This post is part of series which discusses different aspects of Cheiro, his life and times.

Part One: Cheiro, a mysterious Palmist

Part Two: Cheiro, a mysterious Palmist

Once the excitement of boarding on a steamer- bound to unknown seas-had worn off, Cheiro felt the pangs of hunger and before midnight he dared to step into Captain’s cabin.

The stowaways were treated harshly in those days, but Cheiro found out that the Captain needed a hand in trying to maintain the correct record of receipts and payments associated with cargo given to his trust. Pouncing on the opportunity he offered his help. He was hired on the spot.

It was a happy journey, but like all good things it ended at the port of Mumbai (Bombay, India).

Waiting at ‘Apollo Bunder’ (Mumbai port), he was all alone. But fate gave him a chance and he was befriended by a Brahmin, who saw Cheiro’s interest in occult and especially Palmistry. He offered Cheiro to stay with him and study the arts of Palmistry, numerology and astrology.

Cheiro spent 2 years with the Joshi tribe, north of Mumbai, and learned their arts. He returned to his homeland when he received the news that a relative who had died had left him a small inheritance.

Cheiro’s stay in India is questionable on many accounts.

I have yet to see an Indian friend or source confirming Cheiro’s stay in India.

India, the jewel of British Empire, was considered at the time of Cheiro’s supposed brief stay, a mysterious land steeped in the ways of occult. Few things go against Cheiro’s version when he wants people to believe his story.

Cheiro did not have any knowledge of the Indian languages and dialects.

In his book Cheiro’s World Predictions in 1925, several passages speaking of strained relationship between Muslims and Hindus are quite meaningful. To quote;

“…Brahmin priests will find new translations of Buddha’s precepts to meet the demands of the new age.” (Emphasized by me)

Page 215, Cheiro’s World Prediction, Sagar Publications, India

“That Buddhists and Mohammedans will join together to make India a united nation, is out of question…” (Emphasized by me)

1. 217, op cit

I cannot imagine that someone who claims to have lived in India would confuse Hindus with Buddhists and Hinduism with Buddhism.

Strangely, it came from the pen of ‘Cheiro’.

In his book, ‘Cheiro’s Language of the Hand’, he writes in ‘A Defence’;

“It may be interesting to describe here, in few words as possible, an extremely ancient and curious book on the markings of hands, which I was allowed to use and examine during my sojourn in India. This book was one of the greatest treasures of the few Brahmans who possessed and understood it, and was jealously guarded in one of those old cave temples that belong to the ruins of ancient Hindustan.

This strange book was made of human skin, pieced and put together in the most ingenious manner. It was of enormous size, and contained hundreds of well-drawn illustrations, with records of how, when, and where this or that mark was proved correct.

One of the greatest features in connection with it was that it was written in some red liquid which age had failed to spoil or fade. The effect of those vivid red letters on the pages of dull yellow skin was most remarkable. By some compound, probably made of herbs, each page was glazed, as it were, by varnish: but whatever this compound may have been, it seemed to defy time, as the outer covers alone showed the signs of wear and decay…” (Emphasized by me)

Hindus cremate their dead, Muslims bury them and Parsees leave them open in a place to be devoured by the vultures.

It must have taken a sizeable corpses and their peeled skins to compile a book of such antiquity.

Unfortunately, Cheiro has confused books written-with the help of red ink-on Palm leaves and wooded peels, which are glazed and bound together by threads. Such ancient books are common in South India and are dedicated to the Gods and are placed in Temples. These Books are called ‘Nadi’. Some books are related to astrology, while few relate to Palmistry.

B.V.Raman has written extensively about ‘Nadi’, while Mir Bashir, a noted Hand Analyst has written about his experiences with ‘Augusthia Nadi’, in his book ‘Dastan-e-Taqdeer’ (The Story of Fate).

It is evident that Cheiro has based his supposed experiences In India on inaccurate written accounts penned by another writer.

To be Continued…

Part Four: Cheiro, a mysterious Palmist