Showing posts with label palmistry. Show all posts

The Divination Handbook - A Review

Today I'm reviewing The Divination Handbook - The Modern Seer's Guide to Using Tarot, Crystals, Palmistry, and More.

Photography - Renee Sosanna Olson
Image Source - The Divination Handbook



Author Links - Link
Amazon Book Link
Amazon Author Link
Good Reads Book Link
Good Reads Author Link
My Good Reads Profile
My Facebook Page
Release Date: Jan 22, 2019

Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am an atheist witch.  I look for the connection between magic and science without the need for a deity. I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 15 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts nearly 400,000 views.

As with my other reviews, I'll be starting with a review of the physical book.  This book is a great size. I love that I can toss this is a purse or a backpack to read on the go. The introduction and index in this book are pretty much very little to nothing. While I understand it is a high level overview of the various divination methods, the key to any good resource book is being able to find information quickly.  I would love to see a bit larger index in this type of book.  The pages are smooth and aligned properly.  The cover is a hard cover book that is soft to the touch without branching over into that suede feeling. The images and illustrations in the book are very deliberate and appear only when to give a specific visual reference to a particular divination method.  An example would be in the section on crystals and the tarot.

Photography - Renee Sosanna Olson
Image Source - The Divination Handbook
Photography - Renee Sosanna Olson
Image Source - The Divination Handbook
 

I would have liked to see a more balanced representation on each divination method.  For example crystals (the first chapter) has a good twelve pages dedicated to defining crystals and their uses, yet the section on working with a pendulum is only five pages.  I would have liked to see a bit more on the history of the technique and maybe a bit more on the images.  Pendulums vary greatly and I their use is more common than one might think.

While not my method of choice, the section on the Tarot is extensive. The author gives us a brief overview of the tarot, an explanation of the structure of the desk and then breaks down each card in both the major and minor arcana.  The images are small and I would have liked to seem them a bit larger but they are completely adequate for learning the techniques provided in the text.  The author includes several basic spreads to get the learner ready for their journey into the tarot.

Photography - Renee Sosanna Olson
Image Source - The Divination Handbook
Photography - Renee Sosanna Olson
Image Source - The Divination Handbook
Overall this is a great introductory book on various divination methods. If you're unsure of where to start, this book gives a great deal of information on a wide variety of techniques allow the reader to make an informed decision on which path to walk. While not for the learned student, I could see this book being a great introduction or new witch's guide to divination.


Celebrating Samhain - A Giveaway

One of the most exciting times of the year for me is Samhain. I love the crisp air and the falling leaves. I love finding time to connect with the Ancestors.  Over the years I have compiled quite a list of Samhain posts.  Here's a link to all of my blog posts related to Samhain.

This year I decided to cut back and bit and take a moment to invite one of my readers to benefit from my bookshelf. Over the next week, I'll be accepting entries to win the books listed below.  These books are ones that I have reviewed and will ship to the winner at no charge.

Entries begin at blog publication, which is 10/19/18 at 12:00 AM
Entries close on 10/25/18 at 12:00 AM

There are several opportunities to qualify for extra entries, including sharing, commenting on the blog and a bonus entry to get more points by tweeting about the giveaway each day.

I will draw a name on 10/26/18 and contact the winner via the email they provided at registration. They will have 24 hours to contact me.  If they do not contact me, I will redraw a new winner and notify them.


This giveaway includes the following books.

In Focus Crystals
In Focus Astrology
In Focus Palmistry
In Focus Meditation
The Ultimate Guide to Chakras
Moon Magic
The Ultimate Guide to Divination

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson



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Free shipping to lower 48 only, US Only, Void where prohibited. Facebook, Rafflecopter, Twitter and Blogger are in no way affiliated with this offer.

Please note this are advanced copies of these books in some cases provided by the media publishing company for reviews.

In Focus - Palmistry - Your Personal Guide - A Review

I'm reviewing a few books from the "In Focus" series from Wellfleet Press.  The first is called In Focus Palmistry - Your Personal Guide by Roberta Vernon.



WellFleet Facebook Page
Book - Publisher Page
Author -  Good Reads - Page
Book - Good Reads  - Page
My - Good Reads - Page
Release Date - July 31, 2018


Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am an atheist witch.  I look for the connection between magic and science without the need for a deity. I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 12 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts nearly 400,000 views.

This is the fourth book in this series I have reviewed.  Up to this point I have been pleasantly surprised with the content and the direction of each of the books.  I was most excited about getting into this one. I know little to nothing about palmistry and was really excited about learning more.  As I sat down and started getting into the book I felt that it was pretty boring.  First the images that are in the book are line drawings and really don't give you the full look at what a palm looks like.  Now I know I could just open my hand right?  Well no, not really.  The imagery was vague and I wasn't sure really about any of it.  Don't get me wrong at all. The book completely views the Mound of Venus, your life line and love line, just like we see in the movies but I just didn't connect it together.

On page 45 for example the author goes into fingertips.  Square, rounded and pointed. Most of my fingers appears to be rounded at the tips.  The description says, "gets along well with people and can be quite amusing".  I do try to use laughter when I'm uncomfortable and that is the most of the time when I'm around people.  Next it says, generous, kind, a little lazy or maybe just laid back.  I'm probably one of the most up tight people you'll ever meet.  I like rules, I like fairness and I like structure.  While I want to be laid back and chill, most of the time I'm simply a bundle of nerves.  Finally is said, most people with rounded fingers are very musical and will play an instrument for a career.  Hrm... Only if that instrument is an HP.   And don't even get me started on the whorls, arches and composite patterns. Perhaps I needed to read this when my eyes were better, because I can't see crap on my finger tips.  (lol)

Even though early in the book I found myself pretty much disagreeing with the author, I went ahead and read through the remaining pages.  The back of the book has a pocked with a 18X24 inch wall poster of the Palmistry imagery for quick reference.  Physically the book is made well, great hard cover and vibrant cover imagery. Just as the other books in this series, I could recommend that it come with a dust jacket to help spruce it up a bit.  

Overall, this book was difficult to read and challenging to follow along unlike the other books in this series. Now keep in mind, I have some back ground knowledge of the other subjects and it could be that I just don't know enough about Palmistry to benefit from this book.   The section on fingernails (pages 146-149) I did find very helpful as it relates to identifying health related issues based on the color of the fingernail as well as the 1/2 moon shape (Lunulae) at the base of the nail bed.  Only my thumbs show any hint of a 1/2 moon and I have not head heart trouble or a stroke.  I did do some more digging on the web and found that a small or missing lunulae could indicate anemia, malnutrition and depression.  All of which I have so, there's that.

My final thoughts on the book are, I would like to read it again to see if I can glean more knowledge from it, as I don't feel as thought I benefited much from the initial read.  I would love to hear what learned Palmist think about it. If you have read this book and would like to do a guest review blog post, message me and we'll set that up.