Discover the intriguing world of graphology, where your penmanship unveils more than just words. Certified graphologist Caro Duncan sheds light on how this ancient method offers a unique map to self-exploration, revealing insights into intellect, emotions and even subconscious drives.
Did you know that your handwriting conveys more than just your words? Penmanship can reveal aspects of your personality, offering inky insights into your education, dream career, perfect companion and much more.
So, what does your handwriting say about you? According to certified graphologist Caro Duncan, handwriting analysis is one of the oldest methods used to understand a personality. Duncan was drawn to study graphology decades ago when she noticed her students’ writing spoke volumes about their characters. Script can convey personality, intellect, cognitive thinking approach, attachment style, vitality, sexuality and unconscious drives. It presents a map to self-exploration and, unlike psychoanalysis, graphology is a system that provides an unbiased view via written forms, space and movement.
Graphology (also known as graphoanalysis) has been applied to compatibility assessment, criminology, forensics, genealogy, historical study, psychology, recruitment and self-awareness techniques. Handwriting analysis can even paint a picture of departed ancestors for those wanting to know more about their lineage.
Modern graphology blossomed in Bologna, Italy, where the first book on the subject was written in 1622 by physician Camillo Baldi. It soon spread to France where the term graphology was coined by Abbé Jean-Hippolyte Michon in the late 19th century. Writings of Jacques- Hippolyte Michon (France) and Ludwig Klages (Germany) gave graphology a stalwart following. Today, the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation and British Institute of Graphologists offer reputable research and courses in handwriting analysis and therapy.
Handwriting heroes
Great thinkers who held graphology in high esteem include Aristotle, Hippocrates, Anton Chekhov, Charles Dickens, Michelangelo, Sigmund Freud and William Shakespeare, who apparently claimed, “Give me the handwriting of a woman and I will tell you her character.”
Writing wrongs
Though graphology is often maligned as a pseudoscience, many studies support its efficacy. One study published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine titled “Handprints of the Mind”, called graphology a “Useful tool to assess personality traits in children and to use handwriting as remedial therapy to promote positive traits.”
Graphotherapy, a branch of graphology, identifies behavioural and emotional issues by analysing handwriting and adjusts writing style to address them. For instance, ADHD children often exhibit challenges such as disorganised written material, inconsistent lettering and slow writing speed, according to a 2019 study led by paediatric neurologist Dr Rony Cohen. Enhancing the handwriting of children with ADHD may lead to improvements in cognition and concentration.
Unfortunately, the decline in handwriting skills due to technology has a detrimental impact on children’s development, as warned by The Campaign for Cursive®, a committee of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation. They emphasise the importance of cursive handwriting for enhancing reading accuracy, fostering individual expression, aiding language acquisition, improving memory, refining spelling, and enhancing cognitive processes. Encouraging activities such as journaling, list-making and writing notes can help integrate more handwriting into children’s routines.
Brainwriting
“The engine behind our handwriting is not our hand but our brain’s central nervous system, which provides a direct link to our subconscious self, our stored experiences and acquired attitudes,” The British Academy of Graphology.
The brain fires neural pathways that create writing. Tweaking our writing style triggers neural feedback that moulds the mind along the lines of neuroplasticity. Our writing is a snapshot of our subconscious and as such changes in our handwriting indicate deep shifts.
According to Duncan, our handwriting is the manifestation of our entire life experiences, and “as unique as our fingerprints”. She adds: “When we write, it is as if everything that ever happened to us comes together and travels down the nerves from our brains and out onto the paper revealing how we think, feel and behave now.”
Two types
Over time, two distinct schools of graphology developed — the Trait Stroke method and Gestalt Graphology. Though these systems have correlations and crossovers, they are separate camps.
