The Mixed Hand

THE mixed hand is the most difficult of all. In that case, however, the mixed fingers have the foundation of the square hand, whereas with the true mixed type no such foundation can be cited for the student’s guidance.

• The mixed type is so called because the hand cannot possibly be classed as square, spatulate, conic, philosophic, or psychic; the fingers also belong to different types—often one pointed, one square, one spatulate, one philosophic, etc.

• The mixed hand is the hand of ideas, of versatility, and generally of changeability of purpose. A man with such a hand is adaptable to both people and circumstances, clever, but erratic in the application of his talents. He will be brilliant in conversation, be it science, art, or gossip. He plays some instrument fairly well, may paint a little, and so on; but rarely will he be great. When, however, a strong line of head rules the hand, he will, of all his talents, choose the best, and add to it the brilliancy and versatility of the others.
  
  
• Such hands find their greatest scope in work requiring diplomacy and tact. They are so versatile that they have no difficulty in getting on with the different dispositions with which they come into contact. Their most striking peculiarity is their adaptability to circumstances; they never feel the ups and downs of fortune like others; almost all classes of work are easy to them.
  
  
• They are generally inventive, particularly if they can thereby relieve themselves of labour. They are restless and do not remain long in any town or place. They are fond of new ideas; one moment they determine to write a drama, the next, perhaps, they invent a gas-stove or go into politics; but as they are always changing, and as unstable as water, so they rarely succeed.
  
  
• It must be remembered that when the palm belongs to a certain type these characteristics are much modified; as for instance, mixed fingers on the square, the spatulate, the philosophic, or the conic will often succeed where the pure development of the type would fail.
  
  
• When the entire hand is mixed, the subject is inclined to become the ‘Jack of all trades’, a class of unfortunates to which such people are commonly relegated in works on palmistry.