Gordon Brown’s nail biting habit – a palmist’s view

More than ever politics is obsessed about spin and presentation. A lot of time and thought goes into the style of clothes, haircut, voice – the list is endless. Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair, who clearly used make-up and anything else to improve how he looked. Gordon is the antithesis of Tony, a man who likes to be seen as solid, heavyweight, no gimmicks. Gordon is also a very private man, so the press have to work harder to find out what really ticks. Small wonder then that they have focussed on Gordon’s chewed finger nails.

Gordon Brown has plenty of problems – lowest poll ratings, the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 10p tax debacle. Questions are being asked: is Gordon up for the Job? Photographs of Gordon’s bitten fingernails would suggest not, but is that all the story?

I have been reading palms for 25 years, and I have to admit that I rarely see nails in such a state. Are his nails a subconscious plea for help? It could be so. Palmists usually read the palms, not the outside of the hands, and the photos do not show all the fingers, but there is enough to tell us something. My conclusion is that Gordon needs advice from an elder statesman. This is not a sign of weakness – it is something that leaders have done for centuries. There are rumours that Tony Blair is giving some advice, which is surprising considering the enmity between the two men, particularly when Blair was PM.

Funnily enough, one of the only times we show the palms of our hands is when we wave goodbye!

The palmar side of the hand represents the hidden aspects of ourselves, while the outside of the hand is what we present to the outside world.

For a man, the right hand represents how he sees the world and deals with it, while the left hand represents how the world interacts with him – other people and events.

The palm represents our physical being, while the fingers show our psychological and spiritual being. In other words, the quality of consciousness of the individual can be determined by the appearance of the skin, nail and joints of the fingers. There are three sections or phalanges on each of the fingers. The phalange closest to the hand show skills and practical abilities. The middle phalange is the executive area – how we manage the skills. The top phalange relates to conceptual and higher functioning relating to beauty, philosophy, law, religion and mysticism, for example.

The nails of course are on the outside of the fingers, so to some extent they hide our highest mental activities from the world. They also show how we want to present our personality to the world. An obvious example of this is women painting their nails or wearing false nails. When we bite our nails, we are effectively exposing our inner turmoil to the world – we are asking permission from others to think or express ourselves in a particular way. Biting nails is a sign of nerves and worry, but is also a displacement activity. Writers often have displacement activities such as re-arranging pens and stationary, doing the washing up, in fact anything to avoid actually sitting down and getting on with writing. Gordon Brown seems to bite all his fingers nails. The finger nails of the right hand (representing himself) are more bitten than the left hand, which indicates the depth of the insecurities – everything is a problem. Continued biting suggests that he has problems finding solutions.

In the photograph we see that the top phalanges are short relative to the middle phalanges, which shows a lack of higher functioning in the mind. The top phalange of the index finger relates to Religious teaching and mysticism, which suggests that Gordon Brown would tend to the secular.

The middle phalange of the middle finger is much longer compared to the phalange of the index finger, and this finger does indeed relate to government and the country (among others, such as herbalism, diet, mechanics and animals), so maybe Gordon is in the right job after all. The problem is that the top phalange is not much bigger than the index phalange. In other words, the top phalange of the middle finger is relatively shorter and not in proportion. In palmistry terms, the top phalange of the index finger relates to:

• Law
• Philosophy
• Lecturing
• History
• Traditions

It would appear that while Gordon is good at the nuts and bolts of politics, he lacks the vision, inspiration and charisma that politicians need.

Nail biting shortens the shape of the nails. The length of the nail is related to Air and Water – short nails indicate Earth and Fire. In Gordon’s case, he is naturally more intellectually and emotionally inclined, but a combination of external circumstances and perhaps his own uncertainties and insecurities resulting in nailbiting helps him to be more practical and aggressive in his manner. Of course, this creates a vicious circle – he is unable to think and emote the higher principles, sacrificing them for the appearance of action and practicality (Prudence?).

What can be done? Clearly the pressures of being a Prime Minister are not going to go away. What Gordon Brown needs is a mentor of some kind – not someone from the kitchen cabinet. I am sure Gordon Brown has historical inspirations in politics, but he needs someone with the political gravitas and vision he can call on. Gordon clearly believes he has the answers, and he can handle it, and he will recognise no peer. Tony and Cherie Blair also tried to look beyond politics and found all kinds of dodgy New Age practitioners. Presentation is all-important in politics, and every time he shows his hands we see something of the inner reality.

Many medical conditions can be detected from the nails. The shape and condition of the nails can be an indicator of a deficiency of nutrients in the body. Biting the nails may be a sign of trying to get those nutrients into the body. The nervous condition that causes nail biting can also prevent those nutrients being absorbed into the body in the first place.