To face Chapter XXII.
When two lines, starting from the Mount of Venus, join with a star on the Plain of Mars (see Plate 3, Fig. 1) it indicates two loves carried on at once and both having a disastrous issue.
A square with spots at all four corners placed on the Mount of the Sun (see Fig. 2) shows danger by fire with preservation.
A line from the Mount of Mars going to the Mount of the Sun (see Fig. 3) indicates love of glory, desire to attain distinction in life. A person with this mark in his hand would be stimulated rather than intimidated by a large audience, and would have great success in addressing multitudes. This line is good for soldiers, orators and actors, as it shows force, energy and moral as well as physical courage.
The figure of the sign Aquarius when seen on the Mount of the Moon (see Fig. 4) is a certain sign of death by drowning, even when marked on one hand only.
A circle on the Heart Line beneath the finger of Mercury (see Fig. 5) denotes the person as likely to cause—though unwittingly—the death of someone much loved.
A star on the Mount of Venus, low down on the Mount (see Fig. 6), indicates a man or woman who shall fall into dishonour by reason of sensual indulgence or unnatural vice.
A line starting from the Wrist Line, crossing the Mount of Venus and ending in a star on the palm of the hand (see Fig. 7), indicates that the person will lose some dearly-loved friend in a tragic manner.
The symbol of the planet Saturn, when seen in the palm of the hand (see Fig. 8), denotes the person to be malicious beyond expression, and likely to cause the death of someone by poison.
A line starting from the Head Line going through the Mount of Jupiter with a star (see Fig. 9), is an indication of a violent death before the age of thirty. Should the person be ruled by Venus, by poison; if under the Moon, by drowning; if under the Sun, by fire; if under Mars, by firearms; if under Jupiter, by horse accident; if under Mercury, by fits consequent on loss of money.
The Saturnian Line, crossed by transverse lines on the Mount of Saturn (see Fig. 10), indicates dangerous, but not fatal, wounds on the head.
Many rings encircling the thumb (see Fig. 11) indicate an amorous and very inconstant disposition in either man or woman.
Two lines starting from the middle of the Mount of Venus and terminating in the form of an apex on the Mount of the Moon (see Fig. 12) indicate a great tendency to hysteria and to abnormal attachments; the latter is more especially indicated if Saturn and the Moon should be the ruling planets.
As the shapes and relative proportions of the fingers to the palm modify the indications given by the lines and mounts, it is necessary to consider them very attentively before giving a judgment in Chiromancy.
Fingers longer than the palm and with pointed tips show idealism; they are the expression of the Moon's influence when she is well-dignified at a birth. The Mount of the Moon in these hands would always be large. People with these fingers see everything in the golden light of imagination and find happiness in dreams of intangible beauty; poetical expression (ethereal, not passionate) is their natural language. They always incline to the marvellous—the sublime, the spiritualistic side of all things. Theirs the belief in omens, in occult literature, in the supernatural. Without, perhaps attaching themselves to any fixed creed, they are, by nature, worshippers; and the mysterious moan of the sea, the song of the brook, the roar of the torrent, and the sighing of the wind, are to them but so many revelations of the Deity. They are loyal to old associations and are never in advance of their age. They are easily moved to tears and are graceful in all their gestures. They can, in exalted moments, do without the necessaries of life and yet, from their intuitive worship of the beautiful, they are lovers of the luxurious superfluities which make up an elegant and refined existence. People with these fingers do not age much; their hearts are eternally young, for they live a life of perpetual illusion and though often, alas! necessarily disappointed in both men and things, they never entirely lose faith in the poetry of existence.
Fingers the same length as the palm, and with slightly pointed tips, show refinement, correct taste and love of art—these are the fingers of those born under the dominant influence of the Sun.
Fingers the same length as the palm, but fleshy at their base and square at the tips, show practicality, family affection, love of animals, good judgment, respect for the world's opinion and much appreciation of material comfort. These fingers show the strong influence of Jupiter.
