palm.jpgAs soon as I got home to see my mother for Seder, she asked me to read her palms. “Yes, it has been awhile since I have read them,” I answered. I had read her cards just months prior to the sudden death of my father, in which I had predicted she would greatly increase her independent functioning in the coming year. The subject of whether I should read for her has hence been rather delicate between us.

So, after the shuffle and skuffle of preparation of haroses, matzah balls, and other Passover delicacies, we sat down together in her office.

The first thing that I noticed was that the little finger on her left hand hit below the crease line of the last knuckle on her ring finger. This meant that she had been raised in a household of economic difficulties as a child. On the other hand, her right little finger, which is the finger of money and commerce, went well above the first crease line of the right ring finger. This implies that in her adult life, she was well off-or better off than she had been in her childhood.

“Yes, I was a child of the Depression,” she answered. I also knew that her father had left her mother pretty poor in a divorce in which money had been a constant issue of struggle. And that she had married a doctor, and lived nicely on the social security, life insurance, and estate he had left her.

We moved on. “Well,” I said, noticing a smattering of writing crosses across both palms, “it looks like you are destined to become a writer.” She had been talking about starting a novel about the recent Oaxacan revolt, based on email from a group she belongs to down in Mexico. As with all projects which my mother discusses, I had been taking this recent idea with a grain of salt. Here with her palms, I saw myself corrected, but didn’t say as much.

Look at your palms. If you see any Xs anywhere, you are also destined to write. And also, notice where those Xs are placed. Are they between your mind line and your heart line (the two long lines across the palm, towards the top, reaching from the base of your little finger towards the base of the pointer, or even all the way across)? If so, you will write in a way that combines your heart and your mind. That is, you will mine your heart for your material. You will tend to write intense autobiographical prose drawing from your own experience to sort things out in a way that will be helpful to others. Or, you will dramatize from your life experience creatively, in poetry, fiction, or plays.

If you see an X in the center of the palm, this position indicates that you will write materials that will rocket you into positions of leadership. Like all those writers who appear on the “Daily Show”-the senators, the ex-presidential candidates-who write their non-fiction straight. These writers tell it like it is in order to have an impact on the larger society, politically. If your writer’s cross is embedded at the base of your destiny line (the straight line that runs from your wrist, up in the center of your palm, towards your heart line), then it is in your destiny to write, but you haven’t made that energy manifest yet. If your writer’s cross is at the end of your life line, you will write a project towards the end of your life. And so on.

“So, how long will I live?” my mother, who is 81, asked.

“Well, let’s see, this line swoops from the spread between your pointer finger and your thumb all the way around to the base of the thumb, and then back around. I would say you have another 19 years.”

“That is only on the left hand. What about the other?” (My mother is a sharp one.)

“Well, on the left, there are places where the line stops, and then it continues.”

“So, I am going to be sick?” she asked.

“Yes,” I responded. “But you will recover.”

This led to a discussion about her decision to not to have her life prolonged on life support. I was surprised to learn she wanted the plug pulled, she wanted to be cremated, and she wanted her ashes distributed over a mountain.

Batya Weinbaum’s water color and inks are for sale at Perch Gallery on Cota. For a check for $30 mailed with a Xerox of your hands, you can get a complete reading Send with a SASE to Batya Weinbaum, 4902 Sandyland Road #140, Carpinteria, CA, 93013.

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.