Palmistry

Etymology and use

The word "palmistry" derives from the Latin palma ("palm of the hand"). It is mainly used as synonym for chiromancy in many Spanish texts and traditions; some authors prefer "palmistica" to refer specifically to line reading on the palm, while reserving "chirognomy" for the analysis of the structural shape of the hand and fingers. Both disciplines together form the complete tradition of hand reading.

In English the equivalent term is palmistry; in French, palmoscopie or chiromancie. Practice has the same ancient roots already described in the entry of chiromancy: India of 3000 BC, transmission to China, Persia, Egypt, Greece, medieval Europe, Renaissance, modern systematisation by Adrien Adolphe Desbarrolles in the 19th century.

Specifics of palmistry

When the term is used distinctively from chiromancy, it usually emphasises: 1) The four major lines of the palm: life line, head line, heart line, destiny/fate line. Their length, depth, breaks, branches and meeting points are interpreted. 2) The minor lines: line of intuition (parallel to the destiny line), line of marriage (small horizontal lines under the little finger), lines of children (vertical small lines), line of the sun (success and recognition), line of health, etc.

3) The seven mounts of the palm: each finger has an associated mount with a planetary correspondence — Jupiter (under the index, ambition), Saturn (under the middle, responsibility), Apollo/Sun (under the ring, creativity), Mercury (under the little finger, communication), Venus (base of the thumb, sensuality), Moon (opposite, imagination), Mars (between Mercury and Moon, courage). Their development reveals predominant planetary energies. 4) Special signs in the palm: stars, crosses, squares, islands, triangles — each one with specific meaning according to its location.

Active hand vs passive hand

A common reading distinguishes between: passive hand (left for right-handed) — what you came with at birth, soul potentials, family inheritances, kármico path; active hand (right for right-handed) — what you are doing with your life, present circumstances, decisions in progress, evolution. Differences between the two hands indicate where you have moved away from your original blueprint (and possibly suffer for it) or where you have integrated and transcended difficulties brought from before. The exercise of looking at both is fascinating self-knowledge.