Long fingers, knotty at the joints and with square tips, show reasoning power and taste for science. Persons with these fingers are always in harmony with progress and have little or no veneration and are, therefore, never stirred by associations; with the antiquity of Catholicism, its mystical and somewhat sensuous worship, its celibate priesthood and golden aureole of saints and martyrs, persons having these fingers have no sympathy. If they belong to any fixed creed (and their logical powers are rather against this) they prefer Protestantism—or its offshoot, Dissent—where their real deity, Reason, is permitted full sway. These people love—with all the force of their nature—the study of history, jurisprudence, mathematics and the exact sciences. They are naturally clever at calculation and have much sense of order. Such fingers show the influence of Saturn, but not when most dignified; Saturn when most exalted gives mysticism, but then the fingers are not knotted at the joints and the tips are always spatulated.
Fingers that are shorter than the palm and with spatulated tips, show sensuality in love and materialism in all things, energy, love of field sports and indomitable courage. Such fingers indicate the influence of Mars at birth.
Fingers shorter than the palm, but with very pointed tips and thick at the base, show self-indulgence and love of luxury. Persons with such fingers are very sensuous and are, therefore, ardent pursuers of material pleasures, but yet with a certain refinement of taste which prevents their becoming grossly sensual. Such fingers are often seen in the hands of singers of both sexes; they indicate the strong influence of Venus in the nativity.
Fingers that are slender and longer than the palm, but with spatulate tips, indicate versatility, wit and intuitive perception. Such fingers show the dominant influence of Mercury.
In the relative lengths of the three divisions of the fingers Chiromancy also recognises the indications of three separate influences—that of the soul, that of the mind, and that of the body. Fingers that have the first division (that containing the nail) long, show high aspirations and power of veneration—soul; fingers with the second division longer than the other two indicate intellectual force—mind; whilst fingers having the lowest division longest show a love of material pleasure: people having such fingers, unless there are other modifying indications in the hand, are slaves to the body.
The first joint of the thumb (that which is nearest the nail) represents Will; therefore, when this is short, such a form indicates want of will—a character very impressionable and therefore easily led; when this joint is long, it indicates great power of will and therefore force of character. The second joint represents logic, judgment and reason; therefore, where this joint is long these qualities exist in excess and, where it is short, they are wanting in both.
The third joint (that which is outside the Mount of Venus) represents the power which love—more especially the love between the sexes—will have on the character. If long and thick it implies the existence of strong passion; if short and flat a cold disposition—no attraction towards the opposite sex.
Poets have frequently the first joint of the thumb short (because want of will gives the rein to impulse and impressionability), and whilst the second—the intellectual one—is fairly long, the third is almost always large, full and long. This combination of impressionability, intellectuality and warmth of passion gives us the poets full of "the sweet, sad music of humanity."
These various types of finger-tips are often seen in the same hand, which shows that several planets have much the same amount of influence, in which case the following indications should be considered: The finger of Jupiter pointed gives idealistic religion and sense of honour; square, it would show reasoning power; spatulate, energy and impulse.
The finger of Saturn is rarely pointed, but when it is so, it rather mitigates the melancholy given by the planet and shows callousness and (if Mercury is strong in the hand) frivolity. Square tipped, it indicates prudence, love of agriculture and mechanical genius; spatulate, which is the ordinary termination of this finger, it betokens sadness and superstition, and, when the finger is abnormally long, a tendency to suicide; especially where, with it, there is a small weak thumb.
The third finger—that of the Sun—pointed shows idealism and artistic tastes; when square-tipped, realism in art and a love of wealth; spatulate, it gives spirit of adventure, especially when it is as long as the first finger; when the third finger is longer than the first and spatulate it indicates love of gambling and of speculation.
The fourth finger—that of Mercury—pointed shows occultism, intuitive perception, eloquence and talent for languages; square at the tip it denotes logic, facility of expression, science and love of research; spatulate, it gives movement, vivacity and, where the rest of the hand is bad, knavery in business and theft; a very short little finger shows unselfishness and, some old writers say, happiness in marriage.
A pointed thumb gives impressionability; square at its tip, decided but not obstinate will; the thumb bending outward shows generosity and impulse and, when much bent inwards towards the palm of the hand, avarice and reticence. People with short fingers are quicker, more impulsive and have more intuition than those who possess long fingers. Those with long fingers have much love of detail—often to a worrying extent; they are inquisitive and somewhat distrustful.
As regards the nails, short strong nails show courage, combativeness and critical faculties. White polished and filbert-shaped nails indicate sensitiveness and refinement, but no force of character. Short, weak, crooked and black-coloured nails show deceit and slothfulness. Round nails indicate a luxurious, pleasure-loving nature. Very thin nails—especially when the tips are bent inwardly—show delicacy of constitution. Red nails with little white marks on them indicate a choleric and cruel nature.
