Writing my way through the A-to-Z blogging challenge, I’ve tasked myself with throwing open the cabinet of curiosities and wondrous things I call my brain and leading you on a tour of what actually resides in there – all through the lens of unusual, obscure, or simply charming-to-me words.
D is for…
dactylogram: an impression taken from a finger; fingerprint
One look at the tip of my finger, and I’m launched into another world. I’m fascinated by hands. Everything about them. I love to look at them. I collect their images; I puzzle over their seeming mysteries. I delight in the obvious. You’ve got to hand it to me, I’ve got my pulse on this handsome universe.
I’m always looking for clues – unraveling the secrets written in the lines of my palm. I wonder at the array of heart-life-head crossings and uncrossings.
What would the graphologist intuit from my handwriting? How long will it take me to master the graceful gestures of American Sign Language? It boggles my mind that we are each uniquely stamped with our fingerprints. What’s the physics behind Chinese finger puzzles – those straw tubes wide enough to fit a forefinger in each end, but then locking them in a tight embrace? And what IS the sound of one hand clapping? You see I’m curious about many things.
A friend, evidence technician/crime solver extraordinaire, knows more about fingerprints than you can shake a finger at. You’ve got your whorls, your loops, and your arches dancing around those fingertips labeling you a unique entity.
Folklore from both India and China report traditions of reading fingerprints as indicators of certain character traits. One whorl indicates poverty; two riches; three and four whorls are a good aspect for opening a pawnshop; five whorls for a mediator; six for a thief; seven whorls indicates catastrophes; eight that you’ll eat chaff; and nine whorls with a loop and there will be no work for you to do, and plenty of food until old age.
While we recognize the root word dactyl means finger, in Greek mythology, the Dactyls were a race of beings born from the fingers of the great mother goddess, whether known as Cybele or Rhea. In the telling I originally heard there were 10 Dactyls, five females from the print of her left hand, and five from her right. However, it is more often said they were all men, known as smiths and healing magicians, and teaching the alphabet and mathematics to humans.
Ages ago, when writing was limited to a few clerks, documents were authenticated by the impression of the hand dipped in ink, and then the seal was duly affixed. As dipping the hand in ink was such dirty work, the impression of thumb was eventually substituted. Subsequently the name was written, and this writing was called “the hand,”
Relatedly, my fascination with fingers of course includes their adornment. I’ve always been a multiple ring wearer, from my earliest days of proudly wearing paper cigar bands. Eventually my interests expanded to poison rings and signet rings.
I’ve always been fascinated by seals, and have done my share of sealing with impressed wax. But I also love the idea of Chinese chops, the seals carved from stone used to sign things, traditionally with a red paste ink. I have two that I had made, one with my name, and this one you can see as part of the image below which reads “Write Your Heart.” I like to use it as a reminder of what’s important to me – the authentic sharing of my heart.
My image also reminds me of what Anthony T. Hincks said:
“You can count friends on fingers, but you count love in hearts.”
We are all as unique as a dactylogram, yet we all share the same world we can touch through our fingertips.
What about you? Curious about fingerprints? Love hands as much as I do? Wear a signet ring? What are you currently experiencing through the myriad of touch sensors in your fingers that delights you beyond measure? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
Not so much my fingerprints but using my hands all day in transcription as I do, I am very aware of them. I love wearing rings, large ones, although I have just started wearing them on fingers other than my “ring” fingers. Of course my wedding rings never leave my hand. Nicely done, Deborah!
The joy of having so many fingers is you can wear so many rings. 🙂
Fingers, huh? Well, I have them and I have fingerprints that I don’t think are on file with the FBI. I only wear wedding rings because they seem to be part of me at this point. Good choice for the letter D. Most unique, like our fingerprints.
LOL – I’m celebrating you Ally with a serving of ladyfingers and strawberries.
Loved your free flowing thoughts on fingers. My rings remind me of family. My engagement and wedding ring from my husband next to an eternity ring belonging to my grandmother. On the other hand is my mother’s engagement ring and her eternity ring she bought for herself. I sometimes wear my mother-in-law’s ruby 40th wedding anniversary ring. All those people have now gone but not the memories.
Oh those are wonderful reminders Linda – how beautiful!
Fingerprints are fascinating, but I’m not a fan of my own hands, which I consider one of my least attractive features. I feel better now that I’ve started going for periodic manicures. I’m not kind to my cuticles at all and that’s reflected in how my hands look much of the time.
Truthfully no matter what my hands look like, I’m grateful we don’t live in the era where women had to wear gloves all the time. I think would have driven me mad.
What an interesting topic! Never given much thought to fingers or fingerprints till I read your post. In India, we do read hands and fingers but the scientific basis of such a practice is not really established.
I’d love to have such a hand/fingers reading as you mentioned. I especially think it would be interesting to have such readings done through various cultures, to see what’s considered important for each and to get their unique perspectives. I do believe you’ve just added another item to my bucket list Sonia.
Great recapping the mythology!
I’ve always been fascinated by ‘poison rings’ that Indian noblewomen used to wear, in case they got into enemy hands, they’d consume the poison to escape ‘dishonour’.
I’m fascinated by the history of such rings, but also simply their look. I love secret containers, and the fact you can put a tiny secret message or the tinest little object within the poison ring’s compartment delights me beyond measure.
Oh this is so interesting Deborah thank you! I love the myth of the men and women being born from the right and left hands. Handwriting is so interesting – often I note (when I look at handwritten letters from my late mother and father) the similarities of my writing to theirs in small ways. Though now of course with the use of typing on a computer, my handwriting is much less than before, though my desk and other compartments are filled with my own scribbled notes which i can barely Decipher .. especially my journal and recorded Dreams ..
I especially liked the left/right reference as well Susan.
I’m interested in handwriting too. My handwriting is a rather eclectic mix of script and printing and not the gorgeous penmanship I might hope for. But still, it makes me rather sad that future generations will unlikely know much else than keyboard markings.