Review: Jan 2026 “I wanted to personally tell you how intriguing and quietly profound The Palmistry of Fingerprints is. By bringing together the long history of fingerprint analysis with the modern science of dermatoglyphics, you invite readers to look at something deeply familiar their own hands and see it anew. What you offer is not […]

Here are some links to recent interviews and online discussions I have had about fingerprints, palmistry, handreading and chirology. Lots of easy ways to hear about my approach to deciphering the patterns of the hands, considering handreading from historical, genetic, psychological and spiritual perspectives. The Palmistry of Fingerprints – its in the book ! ‘Dave […]

Your life lessons for this lifetime can be seen in the fingerprints on the ends of your fingers. Have a look at the fingerprint on your index finger – the index finger reveals your spiritual ideals and aspirations. Loops (Water) A vital role that loops play in life is to bring people together. With an […]

I am now teaching Hand Analysis online (by ZOOM) and have established a year-long ‘Handreading Immersion’ course comprised of 60hrs of live teaching in 20 sessions. This can be presented as a six month intensive though I also teach it in modular form, in four parts of five weeks each:(1) Fingerprints and Dermatoglyphics(2) The Palmistry […]

The IHRA runs two online Hand Reading Conferences a year, usually around the end of March and at the end of October.  In 2026, our conferences are scheduled for 11th-12th April and 31st Oct-1st November. Details to be announced! See: www.handreadinginternational.com for further information and for information about conferences held in past years.

Everyone who studies hands know that the lines of the hands change over time.  It is a very simple and obvious thing to notice once you start looking at hands. But rarely do we get to see how the lines of the hands change.  To do that requires both the passage of time and a […]

One of the most difficult lineal features of the hands that I have come across is where there is a doubled formation of the Major Water line in the hand.  The Major Water line is the uppermost of the three main lines that runs across the hand under the fingers, starting under the little finger […]

There are a number of widely held assumptions about what handreading is all about. They’re not true ! Widely-believed Myth But in actual fact….     The lines of the hand tell you how long you are going to live No.  The length of the palmar lines do not indicate the length of your life […]

In times of crisis, people turn to gurus and spiritual leaders for insight, understanding and guidance. The advice that they give can come in many different forms and will largely be dependent upon the spiritual tradition that frames their perspective; and also on the degree of personal insight and understanding that they have. Fortunately, we […]

David Bowie – the exaggerated personas that he developed through the course of his career were dramatic and theatrical musical expressions – all extreme manifestations of a long Fire finger.

The hand is a map of karma. Whilst the fingerprints, as genetic markers, are indicators of past-life karmas that you have brought into this life, the lines of the hands describe your present patterns of suffering. It is comforting to know that the lines of your hands change over time, especially in response to changing […]

I am often asked about the difference between palmistry and the approach to handreading that I take, to which I usually reply that what I do can best be described as Buddhist Handreading. There are a number of different factors that create that emphasis, not least because I have been a Buddhist since 1983. There […]

The first reference to handreading in Western European literature can be found in the work by Aristotle ‘De Historia Animalium’ Book 1, which was written in c.345 BC.  Aristotle posed the questions: why are there lines in the hand; and why do people with long lines live a long time, and those with short lines […]