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Palmistry FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

bullet hand  Do you look at the right or left hand?

pointer hand  Aren't the lines on the palm just creases formed by hand movement?

bullet hand  Can you tell how long I will live from my lifeline?

pointer hand  Can you predict my future?

bullet hand  Can you tell me how many children or marriages I will have?

pointer hand  Do you have to be psychic to read hands? Is it 'a gift'?

bullet hand  How to do palmistry? How to read hands?

pointer hand  Is handreading a science?



Do you look at the right or left hand?
People often ask "which hand do you look at?". You have to study both hands. In traditional palmistry, if you are right handed, they say "the left is what the gods give you, the right is what you do with it." This is a bit simplistic and misleading - we were given both hands, the lines on both hands change, so we do something with both hands! The hand you write with is your dominant or active hand. It reflects the conscious you, your public face, you 'out in the world', what you have actively developed. The other hand, the passive or minor hand, is more about the subconscious, your private face, the inner you, your instincts, your latent abilities. So we have to look at and compare both hands to see the 'whole' person.
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Aren't the lines on the palm just creases formed by hand movement?
People who are sceptical about palmistry & hand analysis say that the palmar lines are just folds or creases in the skin where the hand moves, grasps and bends. Even scientists call the lines 'creases' - but they are not simply caused by folding of the hand!

Compare the lines on the palm to other 'crease lines' on the body e.g. elbow / back of knee / wrist. These 'crease' lines aren't as well defined as the lines on the palm. If you stretch out your arm the elbow crease becomes fainter, but stretch your hand and the palmar lines appear stronger. There are no markings on the elbow or other creases such as we see on the lines of the hand - (how could the markings be caused by folding?). There are lines on the hand where the skin doesn't fold, and places where the hand folds but there is no distinct line.

If the lines were caused by folding, why do most of us have two "transverse creases" (Head & Heart lines) on our palms instead of one (Simian line)? Manual workers, who use their hands a lot, usually have fewer lines than people who do sedentary jobs. Also, most of us have more lines on our passive hands the one we don't write with) yet it is used (moved / folded) less than the active hand.

The main argument against them being crease lines is that the lines on the palm are all present by the time the foetus is 3 months old. The lifeline forms at 7 - 8 weeks gestation, heart & head lines at 9 - 10 weeks, but the muscles needed for movement of the hand don't form until 11 weeks, when there are the first reflex movements. Voluntary hand actions don't start till 23 weeks. The nerve endings, which stimulate the muscles, are forming around the same time as the lines. So the lines are there before even reflex movements are possible and long before voluntary muscular movement of the hand exists.

Another myth is that elderly people have more lines than young people. Although we do tend to develop more lines as we get older, especially on the fingertips, some elderly people have very few lines and some young people have lines all over their palms! The number of lines on the palm differs according to the temperament, health etc of the individual.
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Can palmistry tell how long I will live from my lifeline?
No, the life line does not foretell length of life, so don't worry if you think you have a short lifeline! In modern hand reading (chirology) it tells us a lot about your health, energy and lifestyle. A short line may mean that you need to use your energy in short bursts with rests in between. More common than a short line is one which stops and re-starts, usually with the two lines overlapping for a while, this shows some kind of change in your lifestyle.
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Can palmistry predict my future?
Although the fingerprints never change, the palmar lines and markings change throughout life. If our future was all mapped out for us, surely the lines would stay the same. When looking at a hand, we see the person as they are NOW, bringing their past with them and sowing seeds for the future. Although many palmists do make predictions, any prediction from the hand is only potential. Most prediction is based on the direction you are going in now. It is not set in stone - we all have free will to make choices and changes in our lives, that will affect our future and alter our "fate", and our lines will change accordingly.
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Can you tell me how many children or marriages I will have?
This is the palmistry question that I get asked more than any other!
The origin of the child lines and 'marriage' lines (also known as 'lines of union', 'affection', 'attachment' or 'relationship' lines) goes back to palmistry manuscripts dating from the fifteenth century and are well known in traditional palm reading and have long been used in fortune telling or chiromancy. These lines are located on the ulna or percussion edge of the hand, on the Mercury mount, underneath the little finger.

