Cheiro (1866–1936)

MYSTERIES AND ROMANCES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

NEW FOREWORD

This is one of the most exciting and irritating books
I know.

Irritating because it rehashes old tales of Cagliostro,
Gilles de Laval, Dr. Dee, and other remarkable
characters, in a novelettish style with little regard for
scholarly fact. It is full of purple patches and conversations
without historical warrant. The text is studded with "piercing
shrieks," "trembling forms in white," "terror-stricken animals,"
"love that needs no vows or words," and all the
stock clichés of the romantic novelist. People say things
like "I know how thou wast tempted," and "We await
thee, O Spirits."

It is even more irritating that such liberties of style
and complete disregard for scholarship should be more
exciting than any thriller, for Cheiro knew how to tell a
good story!.

And his literary style only reflects an incredible life
style, for Cheiro was one of the most amazing seers of
all time, and his own story reads like a novelette.
He was confidant of kings, statesmen, and the famous
of all lands. His visitors' book reads like a Who's Who of
high society. He was consulted by King Edward VII,
King Leopold of Belgium, U. S. President Grover
Cleveland, Lord Randolph Churchill Cecil Rhodes, Lord
Kitchener, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar
Wilde, Mark Twain, W. T. Stead, Julia Ward Howe-the
list is endless. He discussed the future with Pope Leo
XIII;, Mata Hari, famous woman spy; and "Boss" Croker...… (meer)

I'm afraid this sort of material just doesn't sit well in a book. The difference between hand types is far too vague to be useful, and the sketches don't help to highlight the distinguishing features either. When it comes to markings on the hand, again I was unable to relate the quite complex diagrams with my own palm. The photographic examples of celebrities are out of date now - probably only Mark Twain's hand would be of interest these days. The reads like a gypsy story, intermingling technical discussion, proofs and anecdotal stories that appeal to Victorian dissidents, and often controversy which is no interest to readers a hundred years down the line.
Again, the subject belongs in an oral lineage, not a scholarly treatise, which this, in any case, is not.… (meer)