Hand Analysis example (snakes and ladders)

Hands have a unique way of expressing themselves and your hands have been really creative in their attempt to communicate to you.

Which is incredible because creative communication is your life purpose! We’ll talk about that later but just look what you hands have done.

Look over here under Saturn, the god of time, detail, mundane matters and responsibility.
Your hands have drawn a precise picture of your particular carousel and, even better, they’ve shown you the way out. The way out has to do with how you use your heart. See this long steep curvy line? That’s your heartline type.

See this little ladder over here, running right over your heartline? Do you have any idea of what this wonderfully creative picture is trying to show you?

This means you’re busy playing a Snakes and Ladders game called ‘contracts with loved ones’ Look. Here’s the ladder. And here’s the snake. Ooops! That also happens to be your heartline! The good news is your heartline shape doesn’t only serve as the snake tripping you up. It can also serves as a handrail. And just look at it! Its a fantastic swoopy, dramatic Mediteranean balastrade, isn’t it? This is the type of hand rail that can help you up the ladder. And, when it’s doing this job, which is what it’s designed for, it can’t serve as the snake at the same time.

So, how does the game work? It’s your job to climb the ladder (through integrity) to get to your life purpose and not slip down a snake to ground zero. (Zero self worth).

Let me explain. This is a game designed to teach its owner that it’s often the small, seemingly irrelevant stuff that can trip you up in a big way. And, as the name suggests (and its position there, zap, right on your heartline) it shows up most in your personal life in the form of broken promises, or unclear contracts with loved ones. Often we don’t notice what’s really going on because the issues seem so irrelevant. So, it’s your job to get clear and start paying attention when things don’t work out for whatever reason. You need to look back and see what small stone it was that tripped you up and put you face to face with a nasty snake.

How did you find yourself down here again? And how does it feel to be down there at ground zero where you’ve got to really dig for self worth ?

Etc etc…

Snakes and ladders (more detailed, theoretical version of above)

Imagine you're sitting up on a cloud sometime before your current lifetime. You look down at all the little dramas and big dramas playing out on planet Earth and you think:  I don't know what I got so worked up about last time. It's just a funfair really.  Look at all those crazy achterbahns down there. And look at all those people going on the same rides over and over. They seem hell-bent on terrifying themselves in order to achieve mastery. I'd really like to try that one over there with the giant snake-shaped chute. That one really looks like fun.

And then you read in your little pocket booklet that this is a Saturn slide called Snakes and Ladders. And there's a picture of a person half swallowed by a giant cobra. What you don't see is a tiny faded sign at the bottom of it that only people who read the small print would notice. It's a warning sign and it says: DANGER! For advanced soul's only. Get swallowed alive at your own risk.

Just as you're about to climb the ladder, your guardian angel nudges you in the ribs to make sure you've seen the sign and you say, ‘Aw come on. Stop being so boring. I've got you with me again haven't I? You've held my hand for the last 2000 rides. You'll make sure I get through to the other side, you always do.'

Then your guardian angel says, ‘Well actually there are quite a few versions of this whirly gig, all of them designed by Saturn. Maybe you should read up a bit about the architect before you get on one of these contraptions. Then I'll take you on a quick tour to show you the different versions and how they work.'

So, what has this story got to do with your hands? Take a look at this marker over here. It's a little mini picture of the achterbahn you chose to master in this life time. It's one of Saturn's invention's called Snakes and Ladders. See that little ladder there under the Saturn finger. It's as if Saturn took a red hot branding iron and sizzled this mark onto your heartline saying, ‘There! That's to remind you, you're one of MY students now.' (Saturn also has way of branding people who've graduated from his slippery rides in previous life times. One of these markers is a long line running uninterrupted right through the hand under the Saturn finger, indicating his influence. This is Saturn's cum laude certificate and it indicates that he trusts the owner implicitly with making sure their trains always run on time.)

So who is this guy Saturn who you've obviously chosen as one of your teachers? You've chosen to master one of his achterbahns so it might be worthwhile to consider how he operates.  He's an old grumpy god and he can get rather mean and nasty if you don't listen to him. He is the god of time and he's a hard taskmaster. The slower you are to catch on the harder he makes the tasks, and he can get really brutal if you don't pay attention. Saturn's favourite colour is black and his favourite word is ‘no'. He's hooked on responsibility and mundane detail. He loves contracts, specially the small print.