The relationship lines are horizontal lines - you might see them more clearly if you form your hand into a fist, and you should see some creases at the side of the hand, below the little finger and above the heartline. The number of lines was supposed to represent the number of marriages.

The child lines are small vertical lines that sit in top of, or cross, the relationship lines. In old-fashioned palmistry, a strong line was supposed to represent a boy and a weak line a girl. Some palmists say a straight line is a boy and a slanted line is a girl. HOWEVER.......
These days, most palmistry experts agree that the marriage lines and child lines are not reliable with regard to the number of relationships / children. I have seen distinct child lines on the hands of women over childbearing age who never had any children. Some palmists believe that child lines can show children you feel close to, so could include of course adopted children, also nephews & nieces, step-children, grandchildren etc. Others say that these lines can represent pets that you love dearly. There are lots of ways that these lines are interpreted by different people. To me, all this confirms that the child lines do not necessarily represent whether you will be a parent, nor how many children you will have. Maybe the 'child lines' show a willingness to nurture others?

Some people have several "marriage lines" (these days we would say "relationship lines") but have never married or lived with anyone, or had only one marriage type relationship. Although many palmists still read these lines, (and sometimes get them right!), any prediction about children or marriage from the hand shouldn't be taken too seriously, as very often it is not accurate.
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Do you have to be psychic to read hands? Is it 'a gift'?
No, anyone can learn palmistry. Hand analysis is not to be confused with mediumship, clairvoyant or psychic reading, nor anything 'paranormal'. Hand reading is a skill like map reading, or cracking a code, or doing a jigsaw. You learn all the basics of what each feature of the hand might represent, then you put all the pieces together to build up a picture of the person. No two hands are the same, so each combination of features is unique to that person. The more readings you do, the more your natural intuition can increase, but you are still using the analytical techniques to reach your interpretation of the persons hands. The only mystery is why it should work at all!
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How to do palmistry? How to read hands?
This question comes up a lot on the search engines. Or "palm lines, what does it mean?", " "how do palmists interpret hands?" etc. The answer is to read every palmistry book you can find, maybe go on a course, gather as much info as you can, try it out, test it on lots of people. Then you will gradually learn how to do it. It isn't something you can learn overnight. In fact you never stop learning. There are so many different palmistry traditions, hand reading theories, scientific discoveries to learn about. Everyone is unique so there are always new combinations of features to look at on people's hands. The combinations are the important thing. You have to look at every feature in conjunction with everything else on the hand. Don't get too hung up on signs and symbols, like "I have a star on my Luna Mount" etc. I don't believe that such markings are omens. In fact most aren't independent stars at all, but lines crossing at a central point, so interpret the lines and you may get an idea what the 'star' represents. If you want to learn, there is plenty of info out there - look up internet sites (see links page), read books (see books page for recommendations). Have fun ! It is a fascinating subject to study!
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Is handreading a science?
I wish I could answer "yes" to this, but the fact is that interpreting character and temperament from the hand has not been "scientifically proven" - yet! Despite the fact that hands have been studied for over 3,000 years, it was less than 150 years ago when scientists discovered that the hands are connected to the brain! Since then, thousands of research papers have been written about hands, see 'research' page

Not many scientists are expert handreaders and vice versa! In the past there has been a great divide between the two, with the image of handreaders or palmists as 'superstitious fortune tellers', to the detriment of advancing serious research. Modern hand analysis has moved well away from that approach, and scientists are starting to discover that maybe there is something scientific to be understood from this handreading 'art', so the gap is closing. The good news is that these days, some scientists and hand analysts are beginning to work together. We can learn from each other. There are many things in life which science cannot yet explain, but I have great faith that many more aspects of hand analysis WILL be proven in the future ! see Research page.
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