Dr. Q Moayad is the Founder of the Indian Palm Leaf Reading® Institute. With a diverse professional background spanning law, tourism, and transformational life coaching, Dr. Q has dedicated his life to guiding others through personal growth and self-discovery. His journey began with battling with cancer as a teenager, which awakened a deep spiritual curiosity. A profound near-death experience in 2013 (he ended up in the ICU with Myocarditis) and a life-altering Nadi Reading—a gift from his now business partner, Emese—set him on the path to sharing this ancient wisdom with the Western world. Remarkably, the reading itself foretold this very mission. MysticMag features an exclusive interview.
Nadi astrology is rooted in ancient palm leaf manuscripts believed to contain the life details of individuals. Given that these leaves were written millennia ago, how does the tradition reconcile the concepts of destiny and free will and how does the practice address the balance between predetermined life paths and the choices individuals make in their lives?
Indian Palm Leaf Reading is a term that I created to make this more accessible to a Western audience. In India, it is known as Nadi astrology, Nadi Reading, Jyotish, or Nadi Shastra, to just name the most common terms.
The most appropriate term would be Nadi Shastra. “Nadi” refers to pulse, leaf, time, or the moment the seeker receives their message. “Shastra” refers to a treatise or sacred doctrine. So, Nadi Shastra can be understood as the sacred science of life’s timing and trajectory.
Within the broader world of astrology, Vedic astrology is distinct from Western astrology. Western astrology is based on the sun, while Vedic astrology is based on the moon. Nadi Shastra is a form of predictive Vedic astrology. In fact, “Vedic astrology” is a term that only became popular in the 1960s and 70s. Prior to that, it was simply known as Indian astrology. The term “Vedic” was likely popularized to align with Ayurveda, which also gained traction at that time in the West.
To truly understand Nadi Shastra, one must view it through the lens of ancient history—long before written records existed. Thousands of years ago, sages in India, through deep meditation—particularly Lord Shiva—accessed the Akashic Records. They received divine messages for individual souls to help them, as well as humanity at large, navigate through the dark times, known as Kali Yuga.
According to Vedic understanding, time moves in cycles—like seasons: Satya Yuga (spring), Treta Yuga (summer), Dvapara Yuga (autumn), and Kali Yuga (winter). We are currently in Kali Yuga—the darkest age—where only about 25% of humanity walks a path aligned with dharma or righteousness. That 25% must shoulder the responsibility of carrying the remaining 75% through these times. In contrast, during the Golden Age, or Satya Yuga, 100% of humanity is aligned with light and truth.
Faced with the immense duration and suffering of Kali Yuga, the ancient sages—out of compassion—sought ways to help humanity navigate these dark times. Their solution was the creation of written messages—not originally on paper, which didn’t exist, but on palm leaves. India, with its abundance of palm trees, offered a natural medium. They cut the leaves into strips, roughly 10 inches (25 cm) long and 1–2 inches (2–3 cm) wide. They then etched sacred messages onto them, not with ink but with metal styluses; the script would become visible as the leaf dried.
It’s important to understand that, thousands of years ago, literacy was rare. Only the elite could read or write. So, the sages devised a system to connect these leaves not through written language alone, but through something universal—our thumbprint. Everyone has a thumbprint, and in Nadi tradition, men use their right thumb, women their left.
Each thumbprint falls into one of thousands of categories, but only 108 are known to contain messages for individual souls. Your specific category—known as your “category type”—is a genetic imprint, your spiritual blueprint. It’s your red thread through life, the one thing you cannot change. If you are older, you can appreciate the depth of this blueprint by reflecting on your life’s experiences and how they align with your category type. This predestined part of your journey is your trajectory into life.
