The topic going viral in the various communities I visit online is a procedure called Palm Surgery. It’s the latest rave in Japan where people are paying a pretty sum to have their palms cut into to create the appearance of ‘desirable’ creases. There are a number of perspectives floating around and most of them tend to reflect the theory of the placebo effect as the reason for any positive results after having the surgery.
“Your Future Is in the Palm of Your (Surgeon’s) Hand”
Over the years I have shared with my clients and students ways to make changes in their lives based on the features and structure of their hands. Simple steps like not curling ones hands into a fist while sleeping can release tension and anger held in over night. Practicing various hand positions, like mudras, send signals to the brain to communicate your intentions. Certain unconscious hand positions are like facial expressions, revealing your moods and attitudes to people around you. Markings, when viewed together with the body language of the hands, can reveal the habitual ways of holding your hands. Chronic attitudes is what I call them.
I have often said jokingly, after advising people in how to position their hands in a more natural way for a positive flow of energy, if there is resistance to my suggestions, that “if all else fails they could always have plastic surgery”. I truly never dreamed that anyone would do such a thing. After years of reading hand surgery books to understand the structure of the hands, I am absolutely astonished that a medical professional would slice into the hands, creating deliberate cosmetic scarring.
A quick search on the internet will show you that hand surgeons carefully map out the individual’s hand before they make any cuts. A mistake can take away movement and sensitivity to a digit or other part of the hand. If you’ve had carpal tunnel surgery you will notice that they mostly followed a crease that was already present rather than creating a new line in the palm. This scar is found on the outside of the life line rather than inside (between life line and thumb). This is so as not to restrict the flexibility of the thumb.
This information alone should be enough to deter a person from deliberately having scars racing across their palms. I’ve read people’s hands that have long scars across their palms as a result from defending themselves from a knife welding attacker. I’ve read the hands of people that have fallen through glass panes and left with terrible scars on their hands. I studied the hands of a man who sliced off his little finger with a power saw and had it reattached. Reading hands at events, it doesn’t take long to recognize the chefs in the convention of restaurant employees, and the butchers from the grocery store clerks at company picnics, by their missing phalanges and scarred digits. I have yet to meet anyone who told me life improved greatly after their scarring. All had adapted to working with their hands in a new way.
Synchronicity and serendipity are fun and descriptive words. Many years ago when I was learning to associate hand features with character and behavior I had an interesting close up lesson. My neighbors in the 1st floor of the 2 family where I lived were quite an odd couple in many ways but for the two of them they had worked out what seemed to be a fair exchange. She worked and he stayed home and took care of the cat. He took on odd jobs here and there and one included mowing the lawn for a church. He cut off the tip of his dominant hand’s middle finger and severely cut the ring finger one day when he decided to clear a clog with his hand while the mower was running. He qualified for worker’s compensation and other benefits. The middle finger’s energy in palmistry includes a person’s sense of right and wrong, duty, responsibility and their principles. It seemed so apropos that he cut off a portion of his middle finger.
Cuts breaking open the flesh symbolize an opening of the self. Sometimes the locations of the cuts along with the timing of the accidental injury are coincidentally related. If you believe there are such things as coincidences. When we heal from old hurts and woundings in life, we often speak of having been emotionally scarred by the experience. A scar is often toughened and tender skin, that has lost its elasticity, its flexibility. Would not deliberate scarring represent much the same?
People have long adorned their bodies with art and piercings to uplift their spirits and to express themselves as individuals.
Ever been pierced by the point of a newly sharpened pencil? It’s a tattoo that lasts a life time. From my experience, off the top of my head, I’d say the majority of these marks are made before the age of 10 and regardless of a person’s age, many remember when and how it happened. Other than remembering the incident, no one has ever remarked about a change in their life after their palms became permanently marked with a dark black spot. Well, actually there was one, a painful story of a girl whose father tryed to cut the dark spot out of her palm like one might a deep splinter. Now she’s left with the dark spot, a scar and a memory.
On the palms the skin is naturally either ridges or creases. If the creases fade away then the ridges will take over the space. Deep creases cut through the paths of the rows of ridges. The creases are not scars or tattoos, they are instead crevices in the ridged flesh. Moles, warts, scars, and skin conditions such as eczema can obliterate both the ridges and creases. Moles can be harmless, but they can also become dangerous and need to be removed. Warts, also known as worry warts, are a virus and relate to deep seated stress and worry.
One of the purposes of the major creases is related to how they are attached at deeper levels in the skin. This keeps the skin from sliding all over the place, for instance, while holding onto the rungs of a ladder or opening a jar. Scarring can also cause a loss of movement of the skin. This might result in some activities involving hand grip to become painful or difficult to carry out.
Another use of the creases, besides flexion and grip, is how they form in structure, texture and appearance that varies to match personal characteristics in human existence. In Palmistry they are often seen as channels or conduits of energy from one part of the hand to another gaining meaning from the territories they cross. A scar and a crease are very different things.
So far it doesn’t seem like there’s a benefit other than cosmetic and psychological. It is known that at least half of all people who are in test studies for this or that product will benefit when taking the placebo. This is a form of self hypnosis, creative positive thinking or mind control. If you believe it, it is.
What then is happening when people have the palms of their hands seared and scarred with markings meant to imitate features of good fortune? I think we come into this world with a combination of challenges and gifts that are uniquely our own. There’s a saying “You are never given a wish, without also being given the means to make it come true.” I believe this. It could be possible that these chosen new surgically placed markings are not in balance and harmony to your path. Sometimes I’ve noticed that a missing feature can actually be a blessing in a person’s hand and life. For instance, someone with many features showing leadership and strength can become a bully if they have one too many of these markings and not enough of some others. Balance is important. Do the surgeons understand this balance when they make their incisions? This shouldn’t be a lighthearted decision. However, if piercing the skin is what you desire, for symbolic and practical reasons, I’d recommend a self expressive tattoo over a restrictive scar.
Would I recommend palm surgery for a way to self improvement? No, but I’ve always been in favor of whatever works and letting people make their own choices. At least they shouldn’t go under the knife without being confident the surgeon is trained and experienced as a hand surgeon. I’d also recommend an in-depth consultation with a qualified hand analyst, like myself. One that can interpret back to you what you are already blessed with and how best to use what you’ve got. Someone that can help you clarify your intentions and what you expect to manifest with this hand altering, potentially life changing, unforgettable experience. You may be surprised to find that these same intentions could be fulfilled without a scalpel, a needle or the pain.
Now a days I’ll suggest instead, if all else fails, forget the blade and give henna art a try. It wears off before you change your mind, and how could this not brighten your attitude?!
in joy and peace,
Patti Lightflower
www.ireadhands.com