Those who have on the root of the thumb—that is, on the Mount of Venus—many crossbar lines are sensual and prone to gross indulgence in licentiousness. They who have these marks on their hands will have in their nativity—Venus in the 6th or 8th house (which houses rule the lower parts of the body), thus showing the entire concordance of Chiromancy with Astrology.
To face Chapter XXIV.
Besides the Lines and Mounts already described there are other signs or marks which, as they modify the qualities given by the lines and mounts, should be carefully considered in giving judgment on the hand as a whole.
A star (Fig. 1) indicates something beyond our own power of action—a fatality for good or evil over which we have, personally, no power. A star on the Mount of Jupiter indicates honours and distinction in marriage and great and unexpected glory, for Jupiter is always a favourable planet.
A star on the Mount of Saturn means assassination or death on the scaffold; or, in an otherwise good hand, death by paralysis.
A star on the Mount of the Sun (with no Line of the Sun) indicates fatal riches, which bring of themselves unhappiness in the affections. Should the Sun line be strong it would signify success in art, or military glory in a hand where Mars is strong.
A star on the Mount of Mercury shows theft and dishonour; on the Mount of Mars, death in battle; but a star on the plain of Mars, military glory.
A star on the Mount of the Moon, when on a voyage line, means death by drowning; when not on a voyage line, an illness connected with water, such as dropsy or diabetes.
A star in the centre of the hand shows that some person of the opposite sex will influence the life in an unhappy manner.
A star on the Mount of Venus means unhappiness caused by love.
Two stars on the top joint of the middle finger indicate death on the scaffold.
A square (Fig. 2) shows power and energy of the qualities of the mount on which it appears, except on the Mount of Venus, when it means imprisonment. A square announces preservation from accident when seen near any indication of such accident.
A circle (Fig. 3) on any of the mounts, but above all on the Mount of the Sun, signifies success in the qualities given by the mount on which it appears; but a circle on the lines of the hand has always a bad signification. A circle on the Line of Life means loss of one eye, and two circles would indicate total blindness.
An island (Fig. 4) is again always a bad sign; on the Line of Heart, it signifies adultery; on the Line of Life, illness, corresponding in time to its position on the line; on the Line of Head, it would mean ruin arising from false speculations, or if illness is shown on the Life Line, it might indicate brain illness or neuralgia; on the Line of Health, disorders of the liver and the digestion; on the Saturnian Line, an island indicates happiness from an adulterous liaison; but if the island is broken in shape, it indicates poignant grief arising from an illicit affection. The duration of these affections is shown by the size of the island. An island at the commencement of the Saturnian Line indicates an event of an unfortunate nature, probably death of father or mother, in childhood or very early youth. The lines which go lengthways round the side of the hand, between the Line of Heart and the root of the finger of Mercury, show the serious attachments. A horizontal line barring these, or a black spot, shows widowhood. If the lines take the form of islands, it shows love for cousins or near relatives.
A triangle (Fig. 5) announces aptitudes of a favourable signification. On Jupiter it shows diplomatic distinction; on Saturn, mystical ability; on the Sun, success in art or literature; on Mars, military glory; on Venus, happiness in love; on Mercury, distinction in law, physics, or mathematics; but on the Mount of the Moon it indicates danger from the water.
A branch (Fig. 6) shows aptitude in the qualities of the mount on which it appears.
Chains (Fig. 8) always show obstacles and worries in connection with the qualities of the mount on which they appear.
A spot (Fig. 9) is sometimes favourable and sometimes the reverse. Red spots on the Line of Heart mean physical suffering from that organ. White spots show love conquests, and the lover is indicated by the mount under which these spots appear by the physical description of the planet to which the mount belongs.
Curved lines (Fig. 10) mean disaster wherever they appear. On the Line of Head, madness, especially should the line droop to the Mount of the Moon.
Hair-lines (Fig. 11) show an excess of the quality of the line on which they appear.
Cross-bars (Fig. 12) are always obstacles, and show excess in the qualities of the mounts on which they appear; on the Moon, morbid imagination; on Venus, lasciviousness.
Two lines going from the Mount of Venus to that of Mars denote the pursuit of two love affairs at the same time, and a star joined to these lines shows that the matter has ended or will end in disaster.
