FORTUNE TELLING has exercised a fascination on the human race throughout
the world, from the earliest period of our history. Astrology, palmistry, the
interpretation of dreams and omens, and many other forms of divination were
seriously practiced by the ancients. The soothsayer wielded an important influence
over kings and empires even in the Middle Ages and in Europe during the 13th,
14th, 15th and 16th centuries there was scarcely a ruler who did not have his court
astrologer to guide him in problems of state. More recently, one can remember at
least one American President who included an astrologer among his list of advisors.
Palmistry, like astrology, has its roots in the remote past. It is said to have existed in
India and China 3110 years B C and references to the belief that lines in the hand
indicate good or evil fortune are to be found in the early literature of nearly all
nations. That every person’s fate is in their own hands is a concept few will dispute,
but in this modern world we interpret the idea in many different ways. Despite the
relentless march of science and so-called rational thought, the ‘Oracles of Fate’ and
‘Wheels of Fortune’ are still interesting and amusing to those of us who want a
glimpse of the future.