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There are many avenues to the soul, doorways on the self, gates to being. The hands are the front and back door to the house within which each of us dwells. The front of the house, the right hand, faces the street and presents who and what we are to the world. The back door, the left hand, is the private entrance to who we are.

Much artistry and practice is required to enter these doors or to read them for clues or information about the house itself. But frequently, more often than not, there are signs on the doors or decorations that herald the people who live behind them.

In Hinduism the deity of the portal is Ganesha, the first-born elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha is the god of Progress, the Remover of Obstacles and the host of New Beginnings. It was Shiva's own error that gave his son an elephant's head. Parvati, at the bath, had fashioned a beautiful young boy out of the rubbings from her own body and instructed him to admit no one while she was bathing. The young boy denied entrance to his own father Shiva who had returned abruptly.

Parvati, in a rage, discovered what happened and Shiva, unwilling to take any life, placed the head of a dying elephant upon the boy and made him "first among the ganas." Now, any self-respecting Hindu, invokes Ganesha at the outset of any new endeavor to ensure its success. Enter a Hindu business and you will see an image of Ganesha above or near the door.

When you exit a door, you are about to begin a new endeavor, a new day. Thus, Ganesha is the deity of doorways and will precede any new effort, at the top of a webpage or the frontispiece of a book, for any self-respecting Hindu. And, not surprisingly, there are more images in lithographs or murti (sculptures or idols) of Ganesha than any other deity in the Hindu pantheon.

The way that Ganesha holds his hands in these many images is quite telling. His right hand, the front door, is generally held up, palm facing out, as if to say "Peace." It's a gesture of strength and reassurance.

Ganesha's left hand will frequently hold a broken tusk, a symbol for the scribe or writer. Ganesha is also the deity of Writing. The left hand is also frequently shown holding a lotus flower or a ball of sweet rice. The left hand of Ganesha generally holds symbols which reflect the introspective and interior self quite often involved with joy, pleasure and the arts.

In the instances where Ganesha is shown with more than two hands, sometimes four, as many as six, the right hands may be shown with an axe or goad. These are active symbols of the ways in which Ganesha can cut through worldly problems or goad "stuck situations" to change, just as a goad is used to make cattle move along in a road or field. Intention, volition and action are necessary to move effectively in the world of matter.

The lines and the mounts on the dominant right hand, as the front door, are an up-to-date report on our worldly efforts. The Life Line shows health and strength of personality, the Head Line our intellectual growth and the Heart Line our progress in love. If all these lines are longer and cut deeper in the dominant right hand than the passive left hand, then great growth and progress is shown.

The passive left hand, as the back door to the self, shows the innate temperament, our personal gifts and the private self. If the Love Line, for example, is longer and deeper in the left hand than the right, then one is not making sufficient efforts at the labors of love, not fulfilling love's capacity to its fullest. If the Head line in the left hand is longer and deeper cut than the right hand, one needs to make more intellectual progress and undertake more efforts at learning and growing.

The placement on the hands of the Life, Head and Heart lines going up the palm successively reflects the three worlds of matter, mind and spirit. By comparing the nature of these three worlds shown on the public face of the outer door of the right hand to the private face of the inner door of the left hand, one is prepared to enter the house of the self. The differences between the front door and the back door will reveal much about the person who dwells within the house.

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