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About Jane’s face

BY CHRIS WRIGHT

The eyes, goes the old saw, are the windows to the soul. As far as Rose Rosetree is concerned, so are the nose, the chin, and the ears. One of the world’s top physiognomists, or face readers, Rosetree has built a career around the idea that facial structure can reveal a person’s character. This month, she published The Power of Face Reading (Women’s Intuition Worldwide), her fourth book on the subject. She spoke with the Phoenix about big lips, weak chins, and what Jane Swift’s cheeks say about her leadership style.

Q: How old is the practice of face reading?

A: It originated in China, either 3000 or 5000 years ago, depending on who you ask.

Q: And this is more than looking at laugh lines and furrowed brows?

A: It’s way, way beyond that. My belief is that the material side of life coexists with the spiritual side. The material components of a face reflect the spiritual components of the person. Each of us is a soul that is having a human experience. As we grow and evolve during a lifetime, our souls manage to outpicture through our faces, and so our faces reflect what we are.

Q: Are there such things as shifty eyes or weak chins?

A: To say someone has “shifty eyes” is a very crude version of face reading. It’s making a quick judgment and recognizing why that person is without value and moving on, which is the opposite of what I do. I open up to who people are rather than judging them. The so-called weak chin is a social stereotype that keeps cosmetic surgeons in business.

Q: Can you give us an example of a revealing facial feature?

A: Here’s a fun thing about the mouth: when someone has a lower lip at least three times as full as the upper lip, that person has “blarney lips.” It means that the person can sell ice to Eskimos — you see it on TV pundits and politicians. The potential challenge is letting the gift run away from you, lying, or stretching the truth. You know, “You need this ice, you’ve never seen ice like this before.”

Q: Let’s put your skills to the test. What does a photograph of Governor Jane Swift tell you?

A: The first thing I notice about her face proportion: the bottom of the nose to chin is the longest. This tells me she’s a down-to-earth person with a built-in BS detector. She’s pragmatic, but she may not have a lot of patience with people. She has down-angled eyes, and that tells me that she’s always looking for the problem wherever she goes, and this can make her seem like a worrywart. She has a diamond-shaped face, and that says she’s a survivor; she keeps on keeping on until resistance goes away. She has a tremendous amount of inner strength. She’s got prominent and close-set cheeks, which means that she has a strong leadership style. She is someone who will not be an inconspicuous leader. She will throw her weight around to get things done.

Issue Date: May 17 - 24, 2001