A well-known, mainly crossword-oriented publishing house has published two nice publications a short time ago. The first one is dedicated to chiromathy, or reading by hand, and the second one is for the youngest readers, or rather their mothers and grandmothers, who will prepare beautiful moments for their children while looking through them with their offspring. Both publications are very successful not only in terms of content but also in terms of graphics and deserve our attention.
Life in the palm of your hand
Gone are the days when no pilgrimage was without gypsies guessing the future from the hands of those interested. But we don't have to hang our heads, there are very popular astro-weekends or other astro-fairs, regularly held not only in Prague, but in many other larger cities. One of the attractions are performances or personal consultations with people dedicated to palmistry.
As is well known, the ancient Babylonians tried to understand what we have written there. This was the beginning of the field we know today as chiromancy. Among the most sought-after experts in this field in the country is the architect and art historian Marin Dobrev. He has been in this field for literally half a century. He has summarized his experience in a book of compelling content, in sixty stories, short stories from practice. Many of them are illustrated to the benefit of the subject, so that the reader can better penetrate to the essence of the meaning of the life lines themselves. The author doesn't make things up, he doesn't fictionalize, and his first-person narrative is all the more powerful for that, until even the so called non-believer Thomas reflects on TOM there really isn't something. The book's extraordinary interest belongs to the author's explanatory preface, including an afterword from which we quote a few lines: "...the literature on chiromathy has so far been rather textbook-like, giving only inspirational examples in the text. This book is based on life, and chiromancy is a kind of leitmotif that ties my stories together and fundamentally illustrates itself. But even situational drawings cannot be an exhaustive guide. Remember, dear reader, that the assessment is always of a more comprehensive calibre, and that what has been pointed out represents only the most important things I have experienced in my practice, and might serve to demonstrate an understanding of certain chiromatic practices..."
The content of the stories is always suggested by the title. For a taste, we pick a few at random: Predictions from the Less Pleasant Side, Via lascivia, The Ideal Harvest, The Artist's Child Soul or perhaps Fate is Still Shrouded in Mystery or The Main Furrow with Fateful Meaning.
Finally, we will not forgive one pearl. Marin Dobrev, at whose table at astro-weekends across the country there are queues of people interested in a personal consultation, once read from the hand of the long-time German Chancellor Merkel herself. But she was still a lady studying in Prague. Dobrev says he will never forget her visit, for he has never seen such a striking capacity for a guaranteed high career in the hands of any woman. She had a very strong groove of destiny, which did not end normally under the middle finger, but under the ring finger, where social success goes. When Merkel began to advance her career in Germany, and became a well-known and prominent politician, it did not surprise Marian Dobrev at all...
A gift that won't disappoint
It is the second book title of the Agrofin publishing house, which we hereby present to our esteemed readers. The content of the publication for the little ones is already evident from the beautiful, attractive cover of the hardcover book. The main theme is the story of a real horse - Nikoušek's hobby.
In her book, author Lucie Frantová opens up the world of horses, their breeds and their connection with the world of humans, which we have inhabited together for millennia, in a pleasant narrative way. The horse Nikoušek tells and tells, and in the moments when he pauses to drink, young readers or their readers are given a series of lessons in the form of a rubric You know that...enlivened by a series of nursery rhymes and Lessons learned.
For example, the children will learn that horses can have tummy aches, what a vet or a shoer does and that work can be fun for horses. The beautifully printed book is enriched with charming pictures, also from the creative workshop of Lucie Frintová, and at the very end it is supplemented with illustrative photographs of horses in the pasture and under saddle, as well as a "workbook" of colouring and cutting out pages.
Read more here.
It remains to add that both titles will be presented at the traditional Prague Spring Book Fair 2025, which is slowly knocking on our door.
Ivan Cerny
PHOTO - Agrofin archive
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