The Five Elemental Levels

In making assessments of all features of the hand, one must always bear in mind the implications each feature has at each of the five levels of interpretation. The five levels correspond to each of the five elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether and each symbolise and reflect five distinct, yet interpenetrative, aspects of human life. To interpret features of the hand at any one particular level of analysis is to consider the significance of those features in the context of one particular realm of human experience. A complete analysis of the hand therefore entails the interpretation of all features of the hand at all levels.

The five levels can be described briefly as follows:

Earth: The Physical World - relates to physical appearance and well-being and describes our patterns of health and disease. The Earth level also encompasses our domestic and family life and material security.

Water: The Emotional World - describes our ability to relate to others, our emotional patterns and experiences and the quality of our relationships with others.

Fire: The Creative World - relates to the direction and focus of our energy in the world at large and hence indicates our creative talents and skills and our vocational interests and inclinations.

Air: The Mental World - describes both our intellectual and communicative orientations and our patterns of character and temperament - the mind, considered both with regard to education and to personal psychology.

Ether: The Spiritual World - relates to the approach taken towards spiritual matters and the religious form which that takes.

The Five Levels form the basis of five distinct types of analysis that can be utilised within chirological analysis. Earth Level analysis of the hand is most significant in health analysis and diagnosis; the Water Level is used for emotional, sexual and relationship compatibility analysis; the Fire Level is used in vocational analysis whilst the Air level is used in psychological diagnosis and in analysis of educational propensities. Ether Level analysis is used for assessing spiritual awareness and orientation and for determining spiritual affiliations or allegiance. Any assessment of a person's hands which does not include all these five different levels cannot, therefore, be said to be complete.

Clearly, each of these analyses form a special focus of chirological study and each requires the development of specialised knowledge in order to become fully adept at each type of analysis. Inevitably, as Chirologists with our own elemental imbalances and/or an additional professional training in a specialised field, we will be drawn more readily and easily to one or two particular forms of analysis. But this should not prevent us from recognising the interreflection that all these levels have within our lives. Anything that has an effect at one level equally has significant ramifications at all the others. By engaging in a study of the multi-level manifestations of particular features of the hand, we can become increasingly aware of the interactions and interreflections that are present within human consciousness, and as a result, we come to appreciate the subtle complexities of human nature in a wholistic and integrative manner. The interpenetration of mind, body and spirit is such that any imbalance manifested at one level is indicative of imbalance at all other levels.

Whilst all the features of the hands can be analysed at each of the Five Levels, certain hand features have a greater relevance and significance in each of these different areas of life and should be given greater emphasis in the assessment of imbalances within the Five Levels. Obviously, if a full and detailed analysis of a hand at any one of the levels is undertaken, all the hands' features should be considered. However, for a more general consideration of the imbalances and their manifestations at each of the Five Levels, the following features of the hand can be considered as the most important significators of elemental imbalance. Whilst all hand features can be considered for any of the levels of analysis, those features listed here are of the greatest significance and import for each of the levels cited. Even if only these features are considered, a detailed assessment of their imbalances at that level will be readily arrived at.

Earth Level - Health Analysis
Handshape - Nailshapes - Dermatoglyphic Patterns
Finger malformations - Skin Factors
Major Lines at the Earth Level - Major Earth line - Minor Air line - Line Markings - Subsidiary Lines - Skin Ridge Dissociation - Nail Markings

Water Level - Emotional Analysis
Handshape - Skin Texture - Fingerprint Patterns
Water Finger - Air Finger - Major Lines at the Water Level - Major Water line - Upper & Lower Minor Water lines - Affection lines

Fire Level - Vocational Analysis
Handshape - Skin Texture - Fingerprint Patterns - Palmar Dermatoglyphics - Finger lengths - Fingertips - Thumb - Major Lines at Fire Level - Major Air line - Minor Earth line - Vocational indications from Minor and Subsidiary lines

Air Level - Psychological Evaluation & Educational Propensity
Handshape - Skin Texture - Fingerprint Patterns - Fingers - Phalanges - Major Lines at Air Level - Major Air line - Minor Air line - Upper Minor Water line - Palmar Dermatoglyphics

Ether Level - Spiritual Analysis
Handshape - Skin Texture - Fingerprint and Palmar Dermatoglyphic Patterns - Water and Earth Fingers - Thumb - Major Lines at Ether Level - Major Air line - Minor Fire line - Upper Minor Water line

Going through the hands considering these features at each of these levels will outline the dominant patterns of consciousness and the predominant types of experience to be had in each of these different areas of life. Such an analysis clearly shows the interpenetration of consciousness at all levels of our being and shows how imbalances in one area of our life will have repercussions in all the others. Five Levels analysis is of the utmost importance in the development of a truly holistic perception of both ourselves and others and, indeed, of life itself.

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