References
No palmist fords the stream of confusion alone; he relies on centuries of experience that have eventuated in the refinement and enhancement of a very discreet and esoteric science. The author has included below the references consulted for this opuscule, and encourages the reader to partake of them. One may find that at the end of many passages in this book are numbers in the peculiar format of (67). These are references anchored in this page. If you consult them, they will lead to this page and position on the reference from which the concept or quote was taken. The numbers within the parentheses themselves represent the page from which the citation was taken.

NB: Below the listing are several reviews of the books whose learning and presentation were lauded...and those books whose abysmal organization should be derided.

Cheiro's Language of the Hand

Cheiro, Greek for "Hand", represents one of the most popular and enduring names in Palmistry. His tomes are lengthy, but not prolix; detailed, yet terse; and highly enjoyable to read. The author recommends this book above all others as a foundation upon which to build one's talent in the science of Cheiromancy, for its concision, handsome illustrations, and intelligent structure reveal the basics of the discipline in an enjoyable and intuitive manner.

His work entitled Cheiro's Guide the Hand is very similar to the above work, and for all intents and purposes, should be considered a more condensed and abridged version of his larger opus.

Fortune-Telling by Palmistry

Rodney Davies explores cheiromancy from a symbolic perspective, in which the mounts, the fingers, and the lines are often interpreted from their traditional mythological and astrological origins. Of particular interest is the highly detailed introduction, in which he details the causalities and associations of archetypes, symbology, ancient history, and a smattering of numerology. It is of this author's opinion that the conclusions and associations Davies draws occasionally want in true causality; nevertheless, it is a scintillating attempt at the unification of concepts not touched upon in other works.

In addition, this being a recent work, Davies has had access to contemporary philosophies and inspirations that breathe fresh life into the older traditions of cheiromancy. If the reader seek a text that is both thorough and not steeped in time, Fortune-Telling by Palmistry is an excellent reference.

Palmistry: How to Chart the Lines of Your Destiny

The work of Roz Levine is weighed down with new age philosophies and a somewhat scatterbrained approach towards the science of Cheiromancy. Her book is egregiously disorganized, and to find one's way to a particular marking of the hand, it may be necessary to consult several sections of the book, for she does not organize her book by markings, but by grouping the lines and markings by their meaning. Thus, a chapter will be entitled "The Entrepreneur" and "The Artistic hand". In addition, her approach is inductive, in that she attempts to teach the reader the fundamentals of Cheiromancy by providing examples first whilst obscuring from the reader the fundamental principles underlying the deductions made. This authors such as Cheiro and Davies would find abhorrent, as theirs is a deductive approach in which understanding is achieved through the tutelage of the axioms of Cheiromancy. Any student versed in maths should understand the differences between inductive and deductive, and realize that the former is indeed a poor choice for a system where there are but few fundamental rules, but an infinitude of possible combinations!

A final mark against her is perhaps a minor point, but this author believes it to be insidiously indicative of recklessness on a much larger scale. In one example, she describes a woman who is almost completely blind, and further elucidates this point by claiming that it is shown on her palm by the large image of an eye that is etched upon it! If God were to have left clues so blatantly deposited in the hands of man, there would be no science to it! "Deus et natura nihil efficiunt frustra" indeed, but to provide an illustrated biography of one's life on one's hands is a silly notion that should immediately be quelled.