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Face Reading for Beginners: Can You Spot a Liar?, by Richard Webster

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Although you may not be consciously aware of it, you're reading faces every day. You assess a person's character by looking at their face, and most of the time your first impressions will be correct. Some of this is learned, but most of it is instinctive. This is why old sayings, such as, "He has bedroom eyes," or, "Don't trust someone who has eyes too close together," have a basis in fact.

As you've progressed through life you've also learned how to read people's facial expressions. You can instantly tell if someone is honest, friendly, timid, or broadminded, for instance. There are six universal expressions that are used by people all around the world, and you can probably recognize these at a glance: surprise, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness.

Whenever I give a talk on face reading, I can guarantee that someone will ask if I can tell whether or not someone is lying. A number of studies have shown that most people are able to detect deliberate lying slightly more than fifty percent of the time. Of course, this also means they fail to detect lies almost fifty percent of the time.

People lie for many different reasons. Many lies are told to save the feelings of others and to maintain a happy environment. If someone asked you if you liked her new hairstyle, you'd probably answer, "Yes," even if you disliked it intensely. Not long ago, a lady apologized to me for her lack of driving skills. I lied, and told her she was a good driver.

Lies in the workplace are extremely common. If you call a company and ask to speak to a particular person, you might be told he or she is in a meeting, or is not in the office. That could be the truth, but may also be a lie, if the person did not want to speak to you. If you call inquiring about an order, you may be told it was dispatched yesterday. This may be the truth, but could also be a delaying tactic.

People lie to bolster their self esteem. A middle-aged man I know tells everyone he manages a division of a large automobile company. In fact, he spends his days cleaning cars at the dealership. I met a lady some years ago who told me she'd written a series of historical novels. I found out later that she wanted to be a writer, and was claiming to have already done what she hoped to achieve.

People frequently lie to impress others. This is particularly the case with potential romantic relationships. These people also lie when ending the relationship. "I'll call you," is an extremely common lie.

Some of the more common lies are: "Thanks for the wonderful meal," "Money cheerfully refunded," "This hurts me more than it hurts you," "I was only trying to help," and "Not tonight. I have a headache." A lie that used to be extremely common is, "The check's in the mail."

Although most people are bad liars, some people are extremely good at it, and won't hesitate to lie if they think it will help them get what they want. Fortunately, if you pay attention, you'll be able to pick up the facial clues that give them away.

These hidden clues are called "leakage." Leakage occurs when the person says one thing, but his or her face and body indicate the opposite. A common example of this is when someone says he or she agrees with you, while at the same time shaking his or her head slightly. This person's head reveals the truth.

We all give ourselves away at times with micro-expressions that cross the face in less than one-fifth of a second. If, for instance, someone was smiling at you, but you noticed a look of anger cross his or her face in a fraction of a second, you'd know the smile was false. This could be a sign that the person didn't like you, despite his or her apparent friendliness.

Suppressed emotions last longer, and are more common, than micro-expressions. People expressing suppressed emotions are able to change them to a more acceptable expression when it suits them, or when they become aware of it. Recently, I saw a group of teenage girls congratulating another girl on her success in winning a shopping mall promotion. One of the girls was obviously angry and possibly jealous, but she changed her facial expression to one of happiness and delight moments before congratulating the winning girl.

Liars frequently use fake smiles to convey emotions they're not feeling. A genuine smile raises the cheeks, crinkles the outer edges of the eyes, and activates the outer edges of the mouth. A fake smile activates the outer edges of the mouth, but does not involve the cheeks or eyes. It's easy to detect a fake smile by observing someone for a while, and observing how he or she greets others. People he or she likes will receive genuine smiles, while others will receive a false smile. Smiling or laughing nervously at inappropriate times can indicate stress and anxiety, which may indicate deception.

People blink more when they're anxious, or feeling stressed. Most people blink about fifteen times a minute, and if this increases markedly it could indicate that they're lying. However, experienced liars often do the opposite, and their rate of blinking slows down. Consequently, it is the change in the blinking rate that is important, rather than the increase or decrease.

It's a common belief that liars find it hard to look someone in the eyes while they're lying. However, good liars do the opposite and increase eye contact while saying a lie. Usually, the person doing the listening makes more eye contact the talker. Liars often do the opposite, thinking it will convince the listener of their honesty.

Many people nod their heads when telling lies. They do this in the hope that it will get the other person to believe the lie. Usually, this is easy to spot, as the rest of the body remains motionless while they do this.

Inexperienced liars lick their lips, swallow, or clear their throats; this is because the stress of lying causes them to have a dry mouth. These people also turn their heads away, or look down at the floor, while telling a lie. This is easy to spot if they have been making good eye contact before telling the lie. Many liars have a strong urge to touch, stroke, or rub their noses. This is the adult version of a child covering his or her mouth after telling a lie.

All of these things need to be interpreted in a group, or cluster. Someone who is rubbing his nose while talking might simply have an itchy nose. However, if he's also exhibiting some of the other signs of deceit, he is probably lying.