Now that I've scared the hell out of you, you might be asking, ‘Why would anyone in their right mind willingly choose to ride on, let alone attempt to master his nasty achterbahns?' It's quite simple. He's a thorough teacher and a wizard of illusion. Once you've mastered his roundabouts everything else feels like child play. His Snakes and Ladders roundabouts , which is what you've selected to ride on, are all about contracts. Specifically, contracts with loved ones. That's why it's branded on your heartline; to remind you that living your heartline type is the key to mastering this acterbahn.

So let's look at which version of Snakes and Ladders achterbahn you chose to master. Just look at your heartline. You chose the merry-go-round with the steepest, most exhilarating slide! There it is swooping down from your Saturn finger to remind you of what ride you are on and how you have to behave to avoid the snakes from swallowing you whole.

We'll come back to your slide type later and how recognition of your slide type can help you become a master. First, let's just look a bit more at how the various Snakes and Ladders roundabouts work, specifically the one you chose. We do that by looking at your fingerprints.

Well just look at this! (Life lesson left Saturn). Looks like you didn't just chose Saturn as one of your teachers, you chose him as your master teacher for this lifetime. You're a very brave fun-loving, spontaneous soul who maybe doesn't always think too much about future consequences,

Let's look a bit closer at how your particular achtebahn is constructed. As your hand shows it's all to do with ladders so we need to identify which ones in particular you should climb up if you want to reach your highest self actualisation point. The main type of ladder you've chosen to master is called integrity and the snake that lingers around this ladder waiting for you to falter is called guilt.  The points you earn as you climb the ladder of integrity are measured directly in self worth.  This is a useful key.

You can track your progress in the game by measuring your self worth. Are you somewhere right up at the top which means you have the capacity to unlock your life purpose, or are you back down to ground zero, with a Saturn snake tightening it's grip around your neck? As you know from the usual Snakes and Ladders game, your status can change rapidly. It's just a matter of paying attention, which is in fact Saturn's main lesson.

The trick is to figure out how. Where are the ladders and where are the snakes? It's also useful to know that, with regard to contracts with loved ones, there are 3 different ways contracts get violated. Each violation, no matter how minor, causes a cobra to raise its head in warning, before sending you plummeting down the slippery slope of diminished self worth.

One of these contract issues has to do with you not keeping promises, often in really petty, seemingly unimportant ways. Like not immediately posting a letter you promised to post. You might think it's not that important but the other person disagrees. There was a reason why it had to go off on that particular day. There could be consequences, big or small, and this could send you down the slippery gullet of a guilt snake, big or small, with immediate consequences reflected in the currency of your game which, as we've mentioned before, is self worth.

Another type of violation may initially look like it's not your fault. This has to do with people close to you not keeping their contracts with you. This is a crucial deception to know about. A trick that Saturn builds into nearly all his roundabouts: It's all done with mirrors! You can't change anyone but yourself. So the question becomes, in what way are you allowing others not to keep their contracts with you?

Let's take a mundane example like cooking and doing the dishes. Say, you have an agreement with your partner that when one of you cooks, the other person washes up. And each day you cook a splendid meal your partner has a seemingly valid reason for not cleaning up. And if you continue to hold your side of the contract, whether you raise your voice or don't raise your voice, how does this attract the attention of the guilt snake, big or small, which sends your self worth plummeting?  What is required is the taking ownership. Who's actually responsible for stirring the guilt cobra and sending it slithering in your direction? Who's the only one in this hall of mirrors who can stop the snake from raising its head and sending you plummeting in self worth currency?

 The third way to slide down the snake is a kind of default route. It's not really to do with guilt but it has the same effect. So maybe think of it as sliding down the outside of the snake rather than inside its slippery gullet. This has to do with the validity of the personality. If you're not being yourself you're on shaky ground. You fall off the ladder and slip on a snake. In a sense this has to do with not keeping an essential contract with yourself. We'll discuss this in detail later and how this is a key to the whole game.

Another way to think of the left Saturn finger, where all your lessons happen to be is as the finger of contempt. The one people use to signal ‘Up yours!' Look at your hand when you're doing this. Doesn't it look a bit like a cobra raising its head, just before it strikes? This sign is one of your warning signals. When you see this finger raised towards you, or you feel guilt in any way, or you do an energy audit and you find you've slid down to ground zero regarding self worth points, it's time to stop and examine your contracts with loved ones. Is it just that they are not clear? Who's giving who the finger? Are you not keeping your contracts big or small? Are others not keeping their contracts with you? And, if this is the case, where is the hidden mirror? Is the snake really in front of me or behind me? A person can only continue to break their contract with you if you continue allowing them to.