However, in the Nadi tradition, nothing is set in stone. We are not puppets of fate. We have free will and choice. I refuse to believe that I’m a mere puppet. I accept that we all face challenges—some more than others—but the important thing is how we respond. And yes, I do believe we choose whom we are born to. I come from a mixed heritage. I chose to be born to a wealthy Persian father and a middle-class, Austrian mother. My father followed the Baháʼí faith, a minority religion that has faced persecution in Iran, particularly after the 1979 revolution when the mullahs came to power. That’s when we had to flee the country. I accept that I chose this path, though I do not yet fully understand why. What I do know is that we begin with a certain trajectory, and then we exercise our free will to shape the rest.
The palm leaf readings were designed to assist the 25%—those on the path—to use their free will to create a better life trajectory. And by improving their own paths, they would in turn help others, creating a ripple effect. The more people receive a reading, the more can be uplifted, and humanity as a whole benefits.
Not everyone has a leaf. Only those meant to receive a message will hear the call and search for their leaf. I heard about this twice before pursuing it. I’ve always been drawn to spiritual matters—perhaps because I’ve faced mortality. I may not appear that way on the outside, but I had cancer from ages 16 to 19. I spent six months in the hospital undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. I still deal with the long-term effects. When I was admitted to hospital, I asked God, “Why me?” I was just a kid. When I was released from hospital, I again asked God, “Why me?”. How come, I survived and so many did not? I witnessed people dying in the hospital and also during the Iranian revolution. I’ve known both, extreme wealth and a humble life—before the revolution, we were affluent; after, we were refugees with nothing.
But I’ve come to understand: the challenge is not the issue—it’s how we respond that matters. Every day we make choices, big and small. The purpose of a Nadi reading is not to dictate your future, but to show a potential life trajectory.
Three elements define your reading:
Your Thumbprint Category Type: This is fixed and unchanging—your life anchor.
The Energies Present During the Reading: These change roughly every six months. Whether you missed drinking your coffee that morning or were in an argument before your reading, would reflect your mood and not your overall energies. These may or may not affect your immediate energy field, but the reading tunes into the broader energetic patterns.
Planetary Influences: Astrology is an integral part of this system.
In southern India—particularly the state of Tamil Nadu, where this tradition originates—the language, culture, and spiritual lineages differ from the rest of India. The sages who wrote the Nadi leaves are called Maharishis—great sages. We honor 18 of them in our tradition as the Main 18 Maharishis. (These 18 sages must not be mixed up with the 7 Rishis (Saptarishis) of Indian mythology and spirituality.) The most prolific among the 18 Maharishis was Agasthiyar, who was also one of the aforementioned seven seers. The town of Vaitheeswaran Koil in Tamil Nadu is traditionally considered the birthplace of Nadi astrology.
The goal of Nadi Shastra has always been the same: to help humanity navigate its spiritual journey.
The matching process involves identifying a specific palm leaf that corresponds to an individual, solely based on the thumb impression, country of birth, and gender. Could you elaborate on how this matching process works?
Nadi Shastra is an ancient system of palm-leaf astrology from Tamil Nadu, India. It’s based on the idea that the lives of certain individuals were foreseen by ancient sages (Rishis) thousands of years ago and written in poetic Tamil on palm leaves. These leaves have been preserved and passed down through generations.
When you seek a reading, a bundle of palm leaves is selected based on your thumb impression—left for females, right for males. This bundle may or may not contain your specific leaf. The reader begins a process of elimination, reading from one leaf at a time. Each leaf contains statements, not questions. For example, the reader might say, “You are married.” You respond only with “yes” or “no,” based strictly on your current situation. If you are married—even if separated or in the process of divorce—you simply say “yes.” No further explanations or details are necessary.
If the statement does not match your reality, the leaf is set aside, and the reader moves to the next one. If it does match, the reader continues with the next statement on the same leaf. This continues until a match is found. During the process, the reader also refines the decoding by asking about letters in your name. For example, they might ask, “Is the second letter of your first name an A, E, I, or U?” If you confirm the correct letter, it helps him decode your name accurately, since Tamil has many unique letters that get transliterated into English.