Once you become aware of facial expressions you can use them to improve your life. Here are three simple things you can employ right away to improve your relationships with everyone: smile, make good eye contact, and nod your head when listening to someone. The smile has to be a genuine one, of course. If you look happy, you'll make other people happy. Good eye contact is important, as people trust people who make good eye contact. When you nod your head, you tell others that you're interested in what they're saying.

Face reading is a useful skill that can help you discover why and how people think and act in the way they do. It will also make you more sympathetic and understanding of other people's outlooks and different points of view.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012. All rights reserved.

I have a rich dream life and usually have an out of body experience a couple of times each week. The other morning, I was in the familiar state just prior to leaving my body when I felt something like an astral hand caressing my leg. Since it felt amazingly good, I let it keep going. It caressed higher and higher until it was at my groin. Though it still felt great, I decided I had better find out who it was. I reached my astral hand down and grabbed it by the wrist. As I did this, I popped out of my body and found myself holding this disembodied hand. It was green and looked like the hand of an alien, which totally shocked me. It was like the rest of its body was invisible or in another dimension, like it had reached only its hand through to this world. It wanted me to release it but I wouldn't. I took off in the astral to find someone who could tell me what this being might be, but before I could find someone, I wound up back in my body, which broke my hold on its wrist. I am hoping you can tell me what happened and if this is something I should be concerned about. Thanks!

Olivia

Susyn:

Thank you for sharing your experience. While I'm sure it was very strange for you, it seem you maintained control over the situation at all times, which is one of the most important skills to master in astral projection. Many people can't control where or when they astral project or whom they encounter while out of the body. Your reactions are evidence of your considerable knowledge and experience in this arena.

Often when people have encounters like this, they are overcome with panic and a need to free themselves from the situation. If they are new to this practice, they will probably let fear take over. This gives astral entities power over them. The fact that you were able to take and keep hold of the hand and then seek out someone to tell you what it might be also speaks to your ability to manage your projections. By remaining brave and confident, you were able to maintain control.

Some believe that aliens can dislodge or release parts of their bodies and then rapidly regrow new ones. I don't think the hand was reaching through to you from another dimension; more likely, when this entity found himself caught by you and could not free himself, he simply detached the limb to make his getaway. If this was indeed an alien, he will probably not return, as aliens are extremely leery of being discovered or trapped in any manner. Whether this was an alien or a spirit, it's not likely to bother you again now that it knows you are not passive or easily frightened.

If you feel threatened by what happened or have this experience again, I recommend practicing a protection ritual before you go out on your weekly astral journeys. Burning sage incense before bed and keeping a bowl or jar of salt near your bedside can help keep negative energies away. You may also want to sleep with a protective stone such as turquoise or malachite around your neck.

As you continue to build your skills in this area, you may encounter a variety of spirits or other beings, which in your case should prove quite interesting. Based on the fact that you are fearless, they won't be able to control you. Because of this, you should feel free to explore other dimensions without being harmed.

You may also want to keep a journal of your astral journeys so you can see how much you evolve over time, and determine any changes you want to make or particular experiences you'd like to set in motion.

*****

Mata:

You are so bold and brave! I'm sure it's your fearlessness that has empowered you to have these fascinating experiences. Please don't let this encounter shake you; it was strange but if you think about it, everything worked out fine in the end.

I have had experiences similar to what you describe in terms of having orgasmic feelings while in the mind awake/body asleep state. I have also felt beings touching me when in this state, and heard many stories of a similar nature from other people. I have even heard of people encountering a green being like the one you describe, so this may be a type of astral wildlife.

For some reason, being in the mind awake/body asleep state seems to attract astral entities. Of course, it could be that they also try to feed on our energy when we're unconscious, and that we're only aware of this happening when we're vibrationally in harmony with the astral but conscious. If it's true that being in this state of mind attracts these entities, it may be because their goal is to ellicit strong emotions in us so they can feed off that energy. (This would be hard to do when we're unconscious.)

While the tactic of many lower astrals is to incite fear, some focus on arousing feelings of lust. The whole point is to get us emotionally worked up, for this creates lots of energy for them to feed on. As for whether this is something you should be concerned about, I don't think the entity you grabbed was any more threatening than someone who might grope you in a single's bar. Most of the time, all you need to send creepy creatures packing is a strong rebuff.

I don't think you need to be concerned, for it certainly sounds like you know how to handle yourself! I love imagining this entity's surprise when you grabbed it and wouldn't let go. The way to handle this sort of situation is to do just what you did: if you're prepared to boldly take charge, you should be able to handle anyone you encounter whether you're traveling in or out of your body.

You may be interested in noting that it is our own essence that determines what we attract. People who are anxious or fearful tend to attract frightening entities, while people who are sexually frustrated and have an excess of sexual energy tend to attract the sort of experience you describe. It therefore follows that one way to prevent such experiences in the future is to cultivate a fulfilling sex life.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.