Honorary Members

Alexandra Nagel (Eindhoven, 1961) is a historian in the field of western esotericism and completed her doctoral thesis on the psycho-chirologist Julius Spier (1887–1942). This study led her to discover numerous forgotten palmists, and brought lots of new insights. She is currently working on a biography of Spier. Many of her findings have already been published in articles, both in English (the more academic ones), and in Dutch.
 

Nagel is not a palmist herself, but a kind of “palmistry historian”. 

She presented her research findings on Spier, Hillsum and the handprints of Albert Einstein at two IHRA Conferences in 2024.

 

 

Publications related to palmistry (in English):
 

‘Julius Spier’s psychochirology, a magical practice in disguise,’ Ritual, Magic & Witchcraft 20(2), 2025, forthcoming.
 

‘Hand-Reading: New Pointers for Life Writing,’ The European Journal of Life Writing 13, 2024, 202-231. Written with Babs Boter,  https://doi.org/10.21827/EJLW.13.40001
 

‘Palmistry, an art between the occult and medicine illustrated by German practitioners during the Interbellum’, Arcana Naturae 3, 2022, 141-170. https://www.academia.edu/104137288/Palmistry_an_art_between_the_occult_and_medicine_illustrated_by_German_practitioners_during_the_Interbellum
 

‘From chiromancy to psychochirology: The modern transformation of a mantic art.’ Aries 21(2), 2021, 246-270. https://brill.com/view/journals/arie/21/2/article-p246_4.xml
 

‘The hands of Albert Einstein: Einstein’s involvement with hand-readers and a Dutch psychic.’ Correspondences 9(1), 2021, 49-87. https://correspondencesjournal.com/20602-2/
 

‘Jung, Julius Spier, and Palmistry.’ Jung Journal 14(1), 2020, 65-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/19342039.2020.1706400
 

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​While designing Art curriculum for teacher Education programs at three Brisbane Universities, Liz gained much experience using dynamics of cognition theory, brain functions and neuro-psychological studies. In 1995 while at Queensland University of Technology, Liz combined her passion for cognition theory and handreading to design her unique correlation method to investigate the possibility that hand features may indicate our cognition preference patterns. In 1996 QUT staff judged her thesis to be a rigorous qualitative research method and she collected the data required to test her hypothesis that hand features may indicate a person's cognitive preferences as sorted by the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Inventory).

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Liz presented her research discoveries on the MBTI and the endings of the Water line at the IHRA Conference in March 2025.

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​Andrew has been studying palmistry since the late 1960's and has written some of the most important and enduring books on handreading.  In the mid-1970's he published the 'Palmistry International' journal and maintained a long association with the SSPP.  His most noteworthy contribution to handreading is that he has made an extensive study of the history of palmistry, including producing facsimile editions of early chiromantic works by authors such as Johannes Hartlieb and John Indagine.  His 1992 book 'The Palmist's Companion' is a thorough and significant overview of the history and development of palmistry and should be read by all.

 

Published Works 

Hand Psychology (Angus & Robertson 1986)
Career, Success and Self-fulfilment (Aquarian Press 1988)
The Palmist's Companion (Scarecrow Press 1992)

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