Once the correct leaf is found, it contains personal information such as your first name, your parents’ first names, your spouse or ex-spouse’s name, number and gender of your children and siblings, your date and weekday of birth, and even your time of birth. These details are read aloud to confirm the match. It’s often a surreal moment because the accuracy is profound, and people are usually stunned by how specifically it reflects their life.
Once the leaf is confirmed as yours, the reading begins. The reading contains information from the moment you get the reading. What’s important to understand is that you are receiving the reading at the exact moment you were meant to—this is the core of what Nadi Shastra means: the precise, destined time. You couldn’t have received it earlier or later.
The reading continues until there is no more writing on the leaf. The message concludes naturally, and nothing is added or extended beyond what was originally written. This is the totality of your leaf’s message.
Once a reading is completed, individuals are often provided with remedies, known as poojas, to address challenges or karmic influences identified in their leaf. How are these remedies determined, and what role do they play in the individual’s spiritual and personal development?
When there is no more writing on the leaf, the reading simply ends. Many people fear that this might indicate the end of their life, but that’s not the case. It just means that there are no more messages for you written on that particular leaf at that particular time. It’s important to remember: the purpose of a Nadi reading is to help you—the seeker—create a better life trajectory. That’s it. In one sentence: the whole point is to help you live a better life, whatever “better” means to you.
For some, that might mean more peace, health, or clarity. Others may want more money, a fulfilling relationship, children, or a sense of purpose. Some people just want confirmation that they’re on the right path. In my case, all I wanted was to not end up in a hospital bed with tubes down my throat. Very simple.
Each leaf is divided into 14 chapters, and every chapter focuses on a different aspect of human life—family, spirituality, health, career, education, and so on. In our institute, we only offer whole-life readings, which include all the chapters. The final chapter is the most powerful and important: it holds the remedies.
Everything in this system begins with your thumbprint. That’s where the secret lies. Without it, the process doesn’t begin. But the real power of the reading is not just in the knowledge—it’s in the remedies. These remedies were designed by ancient sages not just to describe your life, but to help you change it for the better.
Naturally, we all have blocks. If we didn’t, we’d be like angels—pure beings of light—and we wouldn’t need to be in human form. No matter how kind or pure we are, we face obstacles. These can be karmic blocks, ancestral or family blocks, child-related, planetary influences, or others.
Once a block is identified in your reading, don’t fear it. Embrace it. It’s a blessing in disguise. Before, the block may have been controlling parts of your life without your awareness—keeping you stuck in a loop: bad relationships, poor health, financial struggle, or general dissatisfaction. Now that you know it exists, you have the power to shift it.
The remedies are called poojas—a Sanskrit word meaning prayer, ritual, or ceremonial act. A pooja might involve chanting a mantra on a specific day, performing a specific act like donating or feeding the poor, or other forms of devotional action. These are not symbolic gestures—they’re energy-shifting tools.
Everything in life is energy. Health, wealth, even a new car—it’s all energy in different forms. Similarly, a block is also energy, just stuck or distorted. A pooja is designed to help realign that energy. You perform it with intention, on specific days, to help shift the energetic pattern around you.
I’m an academic by training, so I often say: think of it like a sine curve. When your life energy is aligned close to that natural, smooth curve, life flows more easily. When it’s off—that’s when struggles happen. The poojas help bring you back to alignment.
This is where free will and destiny work together. You were destined to find your leaf. But what you do with the information—that’s your free will. No matter what your reading says, good or difficult, what matters most is how you respond. The reading is a guide, not a fixed script. It shows you a path toward Dharma—a life of right action and alignment with truth.
And that, ultimately, is the goal: to live in Dharma.
The palm leaf manuscripts are preserved in sacred libraries across Tamil Nadu and are accessible only to trained Nadi readers. With the increasing global interest in Nadi astrology, how is the tradition ensuring the preservation and authenticity of these manuscripts?
Welcome to India—everything stays the same. That’s it. Simple.