The Trait Stroke method mastered by Abbé Jean Hippolyte Michon is based on the characteristics of each letter and connections that indicate an individual’s nature. Gestalt Graphology, emerging in Germany around 1895, is a holistic approach to analysing writing style that takes into account psychotherapeutic paradigms such as the id, ego and superego. It considers hundreds of factors including movement across the page and patterns as personality indicators. Gestalt graphologists may chart a “psychogram” to graphically illustrate a subject’s state. This is very helpful for the subject to visually comprehend their patterns and track progress in consecutive sessions. Many graphologists apply a combined approach of Gestalt and Traits for an accurate analysis.
The writings on the wall
For centuries, people have linked personality traits with handwriting. Duncan shares an ancient caution from Confucius, dating back to around 500 BC, advising to “beware of a man whose writing sways like a reed in the wind”. This suggests that if letters exhibit varying slants, the writer might be emotionally confused and unreliable. Remarkably, handwriting analysis can be achieved accurately without even meeting the subject.
British graphologist Emma Bache was asked by CGTN Europe to analyse a piece of anonymous handwriting. She remarked: “Emotionally, they’re all over the shop and quite moody and quite unstable. I’d say the T bars are exceptionally long. So, there’s a determination there which I would say would spill over into aggression.” The author turned out to be the infamous psychopath Charles Manson.
Graphology is sometimes employed by investigators to gather more information about a suspect. In 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Holmes deduces: “If one observes the overall slant and the pressure of the writing, there’s suggestion of acute narcissism, a complete lack of empathy, and a pronounced inclination toward … moral insanity.” Many judicial systems recognise graphology including in India, where under Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, it asserts that handwriting analysis is admissible evidence in court.
Graphology session
With a healthy dose of scepticism, I sent two pages of my handwriting to graphologist Caro Duncan. I hardly write by hand anymore and when I do, the style varies greatly. Duncan asked me to write her a “general letter” and sign it. She knew nothing about me except that I was writing this article. After Duncan had a chance to scrutinise my scrawl, we met to discuss. During the session, Duncan accurately and empathetically explained my inner nature and my external façade. I was astonished at how writing could convey such a sharp psychic photo of my character.
Duncan advised me to protect my sensitive side as my writing had rare hearts in it, similar to Mother Theresa’s. Using a magnifying glass, Duncan illustrated how she deduced so many details. “Try to straighten the slant of your handwriting to be less sensitive and more self-assured,” Duncan advised. She also mentioned bigger loops in my lowercase gs would invite more abundance.
Compelled to show her a teenager’s writing who is close to me, I was moved to tears at her impressions. “She’s a bit lost and tense, she feels she doesn’t fit in and is suffering mild depression,” Duncan says. “See how the sentences slope down? There’s anger and frustration there, too … note the upward ticks at the end of letters? Encourage her to loosen up with liberating activities like dance.” She was spot-on and delicate in her delivery, sharing her insights with a clear benevolent desire to help. “It’s incredible what you glean from handwriting, I used it to guide both my sons’ education and career for the best outcomes,” she says.
Celebrity autographs
“The conscious writing is an unconscious drawing, sign and portrait of oneself,” graphology expert Max Pulver.
The writing of well-known figures is often consistent with their character. Vincent Van Gogh wrote with a distant personal pronoun “I”, mirroring his sense of isolation. Picasso’s writing shows a raw verve. Hitler’s small handwriting shows focus with slashes for dots that reflect anger and ts like domineering crosses. Joan Collins’ signature sweeping strokes and swooping loops say: “Ta da … here I am!”
Oprah Winfrey’s dynamic signature screams self-confidence through the large capitals with the sharp r and n indicating a sharp intellect.
Soul script
Handwriting is a window to one’s world. The curves, loops, lines and dots offer an outer view to an inner world, conveying a clear snapshot of the subject’s subconscious thoughts, feelings and behaviour at the time. We can read a person’s psyche through the writing size, slant, style, spacing, pressure and movement.
Bear in mind these are only tendencies and not always applicable in the context of an overall handwriting pattern. A consultation with a certified graphologist can offer more specific analysis. There is also a free introductory guide to graphology plus complementary rudimentary handwriting analysis at businessballs.com/graphologytest.pdf.
