Lifeprints: Deciphering Your Life Purpose from Your Fingerprints

Much has been written about finding and living a life on purpose, and the last few years have seen the published literature on this topic grow. If you have been searching for your true and unique purpose in life, throw out those other books. Lifeprints is the only one you will need.

Author Richard Unger, founder of the International Institute of Hand Analysis, has devised a revolutionary and reliable method for identification of your true life purpose. Using his method, the answer to the question, “Why am I here?” is right at the tips of your fingers. Literally.

Your fingerprint patterns, unalterable and unchanging since 5 months prior to your birth, are coded in your DNA. Recent scientific research into our genetic makeup has revealed that many personality traits are also hardwired in your DNA. Unger’s Lifeprints method for using the fingerprint patterns to determine which of those traits are driving your search for meaning could not be simpler or more elegant.

Based on more than 25 years of research, Unger lays out his method in terms that are clear and easy to grasp. As simple as identifying which of the four basic fingerprint types you have, how many of each you have, and which fingers they appear on, Unger guides you step-by-step to determination of your unique life purpose. (See my post on “Student ID” for a sneak peak at one part of the equation.)

Unger affirms his technique with examples and stories of real people he has advised using his Lifeprints technique, and he does it with a wise and gentle humor that will ring true with anyone who has traveled the road towards self-awareness.

In addition to the how-to steps, Unger presents an “archetypal language” for understanding what it takes to get on track with your unique life purpose. Not just general advice, Unger offers specific skill requirements, checklists and formulas for the most common life purpose scenarios. He illustrates what it looks like to be living in mastery of your purpose as well how to know if you are still “in training.” In chapter five, Unger guides you in creating your own Life-Fulfillment Formula and provides exercises to help you deepen your understanding. As an added bonus, he includes case studies using the fingerprints of famous figures.

I studied the Lifeprints technique with Richard Unger over 15 years ago and have successfully used it to help hundreds of people in the quest for a meaningful life. With the publication of Lifeprints, Richard’s wit and wisdom is now available for all to experience.

If you’ve ever yearned for an “owner’s manual” for how to get the most out of life, run, don’t walk, to your local bookstore (or click here) to get your copy. Lifeprints is a blueprint for life.

Technorati Tags: Life Purpose, fingerprints, hand analysis, palmistry, Lifeprints, Richard Unger

On the average hand, the ring and index fingers are fairly equal in length, with the tops of each reaching to about the halfway point of the upper phalange of the middle finger.

Prior studies on finger length had linked a longer than average ring finger to higher levels of prenatal testosterone exposure. This most recent study examined the difference between the length of the ring and index fingers, revealing that children whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers consistently scored higher on the math section of the SAT than the on the language skills section. Those children with index fingers that exceeded the length of the ring fingers had higher scores on the literacy skills section of the test.

It was also found that the greater the disparity in length between the ring and index fingers, the greater the difference in scores for the math and literacy sections of the SAT.

My own experience seems to confirm the results of this research. While I did reasonably well on my math SAT, my score for the language skills section was far and away the better of the two. As you can see from this print of my left hand, my index finger is much longer than my ring finger. Based on my SAT scores, I was able to skip the basic English composition course in my first year of college.

If you have a marked difference between your ring and index fingers and you remember how you fared on your SATs, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you, whether your own experience supports these findings or contradicts them.

Technorati Tags: SAT scores, finger length, palmistry, hand analysis

Yes, there is Nirvanah; it is leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem.
~Khalil Gibran

May you all find true contentment this holiday season.

As I was leaving the event, I was approached by another attendee who, in the course of conversation, referred to me as a “lightworker.” It took me aback, as that is not a term I would ever use to describe myself. As a Scorpio with 4 other celestial bodies inhabiting that sign, I feel like I have a much more intimate relationship with the dark. This is confirmed by the Persephone style head line found on my hands, the mark of one who travels regularly to the depths to mine information.