A long island, extending from the Mount of Venus to that of Saturn, shows, on a woman's hand, seduction at the age when the sign crosses the Line of Life. Should a square appear on the line, she escapes the temptation.
A Line extending from a star on the Mount of Venus, and terminating with a fork on the Mount of Saturn, shows an unhappy marriage.
A Line going from a star on the Mount of Venus straight to the Mount of the Sun, foretells a great inheritance from the death of a near relation.
THE HAPPY HAND.
To face Chapter XXV.
The Triangle is the name given to the space enclosed between the Line of Life, the Line of Head and the Line of Health. If the angle is an equal one and the lines well coloured, it signifies a good disposition both as regards mind and body and also much health, courage, good reputation and a long and happy life. When the angles of the Triangle are not well defined, it signifies a dull and mean person, who will not rise above mediocrity. When the Triangle is wide as well as clearly defined, it indicates liberality and nobility of mind. When it is narrow, it signifies avarice, cowardice and poverty. If the Triangle is altogether wanting in a hand, it portends much evil, a short life and much illness. A cross in the Triangle shows a quarrelsome disposition.
The Quadrangle is the square space contained between the Lines of Heart and Head. When broad it signifies a liberal, courageous person with much sense of honour, who will attain to the highest dignities in his profession and position in life.
Those who have the Quadrangle narrow are covetous and deceitful, and therefore untrustworthy in all business relations. A star in the middle of the Quadrangle shows honours and dignities, and a line from the Mount of Mercury running down to the centre of the Quadrangle indicates the friendship of great men, and much honour and distinction from these friendships.
In the plate at the beginning of this chapter we have a sketch of what is called "The Happy Hand," which is given as showing what are the happiest prognostications to be shown on the hand. An explanation of the lines and marks of this is given below.
The explanation of the Happy Hand.
Double Line of Life, which means good health and long life. The Saturnian Line straight and well-defined till it reaches its termination on the Mount of Saturn, which shows happiness in domestic life and good fortune to the end of life. Branches at beginning and end of the Heart Line, power of passionate tenderness. Cross on Mount of Jupiter, love and marriage. Ring of Venus, power of passionate attachment and much force of sympathy. The Line of Head long with branches to the Mount of the Moon, intellectual gifts and vivid imagination. Direct Line of the Sun, success in art and celebrity. Union of Venus with Mercury, love and good fortune in connection with the affections. Line of Health strong shows a vigorous constitution. Triple branches on the wrist, superabundance of vitality and long life.
A Cross on the Mount of Venus. This, taken in conjunction with the cross on the Mount of Jupiter, shows happiness in married life.
Of course it is seldom that such a conjunction of good lines is seen on the same hand; but still, in those born under a fortunate conjunction of the stars, many of these lines are seen together; but such hands are rare, for anxiety, grief and disappointment are the general rule and happiness the exception in this world.
Part III.
PHYSIOGNOMY
"La fisonomia è lo specchio dell' anima."—Finetta.
"The face is the mirror of the soul," says Finetta, a mediæval Italian writer on the subject of physiognomy; and, to those who take the trouble to study the matter, the intelligence, the sentiments and the instincts of a person are all clearly manifested by the form of the head and features and their relative proportions, by the colouring of the skin, eyes and hair, by the fugitive expressions which, to an attentive observer, are seen to pass over even the most impassable faces, and "last, but certainly not least," by the lines left by the habitual passage of the expression of strong feeling, which, to the physiognomist, are visible even when the face is in repose.
We are in the habit of applying the term physiognomy to the face only, but the word has really a much wider signification. All things animate and inanimate have their physiognomy and, when judging of the character by the form of the features of the face, it would be impossible to ignore that given by the shape of the head, for, without altogether believing that the brain is mapped out in the manner described by phrenologists, there is no doubt that a good development of the front of the head shows intelligence, whilst a head which is inordinately protuberant at the back indicates the dominance of animal instincts in the organisation. If the back of the head is quite flat, it indicates coldness—want of passion in the nature. A head which is large just above the ears shows a tendency to anger and if the signs of benevolence on the brow and lips are entirely wanting it would mean cruelty; but in physiognomy the signs on both the head and face must be considered as a whole, and the qualities shown by both must be weighed one against another, before any right judgment can be arrived at. In this study, as in that of graphology and chiromancy, a deductive power of mind is required. Among twenty persons who may be sufficiently interested in physiognomy to study it, there will be scarcely more than one who will become a good physiognomist. One among the countless objections which have been urged against physiognomy is that many physiognomists make erroneous judgments; but, granted that they do so, it is their want of discernment, or more probably their want of deductivity—not the science—which fails.
