palmistry has gone in and out of being considered or included as part of  the scientific realms. Today we see the importance of the hands and the roles they play in certain areas of science such as psychological indicators and health indicators but palmistry in its original or semi-original forms still lives on through means of divination.

What It Is

Simply put Palmistry is a means by which to read the lines, mounts and much more in order to predict the future and interpret personality types.

Where to begin

I’ll start with a broad overview of the hands. You have the Earth hand, the Air hand, the Fire hand and the Water hand. Then you have the main lines which everyone talks about. The Life line, the Heart line, the Fate line, the Head line and the Sun line. Now you also have the mounts and plains. The mounts are the seven common planets of astrology; Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.

Breaking it Down:

The types of Hands

Earth Hands, Are considered square in the palm area and have shorter fingers than the other types. They are work hands that are “fleshy” and have a strong grip (you’ll notice it in the manner of a handshake for example). They are grounded, solid, pragmatic and might be associated with the Tarot sign of Pentacles. Oriented on matters of home, family and money if you think of it in those terms. They can be singularly focused like a mouse and less broad seeing like an eagle. This can cause problems in areas of long term planning. However, they are a bit like a Capricorn (as I see it) in their ability to be logical. Like Capricorn they may seemingly be withdrawn or removed when in actuality they aren’t. They may just be more introverted thinkers.

Air Hands, Are also square palmed but have longer fingers. They are not fleshy, rather boney and thin with pronounced knuckles and thin fingers. They might be associated with the Suit of Swords in the Tarot and seen as intellectuals, analytical and remind me of the sign of Aquarius in nature. Great at communication, good natured and maybe even good teachers but difficult to pin down since they are easily distracted. These people are often popular and leaders.

Fire Hands, Have long palms and short fingers. Their mounts and lines are well pronounced. They would most likely be part of the suit of Wands in the Tarot and associated with passion, a strong will and spirited. They can be infectious with their charisma and driven by the intent of their desires. These might be the Airies of the zodiac where their youthfulness can make them fun to be with on a good day but they can be less than tactful or seem to lack empathy on a bad day. They are the fire that is virtually impossible to put out and if you try you may get burned.

Water Hands, Have long palms and long fingers (maybe good pianists) and the hand is usually soft to the touch and sometimes sweaty. They would be connected to the Cups in the Tarot, seen as intuitive, insightful, nurturing, loyale and giving. They tend to lean on their emotions which can create difficulties in seeing things clearly on mundane levels. They can be reactionary and less level headed but a great friend to have in your corner. Pisces might be the water sign I would attribute to this hand type. They are able to see what most cannot and their instinctive nature can be a great addition to any project. They are team players.

Please understand that this is just my interpretation of what I have read and some of what I know mixed together. Make sure to do some more research on your own for more inclusive information.

Now to the Mounts and Plains

The fleshy portions of your hands are the mounts such as the pads of your hands right below the fingers to name a few. Plains are the areas that are sunken in between and around those sections. Mounts tend to be what you are and where your life is more balanced and even keeled. Whereas plains are places where you are less strong or aware of the goings on in your life, like “blindspots” or underdeveloped traits. Large mounts might be the exact opposite of the more sunken plains. Over developed, exaggerated and imposing.

The mounts relate to various planets, as mentioned above.

Jupiter = confidence, capacity to guide, determination, connection to other realms and the divine

Saturn = wisdom, accountability, constancy, morality, the understanding of the balances needed in life

Apollo = charismatic, optimistic, sunny disposition, high probability for success, artistic

Mercury = versatile, witty, flexible, strong people skills, strategic mind, and discerning in nature

Luna = nurturing, esoteric connections, intuitive, insightful, intuitive, original

Venus = romantic, connected to all aspects of love, captivating, devoted, empathetic

The Lines

Up until now we’ve been getting a feel for the persona and character of an individual. In discussing the lines, or creases and overlaps we move on to the future telling portion. Here we must look at the nuances in curvature, depth, and length of the lines and creases. Everything must be taken into consideration. How it goes over the mounts, intersects with different areas, where it lands in the plains and how far they actually go.

Head Line  Are you traditional or progressive? How do you approach life? This line pertains to our destiny, our inquisitive nature, and things we search for and follow. It is often found crossing through our plains and therefore can reveal what things we need to focus on learning. The length addresses the variety of matters a person will pursue. Breaks in the lines can reveal both positive and negative possibilities; mental difficulties or breakthroughs.

Heart Line This speaks to exactly what it sounds like, all matters of love, passion, sexuality, commitment and friendships. It can reveal restlessness in these matters or sustainable happiness depending on where the line starts. Also the depth of the line has an influence. It speaks to the duration and level of commitment in a partnership. If it is interrupted a lot then it would indicate many relationships. Broken lines are indicative of severed connections, cheating, or more than one lover.

Life Line Shows not so much how long you live rather it is more about how you live your life. It shows how or what type of affect you have on others, how richly you live it. In a way shows your self-reliance and free will.

Fate Line This line changes over time so it’s worth paying close attention to. It can also be called the Destiny Line. If there are significant changes occurring you may see that reflected in this line. This will speak to a person’s private life or to their work life. According to some Palmists itchy hands are a sign of upcoming change. Most often this line is affected by external forces out of one’s control.

Sun Line This line can vary a great deal in all of its aspects. This person can often be sought after in the public eye. They are likely to have a strong impact on others and will likely be a prominent figure in society. All depending on its aspects such as length, depth and location. How it relates with the fate line will also reveal things like whether events not within their control will affect their future or whether independent matters separate from outside events will influence their legacy. This is greatly about how they interact with the public.

Describing where the lines, mounts, plains all lay would be best visualized in a diagram and I was unable to produce that here. However, there are many resources in books and on the web to see these attributes.

Tarot

The Four of Cups. Why so glum? We’re in our homes, we have caring friends and everything we need to have a happy life, and yet… Today seems to be about being grateful. Where is your focus? Are you wallowing in despair concentrating too much on those things you feel you are missing? Do you feel emotionally exhausted to the point of not seeing things clearly? Sometimes we can be hijacked by our emotions and not even realize when it is happening until we’re suddenly lost in the mire. It can be hard to pull ourselves out of the muck.

Today we offer you tools. Look to the stars to see what’s going on because maybe things aren’t working in your favor at THIS moment. The somewhat good thing is that you aren’t alone in this. Some may weather it better than others and those are the people who might be trying to help you. Lift up your head and take a look around at what and who your resources are. Also, just like the planets, we are in constant movement and each second is a moment of change. We have the tools and opportunities if we can just bring ourselves out from under the waves of hopelessness. We have the ability to look for the positive if we try hard enough and believe it or not, it’s there waiting for you.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteria_(Titaness)

https://cafeastrology.com/zodiac-sign-icons-rulers-glyphs-associations.html

The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk