A Face is Not Just a Face
Could you imagine walking into a practitioner’s office and having, instead a whole list of symptoms to discuss, your body scanned for any predicting signs of disease by the trained eye of the practitioner? He or she would examine your face, compare your face with earlier pictures of you, have a conversation with you and then give you a prediction that your body tells her that you are, for example, predisposed to developing arthritis. Together you would work out a prophylaxis, you pay, follow the plan in preventing arthritis, in this case, and probably never develop arthritis or only a mild case of it. The health care system, as we know it, would be turned up side down.
The practitioner in our above case is a physiognomist, practicing physiognomy. Physiognomy is the art and science of predicting a persons health and character according to his/her physical appearance, with an emphasis on the face. Physiognomy is of great antiquity, practiced by the ancient Chinese, and is still used widely today in Chinese Medicine. The earliest know systemic treatise on physiognomy is attributed to Aristotle, who wrote about the connection between physical appearance and character and illness in human beings. Physiognomy was also widely used by the Greeks. The Greeks saw a human being’s mind and body as being inseparable. A separation between a being and it’s expression was unthinkable. The Greeks used their knowledge on physiognomy in their physical representation of their Gods. Two of mythology’s most famous Goddesses Medusa and Aphrodite exemplify how physical appearance exude personality of the subject. Physiognomy played a big part in the physical creation of statues in the Greek and Roman time. Without their understanding of which features represent specific mental characteristics, the statues would not have the symbolic meaning they hold today.
"While the earlier classical physiognomy was chiefly descriptive, the later medieval studies particularly developed the predictive and astrological side, the treatise often digressing into prophetic folklore and magic."(Britannica) With the arrival of medieval times physiognomy lost its popularity and it became depraved.
During the 1800s the science was picked up again by a prominent theologian Johann Caspar Lavater, and two medical doctors Franz Joseph Gall and Carl Gustav Carus.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Lavater studied philosophy and theology. As a priest Lavater incorporated his passion for physiognomy into his sermons. An extraordinary observer human character combined with the loving way he treated people, Lavater became famous for his talent. However like with anyone else who discovered a new science Lavater was also a victim of mockery and disparagement. He is the most famous for his portrayal of the harmony between physiognomic and psychiatric. He proclaimed that beauty reveals a stable mental stage whereas ugliness uncovered mental instability or lunacy. In is book Essays of Physiognomy he also set down his principles concerning the shape of the human face and head. The "form, height, arching, proportion, obliquity and position of the skull, or bone of the forehead show the propensity, degree of power, thought, and sensibility of the man, " wrote Lavater. (Roach 81) Lavater laid down the foundation of physiognomy and was an early contributor to the science of human psychology in conclusion with physiology. Interestingly his work also had great meaning to the art society, which used his studies on face and character in portraits and caricatures. He lectured on the human face in such a convincing way that people during that time went out on the streets wearing masks, to avoid revealing so much about themselves. To this day we use physiognomy on some basic level. The cliché "you never have a second chance to make a first impression" reminds us how much we, collectively as a society, place importance on our physical appearance. Every time we meet someone new their face reveals vital information. To the untrained eye this information can form positive or negative stereotypes or prejudices. A page out of Lavater’s essays, included below, exemplifies and describes how certain facial structures contribute to creating our first impression.
"A page from Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy:
Fig. 1. An original countenance that will speak sensibility, timidity, perspicuity, wit, and imagination. Not to be numbered among the strong, bold, unshaken, and enterprising; but very considerate, cautious to timidity.
Fig. 2. A man of business. Undoubtedly possessed of talents, punctual honest, love of order, and deliberation. An acute inspector of men; a calm, dry, determined judge. To the middle of the mouth is an advancing trait, which speaks superiority in common affairs.
Fig. 3. A good head-Cannot be mistaken, not even in shade. Conceal the under part and Leave only the nose and forehead visible and signs of attention, love of order and certainty are apparent. The forehead, altogether, is too perpendicular for a productive, mind.
Fig. 4. The forehead is not so entirely exact and pure as to discover the whole capacity of his understanding. The harmony of the whole, especially the nose, mouth, and chin, denote a mind of extraordinary observation, research, and analysis.
Fig. 5. A noble forehead, a miracle of purity, the love of order, I might say, the love of light. Such the nose, such is all.