There is a certain sort of instinctive power of judging character by the face, possessed by children and animals, which is in harmony with the theories of those who have thought and written most upon this interesting subject.
We are all of us—women, perhaps, more than men—daily influenced by this sort of instinctive physiognomy: for there are few people who do not, when they first see a stranger, form a judgment of him, in which they are, of course, only swayed by his outward appearance, although they may never have even heard the word physiognomy.
The temperament has an immense amount of influence over the character and this temperament is shown more especially by the colour and texture of the skin and hair. It is temperament which precipitates, or retards, the effects of illness and age and temperament is the result of the astral influence which presided at our birth.
These temperaments have been classified under four heads—viz., the sanguine or choleric, the lymphatic, the bilious and the melancholic.
The first, the sanguine or choleric, is the result of the astral influence of Mars and Jupiter; the lymphatic, of the Moon and Venus, but more especially the Moon; the bilious (which is especially the intellectual temperament) of the Sun and Mercury and the melancholic temperament is the result of the dominance of the sad planet, Saturn. The sanguine temperament is shown by a skin with a good deal of colour in it, either of a soft pinky white with a rosy peach-like colour on the cheeks, in which case it is Jupiter which dominates in the temperament, or of a deep red colour all over the face, when the sanguine temperament is dominated by Mars, the hair being red or brown, crispy or curling.
The lymphatic temperament is shown by a soft, pale skin of a thick dead white, the lips and cheeks being only slightly coloured; the hair is fine and long, but not thick, and is light, not golden, but rather colourless, or what the French call "un blond cendré"—that is, of an ash-coloured fairness, sometimes of a soft brown, when Venus is the dominating planet. The bilious temperament is the result of the combination of the astral influences of the Sun and Mercury, the planets which give artistic feeling and intelligence.
Those having this temperament have yellow skins of a soft, fine texture and when the Sun is the dominant planet they have a vivid colour in the cheeks; the hair of those of the bilious temperament is golden and is generally curly or wavy; if the melancholic temperament given by Saturn is in combination (and it is frequently so in the bilious temperament) with the yellow-tinted skin of the bilious temperament, we find also the straight, deep black hair peculiar to the Saturnian.
The melancholic temperament is that of those born under the dominant influence of Saturn. People of this temperament are of a pale or livid, and, sometimes, of a greenish-tinted or earth-coloured skin and their hair is always of a dead black. It must be remembered that though one planet may dominate at a birth, there are always present others which have also their influences, though in a secondary degree, so no person is of one temperament without any admixture of the others, although one may and often does dominate the others.
Thus no one is exclusively sanguine, bilious, lymphatic, or melancholic. One person could be at once bilious, melancholic and lymphatic. We sometimes see the apparently contradictory temperaments of the melancholic and sanguine in the same person, but, generally speaking, one temperament dominates, modified by one or more of the others. This makes one of the sources of the variety of character we see in those about us, no one person having precisely the same modification of temperament, to say nothing of the difference of intellectual gifts. Now, as the temperament produces the character and the character the passions, it is very necessary, in order to be a good physiognomist that we should be thoroughly expert in being able to assign to each person under judgment the exact amount of domination of each of these four temperaments and this is only to be done by noting the colour and texture of the skin and hair. Aristotle has said that though there is a certain physiognomy of the whole person, the principal signs to guide us in a knowledge of human beings are to be found on the face; and this is perhaps because the skin of the face is somewhat differently constituted to that over the other parts of the body. It is more transparent than that of the other parts of the body, and thus more readily reflects the different colours—the vivid flush of joy, the blush of shame, the livid hue of envy, the pallor of fear, the different passions by which we are agitated. The face also is the seat of the eyes and the lips, both of which features (being continually in movement) make the face, as the old Italian writer has said, "the mirror of the soul."