But if you look deeper, the story gets richer. Palm leaves have been used in India for thousands of years—not just for Nadi Shastra. They’ve carried everything from recipes and healing principles to legal texts, poetry, and scriptures. Some of these ancient, non-predictive leaves are even recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s documentary heritage. That means they’re preserved in museums and archives—scanned, catalogued, and cared for as part of our global cultural history. That’s one world.
Then there’s the world of Nadi Shastra.
These are also palm leaves—exactly like the ones you might find in archives—but they serve a very different purpose. They’re not just historical documents; they’re living tools of guidance. They’ve been read, copied, and passed down for generations. Palm leaves don’t last forever—they have a lifespan of about 200 to 300 years. So, just like the monks in medieval Europe who hand-copied books to preserve them, Nadi readers and scribes in India have continued this tradition by rewriting the leaves onto fresh palm leaves over time.
It’s not glamorous work. This happens in a country where poverty is still a reality, where much is done with the bare minimum of resources. But they preserve the knowledge in the same faithful way it has always been done: by hand, by heart, by tradition.
And through that continuity, something remarkable survives.
Many individuals report profound personal insights and transformations after their readings. What common themes or revelations do people often experience through this ancient practice?
On a positive note, many people find deep reassurance and validation through this process, realizing they are indeed on the right path. It’s as if the scattered pieces of life begin to make sense once you can step back and view the larger picture. That broader perspective brings a sense of peace and understanding—suddenly, there’s a reason behind prolonged suffering. Long before I even encountered the concept of Nadi readings, I already believed in reincarnation and the idea that we return to this life to learn and evolve. The Nadi leaves, by the way, are only written for “old souls”—those who are in the final stages of their soul journey.
According to Hindu mythology, there are four Yugas (ages) and seven stages of soul evolution, with each stage potentially spanning many lifetimes. Only a small percentage of souls fall into the sixth or seventh stage, and the leaves can reveal whether you’re in your second-to-last or final life. The ultimate goal is to reach moksha, or liberation—the reunification with the divine source. When someone hears that this could be their last lifetime, it often brings an overwhelming sense of relief: Thank God, I’m almost done. I don’t want to come back.
But of course, the path can still be derailed. You can still fall into addiction or despair, and those actions can interrupt your cycle. That’s one of the reasons I founded this institute—to generate as much good karma as I possibly can, so that I do not have to return again.
It’s a difficult journey. I myself have suffered greatly in this lifetime—my cancer wasn’t my fault; it was the result of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The radiation reached Central Europe, and I happened to be in Vienna at the time. Many people died. I survived, but not without consequences. And then, twelve years ago, I developed myocarditis—an inflamed heart muscle—and I’ve never fully recovered. So yes, it’s been tough. But knowing this may be the final chapter brings peace.
The second important message is that, while you are on the right path, the readings often reveal significant blocks—and this can be overwhelming for people. They freeze. But the beauty of these ancient texts is that they don’t just show you the obstacles; they offer guidance to overcome them. If you take the reading seriously—and really, why get one if you don’t intend to—then you can begin to change your trajectory in this very life, possibly skipping multiple incarnations.
Ultimately, the reading is a tool. It’s like a map showing you where the water is. But you still have to walk toward it and drink it yourself. We can point the way, hand you a compass, but the journey is yours alone. Your thoughts, actions, inactions, and beliefs all shape the reality you experience. The reading simply helps you steer your ship into calmer waters, if you’re willing to navigate with awareness.
If you would like to find out more about Indian Palm Leaf Reading, please visit https://indianpalmleafreading.com/
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The Nadi reading process costs $500 USD in total, split into a $100 fee to search for your unique palm leaf using your thumbprint, and $400 for the matching and full reading session once your leaf is found. Everything is done via Zoom, allowing you to receive your authentic reading from the comfort of your home—without the need to travel to India, deal with visas, long flights, or unfamiliar conditions.