Fig. 6. Much is to be learnt from this shade. Takes little, gives much; this is particularly conspicuous in the too round outline of the lips, which is most defective. The most delicate lines have either not been remarked, or cut away. The upper part of the forehead is, also, something curtailed; otherwise this countenance is refined, discreet, capable of talents, taste, wit, and morals". (Aerni 58)
Lavater was a protégé of Franz Joseph Gall in the science of physiognomy, Gall however, concentrated more on the skull rather that the facial structure. After becoming a medical doctor, he specialized in brain anatomy and created the science of phrenology, meaning literally "a system analyzing character from the shape of the skull". (Webster 464) Gall was the first to discover that the brain was the center organ of the emotional human being. He also was the first to recognize white and gray brain matter and even today his work is the foundation of the science of neurology. Despite his medical breakthroughs, his main passion was to predict human characteristics from the shape of his skull, specifically with criminals.
Another pioneer in the science of physiognomy was Cesare Lombroso, who studied to become a medial doctor in Wien, Austria. He was influenced by the works of Lavater and Gall and specialized his studies in psychiatry. He discovered, using statistical analysis, that criminals, showed their characteristics in abnormal physiological form. For example, he discovered that criminals with multiple charges had asymmetric faces, noting a strong disproportion in their facial features. Because facial features are inherent he concluded that criminal tendencies must also be inherent, at least to the extend that the person’s inborn tendencies were allowed to develop. (Aerni 110)
The science of physiognomy is a great advocate of the concept of a united mind and body system. Unfortunately with the advent of surgery and modern medicine the connection between mind and body lost to it’s prominence. Surgery and allopathic medicine’s successes eliminating illness de-emphasized the importance of the mind and body connection.
Not only in medicine did a separation of body and mind occur but also in physics. " The world view which was changed by the discoveries of modern physics had been based on Newton’s mechanical model of the universe" (Capra 55). Newton saw matter as a construction of small, solid and indestructible particles, which remained always identical in their mass and shape. Matter therefore was always conserved and essentially passive. That view changed with the discovery of the electric and magnetic phenomena, which could not be described accordingly with the Newton’ laws, it is a new kind of force. This new force chanced the perception of physical reality and eventually lead to the introduction of Albert Einstein’s quantum theory. The atom was discovered and it was found that the center of the atom is "far from being the hard and solid particles they were believed to be since antiquity, the atoms turned out to consist of vast regions of space in which extremely small particles - the electron - moved around a nucleus, bound to it by electric forces".(Capra 65) With that came the conclusion that everything is made up of energy. Energy oscillates and forms all matter, table, metals, trees and living beings.
Our bodies are made up of energy particles, and how we live, what we eat, what we think all affect our physical appearance. The cliché "you are what you eat" should also include "you are what you think, believe and feel". Physiognomists believe that the way we live marks our bodies. The energy of jealousy shows in the face, the energy of carrying a heavy burden can show in our posture.
A really good example of how our mind affects our bodies is described in Norman Cousin book Head First. He states that" the natural conclusion emerging from placebo research, of course, is that belief affects biology. The response of individuals to the world around them, touching off hopes or fears or joys or despairs or expectations in general, has physical reality"(231). Placebo responses can be so powerful that cancer patients who are told to expect hair loss after chemotherapy but were given a placebo drug, lost their hair just because they expected it. Many contemporary medical researchers believe that bacterial and viral diseases are secondary causes with the primary cause being the state of mind. There are many disfiguring misconceptions about human health. Most people think that disease is primarily caused by a germ, that older people and children are more prone to disease, that the state of mind has little or no effect on the course of the disease and that an illness proceeds in a straight line unless interrupted by outside intervention. This is simply untrue. Because we are beings of energy and everything is interconnected our train of thought alone has an incredible effect on our physiological body. Dr. Carolyn Myss explains in her book Anatomy of the Spirit that "the idea that biography becomes biology implies that we participate to some degree in the creation of illness"(42). For example, thinking degrading thoughts every day for years to come can change the structure of a cell, changing a healthy cell into a cancer cell.
Because our thoughts are changing our bodies on a cellular level, signs of disease are recognizable physiologically before actual symptoms manifest. Dr. Hans D. Bach a famous medical doctor and intuitive and author of the book Erkenne die Zeichen Deines Koerpers declares that all illness begins in the heart, because all emotions are felt in the heart first. A physically compromised heart, depends on the emotions felt and the person feeling it, may also compromise other organs. Dr. Bach describes seeing signs of illness in the swelling of the eyelids, the swelling of the tongue, creases on the earlobe or around the mouth. Lip color gives him information on the circulatory system and the color of the cheeks give him clues to disease such as diabetes. Kurt Tepperwein, another holistic therapeutic practitioner from Germany and author of the book Die Botschaft Deines Koerpers, teaches that certain emotions are stored in our organs and certain conclusions of illness can also be seen in the joints of the fingers.
