Major hand: right, b. 1879, d. 1955

This is the first time I’ve chosen to analyse hands of someone who is not a contemporary. Einstein is dead, but his hands still deserve studying for two reasons: (1) I have good quality prints of his hands, available online because they were put up on an auction some years back, and (2) he is one of the most significant scientists of the modern era.

There are a lot of myths about Einstein being left-handed, but it seems that the man wrote with his right hand, so for palmistry purposes, he was right-handed. Maybe he was ambidextrous? We would give his left hand some extra weightage, but anyway, his hands don’t differ by much.

Here are two very good prints of his palms that I have been able to find:

(Major hand of Albert Einstein, print dated 1930)

(Minor hand of Albert Einstein, print dated 1930)

The first thing to notice about his hands is that he’s got what is called fire hands. Short fingers and a palm that is longer than broad. What does a fire hand mean? A bit intense, a bit restless, very goal oriented, and dynamic rather than passive or philosophical. The fingers, too, are not knotty, eliminating the slow-brooding philosophers. The fingers are square rather than conical: a practical man. So this is a man who wants to reach his goals and also has the wherewithal to do it. This is not someone who has brilliant concepts but then lacks the acumen to bring them to fruition. That Einstein’s fingers are short could be surprising to many palmists, for long fingers denote sophisticated mental constructs, plus many erroneously think that long fingers mean greater intellectual capacity. But one of the greatest intellectuals of our time, Einstein, proves the myth wrong and also shows how sometimes to be a scientist means to be practical above all else.

Next, let’s notice the individual finger lengths. The length of the Saturn finger is the most remarkable: it is barely longer than the others. And the Mercury finger is quite well long. Well? The Mercury finger is again showing a very good, practical, shrewd mind, a businesslike mind, good skill with numbers. The Saturn finger’s mediocre length, a relatively unusual feature, is pointing to someone who does not like to be inside conventional boundaries, who can be inventive or rebellious. One already sees whorl patterns on his Jupiter and Sun fingertips in both of his hands, thus a man who is strongly individualistic, non-conformist and creative. The whorl on the thumb gives us even more of that, with a strong, stubborn will: he will have his way! Given we have said much about the practical disposition of Einstein, we should expect his middle phalanges to be goodly enough. And, yes, we do have quite thick middle phalanges on his Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury fingers on his major hand: a man who knows how to organise his image, his work and his communication. This is something he has cultivated in his life, as his minor hand does not show thick middle phalanges on any of the fingers except the Mercury one, indicating thus that when it came to a good organisation of his communication and wits, he was good at it from the very beginning.

One final look at the mounts before we proceed. It is his upper and middle Luna that are extraordinarily prominent. They are heavily marked, too, which is also showing that the intestine-abdomen area could be an issue in his life. On referring to Wikipedia, I find that he died because of a blood vessel disorder in his abdominal cavity. This is what I found on a ScienceDirect link about Einstein: “His health problems were primarily related to multiple complications of digestive system disorders; liver ailment, stomach ulcer, inflammation of gall bladder, jaundice and intestinal pains.”

Let us look at the lines and any other markings now in the palm proper.

This is a restless hand (fire hand), so one expects frequent travels, if there is opportunity, but even so one sees three clear markings on his life line of significant sojourns and settlements abroad: around his ages of 46, 51 and 53. On referring to the Wikipedia article on him, it seems he toured South America when he was 46, toured the U.S. when he was 51, and then soon after he turned 54, he had to leave Germany, and this last marking indicates a settlement till death in foreign country. Einstein did die in the U.S., his adopted country. What I find remarkable is that the timing holds so closely for Einstein. Also, that the South American tour does register on his hands means that it had quite an impact on him in some way mentally.

What else one sees on his hand? Well, one must certainly look at his head line. What a fine, nicely sloping head line, giving the man a more imaginative bent than some would expect, but overall with a good balance between reason and imagination. The head line anyway has a fork, one of the branches going up, so a dash of reason is added anyway to compensate for the extra imagination. Basically, a man who has a strong, foreseeing mind in both dimensions. There is also the (badly-called) Via Lascivia in his hand, indicating an intensity, a certain obsessiveness. The separation of his head and life lines from the very beginning show that he was always aware of himself and his needs and most probably was not shy as a child.

The heart line shows him to be an idealistic man but unsure about what he wants emotionally. This could lead to several love affairs. The many drooping little lines from it show that it is the head that interferes a bit, that prevents him from finding his heart well and truly, or, in other words, the heart is looking for mental companionship time and again. The fate line is exceedingly strong till around 40, and thereafter it’s not the same thing. This indicates that Einstein’s drive reduced once he was around 40: that is no surprise as by that age he had already become a celebrity, and much of later life was spent in touring, not just science. One can see a very active mount of Luna anyway. The fate line also shows some kind of a significant change, a break from the past, at the age of around 16 in his life; his life line, too, shows some kind harmful impact on his life around that time. On referring to Wikipedia, I see it was some family business affair that had necessitated Einstein to stay behind while the family moved. He also joined his family later, thereby shifting his vocation as well as country of residence, from Germany to Italy at this age. That this is registered on the hand means this had an impact on Einstein.

Finally, let us look at his Apollo line. Just like the fate line, it is very prominent till mid-age, then it is less so. But with the line of fame, it is the continuity and overall quality that are important, rather. The line continues throughout his life, giving him genuine fame. It is interesting that the line begins more from the Luna side, thus indicating that his fame also depended strongly on others’ good graces or favours. The Apollo line, most importantly, has a star on it: extraordinary, lasting fame.

Disclaimer: These are only my own interpretations from the corpus of photos or prints of hands of public figures available in public domain. These should neither be construed as any claim to truth nor any aspersions on any person’s character.