Many of the people I meet in the spiritual community focus strongly on working with “light” and ignore or impugn its counterpart. We live in a dualistic world. Without knowledge and understanding of the dark, we cannot even begin to know the light.

Being a longtime student of the Kabbalah (one is always a student when it comes to the great mysteries), I find it essential to look at the dualities and try to come to some understanding of the balance between them. The Tree of Life is a wonderful diagram for working with the balance of the opposites. The Tree contains everything that exists in the universe and is in perfect harmony. If one pillar or one sphere were to be overly emphasized, or removed all together, the Tree would fall over.

Let’s look at an example. The orange sphere, Hod, represents language, linear thought, and rational analysis. The opposite sphere, Netzach, which is green on the diagram, represents passion, lust and the instinctual forces of nature. What could be less rational? Astrologically they are represented by Mercury (Hod) and Venus (Netzach).

Without its feeling counterpart, the intellect of Hod is just a thinking machine: cold, calculating and calloused. It becomes unable to hear the voice within because it is beyond logic. On the other hand, the emotions of Netzach are not meant to be discriminating. Without the balance of the mind, there is chaos and sentimentality, and the potential to fall prey to abuse or superstition.

Thinking Kabbalistically, I find it difficult to celebrate the return of the light at Winter Solstice without an equal honoring of the gifts found in the darkness. What better time than that of the longest night of the year to be thankful for those gifts.

To describe these gifts, I will share with you parts of a meditation that I wrote for the Winter Solstice of 1999. When the ritual began there were seven candles lit, one for each of the four directions, one each for the masculine and feminine aspects of divinity, and one to represent the light of pure spirit, the center of all things. As I named each of the gifts of darkness, I extinguished one of the candles, until all participants were enveloped in complete darkness. After a short period of silence in order to give thanks for those gifts, I relit the candles to symbolize the return of the light.

Here is that part of my guided meditation with added commentary:

Only in darkness can the seed sprout and begin its journey toward becoming. Your seed is safe in the darkness of the soil. Even now it is taking root.

The dark time is the time of hibernation for trees, plants and even some animals. Think of the bulbs that come up every spring. Without that period of winter sleep, they would not return to bring beauty to the world. Even the bulbs that we force to bloom indoors have to spend some time in a dark, cool closet in order to brighten our living rooms.

Ideas are much the same. They need time to incubate before they can take root.

It is in the darkness of sleep that we are visited by dreams. Trust in the power of your dreams.

The dreams that visit us in the dead of night are much different than those we create in the light of day. When we sleep, our unconscious minds can access symbols and pictures that we would never choose when conscious. Mind you, darkness is not entirely necessary for sleep, but it makes it so much easier.

In the darkness of the earth we find silence. Only in silence can we hear the wisdom that has always been and will always be. Listen to the darkness and heed its counsel.

With several storms having passed through the Pacific Northwest these past weeks, we lost power on two separate occasions. When the lights went out, so did the hum of the electricity. Until it’s gone, one doesn’t notice how loud it is. Despite being a little bit cold, I was in heaven. The silence was glorious. Without the electromagnetic interference, I could hear the real and natural sounds of life all around. I could hear myself communing with the heavens. I highly recommend that level of quiet.

In darkness we find rest. In rest there is healing. In healing there is the promise of wholeness.

It’s no secret that the body regenerates itself during sleep. It has been reported that bright lights and loud music have been utilized as torture methods to induce sleep deprivation. To me, darkness and silence go hand in hand. True, deep, healing sleep requires both.

Only by knowing darkness can we recognize the light. Without darkness there can be no illumination, no inspiration.

It is when we are most confused or stuck that the illumination of the AHA! moment, the lightbulb over the head, brings joy. Without the stagnation, we might not even recognize the flash of genius for what it is.

In darkness time moves in its own natural rhythm. Tomorrows blend with yesterdays, a universal present moment does not exist. Let go of the ticking of the manmade clock. Let the natural movements of time hold you in balance.