Physiognomy is used today only by holistic practitioners, face readers and medical intuitives. There is no scientific research to prove a connection between a swollen joint or a wrinkle to a specific disease. However, conventional medicine is recognizing more and more the importance of the body mind connection. It is not uncommon for medical treatment today to include hypnosis, energy healing, color therapy or massage. Only relatively recently has the placebo response been taken seriously and ideas such as holding somebody’s hand during surgery can speed the healing process. The connection between human body with its corresponding energy field are still not completely understood. Cases where cancer patients suddenly are in remission despite any change in medical care are now thought to be explained through the mind body connection.
Rose Rosetree mentions in her book Wrinkles are God’s Make up that "the soul and face are, respectively, inner and outer aspects of human life. They’re linked through a reciprocal relationship. If you change one, the other will change."(8)
There are many undiscovered treasures out there in the world and reading and predicting disease could be just one of them. The importance, however, is not if arthritis, cancer or diabetes is written across your face, the importance is that our bodies do communicate with us and we have to be aware enough to understand it’s message. Our bodies are talking, physiognomy shows us how to listen
Works Cited
Aerni, Fritz. Lehrbuch der Menschenkenntnis Carl Huter Verlag, (2003)
Bach, Hans.D. Erkenne die Zeichen Deines Koerpers. SKN Verlag, Norden, Germany, (2003)
Capra, Fritjof. The Tao of Physics. Shambala, Boston, (1991)
Cousin, Norman. Head First. Penguin Books, New York, (1989)
Myss, Caroline. Anatomy of the Spirit. Three Rivers Press, New York, (1996)
Roach, Paul. Wandering Between Two Worlds: Victorian England’s Search for Meaning, (1999)
Tepperwein, Kurt. Die Botschaft Deines Koerpers. MVG Verlag, Germany, (2004)
Could you imagine walking into a practitioner’s office and having, instead a whole list of symptoms to discuss, your body scanned for any predicting signs of disease by the trained eye of the practitioner? He or she would examine your face, compare your face with earlier pictures of you, have a conversation with you and then give you a prediction that your body tells her that you are, for example, predisposed to developing arthritis. Together you would work out a prophylaxis, you pay, follow the plan in preventing arthritis, in this case, and probably never develop arthritis or only a mild case of it. The health care system, as we know it, would be turned up side down.
The practitioner in our above case is a physiognomist, practicing physiognomy. Physiognomy is the art and science of predicting a persons health and character according to his/her physical appearance, with an emphasis on the face. Physiognomy is of great antiquity, practiced by the ancient Chinese, and is still used widely today in Chinese Medicine. The earliest know systemic treatise on physiognomy is attributed to Aristotle, who wrote about the connection between physical appearance and character and illness in human beings. Physiognomy was also widely used by the Greeks. The Greeks saw a human being’s mind and body as being inseparable. A separation between a being and it’s expression was unthinkable. The Greeks used their knowledge on physiognomy in their physical representation of their Gods. Two of mythology’s most famous Goddesses Medusa and Aphrodite exemplify how physical appearance exude personality of the subject. Physiognomy played a big part in the physical creation of statues in the Greek and Roman time. Without their understanding of which features represent specific mental characteristics, the statues would not have the symbolic meaning they hold today.
"While the earlier classical physiognomy was chiefly descriptive, the later medieval studies particularly developed the predictive and astrological side, the treatise often digressing into prophetic folklore and magic."(Britannica) With the arrival of medieval times physiognomy lost its popularity and it became depraved.
