INTRODUCTION

Foundation in the Basics

The practice of face morphology has changed my life. For more than three decades, I have had the distinct privilege of evaluating patients using the ancient, sacred art of face morphology, or face reading, as it is often called. Finding meaning hidden in the body is not new to us. In the 1960s, books on “body language” were all the rage, but as I came to see, body language is an observation of morphology. And as far as I am concerned, morphology falls under the category of sacred geometry, which has very personal meaning to me.

As a child, access to mathematical understanding was always there for me in the form of geometric shapes—and still is today. For example, when I meditate and I see out of my third eye, what I see is a series of triangles, perhaps a portal into different dimensions. A system of triangles was also revealed to me when I studied the body in chiropractic school. The revelation that the pelvis and the sacrum form the base of a triangle that has its apex at the twelfth thoracic vertebra, and that the shoulders contribute a similar downward pointing triangle, has translated into many back pains alleviated.

When I was a student, I simply accepted these images as something that fit my way of thinking. Then one day we were in a class called Logan Basic, and I realized that the triangles I was seeing in my inner eye were also diagrammed in the textbook. What I saw in my mind was there on the page! That is when I understood that what I saw with the inner eye was a known principle of the sacred geometry of the body.

And the geometry of the face takes this one step further. When decoded, it tells us how we interface with the world. You could say that the face is made of geometry, and so morphology is a form of geometry—a tangible sacred geometry. We have a variety of forms of access to divine truths through different portals. Sacred geometry is one of them. It is an Egyptian donation to our culture, and I believe morphology comes to us through a similar portal.

The understanding of faces is ancient. Face morphology derives from the Western spiritual tradition of both the inner image of mental imagery and the outer image of the face. It is passed along in the lineage of Madame Colette Aboulker-Muscat to Dr. Gerald Epstein and on to me and his other students.

Most relevant to us in its written record is the section on face reading in the Kabbalah, the chief text of Jewish mysticism, written by Rabbi Akiva, and the Zohar, which was written by his student, Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai.

The Kabbalah is presented as an allegorical interpretation of the Pentateuch, which composes the first five books of Moses within the written Hebrew Scriptures (which are also known as the Bible). There are two forms of the Bible. One is the written Bible, also known as the Old and New Testaments, and the other is the mystical aspect of the Bible that was only taught in an oral tradition. Dr. Epstein taught that there are more than four hundred references to the face in the Bible.

In the Zohar, it is written that the rabbis looked at the vein patterns on the face and saw letters in Hebrew. From this they understood how the face had an effect on the world and how the world had an effect upon the face. This view of faces, passed from teacher to student since the time of the prophets, is the foundation of the material that follows in this book.

This system of face reading, which is mostly taught in Europe, especially in France, is a Western spiritual tradition, and was passed from teacher to student as the major diagnostic system until the middle of the fifteenth century. Complexio, a medical practice that included face morphology as the diagnostic component and mental imagery as the treatment, was practiced during the late Middle Ages up through the mid-Renaissance. While complexio was disbanded and the modern practice of medicine changed, French medical schools still have morphological classes in their anatomy and surgical curricula to determine the appropriateness of plastic surgery in each individual case. Even in the French business world, there is an understanding of face morphology.

Other cultures have their own approaches. The Chinese look at the patient’s face to understand the physiology within. The Ayurvedic and Russian systems often look at body types. The Italians understand diagnosing through the face and represent archetypes in their art. As Dr. Epstein taught, the Hermetic and Greek traditions are rooted in the belief that “your fulfillment lies in living out what your face shows. Hence, the Greek’s use of exquisite sculptures of the gods and goddesses (imitated in the Roman pantheon) to remind the populace of their likenesses to those prototypical beings, each of whom bore essential characteristics to be lived out by human beings bearing the similar-looking face.”

While each culture tends to have a primary morphological type, in today’s homogenized world, it no longer always fits. As we can see in the United States and elsewhere, many morphological types have mated to create mixtures that are not as easily recognized. We must adapt our morphological reading now to compensate for this evolution.

