However, there are also some of us who are interested in the "hard" science that explains observable correlations between the construction and movement of the human hand and human behavior. For many of us, it absolutely goes beyond superstition and vitalism. It's not so much about observing what we can't explain and then just making stuff up, but about trying to explain what we observe by seeking observable patterns. As scientists (amateur or otherwise), some of us do this – yes, even in the study of (gasp!) palmistry – by running carefully controlled experiments and recording further observations. Remember that more of the cerebral cortex goes to sensory and motor functions in the hand than to any other part of the body. Those are a lot of brain-hand connections.

Most palm readers and "fortune tellers" out there don't know much more about what they're doing than what they've read in the Idiot's Guide, and it would be idiotic to give your money to such a person who claims to be an expert, just as it would to give money to a physician who learned to diagnose illnesses from reading Men's Health. There are a number of serious palmists who will tell you that there is no "fortune telling" involved in palmistry at all. For example, the "life line," also known technically as the "radial longitudinal crease," is indeed an indicator of physical health, but it cannot and should never be used to predict the duration of someone's life. To do so would not only be ridiculous, but unethical. It, and other characteristics of the hand, do correlate to certain predispositions, however, relating to both physical health and behavior. Because of this, a serious palmist can consider a subject's future just as a geneticist, psychologist, or anthropologist can, but can't predict when (or even if) that person is going to win the lottery or divorce his wife.

Try looking through a palmistry book and replacing all the silly sounding terms ("Jupiter finger, Mount of Luna, Line of Apollo") with more sophisticated sounding, less hokey terminology. Then try reading some of the hard to find works on dermatoglyphics, palmar creases and genetics, and body language. We no longer live in the middle ages, and while some people may still cling to the mystique of times long gone, those of us who wish to move science forward don't have to be hindered by the stigma that they perpetuate.

All true, I think you’re right. I was just wondering what role a relaxing of traditional religious values may have played in that transition. I mean, go back to any point in the 19th century, and most people would have treated the idea of Ouija Boards and Palm Reading as satanism, and not to be entertained. Then you get to the mid-20th century when only satanism is regarded as satanism. And now you you get to us, where satanism is regarded as a quaint marketing tool for washed up musicians.

So the question is: is the decline in one in some way tied to the decline of the other, or are they paralell but unrelated trends? Did Nurse Romances go out of fashion because they were stilted and boring and no longer accurately reflect the lifestyles of most women, or did they go out of fashion because it suddenly became easier to get porn? That kind of thing.

I honestly don’t know. I’m just asking.

From what I can tell, it was mostly a kind of “seems like fun – bring out the ouija board – wouldn’t it be a kick if something actually happened?” kind of playing by people who didn’t have television and wanted some sort of “new” diversion. There was a rising middle class with more leisure time than before. They were curious and bored probably.

Unfortunately, the poor people who have been victimized by fortune tellers and “mediums” will always be with us because they WANT to believe. In fashion or out, there will always be a market for hooey.

This was a funny article, by the way. I very much enjoyed the description of the booth as seeming as though it was owned by a drag queen martial arts master with a first grade reading level (what a picture!). I’ve been interested in Egyptology since I was a small child, and I’d never heard about that use of crocodile feces – so thanks for that (I think).

Heinlein assumes it was our educational system that held this crap in check, and it’s decline caused it’s resurgence, but the truth is: We’re Americans. We’ve never been all that well educated.

I wonder if, perhaps, it was our rampant puritanism that held it down? (Because, again, though we’ve never held much for book learnin’ as a people, we definitely were into puritanism for a long time) Once puritanism broke down, that perhaps backed up the old spiritual drain and let this stuff flood the bathrooms of our souls?