CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS AND A MISGIVING
The authors of The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy presented this divination tool as one of those which could serve as a Fun Party Game, where everyone can take turns being analyzed according to the letters of their name and analyzing others in turn. While I can see their point, I am a little dubious about the idea. Some people cannot bear to face the truth about themselves, and may vigorously dispute the personality profile their fellows have drawn-up. This divination tool could get arguments started, which would certainly render the party a lively, memorable affair, but it could also generate hurt feelings and sulking egos. If you use this in a group, and it certainly does have a ‘group therapy’ vibe to it, you’ll want to be reasonably-sure all involved can take it with a good spirit.
For example, about my name starting with an ‘E’. Timid in my younger years, and overcoming it as I grew older? Secretive and selfish, and needs to resist sliding into carelessness? To these qualities, I plead guilty! The last-listed trait in the glossary under the letter E is: ‘This person would be surprised if they were to know what people really think of them.’ To that I say, yes, I’m sure I would, but I don’t want to know.
A possible partial-solution to the potential problem of hurt feelings is to have the subject analyze themselves according to the letters of their name. They can then compare their worksheet with what others drew-up about them. Really, this divination tool feels more like a group therapy exercise than a fun party game, but who says enlightening exercises can’t be fun as well?
The Hand of Fate seems like a very-abbreviated version of what author Norma J. Watts covers in her book, The Art of Nameology, but at the same time, has a slightly-different take on it. I’ll include the citation for Watts’ book in the bibliography at the end of this lesson, for those who want to delve deeper into the secret energies behind given names.
On a slightly more serious level, the authors of The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy suggest that The Hand of Fate can be a good way for a person who may be thinking of taking a stage-name, a pen-name, or changing their legal name altogether, to try-out different names, choosing those letters with qualities they wish to embody, and creating a name which will better-harmonize with their life goals. It seems to me The Hand of Fate can also serve as a handy-dandy getting-to-know-you tool. You make a new friend at work, school, or the health club, you can come home and learn more about them than your first meeting revealed. You can use it to find out a little more of what makes people tick, whereas asking direct questions can sometimes be seen as quite rude. This might work equally-well on people you’ve known for a while; you do their name and you say, ‘well no wonder why they’re that way—it was in their name all along.’
Try practicing The Hand of Fate on yourself. Then try it on family members, neighbors, friends, and other people you know. For some people you know, it may seem to miss by a country-mile. Then you talk to them about this, and they may say ‘y’know, I’ve always been aware of that tendency in me.’ Or ‘I never told anybody about that, but yeah.’ You might be surprised or alarmed at how on-target it is. And do have fun with it, whether you’re using it at a party or you’re alone and just curious!
EXERCISES
- Print out several worksheets, or the summary sheet, if you prefer to work with that. Look over the glossary of letter meanings and do a character analysis of yourself.
- Have someone you know well do the same exercise, with you as the subject. You might want to have them do this at the same time you’re doing your own. Then discuss your results. Was there any overlap? How did the two separate findings differ? Did they see something in your character you didn’t see yourself?
- Then switch. Do a character analysis of the other person while they’re writing up a character analysis chart on themselves. Then discuss your findings, asking the same questions. Was there any overlap? How did your two worksheets differ?
- If you know someone with both an official first name and a nickname, do an analysis on both names. Was there one of these two names which seemed to fit this person more than the other name? Or did both highlight different areas of this person’s character?
- Choose the surname of a family you know well, and do an analysis of the family as one corporate entity, using the glossary of letter meanings. What picture does this paint of the family as a whole? Does it agree with your impression of them?
- Choose a famous person from history and do a name analysis for them. Can you see how the traits this exercise revealed about them, played out in their lives?
- In considering all the Hand of Fate analysis you’ve done for these various people, did it yield any surprises? Did identify any traits in these people you hadn’t seen before? In what circumstances would you use the Hand of Fate as a divination tool?
EXTRA CREDIT: Play around with the glossary and either try analyzing another existing name, or create a whole new one, based on the qualities of character listed under each letter. Which letters’ qualities reflect the sort of person you hold up as an ideal? Are they letters which appear in your name now, or are they other letters altogether?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gibson, Walter Brown, Litzka R. Gibson, Murray Keshner. The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination & Prophecy. London: Souvenir Press, 1974.
This book is the source from which I obtained The Hand of Fate.
Watts, Norma J. The Art of Nameology. Belgium, Wisconsin: Champion Press, Ltd., 2006. 304 pages.
This book follows the same proposition as The Hand of Fate, that you can tell a lot about a person just from one name, only the author goes into much more detail on the subject. For those who get their hands on a copy, it might be fun to compare and contrast Watts’ analysis of names and what personality traits are embodied in the various letters, vis a vis what The Hand of Fate says.