Note 248 — Chapter VI · Magic Rites as affecting the Life of Man (continued 3)

The subject of omens in general has been shortly dealt with at the beginning of this section, and also incidentally mentioned in connection with various departments of nature and human life. It would hardly be possible to make a complete or systematic list of the things from which omens are taken. Apart from those depending merely on Times, Seasons, Numbers, and Aspect, which have been already dealt with at quite sufficient length, it may be noted that omens are drawn from earthquakes, thunder, “house-lizards, rats, and other four-footed things,” according to the times at which they are observed, from the colour, smell, and nature of soil (in choosing building-sites), from birds, and, in fact, from a very large variety of matters which cannot be classified under any general head. The lines of the hand are, of course, interpreted among the Malays, as elsewhere, as signs of good and evil fortune. It has not been possible to collect much information on the subject of Malay chiromancy, but for the benefit of European adepts in “palmistry” (as it seems to be usually styled nowadays) it may be worth while mentioning that the Malays attach importance, as an indication of long life (ʿalamat panjang ʿumor),248 to the intersection of the line round the base of the thumb249 with the one which runs round the wrist (simpeian ʿAli), while a broken line across the palm (rĕtak putus) is believed by them to be a sign of invulnerability (tanda pĕnggĕtas, ta’ buleh di-tikam). Upright lines running up the lower joints of the fingers, in the same line as the fingers themselves, are a sign of prospective wealth (ʿalamat ’nak di-panjat dĕ’ duit, tanda orang kaya), and a whorl of circular lines on the fingers (pusat bĕlanak) is a sign of a craftsman (ʿalamat orang tukang).