The system of face morphology I use in this book is based on the Caucasian race. I was taught that this system is specific to Caucasian features and that we are unable to use it to read the features of other races. However, there are so many other morphological traits, other than the specific features, that can be read considering the profile and the front-face, that I believe that much of this Caucasian system can be used in all races. I also believe that ethnic differences, which ultimately arise because of different climate-influenced survival adaptations, can be interpreted. For many years, I have been reading the faces of people who come from other cultures, and it has proven effective. For this reason, it is my strong opinion that we can identify inherited feature attributes within race adaptations.

For example, in Caucasian faces, eyes indicate many things based on attributes such as size, color, shape, slant, and positioning. These variations clearly speak to variations in temperament, personality, and health. This might bring one to think that, for example, almond-shaped Asian eyes would have the same interpretation as almond-shaped Caucasian eyes, but this is not so. There are, however, many other features of the Asian face that can be interpreted and fit into the Caucasian system. I believe that with practice, we can interpret the slight variations within other races and read the face as accurately as we can with Caucasians.

The Art of Face Morphology

You may be wondering at this point how face morphology can be used to help us in our everyday lives. My mentor, Dr. Gerald Epstein, provides an answer: “Morphology is the key that allows you entry into a whole world of informational knowledge about yourself and others.” When you enter this morphological perspective, you can discover a whole host of useful understandings, including your natural characteristics; your optimal career; the kind of partner that is most compatible with your type; the diet, exercise, vitamins, and minerals that are best for you; and where you would be most comfortable living. You can even gain insight into the best ways to raise your child based on your child’s morphology. In addition, you will become aware of the best ways to prevent illness and maintain health for yourself based on your own morphology.

When exploring what is normal and natural for you, it is important to note that in face morphology there are no categories aimed at pigeon-holing you or designating you as abnormal or suffering from pathology. Face morphology doesn’t classify or compare you to a supposed norm; it is purely descriptive and has no preferences, judgments, or prejudices. You simply are what your face reveals.

Even though we are all made in the image and likeness of our Source, we recognize our differences. Removing all value judgments and knowing that no one can really be better than another, we can only be different by our faces. This was a great revelation to me, when Dr. Epstein pointed out that “We are not different from each other in kind, as the authoritarian institutions would have us believe, making some people automatically better than others beneath them. Rather we are different simply by what our faces show. We are different from each other in degree at the least, and just plain different by face alone.”

Dr. Epstein continually reiterated that there was no comparison of one individual to another. This is a compassionate, descriptive science and art with no biases built into it. The next level of that is that since there are no standards or ideals, the burden of guilt feelings and anxiety is lifted, giving the person an immediate sense of relief and freedom.

Given these benefits, it is easy to see the great impact face morphology can have on self-healing. In addition, for a healing practitioner with training in face morphology, by accurately interpreting what is shown on a patient’s face, he or she can better understand what might be causing a particular ailment or issue and then help to alleviate it. As Dr. Epstein put it: “With [face morphology] we get to the heart of the matter clinically in short order. We don’t waste time. Instead, we give the sufferer what his or her face shows us is needed. Beneficial shifts begin taking place immediately.”

What’s in a Face?

I have come to accept the belief that the soul is eternal, and it is each soul’s choice to incarnate. In so doing, the soul chooses its parents to get the best blueprint of the face. The belief that the soul is eternal also entails the understanding that by choosing the faces of the parents, one chooses one’s own path, inclinations, tendencies, and personality. The face is the representation of the DNA sequencing of each human being. While each face is unique, it contains a collection of inherited ancestral tendencies, and it is through these tendencies, passed along from antiquity, that men and women live their days here on Earth. In every moment we have the opportunity to have earthly experiences that either enrich or deny our familial predispositions.

It is stated in Deuteronomy that the errors of the ancestors are carried to the fourth generation and that a blessing can reverse those errors by moral action. So we can literally bless ourselves and our ancestors and progeny by correcting familial errors, inclinations, and tendencies through our actions in life.

For example, let us say that a child has an ancestral tendency toward theft but is educated morally and learns that it is incorrect to steal. Every time the impulse is thwarted, there is a blessing. Through this understanding we can begin to find the hidden blessings in even our greatest challenges. God put within us a plan to enlighten our being and enrich our soul while making a journey through this college called Earth.

