Felon’s claw in handwriting
It was 10 am when 45-year-old businessman Arjun Jaiswal’s phone rang. The name of his bank’s relationship manager was flashing on the screen.
“If you’re calling me this early in the day, at least don’t sell me a loan or an investment product,” a smiling Arjun said to his relationship manager.
“Not at all, sir. This is regarding the cheque of ₹27 lakh you deposited two days ago.”
“What about it?” Arjun asked.
“It has bounced.”
Arjun felt the ground under his feet sink. He pulled himself together and said: “There must be some mistake. Have you checked properly?”
“I have checked it multiple times. That cheque has bounced. The reason given is: ‘Insufficient funds’.”
“Let me call you back,” Arjun said and hung up. He felt like someone had given a jab to the pit of his stomach.
Soon, he dialled the number of his client, Raj Shah, who had written him the cheque. His phone was switched off.
By now, Arjun’s eyes were red, his mouth was dry, and his hands were trembling so hard that he was barely able to hold the phone. He had this sinking feeling that he had been duped.
In a few hours, Arjun discovered that his fears were not baseless. Raj had not codded him alone; there were five other raw-material suppliers whose cheques, issued by the same buyer, had bounced. Collectively, their losses went into crores of rupees.
They approached the law authorities and filed a case against him.
The background
Arjun Jaiswal and the other suppliers had met Raj several years ago when he was just a sales professional with an MNC, buying their products on the company’s behalf.
About a year ago, Raj started his own small business and told Arjun and the other suppliers that he would sell their products for a higher price to other MNCs. They all agreed. For a few months, the business was roaring.
None of them ever questioned Raj’s credibility because he had earned their trust over the years by making timely payments and establishing a friendly relationship. He had even gotten very close to their families.
Last time, he came with a bigger order and asked the suppliers to deposit the cheques after 5 days because “the buyers needed some time”.
They all happily agreed, without realising that the extra time he sought was to make sure he could go beyond their reach. They were certain now that Raj had defrauded them, and their businesses might have to shut down.
Hundreds of miles away…
Raj Shah was sitting in a bar, slowly putting a few drop of water into a glass of Gentleman Jack to open up the aroma of the bourbon. He had to celebrate his big win with his favourite drink.
As he took his first sip of the evening, he seemed the least bit perturbed by the fact that he destroyed so many lives only 15 days ago.
People with the Felon’s Claw in their handwriting believe there is nothing wrong in cheating people.
From his point of view, winning the trust of his victims first and then sucking them dry was a perfectly normal thing to do. He felt no remorse even as he was already laying the groundwork for his next attack.
An hour later, he signed the guest-satisfaction register at the exit and walked out of the bar with an unmistakable spring in his step.
Now imagine…
If all of this was happening in a movie made from the viewpoint of a handwriting expert, the camera would have panned to the bar’s guest register, and zoomed in on his signature that could have looked something like the one given below:
The Felon’s Claw in handwriting
It might look like just another signature to the untrained eye, but it’s not. Notice the lower part of the letter j and the high arch of the claw-like formation, also known as the Felon’s Claw.
Someone whose handwriting contains many such claws has a tendency to backstab and cheat others without any obvious reasons.
Understanding the Felon’s Claw
A Felon’s Claw is a smooth curved formation seen in letters A, G (in lower part)—moving from right to left—and forming a sharp curve that begins to looks like the claw of an animal.
The higher the arch in the claw, the stronger the intention and drive to hurt and cheat others without any compunctions.
See more examples of the Felon’s Claw:
Felon’s claw in handwriting usually appears in letters g, y, a,d and j.
The Felon’s Claw in handwriting is a reflection of two things:
- The writer’s deep belief at the subconscious level that he has been wronged all his life
- His decision to take revenge for those setbacks
The target of these people need not necessarily be those responsible for ill-treating him; sometimes a writer with the Felon’s Claw also ends up biting those people who are nice to him.
Additionally, a writer’s with the Felon’s Claw in his handwriting also has a tendency to hurt or punish himself, especially when he is doing well in life. That happens because the writer believes that he is a worthless person who does not deserve good things in life.
In order to ensure some amount of punishment comes his way, he will do things, such as lying, gossiping or spreading rumours about other people, which will ultimately force them to retaliate against him or penalise him.
About the tendency of such a writer to inflict pain on himself, graphologist Mark Dehe notes in an article:
The psychological theory is that when this person was growing up, he was made to feel inferior. Now that he is an adult, he firmly believes this. When someone treats him nice, he does not feel that he deserves to be treated this way and he’ll hurt you in some way so as to prove to you that he’s as inadequate and hateful as he feels.”
On the Felon’s Claw, graphologist Mythili Ravi offers a similar opinion in another article on this website:
The whole problem with the people who write this formation is that they are generally very impressive and attractive when you interact with them. While upon initial interaction they seem friendly and harmless, they operate with an ulterior motive to win your trust and then cheat you at a later date when you let your guard down.
In another Write Choice article on abusive relationships, it has been shown how someone with the Felon’s Claw in his handwriting can be a very difficult person in relationships.
Someone with the Felon’s Claw in her handwriting could hurt her partner her actions.
Therefore, it is a good idea to not blindly trust a person whose handwriting has several instances of the Felon’s Claw.
Can we break this destructive behavioural pattern?
Yes, one can break the chain of cheating by making the person realise how and why he developed this negative pattern, and by giving specific graphotherapy exercises.
Along with graphotherapy, the writer needs to meditate, practise positive affirmations, and get exposure to early sunlight every day. The combination has proven to be beneficial to those with the Felon’s Claw in their handwriting.
Felon’s Claw: Conclusion
These types of claws have been seen predominantly in the handwriting of criminals. That is why it is called the Felon’s Claw.
So, should we cut off our all ties with people who have these types of claws appearing in their handwriting?
As a graphologist, I would say no.
These claws are indicative of the presence of an evil bone in the writer’s personality. But you need to check how often these claws appear in the handwriting.
If it appears once or twice, you may ignore it. But several instances of the Felon’s Claw in a person’s handwriting indicate that it would be better if you are careful while dealing with him or her.
So, no matter how nice, genial and well-behaved the person is, if he writes with the Claw, do your best to stay clear of him.
About the claw formation in handwriting, acclaimed handwriting analyst and author Andrea McNichol says:
The claw means… bitterness and bad instincts. He will seem to be the nicest person on the earth. No one would suspect this person of having an evil bone in his body. But then, he is setting you up only to stab you in the back; he will end up clawing you…. This is most frightening because you don’t know the knife is coming.
(The author is the founder of www.niravhiingu.com)
Disclaimer: One element of handwriting may be analysed at a time, but always look at the entire handwriting sample before arriving at any conclusion.
