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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mother (Saint) Teresa's hands tell us who she was

Mother Teresa portrait sketch
The primary personality characteristic that Mother/Saint Theresa or Teresa, is associated with was her philanthropy. And sure enough, this particular quality was on her hand. 

For one thing, Mother Teresa had a long, low-set thumb (on her right hand), but it was held close to the hand and it was very supple. Her Apollo (ring) finger was dominant. Her hand also had highly developed mounts of Venus and Moon, as well as Jupiter. The lines were dark and the lower part of her hand was thick. Her fingers were thick too, with not very long first phalanges, possibly short if one takes into account the length of her hand.

Her heartline was the dominant line on her hand, long and sweeping and it was low-set. The lifeline is also good.

Her palm was slightly long and her fingers were short in comparison. The Jupiter (index) finger is pointed, on both hands and it is also low-set.

Check out a hand photograph of hers here and here.
 
Her hand tells us about her determination and her idealism, but it also tells us that she was not a perfect person. She was ordained as a Saint in 2016, by the Christian Church and also received the Nobel Peace Prize as far back as 1979. Her hand does not show her to be a saint.

Her hand shows that strength, love and compassion along with determination were the backbones of her character. As was a strong belief system, so glaringly evident in the pointed Jupiter finger. This sign shows a strong desire to believe in a cause and anyone who has this sign latches on to something in their life. This belief can be in anything – and in Mother Teresa's hands we know it was Christianity. 

Then there was her immense energy and ability to channel her strong will into a productive cause and all of this brought to her where she finally reached - sainthood. However, if one compares her hand to say, Sai Baba, she falls woefully short. 

Mother Teresa's hand shows that she had a strong practical streak, wanted to be useful, and had a strong desire to make a difference. Her hand shows a desire for name and fame and this is one main aspect of her character that sets her apart from a real saint. However, she had some great qualities.

Her hand shows deep generosity and a desire for freedom, not just for herself, but for others. She could bend easily, and embrace anything that came her way. As if this is not enough to make a person great, she was open-minded and helpful. She was humble, and simple at heart. Money did not mean much to her and she was always ruled by her heart. She was also quite impulsive. 

Objective thinking was not her forte and she was far from an intellectual. She was more of a doer.

Love was in her heart no doubt and she was able to express this love. She channelled it into a cause which brought her fame.

She was a self-made woman
An interesting aspect of Mother Theresa’s hand is that there is a distinct difference between her left (passive) and right (active) hands. As she was right-handed, and her right hand shows what she actually was, and her left hand reveals her inherited qualities. The differences in the hands signify that Mother Teresa was not born such a great lady. She was born a little selfish and secretive, and one is not sure how she changed so much. 

Possibly when she saw people suffering, the love she had in her heart just poured out. Or perhaps Mother Teresa was motivated by her religiosity which was imbibed in her since childhood. However, her religiosity assumed a practical tinge as she grew older, with less belief in ideals and more of a determination to see results on the ground. This is because she did not believe in theory; she was a doer. Whoever she became, it was by growing as a person and that is creditable. She did not inherit such a great nature...if she had, then she would have built on that, and become a real saint, perhaps! Finally, all of us have to work with what we get.

She inherited a base nature, and certainly not intellectual. She would have found it difficult to understand concepts, and she probably did not think much of people who theorised.

Her being a practical, action-oriented woman, made her achieve what she did in her life. Talking meant little to her and in fact, she was not very articulate, but she was a street-smart lady. She was also a straightforward and no-nonsense type of person. 

She rose to be a better person, but some of her not-so-nice personality traits did persist, like her difficulty in understanding another point of view, her stubbornness, and lack of reasoning powers. It was lucky for the world that she chose to become a person to help the poor, and not a dictator of a country!  

How and why people change, either to become greater than they are or why they destroy their lives, is something of a mystery. 

To conclude one can say that Mother Theresa’s hands show her to be a practical down-to-earth person, a human being who thought of others before herself. 

