Children
…So
oft to bear,
Thro
early hours, thro'later years,
The
story of a mother's tears
Or
of a father's drunken care.
Ah
me! How hard
To
bear that load, that heavy cross,
To
stagger on, and, stumbling, find
All
life but death, all death but loss,
With
eyes alone to virtue blind!
CHEIRO.
To
tell accurately the number of children one has had, or is
likely to have, seems a very wonderful thing to do, but
it is not one bit more wonderful than the details given
by the main lines. To do this, however, requires more careful
study than is usually given to the pursuit of cheiromancy.
In
the first place, a thorough knowledge of all portions of
the hand that can touch on this must be acquired. For instance,
a person with a very poor development of the Mount of Venus
is not so likely at any time to have children as the person
with the mount full and large.
The
lines relating to children are the fine upright lines from
the end of the line of marriage. Sometimes these are so
fine that it requires a microscope to make them out clearly,
but in such a case it will be found that all the lines of
the hand are also faint. By the position of these lines,
by the portion of the mount they touch, by their appearance,
and so on, one can accurately make out whether such children
will play an important part in the life of the subject or
otherwise; if they will be delicate or strong, if they will
be male or female.
The
leading points with regard to these lines are as follows:
Broad lines denote males; fine, narrow lines, females. When
they are clearly marked they denote strong, healthy children;
when very faint, if they are wavy lines, they are the reverse.
When
the first part of the line is a little island, the child
will be very delicate in its early life, but if the line
is well marked farther, it will eventually have good health.
When
one line is longer and superior to the rest, one child will
be more important to the parent than all the others.
The
numbers run from the outside of the marriage-line in toward
the hand.
On
a man's hand they are often just as clear as on a woman's
but in such case the man will be exceptionally fond of children
and will have an extremely affectionate nature; as a rule,
however, the women's hand shows the marks in a superior
way.