During the 1800s the science was picked up again by a prominent theologian Johann Caspar Lavater, and two medical doctors Franz Joseph Gall and Carl Gustav Carus.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Lavater studied philosophy and theology. As a priest Lavater incorporated his passion for physiognomy into his sermons. An extraordinary observer human character combined with the loving way he treated people, Lavater became famous for his talent. However like with anyone else who discovered a new science Lavater was also a victim of mockery and disparagement. He is the most famous for his portrayal of the harmony between physiognomic and psychiatric. He proclaimed that beauty reveals a stable mental stage whereas ugliness uncovered mental instability or lunacy. In is book Essays of Physiognomy he also set down his principles concerning the shape of the human face and head. The "form, height, arching, proportion, obliquity and position of the skull, or bone of the forehead show the propensity, degree of power, thought, and sensibility of the man, " wrote Lavater. (Roach 81) Lavater laid down the foundation of physiognomy and was an early contributor to the science of human psychology in conclusion with physiology. Interestingly his work also had great meaning to the art society, which used his studies on face and character in portraits and caricatures. He lectured on the human face in such a convincing way that people during that time went out on the streets wearing masks, to avoid revealing so much about themselves. To this day we use physiognomy on some basic level. The cliché "you never have a second chance to make a first impression" reminds us how much we, collectively as a society, place importance on our physical appearance. Every time we meet someone new their face reveals vital information. To the untrained eye this information can form positive or negative stereotypes or prejudices. A page out of Lavater’s essays, included below, exemplifies and describes how certain facial structures contribute to creating our first impression.
"A page from Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy:
Fig. 1. An original countenance that will speak sensibility, timidity, perspicuity, wit, and imagination. Not to be numbered among the strong, bold, unshaken, and enterprising; but very considerate, cautious to timidity.
Fig. 2. A man of business. Undoubtedly possessed of talents, punctual honest, love of order, and deliberation. An acute inspector of men; a calm, dry, determined judge. To the middle of the mouth is an advancing trait, which speaks superiority in common affairs.
Fig. 3. A good head-Cannot be mistaken, not even in shade. Conceal the under part and Leave only the nose and forehead visible and signs of attention, love of order and certainty are apparent. The forehead, altogether, is too perpendicular for a productive, mind.
Fig. 4. The forehead is not so entirely exact and pure as to discover the whole capacity of his understanding. The harmony of the whole, especially the nose, mouth, and chin, denote a mind of extraordinary observation, research, and analysis.
Fig. 5. A noble forehead, a miracle of purity, the love of order, I might say, the love of light. Such the nose, such is all.
Fig. 6. Much is to be learnt from this shade. Takes little, gives much; this is particularly conspicuous in the too round outline of the lips, which is most defective. The most delicate lines have either not been remarked, or cut away. The upper part of the forehead is, also, something curtailed; otherwise this countenance is refined, discreet, capable of talents, taste, wit, and morals". (Aerni 58)
Lavater was a protégé of Franz Joseph Gall in the science of physiognomy, Gall however, concentrated more on the skull rather that the facial structure. After becoming a medical doctor, he specialized in brain anatomy and created the science of phrenology, meaning literally "a system analyzing character from the shape of the skull". (Webster 464) Gall was the first to discover that the brain was the center organ of the emotional human being. He also was the first to recognize white and gray brain matter and even today his work is the foundation of the science of neurology. Despite his medical breakthroughs, his main passion was to predict human characteristics from the shape of his skull, specifically with criminals.
Another pioneer in the science of physiognomy was Cesare Lombroso, who studied to become a medial doctor in Wien, Austria. He was influenced by the works of Lavater and Gall and specialized his studies in psychiatry. He discovered, using statistical analysis, that criminals, showed their characteristics in abnormal physiological form. For example, he discovered that criminals with multiple charges had asymmetric faces, noting a strong disproportion in their facial features. Because facial features are inherent he concluded that criminal tendencies must also be inherent, at least to the extend that the person’s inborn tendencies were allowed to develop. (Aerni 110)
The science of physiognomy is a great advocate of the concept of a united mind and body system. Unfortunately with the advent of surgery and modern medicine the connection between mind and body lost to it’s prominence. Surgery and allopathic medicine’s successes eliminating illness de-emphasized the importance of the mind and body connection.
Not only in medicine did a separation of body and mind occur but also in physics. " The world view which was changed by the discoveries of modern physics had been based on Newton’s mechanical model of the universe" (Capra 55). Newton saw matter as a construction of small, solid and indestructible particles, which remained always identical in their mass and shape. Matter therefore was always conserved and essentially passive. That view changed with the discovery of the electric and magnetic phenomena, which could not be described accordingly with the Newton’ laws, it is a new kind of force. This new force chanced the perception of physical reality and eventually lead to the introduction of Albert Einstein’s quantum theory. The atom was discovered and it was found that the center of the atom is "far from being the hard and solid particles they were believed to be since antiquity, the atoms turned out to consist of vast regions of space in which extremely small particles - the electron - moved around a nucleus, bound to it by electric forces".(Capra 65) With that came the conclusion that everything is made up of energy. Energy oscillates and forms all matter, table, metals, trees and living beings.