Even those who habitually deny the power given by a knowledge of the science of physiognomy admit that in certain moments they have been able to judge of what they could ask for from the expression they saw on the face of the person with whom they were dealing. Now, if this were so at one moment, why should it not be so always? When the soul is agitated, that agitation shows itself, at once, upon the face by the variation of its colours and by the contraction of certain muscles about the features. Both this changing of colour and this movement of the features vary according to the passions which produce the agitation and these different expressions most people can read at a glance. No one confounds the expression of happiness with unhappiness, of love with hatred, of hope with despair, of jealousy with trustfulness, of envy with sympathy. Habitual drunkards show their vice on their faces, even when they are perfectly sober; so also do the other vices show themselves by the lines left on the face by the constant recurrence of the contraction of the features when under the immediate and violent influence of the ruling passion. By dint of continually exercising the faculty of observation they come to see expressions and lines on the face which, though perhaps quite lost upon others, give them indications of character which are sometimes startling revelations. Here, again, is another objection which is often advanced against the study of physiognomy. Does it not, by laying bare the vices and weaknesses of human nature, induce a cynical opinion of human nature? No; for, whilst it makes us clear-sighted as to the vices, it also reveals to us many sweet and noble qualities in those by whom we are surrounded, which, perhaps, were never suspected by us. No one better understood his fellow-men, no one was ever more alive to "the sweet, sad music of humanity," than Shakespeare. His large-hearted, sympathetic nature gave him intuitive perception of character, and this, aided by his wonderful powers of observation, must have made him a physiognomist. He "looked quite through the thoughts of men," and yet, with all this wondrous knowledge of human nature, he says, "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a God!"
THE PLANETS' PLACES ON THE FACE FACSIMILE FROM AN
OLD WOODCUT, DATE 1657
To face Chapter XXVII.
"One part of the forehead," says a Chinese proverb, "shows our faculties, the other part the use we make of them." This is, in a great measure, true; for the form and height of the brow show the degree of thought and power of intellect, whilst the skin of the forehead, its colour, lines and tension, denote the passions and the state of mind. Though the skin of the forehead may be equally wrinkled in different faces, the forms which these lines take vary very much. The first line next the hair, which is rarely seen till past middle age, is referred to the influence of Saturn; the second to Jupiter; the third to Mars; the fourth, over the right eyebrow, to the Sun; the fifth, over the left eyebrow, to the Moon; the sixth, between the eyebrows, to Venus, whilst Mercury is assigned his place on the bridge of the nose (see plate).
When the Line of Saturn is long and well-defined, it indicates the prudence and sagacity which ought to come with age; when it is broken or curved in an oblique manner it shows peevishness and avarice.
The Line of Jupiter, straight and clearly-defined, shows an honourable and just person; if broken or taking oblique curves it indicates a very voluptuous person.
If the Line of Mars should be long and clear, and stretching across the forehead in one continuous line, it denotes courage and much warlike ambition; if the line be broken, such a person will be a brawler and quarrelsome and will experience ill fortune in war.
The Line of the Sun being perfect and reaching nearly to the middle of the forehead, shows ambition, good judgment and success; being broken or oblique in its form, it shows egotism and love of money.
The Line of the Moon, clear and perfect above the left eyebrow, much imagination and also much travelling into strange places. When this line is broken or much curved, it indicates caprice and want of truth.
The Line of Venus, delicately marked and straight, shows tenderness and success in love matters; if broken and curved, the reverse.
If three lines appear in the place of Mercury across the bridge of the nose, they denote eloquence and wit; if more than three, loquacity and deceit.
So much for the lines on the forehead. As to the form, Aristotle tells us that "a very large and prominent forehead shows stupidity"; it is quite true that men of the highest intelligence have foreheads of medium height, but exceptionally broad and full over the eyebrow.
A forehead which is very full over the eyebrows and rather low than high, shows intuitive faculty, artistic perception and idealism; we see this form of brow in all the antique statues of Apollo. A very projecting forehead, fuller above than below, and so large as to appear to dominate the whole face, is generally the forehead of a slow if not a dull intellect. A perpendicular forehead, well rounded at the temples, rather high than low and having straight, well-defined eyebrows, shows solid power of the understanding, love of study and power of concentrating the attention, but it is not the forehead of the poet, painter, or musician.
Arched foreheads, somewhat low, but full at the temples, with long, sweeping and mobile eyebrows, appear properly to be feminine, since they show sweetness and sensitiveness of nature.
