Face reading provides a deeper level of insight.
Face reading provides a deeper level of insight.
As humans, we have become reliant on verbal communication, paying attention to facial expressions is another way to determine thoughts, experiences and emotions. There is ancient art that examines what the face can tell us.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, just imagine what a person’s face can say. Face Reader, Eric Standop, would say “Everything!” – and he ought to know as an expert in the field. “We may deceive with our words, but the face never lies,” he explains and says the earth is home to more than seven billion people with completely unique faces.
Standop first encountered face reading when backpacking in South Africa after leaving a high-powered position in media after his second burnout. The reading so profoundly and accurately described his personality, tendencies and health concerns that he was compelled to seek a teacher of his own.
A Global Practice
The history of face reading can be found in Europe, among the Incas and Greeks, and in China and Africa where it continues to be practised. Fortunately for Standop, face reading has been preserved since the Middle Ages in parts of Germany and Switzerland. He found a teacher in Germany and spent the year and a half studying and travelling with him around Europe reading faces.
The art of face reading developed internationally with varying approaches depending on region. Face reading can be as simple as looking at the physical appearance of the face and determining the physical or mental welfare of the individual (eg black circles under the eyes suggests an iron deficiency), but can also shed light on other aspects.
Standop studied the focus and purpose of face reading from various cultures around the globe. In China the discipline dates back 3,000 years, and although not a singular practice, the science Siang Mien literally means face (Mien) and reading (Shiang). The careful observation of faces is treated as a science by the Chinese. According to Standop, “Siang Mien remains important in China, and like Traditional Chinese Medicine, is used to recognise disease, but also determine personality, character, feelings, thoughts and intentions.”
Chinese culture relishes the mystical aspects of face reading and Siang Mien masters are able to read the life purpose and destiny of a person. Standop says, “Destiny can mean choice, a fork in the road of your life where decisions have to be made, and for Chinese face readers, a person is never a victim of their own destiny but give life to the body”.
From his time in Chile, Standop learnt that the practice of lectura del rostro pays particular attention to love, sexuality and health, while Europeans seek insight on nutrition, health and personality, whereas Americans relish personality profiling.
Future of the Face
Related disciplines emerged all over the world including phrenology, facial diagnosis, tongue reading, iridology, physiognomy, micro expressions and body language. Over the past 12 years, Standop has studied nine face-reading techniques and in his own words is considered a ‘generalist’ in comparison to those who specialise in their technique and focus.
Standop has written seven books on the subject, has clients in Asia, the US, Europe and the Middle East, and with more than 15,000 faces read, become reputatable in the field. He also works with police in profiling, human resource personnel, CEOs in hiring/contract making, psychologists and judges.
A face reading can be a profoundly lifealtering experience when signs of health deficiencies, malnutrition, disease, strengths and talents, life’s vocation and destiny, are revealed. Standop believes the science will be much more common in the next 30 years, although currently it is more widely used in Asia than Europe, where it is still considered somewhat mystical. He can be found in Asia, Europe and the US offering training, workshops and establishing face reading academies.
Personality revealed
We are all face readers according to Standop – if we can understand how to read the micro expressions that belie a personality. We can learn to recognise how the 43 muscles of the face are shaped and influenced by our thinking. Quite simply, our brain stimulates expressions that over the years are etched on our faces. In the West, there are typically eight to 10 facial lines that determine our personality or archetype. How we look after ourselves, and experience life influences, affects how our faces change over time.
• The skin colour, texture and condition, like acne, rosacea, psoriasis, reveal information about a person’s health, while creases and lines speak of character.
• The colour, texture, thickness, length, style and contour of hair are indicative of personality and feelings.
• The size, contour and creases in the forehead provide information about approach to life.
• The eyes are considered windows to the soul and for many centuries, face readers have examined eyelids, colour of the iris, whites of the eyes and shape and position of lashes. The shape of the ridge of the upper eyebrow indicates a person’s ideals.
• Mouth size, fullness, proportion and angle show how you communicate and your interests.
• The size, profile, tip of the nose and nostril shape reveal how you relate to the material world. The bridge of the nose provides the reader with information about a person’s work.
• The philtrum or vertical groove between the base of the nose and the top lip reveals what you attract in life.
• The hardness, position, angle and size of ear, grooves and earlobes indicate how decisive and realistic you are.
• The fullness, position, size of cheeks and cheekbones reveal your leadership ability.
• A person’s chin provides information about their morals, principles and the effort they make in life.
Organ Health
Standop says, “Nothing happens inside the body that is not reflected on the outside. Each face is unique and reflects the physical and mental state of its owner. Every person will show unequivocal signs of disease or physical deficiencies on the face, usually long before it manifests physically, as discomfort or pain.”
The skin shows signs as you get older: spots, brightness, shadows and wrinkles or creases. Faces communicate through these signs creating a distinctive profile, revealing mental attitude, lifestyle and future. Understanding these signs can be the first step to curing disease.
Our organs are also connected to the face by way of the vagus and trigeminal nerves, providing information about our health and potential for disease. Early in medical history, Hippocrates (460–377 BC) and Paracelsus (1493–1541) employed face reading to detect illness.
Liver challenges are recognised by brown spots or yellowing of the white sclera of the eyes. White or yellow deposits in the eyelids reveal possible damage to the liver and gall bladder through alcoholism or noneliminated lipids and cholesterol.
Red blood vessels in the eyes and swelling of the upper and bottom eyelids may indicate heart issues. When the bottom eyelid is a purplish-blue colour, a weakened heart may be also responsible for decreasing the energy of the kidneys. In this way, swollen pockets under the eyes suggest kidney and bladder damage.
The lower lip informs us about retention and accumulation in the large intestine, while a thicker edge to the lower lip suggests problems with detoxification, particularly the liver. Disruptions to the water balance in the small intestine can be seen in vertical and perpendicular wrinkles in the upper lip.
Pale, white or extremely thin lips reveal extremely poor stomach function and decreased stomach acid production, while purple or brown lip pigmentation informs about weak bowels. Redness at the corner of the mouth points to low iron in the blood and a weakened immune system or thyroid issues; whereas deep sloping ‘puppet mouth’ lines suggest poor spleen function.
Lung concerns can be informed by fine capillaries on the nose.
