Talk To The Hand: A Field Guide to Practical Palmistry

This LA-based author has produced other works on this topic including The Secret Code on Your Hands and The Palmistry Cards. Perhaps the previous book deals more with the basic lines and techniques. This book is organized around the most commonly-asked questions: life and longevity; fame and fortune, gossip, success, deceit, etc. The contents include an introduction followed by four parts with related material.

Readers should be aware that Mahabal's techniques are based in Vedic (Hindu) lore and methodology. His style may incorporate Lal Kitab, a Hindu merger of palmistry and astrology. These techniques can be very different than those generally taught in Western palmistry. For instance, one specific divergence is that he reads the life line from the wrist to the crook of the palm, and considers it indicative of passion and sex drive rather than life and longevity.

For this reason, this book offers a counterpoint of tips to what a palmistry student might gain from traditional Western source books and teachers.

Some of the “tips” are useful insights into techniques, while others focus on incidents or experiences the author has had with clients. The tips are accompanied by illustrations that mostly but not always helpful. Mahabal has a forceful and direct writing style that may be off-putting to some readers.

Overall, this book offers information that's a mind-broadening contrast to Western-method palmistry books. This may be of interest to palmists or palmistry students who want to expand their knowledge of the subject and experiment with diverse techniques. Beginners should look for a book that covers the basics in a more systematic way. 

~review by Elizabeth Hazel

Author: Vernon Mahabal
2018, Weiser
175 pages, $16.95