High, narrow and wholly unwrinkled foreheads, over which the skin seems tightly drawn, are indicative of weakness of the will-power, want of imagination and very little susceptibility. They are the foreheads of narrow-minded, commonplace persons. Of course other features may soften these indications; intelligent eyes may give intellect, or a sweet and tender mouth feeling enough to, at any rate, diminish the unpleasant indications of this type of forehead.
Foreheads not altogether projecting, but having angular and knotty protuberances upon them, denote vigour of mind and harsh and oppressive activity and perseverance. To be in exact proportion, the forehead should be the same length as the nose. In Greek art, however, it is generally shorter, which gives softness and elegance to the face. It should be oval at the top, or somewhat square; if the latter, it gives more force—if the former, more sensibility of character. It should be smooth in repose, yet have the power of wrinkling when in deep thought, or when in grief or anger; for foreheads over which the skin is so tightly strained as never to change under these circumstances show a dull, unsensitive and unintellectual nature. A forehead should project more over the eyes than at the top, and there should be a small cavity in the centre, separating the brow into four divisions: but this should be so slightly accentuated as only to be seen when the forehead is in a strong light coming from above it.
When the eyebrows are far from each other at their starting-point between the eyes, they denote warmth, frankness and impulse—a generous and unsuspicious nature. A woman or man having such eyebrows would never be causelessly jealous. Eyebrows, on the contrary, which meet between the eyes in the manner so much admired by the Persians denote a temperament ardent in love, but jealous and suspicious: all Saturnians have these eyebrows.
Eyebrows somewhat higher at their starting-point, and which pass in a long sweeping line over the eyes, drooping slightly downwards at their termination, show artistic feeling and great sense of beauty in form. The Empress Eugénie's eyebrows are of this form, which gives a sweet and wistful expression to the face and which some old writers have asserted to be the sign of a violent death.
Eyebrows lying very close to the eyes, forming one direct, clear line on strongly-defined eyebones having the same form, show strength of will and extreme determination of character. This sort of eyebrow appears on the busts of Nero; but there its indications of determination are deepened with cruelty by the massive jaw and the development of the cheekbone by the ear. This form of eyebrow, in conjunction with other good indications, would mean only constancy in affection, power of carrying out a project despite all difficulties and taste for science.
Eyebrows that are strongly marked at the commencement and then terminate abruptly without sweeping past the eyes, show an irascible, energetic and impatient nature.
Thick eyebrows, somewhat arched, show artistic perception of beauty in colour. Delicately marked eyebrows, slightly arched, indicate tenderness.
Eyebrows lighter than the hair show weakness and indecision. Eyebrows much darker than the hair denote an ardent, passionate and constant temperament.
Angular, strong and sharply interrupted eyebrows close to the eyes always show fire and productive activity. No profound thinker has weakly marked eyebrows, or eyebrows placed very high on the forehead. Want of eyebrow almost always indicates a want of mental and bodily force. The nearer the eyebrows are to the eyes, the more earnest, deep and firm the character; the more remote from the eyes, the more volatile and less resolute the nature.
Eyebrows the same colour as the hair show firmness, resolution and constancy; but in judging of the eyebrows it must be remembered that if form and colour give different indications, the form (as this also means that of the brow) gives the most important indication, the colour and texture of the eyebrow being secondary to its position as regards the eyes and forehead.
The eye has been called "the window of the soul," and not without reason, for it seems more than any other organ to be capable of expressing all its emotions. The most tumultuous passions, the most delicate feelings, the most acute sensations, the eye expresses in all their force and in all their purity, as they arise and transmits them by variations so rapid as to give to the lookers-on the very image of that with which it is itself inspired; for the eye receives and reflects the intelligence of the thoughts as well as the warmth of the feelings.
The colours most common to the eyes are brown, grey, blue, hazel and black, or what we call black—for those eyes which appear to be black will generally be found to be of a deep yellowish-brown when looked at very narrowly; it is the distance only which makes them seem to be black, because the deep yellow-brown colour is in such strong contrast to the white of the eye that it appears black. There are also eyes of so bright a hazel as to seem almost yellow; lastly, there are eyes that are positively green. Very beautiful, too, are some of the eyes of this colour when they are shaded—as is very often the case—with long, dark eyelashes; but, though beautiful, they are not indicative of a good disposition.