Before the invention of the lightbulb, before the synchronization of the railroads (which brought about the creation of time zones), before our modern lifestyle, man lived according to solar time. In particular, as the days grew shorter between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice, it was common to sleep more, to preserve energy as well as food stores, and to rest up in preparation for the hard work required for spring planting later in the year. Now, instead of tuning in to the natural rhythms of the earth, we speed up, shop til we drop and generally stress ourselves out, forgetting that the original reason for the late December celebration was to welcome the return of the Sun/Son, and to feast in honor of good friends and good health.

We must look for ourselves in the darkness of the Great Mother’s cloak. Without the darkness of the womb there is no creation, no birth, no life.

All life begins in that place of darkness. Like the incubating seed I described at the beginning of the meditation, each of us began our journeys in a safe, warm and dark place where we are nourished and nurtured. Like children, our creative ideas also begin in a dark place, the place of imagination. Stillness is required for the creative spark to be ignited. Whatever we are birthing, the place of darkness is the place where it begins.

And now it is time to bid farewell to the longest night, to the Midnight of the year. Remember, contrary to popular belief in our bottom-line society, time spent in stillness is actually quite productive. Before you greet the return of the lifegiving light of the sun, I hope you’ll take a moment to honor the dark for all it provides.

Happy Solstice!

Technorati Tags: Solstice, Galactic Center, Scorpio, dark, light, Kabbalah, Tree of Life, ritual, duality

Live Science reports:

A new analysis of the Antikythera Mechanism [image], a clock-like machine consisting of more than 30 precise, hand-cut bronze gears, show it to be more advanced than previously thought—so much so that nothing comparable was built for another thousand years.

“This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind,” said study leader Mike Edmunds of Cardiff University in the UK. “The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right…In terms of historical and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.”

According to the report, the front dials had pointers to the sun and the moon, and the back dials were used to predict solar and lunar eclipses. The device is reported to have been capable of replicating the irregular motions of the moon as it orbited the earth. It has been speculated that the Mechanism may have also been used to track astrologically auspicious occasions.

The article has some great photos along with other insights into the project. Wikipedia has some additional information, though I daresay it will have to be updated after the researchers on this project present and publish their findings this week.

So much knowledge forgotten, so much potential still to be uncovered. It makes me wonder what else the ancients knew.

Technorati Tags: ancient Greeks, Antikythera Mechanism, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse

I still feel that way, but, let’s face it, in our rush, rush, ever-connected world, it’s a rare day when one isn’t sitting in traffic, or working late, or trying to catch up on email, or just plain taking care of life. Earlier today I was trying to schedule a get-together with one of my best friends. Both our calendars are so full, I’ll be happy if I can see her before the New Year.

So I’m grateful for this holiday. I’m grateful for every moment I get to spend with the people I care about.

Whether or not you observe the Thanksgiving holiday this 4th Thursday in November, I’d like to share some words of wisdom, not just for one day of the year, but for all days.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John F. Kennedy

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving Day, gratitude

Every human being is on a journey to discover the meaning of life. You cannot avoid this journey. It is the price and the gift of self-awareness.

He points out that both joy and pain are essential experiences on the road to enlightenment. The pastor goes on to speak of our place in the bigger, galactic picture:

I think the journey of enlightenment is a gift offered to creatures that are aware of their own existence. And this gift is not given very often in the universe.

I have enjoyed all of Pastor Atkinson’s honest and deeply human writings on life and living, and I highly recommend his blog. If you have ever contemplated, even for a moment, the nature of existence, or wondered if you are the only person who feels a certain way, then please visit his site and read his essay(s).

Technorati Tags: meaning of life, enlightenment

Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable. But there it sits nevertheless, calmly licking its chops.
~H. L. Mencken

You can listen to my podcast at Tarot Connection Episode 18.

Please visit her other sites at:

Tarot of Color
Tarot Journey
Portland Tarot

Technorati Tags: Kabbalah, Tree of Life, Tarot, Tikkun, Podcast