...and the search for the other half
(Hypothenar Whorls as Unstable Fields)

The focus of our attention in this instance is the very distinctive dermal configuration which sometimes appears on the hypothenar eminence (or, as some would have it, the Mount of Moon). It appears as concentric circles (more accurately, ovals). Often, as shown here, they extend directly from the lower transverse line (also referred to as the Proximal Line, or, alternatively, the Line of Head). Hands should be examined very carefully for this feature, and the use of a magnifying glass may often be required. While this feature is probably an expression of genetic configurations and is important in itself, this article would also seek to account for this construction when it interacts with very specific childhood experiences.

It is also true, however, that this would be a uniqueness which very often extracts a painful price. In its extreme expression it may lead to the undermining of the very integrity of the individual's identity, and prevent the gravitation of the individual, as an adult, to a cohesive and integrated sense of self. Having said this I would repeat that this would still not define a pathological condition. The inefficiency which may mark a person's communication with himself, or herself, and with others in this regard, may never be described as more than 'neurotic'.

Concentric circles do not bespeak something inherently wrong with the individual. The damage is invariably the result of a certain lack of symmetry between this person's references to himself, or herself, and those of the people and institutions which would normally occupy stations central to this person's life. Quite apart from parents and perhaps siblings in this regard, enormous damage is invariably effected by schoolteachers in particular, and the educational system in general, which often demonstrate little tolerance for ambitions and values which may not have originated with them or otherwise have merited their approval.

From this individual's very earliest years he, or she, may identify with objects and interests and manifest attitudes which often would not be duplicated in the ideas, values, interests and attitudes of others. The young person may find himself, or herself, totally fascinated and totally carried away by horses, or dogs, or bees, or beetles, or birds, or airplanes, or spiders, or reptiles, or motors, or butterflies, or matchboxes, or railway engines, or dolls, or dances, or drums. It could be any of these. It could be anything else. The point is that this young person, for whatever reason, has been inclined to invest enormous emotional significance in whatever has become 'grafted' so powerfully upon his, or her, attentions.

This emotional investment becomes so integrated into the weave of this young person's evolving sense of self that the object becomes, virtually, an organic extension this sense of self. If it is forcibly removed from his, or her life, at this time, this person may go through the length of his, or her life, without ever finding an anchor or a meaningful identification in anything which may serve as its equal. There would be reason here to suspect the sense of a 'lost' dimension to the Self, and to understand this person's attitude and behavior as expressing an uncertain identification with this Self.

Where these whorls are in evidence we must account for very individual modes of perception - especially with regard to weights and measures.As often as not this becomes expressed in habits and behavioral patterns which may not always demonstrate an awareness of the boundaries to which others may be committed. This young person may, for example, take the bus for the stables where he can watch the horses which so fascinate him instead of taking the bus for school. And it would be this young person's distinct feeling when he subsequently suffers the difficult reaction of his parents and/or teachers that their actions were unfair, entirely misplaced, and without any understanding of what was important to him. However illogical or ill considered their attitudes, actions and reactions may be in the eyes of others, in their own minds these people are secure in the absolute certainty of what is right for them.

Consider that for their part the parents and teachers feel that they had made it very clear to this young person exactly what would be the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Yet this young person would be at pains trying to find coherence in their demands of him. There would be virtually no symmetry between their minds and his own.

This sets the scene, as it were, for what is almost certain to define the future experiences these young people will know with those who have some measure of authority over their lives. As a rule the 'adults' eventually prevail and these young people become effectively dislocated from themselves, and, in a sense, from their lives. Whatever manner of communication they had hitherto known with themselves is largely forgotten. Lost forever are the sources of their curiosity, their excitement and their joys. They complete their formal education in step with their peers, and they go on to earn the necessary levels of proficiency in whatever 'acceptable' careers they had chosen. Their lives, however, are, as a rule, vacant of ambition and vacant of motivation. Invariably, there comes a moment in their lives when, with sinking heart, they appreciate that something is terribly wrong. While, as a rule, they are not averse to seeking therapy, the therapeutic programs quickly bog down with both the therapists and clients floundering in uncertainties and confusion.

When the young person demonstrates an unwillingness to capitulate to those who assume authority over his, or her, life the sides to this confrontation tend to entrench themselves ever more determinedly in their positions. More often than not we would find these young people electing to leave school at some point. Their education is often completed in frameworks external to the school proper. With the passing of years this person suffers very few, if any, regrets. Considered collectively, they would manifest distinct and powerful individualities, mild schizoid traits and rather more pronounced misanthropic attitudes. As a rule these people succeed with their lives, at least with whatever they have created for themselves in the way of profession and career. The same, generally, cannot be said of their homes, marriages and interpersonal relationships. The reader of these lines will keep in mind that every rule will, of course, have its exceptions. A comprehensive analysis of any individual would be the sum of all the features singular to that individual. But it is the very deterministic quality of the feature discussed here which would seem to give it such enormous influence in the global design of the individual's personality as it evolves.

All rights reserved to Dr.Arnold Holtzman, The Psychodiagnostic Chirology Institute