Our bodies are made up of energy particles, and how we live, what we eat, what we think all affect our physical appearance. The cliché "you are what you eat" should also include "you are what you think, believe and feel". Physiognomists believe that the way we live marks our bodies. The energy of jealousy shows in the face, the energy of carrying a heavy burden can show in our posture.
A really good example of how our mind affects our bodies is described in Norman Cousin book Head First. He states that" the natural conclusion emerging from placebo research, of course, is that belief affects biology. The response of individuals to the world around them, touching off hopes or fears or joys or despairs or expectations in general, has physical reality"(231). Placebo responses can be so powerful that cancer patients who are told to expect hair loss after chemotherapy but were given a placebo drug, lost their hair just because they expected it. Many contemporary medical researchers believe that bacterial and viral diseases are secondary causes with the primary cause being the state of mind. There are many disfiguring misconceptions about human health. Most people think that disease is primarily caused by a germ, that older people and children are more prone to disease, that the state of mind has little or no effect on the course of the disease and that an illness proceeds in a straight line unless interrupted by outside intervention. This is simply untrue. Because we are beings of energy and everything is interconnected our train of thought alone has an incredible effect on our physiological body. Dr. Carolyn Myss explains in her book Anatomy of the Spirit that "the idea that biography becomes biology implies that we participate to some degree in the creation of illness"(42). For example, thinking degrading thoughts every day for years to come can change the structure of a cell, changing a healthy cell into a cancer cell.
Because our thoughts are changing our bodies on a cellular level, signs of disease are recognizable physiologically before actual symptoms manifest. Dr. Hans D. Bach a famous medical doctor and intuitive and author of the book Erkenne die Zeichen Deines Koerpers declares that all illness begins in the heart, because all emotions are felt in the heart first. A physically compromised heart, depends on the emotions felt and the person feeling it, may also compromise other organs. Dr. Bach describes seeing signs of illness in the swelling of the eyelids, the swelling of the tongue, creases on the earlobe or around the mouth. Lip color gives him information on the circulatory system and the color of the cheeks give him clues to disease such as diabetes. Kurt Tepperwein, another holistic therapeutic practitioner from Germany and author of the book Die Botschaft Deines Koerpers, teaches that certain emotions are stored in our organs and certain conclusions of illness can also be seen in the joints of the fingers.
Physiognomy is used today only by holistic practitioners, face readers and medical intuitives. There is no scientific research to prove a connection between a swollen joint or a wrinkle to a specific disease. However, conventional medicine is recognizing more and more the importance of the body mind connection. It is not uncommon for medical treatment today to include hypnosis, energy healing, color therapy or massage. Only relatively recently has the placebo response been taken seriously and ideas such as holding somebody’s hand during surgery can speed the healing process. The connection between human body with its corresponding energy field are still not completely understood. Cases where cancer patients suddenly are in remission despite any change in medical care are now thought to be explained through the mind body connection.
Rose Rosetree mentions in her book Wrinkles are God’s Make up that "the soul and face are, respectively, inner and outer aspects of human life. They’re linked through a reciprocal relationship. If you change one, the other will change."(8)
There are many undiscovered treasures out there in the world and reading and predicting disease could be just one of them. The importance, however, is not if arthritis, cancer or diabetes is written across your face, the importance is that our bodies do communicate with us and we have to be aware enough to understand it’s message. Our bodies are talking, physiognomy shows us how to listen
Works Cited
Aerni, Fritz. Lehrbuch der Menschenkenntnis Carl Huter Verlag, (2003)
Bach, Hans.D. Erkenne die Zeichen Deines Koerpers. SKN Verlag, Norden, Germany, (2003)
Capra, Fritjof. The Tao of Physics. Shambala, Boston, (1991)
Cousin, Norman. Head First. Penguin Books, New York, (1989)
Myss, Caroline. Anatomy of the Spirit. Three Rivers Press, New York, (1996)
Roach, Paul. Wandering Between Two Worlds: Victorian England’s Search for Meaning, (1999)
Tepperwein, Kurt. Die Botschaft Deines Koerpers. MVG Verlag, Germany, (2004)
1 comment:
whoa thats some typing and some research.
you have to tell me what my face says about me .
i just wrote a big blog about mex and went to send it before haveing a username and lost the lot.
ill post another, anyway take care and ill talk soon .
love unky colly
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