The Beginner’s Guide to Palmistry
THE HISTORY OF PALMISTRY
Palmistry or chiromancy is one of the most ancient forms of divination. The origin of the practice is uncertain; it may have begun in ancient India and spread from there throughout China, Tibet, Egypt, Greece, and Persia over time. After a period of disrepute, chiromancy saw a resurgence during the Renaissance and again during the Enlightenment era. In the 20th century, palmistry received renewed attention and interpretation by, among others, followers of Carl Jung, and it has since been a favorite of fortune tellers and more casual mystics.
WHAT IS PALM READING?
Like any esoteric practice, palmistry has many different forms and can be very complicated. Palm readers don’t predict the future but they observe how the hand's attributes connect to greater themes. Occult traditions are based on the esoteric axiom "As above, so below," and within palmistry, the palm is accordingly seen as a microcosm of the universe. To understand any of what may be written on your hands, though, you need to be able to navigate their topography.
A FIRST LOOK AT THE HANDS
First things first: Pick a hand—but not just any hand. When reading you should choose your dominant hand for the best results, while the left (usually) is considered more uncertain and represents what it ‘could’ be.
Another theory says that for insight into your ego and career, you should focus on your dominant hand, and to examine personal feelings, dreams, and emotional struggles, look at the other hand.
In palmistry, every hand is said to fit into a particular shape aligned with one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, or water.
Earth hands
Earth hands have a square palm and short fingers. People with earth hands carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, they are work-focused, practical, and reliable.
Fire hands
You can recognize a fire hand by a somewhat irregular palm, with deep marks and lines all through the hands. Fire- handed people tend to be highly passionate and creative, but not so detail-oriented.
Air hands
Air hands are tall rectangles with straight, upright fingers. Air-handed people can appear aloof but they are analytical, rational, reasoning. They have good communication skills.
Water hands
They have narrow palms, with fingers that are long and bony. Those hands are characterized by lots of lightly etched, baby fine lines. The people with this kind of hand are usually very sensitive and emotional.
MOUNTS TO LOOK FOR
Mount of Venus
The mount of Venus is the largest amount on your hand. It is mainly related to love, health, and affection.
If large and soft, it reveals a desire for beauty, and sometimes possessiveness. If small or cold, it signifies a difficulty to love and being loved.
Mount of Luna
This is the second-largest mount on your average hand.
It represents your imagination and spirituality.
A person with a well-developed mount of Luna is usually a psychic or an empath. And if larger than Venus, it can reveal a disconnection from reality or an overactive imagination.
Mount of Apollo
The mount of Apollo is where we find luck and it corresponds with skills and talents of any kind.
An underdeveloped mount of Apollo might reveal a lack of imagination. If it's large, it reveals success in the arts, as well as luck in games or business opportunities.
Mount of Jupiter
The mount of Jupiter is about confidence, success, and leadership.
If this mount is neither hard nor soft to the touch, it indicates a wise teacher or mentor, and someone ambitious but fair-minded. If it's large but hard, it can represent a self-centered person.
Mount of Saturn
The mount of Saturn deals with discipline and balance.
When it is flat, with any prominence it reveals a person with firm boundaries. A well-formed mount reveals someone who could be stubborn, while an underdeveloped mount of Saturn shows confusion and indecisiveness.
Mount of Mercury
The mount of Mercury speaks about intelligence, awareness of practical skills. Large prominence and firmness of Mercury signifies an effective expression of ideas and healing abilities. If it's a similar size to the mount of Saturn or Apollo, that indicates the mount is underdeveloped.
THE BIG THREE LINES
When you think about palmistry, the image of multiple lines on the hand probably comes to our mind. But there are likely a few lines that immediately spring to mind — the life line, the head line, and the heart line. And those are the most important to look at when reading a palm.
The Life Line
It's the line that starts at the base of your palm and arcs upward circling the ball of your thumb, ending between your thumb and forefinger. It reflects one's health and physical vitality.
Usually, people think that this line can indicate the length of life for someone, but it is not true, the life-line is just an indicator of someone’s vitality system.
A long, deep, tender and rosy life line stands for that you are highly resistant to disease and full of vitality.
If you have a secondary line running parallel with the life line, it shows you are a very strong person.
The Head Line
This is the line that starts on the edge of your palm, underneath the index finger, and slices across the middle. It usually looks like it's dividing the palm and reflects a person's mind and personality. People who have long headlines have a clear mind, they are good at thinking. They are considerate.
The Heart Line
Also called the "love line", it is the first major line in your palm, that starts from the edge of the palm below the little finger and ends mostly below the middle or index finger, It reflects one's love life and attitude.
A clear, curved, unbroken, not mixed or disorderly and extends to the forefinger or between the forefinger and middle finger, shows a good love life and emotion.
If there are two or three forks at the end, it’s much better. It shows a warm---hearted person.
Are you curious about what your palm says about you?
I created this guide to help you familiarize yourself with the basis of palmistry so you can start to practice but I encourage you to trust your intuition and develop your interpretations.
