About Cheiro's hand

William John Warner, known as Cheiro, made palmistry well known but there are those who feel that his books do not explain exactly how he arrived at conclusions and made accurate predictions. I tend to agree with this, and believe that it is unlikely that Cheiro himself knew how he did it. His extraordinary ability probably came from strong intuition, bordering on sixth sense.

His hand corroborates this. It shows
a clearly marked Intuition Line plus a well marked Ring of Jupiter. In combination these signs indicate a strong intuitive ability and understanding of human beings. The good Mercury finger helps. Not that every person with these signs develops intuitive powers to the extent Cheiro did. It is even more difficult to use these powers in a productive and positive way, the way Cheiro did. The explanation for Cheiro's ability can be found in the other aspects of his hand. His headlines (he had two) hold the key to his success. The headline which starts from the Mount of Jupiter (his second headline) tells us of his brilliance. (Check out a picture of his hand here).

A headline starting high from the mount of Jupiter is an unusual sign and invariably shows extraordinary leadership ability and great ambition. Such people can handle people with ease and often possess a diplomatic, persuasive and manipulative ability bordering on brilliancy if other signs confirm it as in Cheiro’s case (Jupiter and Mercury fingers alongwith the thumb). This is probably how Cheiro managed to personally read the hands of so many famous people, even those who did not believe in the science of hand reading.

Cheiro’s hand also has another unusual sign, a line going up from the fate line towards the mount of sun. This is a sign I saw in President Radhakrishnan’s hand as well, and shows a person who has reached where he is through sheer grit and determination and great personal effort. Such people usually do not have social and family support. They usually start from scratch and reach great heights of success.

No authentic record of Cheiro’s early life is available but his origins must have been humble. The name he called himself by - Count Louis Hamon – has not been authenticated. This is probably a name he took on to impress people, particularly the rich and famous, in the same way that the nickname Cheiro gave him a mysterious and occult persona. Handreading was not popular at the time Cheiro came on the scene (in the west) and it must have been very hard for Cheiro to establish himself. He did it using his personality as well as his talent. Interestingly Cheiro has not posted the picture of his left hand in his book which would have given away his past.

Cheiro made palmistry famous, although more for its predictive side by making very accurate predictions of the future even though he could not show convincingly how he did it. He couldn't really have shown it with any accuracy because the hand does not show accurate future life events. Predictive palmistry involves trends rather than events, and is tentative at best because the lines of the hand (which show life events) can change, particularly in those who are self-aware and make a conscious effort to change.

Ancient Indian palmistry is also predictive in nature and this is in tandem with the ancient art of Astrology. As Cheiro learnt handreading in India, it is likely that he was impressed with this aspect of handreading and believed he could become an expert at it. He must have already known that he had a strong perceptive ability, which he used in combination with the principles of palmistry to make amazing predictions. He is also believed to have made use Numerology and Astrology to make exact predictions.