Green eyes, although their praises are often sung in Spanish ballads, show deceit and coquetry. We sometimes see eyes which appear to be a combination of yellow, orange, and blue, the latter colour generally appearing in streaks over the whole surface of the iris, while the orange and yellow are set in flakes of unequal size around and at some distance apart; these eyes are indicative of originality, amounting, at times, to eccentricity. No commonplace person has this sort of eye; they show intellectuality, and, in most cases, literary ability.
There are eyes which are remarkable for being of, what might be said to be, no colour. The iris has only some shades of blue or pale grey, so feeble as to be almost white in some parts, and the shades of orange which intervene are so small that they can scarcely be distinguished from grey or white, notwithstanding the contrast of colours. The black of the pupil is, in these eyes, too marked, because the colour of the iris around it is not deep enough, so that in looking at them we seem to see only the pupil. These eyes are expressionless, for their glance is fixed and dead; they invariably belong to persons of the lymphatic temperament, and they indicate a listless and feeble disposition, incapable of enterprise and a cold and indolently selfish nature.
Blue eyes are more significant of tenderness and of a yieldingness of purpose than either brown, black, or grey eyes. There are occasionally to be met strong characters with this tint of eye, but then they will be found to have other indications in the rest of their physiognomy which correct the delicacy and yieldingness of this coloured eye. Blue-eyed people are not inconstant, like those of the hazel and yellow eyes, but they yield from affection.
Angry, irritable persons have frequently eyes of a brownish tint, inclined to a greenish hue. Although the purely green eye of which I have spoken indicates deceit and coquetry, the propensity to greenish tints in the eyes is a sign of wisdom and courage. Very choleric persons, if they have blue eyes, have also certain tints of green in them and, when under the influence of anger, a sudden red light appears in them. Such eyes as these are generally found in connection with the sanguine, or, as it is sometimes called, choleric temperament; that is, in those persons who have been born under the double influence of Jupiter and Mars; but, when we see these red tints in the eyes, it would be a sign that, of the two planets presiding over this temperament, Mars was dominant.
Clear grey-blue eyes, with a calm steadfastness in their glance, are indicative of cheerfulness of disposition, of a serene temper and a constant nature. These eyes are peculiar to the Northern nations; one meets with them among the Swedes, and also sometimes amongst the Scotch. The blue eyes we see among the rare blondes of the South—that is, in Italy and Spain—always have eyes in which there are some greenish tints; and such eyes, though often called light blue, have none of the qualities of serenity and constancy which belong to the light blue eyes of the North. Neither must the pleasant light blue eye, with the honest glance, be confounded with another sort of eye of a pale blue, almost steel-coloured hue, which has a continually shifting sort of motion both of the eyelids and the pupils of the eyes. People with such eyes as these are to be avoided, as they are indicative of a deceitful and selfish nature. Very dark blue eyes, with something of the tint of the violet, show great power of affection and purity of mind, but not much intellectuality.
Grey eyes, of a somewhat greenish grey, with orange as well as blue in them, and which are of ever-varying tints, like the sea, are those which denote most intellectuality. They are especially indicative of the impulsive, impressionable temperament—a mixture of the sanguine and the bilious—which produces the poetic and artistic natures. The line—
"The poet's eye, in a fine phrenzy rolling,"
does not suggest a blue, or even a black, so much as the changeful, ever-varying tinted, grey eye; and it is a fact that in England (where there are more varieties of tints in eyes than in any other country) the poets have almost always grey eyes. A biographer of Byron speaks of his "beautiful, changeful grey eyes, which deepened in colour when he was under the influence of tenderness and passion, and which glowed with a red light when he was angry." Shakespeare also had, we are told, grey eyes, and so had Sir Walter Scott; whilst Coleridge had eyes of a greenish grey. Among the artists, too, eyes of this colour abound.
Black eyes, or what are considered such, are indicative of passionate ardour in love. Brown eyes, when not of the yellowish tint, but pure russet brown, show an affectionate disposition; the darker the brown—that is, the more they verge on to that deepest tint of brown which is seen in eyes we are in the habit of calling black—the more ardent and passionate is the power of affection. The brown eyes which do not appear black—that is, which are not dark enough to appear so—are the eyes of sweet, gentle, and unselfish natures, without the inconstancy of the light brown or yellow eyes—"golden eyes," as they were called by a lady novelist—and which are very little more to be trusted than the green eyes already spoken of. The maiden in Longfellow's Hyperion, of whom he says,