In the ancient sacred art of face morphology, we understand that there is the law of reciprocity. This law states that the face, as expressed on the outside, literally reflects what is happening on the inside, and that what is happening on the inside also reflects what is on the face. For instance, when viewing the face of someone who is bitter, you will observe a frown. And conversely, if someone holds their face in a frown, it will create an inner state of bitterness. Similarly, a happy person will exhibit a mild smile even when the face is relaxed, and by lifting the edges of the mouth into a smile with the fingers, a depressed person can cultivate an inner state of happiness.

These observations are not limited to mood and emotions. For example, if a person is missing the lateral third of the eyebrow, it means that the person has a thyroid condition. (I will explain the three parts of the eyebrow in a later section.) And conversely, by removing the lateral third of the eyebrow, a person will disturb their otherwise normal thyroid functions.

What these examples show us is of great significance in the practical application of face morphology. They highlight the fact that just as a person’s external behavior interfaces with the world, so does the face. As the person reacts to the world, the front-face changes; as the front-face changes, the internal physiology reacts.

Infants, who have not yet been exposed to the world, have a fresh opportunity to have all of their experiences, social interactions, climate effects, and moral suggestions impregnated onto their front-face. There is a deep lesson here for parents. According to Dr. Epstein, infants, at the time of birth, have 95 percent of their qualities in place. We can see during their lifetime that their face reveals an unfolding of all their traits and their morphological inclinations—in other words, their fixed traits emerge.^*1 For example, if a Lymphatic child is sprayed with cold water from a hose or lawn sprinkler on a hot summer day, she will most likely giggle with delight and record that as a fun and happy experience. The same aged Nervous child might run away crying and record that as a trauma. These experiences will influence the face in completely different ways according to the underlying temperament that has been set in place from birth. Unfortunately, parents often try to raise their children from a general psychological point of view without regard for the specifics of each child’s type.

The fact is, there has never before been, nor will there ever be, another face like yours. Your face is unique and incomparable. It reflects your direction in life and points to your individual way of fulfillment. Dr. Epstein also pointed out that the Talmud, two thousand years ago, expressed that there are as many paths as there are faces. Every face is unique and each person’s path is unique. There are no standards and ideals that are the basis for any individual face. That is why face reading is such a compassionate act. It brings an understanding of all the qualities with which one is born, and it removes all the guilt feelings regarding the presumed impact of social, logical, and psychological standards and ideals. What is more, each morphological type has its own proclivity toward eating, mating, and health, and each type is honored for its unique qualities.

Face morphology also assists us in making unbiased and useful observations of the changes in loved ones, family members, and friends. Many of us come to such learning intuitively. We do it all the time whenever we gaze into the eyes of another. For instance, when a parent looks into the eyes of his or her own newborn baby, there is an instant yoking, perhaps even a soul bonding. When infants look into the eyes of their parents, again there is an instantaneous yoking. When we encounter someone ominous, the opposite occurs just as naturally. One can actually feel a sense of repulsion or distaste when gazing at a face that feels threatening.

As the Bible states, we have been made in the likeness and image of our Creator. We look to the Creator as a parent, and our Creator has given us human counterparts that are also made in God’s likeness and image. Therefore, we yoke ourselves to our human counterparts as an indirect pathway to the Divine. In daily life, we act instinctively in response to how we perceive the faces we encounter. In fact, this innate facial recognition is mapped in the brain by neuroscientists.

The Practice of Face Morphology

Because this practice is a sacred art, care must be given when reading an individual. It is important to get the permission of the individual before reading and reporting what you see in his or her morphology. During the course of my practice I’ve received permission from the majority of my patients to read their faces, usually as part of my initial examination. Here is a surprising example from the very early days in my face morphology career.

A Surprising Revelation

One day a new patient walked into my office. I greeted her and brought her in for an examination. I asked her for permission to read her face, since it would help me to understand her problem. I also explained to her a little bit about face morphology. She heartily gave me permission to read her face, which most patients do, since everyone is interested in learning about themselves. Within a few minutes this is what came blurting out of my mouth: “Who did you murder?” I had taken a leap in trusting what her face was telling me, but I did not expect the answer that she gave. She said, “My husband.” And of course, as I could see that she was in my office and not in prison, the judge had obviously deemed it to be self-defense.

From that point forward, I began to see the rich efficacy of face reading. I’ve experienced countless other revelations with patients over the years that have allowed me to help them deepen their understanding of themselves.