If it's you that's not keeping small promises, stop and think why. Often we try to move ourselves forward in self worth currency by promising more than we can manage. This can turn into a rather deadly habit. It's a form of not paying attention to your own needs. Think of it as running through long grass in poisonous snake territory. You might boost your self worth temporarily by gaining hero points but sooner or later you're going to meet a snake that will send you back several levels if you don't spot it in time. A snake usually appears in front of us with a warning before striking. Slow down. Learn to say no, don't promise to go anywhere that isn't in your interests. To win this game one needs to practice extreme self care.

Let's look at your unique version of this game more closely. Your fingerprints indicate that you are a woman with a message.  When you were up there sitting on a cloud, checking out the various funfairs, you chose some form of public impact or creative communication with a message as your highest self actualisation point. This could play out in various ways. But it also adds a flavour to your acterbahn to do with communication. It adds another snake into your landscape for you to watch out for. This is a snake that sends your self worth plummeting when you don't speak up for yourself and your needs. Let's call it the paralysed tongue snake. It's more vigilant when your self worth is low so, as you can imagine, there are a lot more of these fellows hanging around at the bottom of the board. Still you could stumble across them anywhere for a number of reasons. Because you also have an Apollo purpose you might have a few apathy snakes lurking around, but we won't have time to discuss them in this reading,

With all snakes, particularly the paralysed tongue snake your particular heartline comes in handy, because it's the key to stepping up and over these snakes. So let's look at your swoopy heartline again and think of it as a kind of balustrade or hand rail that helps you up the various ladders enormously.

Everything about your heartline has a positive and a negative expression possibility. So, when you're using your heart type positively it becomes a hand rail, moving you up in the direction of self actualisation and, when you're using it negatively, it puts you at risk of sliding down  the back of some snake by encouraging more of them into your immediate proximity.

Your heartline belongs to the passionate hot blooded Sicilian type. Perhaps you don't live this type thoroughly but it's an absolute requirement that you do. Let's explore the characteristics of this type and how each characteristic could be expressed both positively and negatively.

One characteristic is the capacity to live in the moment and not focus too much on the past or on future consequences. If expressed positively, this makes you spontaneous and exciting to be with. On the negative side, it could make you impulsive, which is one sure way to step on a snake. ....

Etc etc
Resouces:

 From http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Moksha-Patamu.htm

Moksha-Patamu (Snakes and Ladders) by James Masters

This ancient race game, like Pachisi, originated in India although the author isn't sure when.  It is a game of morality with the bases of the ladders being located on squares representing various types of good and the more numerous snakes coming from squares representing various forms of evil.  The squares of virtue on the original game are Faith (12), Reliability (51), Generosity (57), Knowledge (76), Asceticism (78); the squares of evil are Disobedience (41), Vanity (44), Vulgarity (49), Theft (52), Lying (58), Drunkenness (62), Debt (69), Rage (84), Greed (92), Pride (95), Murder (73) and Lust (99).  The game is Hindu and was used to teach children about the religion in that the good squares allow a player to ascend higher in the league of life whereas evil will reduce a player back through reincarnation to lower tiers of life.   Presumably the last square, 100, represents Nirvana.

The game still exists in the West (and in India?) but in the West the moral overtones have disappeared and many versions are a lot easier because the ladders outnumber the snakes.

2. Ladder of life  By RANEE KUMAR http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004030600170300.htm&date=2004/03/06/&prd=yw&

Long before Snakes and Ladders was invented, India had a similar board game called Vaikuntapaali or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation). The game has an unwritten message - that life is full of ups (ladders) and downs (snakes), pleasure and pain. And that every human being has to go through success and failure, youth and old age and finally die only to be born again.

In this game every time a snake swallows a player he reaches the tail, which is death. He replays and goes up a ladder - this is life again. The play also has a moral - life is temporary just like happiness and sorrow. It passes away, therefore concentrate on the permanent - that is on God who lives in your own soul. The game board has132 squares arranged in a serial order from the bottom on your left. There are different pictures on each block. They denote a living creature - animals, birds and men and they stand as a symbol. For example, the picture of a rishi (hermit) in block No 30 stands for nishta (concentration). Some squares have human qualities like Ego (Square No. 75), infatuation (Moham No. 97). Once the victor reaches the 132nd square (the last), the right number has to fall to "reach God." Until he does so, he would be limping from one dwarapalak to another. Once he gets the right number to reach the Virat swaroopa, he wins the game!

© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

3. Leela: The Game of Self-Knowledge by Harish Johari

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892814195/002-3761859-5180001