In face reading the eyes are counted foremost among the many seats of the face. People of old prized the eyes so highly as to say “face reading is half the eyes,” and called the eyes the “Organ of Inspection” (gamchal-gwan), the seat that watches the world and people. The eyes are the window where the heart shows, so however one dresses one’s expression, the light of the eyes alone was held to quietly mirror a person’s spirit and nature. So in reading the eyes, one reads first the energy held in them — the eye-light — rather than their shape.
The eye-light is seen to signify a person’s spiritual strength and energy. Eyes clear, deep, and steady are taken as one bright of heart, keen of mind, and firm of resolve; conversely eyes clouded or often wavering are read as a signal that the heart is now troubled or the energy sunk. Yet this is not fixed — with good rest and a settled heart the eye-light clears again, so the day’s eye-light is also a mirror of one’s present condition.
The size and shape of the eyes are looked at too. Eyes large and open are seen as one rich in feeling, bright in expression, and full of warmth; eyes small and narrow are read as a deep, prudent temperament with keen observation. Rather than one being better, each is only its own grain — large eyes have the warmth of large eyes, small eyes the depth of small eyes. Outer corners lifting slightly were held to give a firm, spirited impression; drooping softly, a mild and tender one.
The fine parts of the eyes hold many tales too. When iris and white divide distinctly and the white is clear, the nature is seen as upright and healthy; a long, open eye-line is read as a broad measure of heart. Whether there is a fold or not is not good or bad but only makes a different grain of impression and feeling; the plump flesh beneath the eye (wajam) was fondly seen as a symbol of affection, fortune in children, and vitality. Thus the eyes, dividing light and size, shape and fine part, quietly mirror a person’s heart.
Yet the most important principle in face reading is that the eyes are never judged alone. However fine the eyes, if the nose and mouth, forehead and chin are not in harmony, that energy hardly shows in full; and conversely, even if the eyes are somewhat wanting, when the whole face is balanced, that lack is readily filled. The eyes come into their full meaning only when they blend with the other parts within the single landscape of a face.
Yet what must not be forgotten is that the shape of the eyes does not nail down and set a person’s fate. A face is made as lived time and heart pile in layers upon the bone one is born with, and the eye-light especially shifts moment by moment with the state of the heart. Hold a clear and warm heart, and the eye-light takes on that hue. So to read a face is less to confirm a fixed fortune than to raise a mirror that reflects who you are now.
Herein lies FortuneLeaf’s reason for introducing the reading of the eyes — not to line people up by whether the eyes are big or small, how the eye-line runs, but to help you understand, clearly and tenderly, the energy held in this window where the heart shows. For the many seats of a face are no hardened fate, but a living landscape that today’s expression and heart reshape, a little anew, each day.