Here is an example of my reading of a woman from another culture.

Persian Royalty

I had a patient who I knew right away had to be Persian, even though her family is from another area. She is also married to someone from a different country. But when I looked at her and asked her if she was Persian, she said, “Yes.” I went a step further and asked, “Are you Persian royalty?” and she said, “Yes.” It was in the morphology of her nose and actually in her feet. Her second toe was elongated, which is a morphological characteristic of Persian royalty and is also pharaonic (pertaining to a pharaoh).

In moments like these, I feel so honored to be able to converse with people and deepen my understanding as well as their self-awareness. I think it changes the nature of the visit. When patients feel acknowledged, they can feel the freedom to reveal themselves. Face morphology helps us know ourselves on a deeper level, which opens us to a direct relationship with God and the beautiful exchange that goes with that. To paraphrase several traditions, one might say, “To know God is to know thyself, and to know thyself is to know God.”

What a wonderful opportunity we have to know ourselves through the ancient, sacred art of face morphology. And since repetition has proven to be the best way to learn, the art, science, and philosophy of face morphology will be presented in different contexts throughout this book.

About This Book

In this book, I often refer to the faces of famous people as examples. Since they have put themselves in the public eye, they have in effect given us permission to look at them, and by doing so, we can see and learn from faces that are common in our experience. Please note that we are in no way diagnosing or attributing any emotional or personality characteristics to these people; we are only looking at them for examples of geometric shapes and pointing out features for ease of recognition.

It is also important to note that some of the statements in this book may seem bold or strong by assigning a certain (sometimes challenging) characteristic to a certain face or feature. I want to take a moment to address this as an umbrella statement to cover this issue across the board, in this whole book. It is my aim to present this material in a manner that is true to the way it was taught to me, and so I pass along to you the clarity and definitiveness of this system. As you read this, please be aware that while a certain aspect of the face might indicate brutality, or some other extremely unwanted characteristic of the personality, these aspects are often tempered by other compensating morphological characteristics in the same face. Also, intelligence shows up in many different ways on the face, so please be aware that if I describe a certain aspect of a feature as a sign of more or less intelligence, there may be other aspects of that same face that counterbalance or enhance that aspect.

Part of the art of being a true morphologist is in compassionately reading all the relationships, interactions, and levels of meaning in the face—what you might even think of as the chemistry of the face. Each face presents a complex set of checks and balances that, interestingly enough, we aim to read quickly and intuitively—a paradox perhaps, but this is where the mastery comes in. So please understand as you read this book that each seemingly bold statement you may encounter here is one piece of the puzzle and must be considered within the context of the whole for the benefit and self-revelation of the person whose soul chose that face for this lifetime.

Also be aware that any of the gender-specific gestures that are noted in this book can be applicable to all genders. The language and examples presented were taught to me from a time when gender stereotypes were more prevalent.

This book is organized in a way that moves from general to specific. We begin with an introduction to the four temperaments: Bilious, Nervous, Sanguine, and Lymphatic. The view that there are four temperaments comes from the Old Testament. Ezekiel was a prophet who was shown a vision of a chariot. The chariot had four posts, and each post had the faces of four creatures—a lion, an eagle, an ox, and an angel. Each creature represents a temperament: the angel (also known as angel/man) represents the Bilious, the eagle represents the Nervous, the lion represents the Sanguine, and the ox represents the Lymphatic. These terms may sound odd to you, but they soon will become familiar.

I believe it is also worth noting that in the Western spiritual life, four has the meaning of construction, that is, of coming into being. In Hebrew, four letters (one is repeated)—yod, hay, vav, and hay—form the tetragrammaton, which represents the creation of man. Then there are the four flows of rivers—the Gihon, Euphrates, Tigris, and Pishon—which in Israel represent the movement of human life from its source.

We also see the number four in the apostles—the French call them archangels—of the New Testament: Matthew is the man or angel in human form and is Bilious, John is the eagle and Nervous, Mark is the lion and Sanguine, and Luke is the ox and Lymphatic.

All these sets of fours are in a sense the same fours. We shall continue to see them as we advance in our journey into face morphology. As our study progresses, the four temperaments will be visited again and again as we include more details about each one.