Conscious Choice: The Hand of John Belushi

March 1996

The Hand of John Belushi

by Justin Pomeroy

The late John Belushi’s hands in 1979 belong mostly to the "Earth" hand typology but there is also some of the excitable, attention-grabbing aspect of the "Fire" element added. The sausage-shaped fingers with thick, fleshy bases denote emotionalism, self-indulgence, and passion.

The earth hand typically has very few lines and usually indicates a no-nonsense, security-minded, practical, "meat-and-potatoes," hard-working kind of person. However, here we also see evidence of the intuitive creativity of the fire element with the rounded, fleshy palm, and conic fingertips. What is really striking is that his scanty, earth-style line structure is confined mostly toward the center of the palm. This is indicative of the earth-handed person’s tendency for repression and self-containment. Yet, the lines themselves are interconnected, deep, and expressive, exposing the "fiery"ambition for a higher synthesis.

This earth/fire juxtaposition at first glance bespeaks the core challenge/struggle that Mr. Belushi was trying to work out and integrate. The lack of lines around the periphery of the palm tells of his strong "earth" tendency to resist change, repress his feelings and perhaps be too self-critical. Yet, there is an equal pull to burst into self-expression shown by the "fire" influence.

The secret to his success can be viewed and analyzed in many ways. His deeply-cut, clear, and interconnected lines form an "M" in the middle of his hands (1). This "M" is an important sign of a certain innate stability and integrative ability. (Or, one could say that he came into life with a certain "good karma" for success.)

His success drive is further accentuated by two important features. One is a strong line of Jupiter (2)—also called the "line of ambition or achievement"—which leaves the life/head line and rises toward the mount of Jupiter at the base of the index finger.

Also, his longitudinal fate line (3a) is joined by a "lunar" fate line (3b) which intersects it at the age of about 19 or 20 years old.

This line indicates the special influence of the creative, receptive unconscious and, at the same time, indicates the strong influence of a person of the opposite sex. Upon inquiring about this, Mr. Belushi admitted that it was his wife, Judy that was the real secret of his success. Without her, he exclaimed, he would be nowhere! Indeed, observe how this line of influence strongly enhances his fate line—adding a strong degree of stability and drive for success. Add that to the strongly productive energy of the Earth hand type (which also produces hard-working farmers, coal-miners and craftsmen) and one can see a certain formula for success.

Other success factors would be his longer-than-usual little finger which indicates that he possesses more than the usual earth type’s ability to communicate and be witty. Also, the line of Apollo (4), which starts below the heart line and runs up toward the ring finger, is a rare feature on an Earth hand. It promises a special talent (and/or career) with potential personal happiness as well as success and financial rewards.

The tragedy in this man’s life which led to his untimely death is probably due to his inability to deal with the stress of his incredible fame and success. Many complex and contradictory forces became exaggerated as he reached greater heights of worldly success. Although he was a sensitive, intelligent man of great talent, John Belushi was basically an earth person with a strong need to be reserved, cautious, tradition-loving, stable, and secure.

The psyche of an earth person cannot withstand too much external stimuli and change, much less the glamour and glitz of Hollywood notoriety. The "solution" for most earth types is to adopt inner defense mechanisms like repression and denial to deal with the stress. Mr. Belushi’s drug abuse, which led to his early death was probably an unconscious, maladaptive strategy to deal with the stress resulting from the inner struggles of the earth/fire contradictions in his character.

His short, deeply-cut "Saturnian" heart line (5) is indicative of a strong eros factor—a sexual kind of love-drive. And this combined with the sensual, animal energy of the fleshy earth type, gave him a strong appetite for sex, food, and stimulation of all kinds.

Also noteworthy are his long, strong thumbs which show a strong character with ample reasoning ability. However, the thick, fleshy second phalanges of the thumb and fingers also show a tendency to be lazy and self-indulgent. When overly stressed, his reason could easily become rationalization.

When I asked him at the beginning of the reading what questions he had, he asked, "why am I so successful? I’m just an ordinary guy from the suburbs of Chicago!"

One final note: although hand analysis can’t predict the length of a person’s life (this is rightly in the realm of mystery) it is interesting that the three main lines on Mr. Belushi’s palms—head, heart, and life—are each cut very short.

The Hand of Timothy Leary

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