Read about other Spirituals Leaders from different parts of the world like the hand analysis of Mahatma Gandhi or Pope Benedict XVI or Ayatollah Khomeini or the Dalai Lama

Or maybe you would like to know the difference between Satya Sai Baba and Sai Baba of Shirdi or a comparison of Gurus Old and New

Or check out the hand reading of a modern guru like Deepak Chopra or Bikram Chowdhury.

(This post was edited in December 2022)



Free Image by Daniel Joshua Paul from Pixabay 

8 comments:

  1. Nita, what I found interesting in your post is that personalities like Mother Theresa have similar character traits,e.g. a sense of humility,modesty, not concerned about wealth/fame,selflessness,a desire to serve mankind etc. The question that comes to mind is why are such people similar, why is the common person not like that? One can theorize about this, have different opinions etc.However, the fact remains that from time to time,such people (or saints) are born and do so much service to mankind, it's totally unbelievable.A few that come to mind are Swami Vivekananda,Sri.Ramakrishna,Mata Amritanandamayi, J.Krishnamurti (in a different way).Good post, thanks.

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  2. And she has inspired millions around the world :)

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  3. Padmini, that's question that I have been mulling over too. The common traits that people in certain professsions have. When it comes to sainthood the selflessness needs to be there. I think this can happen when there is a great goal, or rather a strong motivation. In her case it was her true belief in religion (all believers are not selfless though so this needs more analysis. During the time of India's partition for example a lot of heroes were born and were made as well, and again it has to do with a great cause. If a cause catches a person's imagination and the innate unselfishness is also present, the person can reach great heights.

    Vishesh, she was certainly someone who inspired with her work.

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  4. "As to how and why people change, either to become greater than they are, or why they destroy their lives, is always something of a mystery" ...in the course of exploring something profound and deep about the humankind and palmistry it self..u have raised a very important question..which unfortunately as observers we see but never in the deepest sense understand ....hate to be melodramatic about it...but this is a question that is intrigued me for the last 2 years and continues to intrigue me. i want to thank u for putting out this question.

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  5. ..i want to know ur thoughts on a theory or rather a fact..put forward by..j.krishnamurthy..that humility ..selflessness...not caring about ones own ambition ...not in the sense ignoring them but not letting these pity human insecurities affecting the mind..letting it be free ..awakens intelligence in a human being...which can be proven by palmistry if we observe the hands of all those great scholars or saints or scientists..gandhi(in the reflection from the length of his jupiter finger),einstein(thumb ..heart line),...u name it..they grew or became or were intelligent cause they let...these essential qualties of love..of compassion ..grow in them...

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  6. and let me be clear..of the fact that in gandhi's case i am only referring on his humble side...which he so evidently was..but it also point to his inner security..which he compensated...by his large and strong thumb and venus(also in case of einstein)...helping him to reach out to others...i hope i am not clarifying my self too much..ur thoughts..?

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  7. and again..when referring to intelligence i am not referring to a intelligence of an intellectual kind,or acquiring a skill..which can too be increased but..really to be aware of all that is happening around and still managing to letting ur mind be free ..cause see most of us may have intelligence and good observation...but cannot let our selfish little pity selves not to intefere with our intelligence our to sum it up our real potential..i want ur thoughts on this..not only because i have come to realise this truth..but from the standpoint of what palmistry can do to make people realise their true potential themselves...i am sure ull agree with me and JK..call me fan or anything..but i wanted to get this point across...which i am still not sure if i have or not..but i tried..so please read through..

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  8. Atlantis, regarding your first question, I believe that intelligence and awareness grows if there are fewer insecurities in us. If we are insecure, anxious and self-absorbed our daily life is filled with petty troubles and worries and this stops us from fulfilling our true potential.
    Every individual is different (as to his potential) but the way of bringing out the best in a person is to be calm and compassionate, no doubt. Just notice the people around you who get hurt at the slightest insult...usually these people have large egoes and their life is spent in nursing them! How will they be able to concentrate on the power of their mind? As you said it is not just about intelligence, it is about being a better person and a happier person.

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