The Origin of Palmistry: Where it Started and How it Works

Palmistry is the foretelling of the future through the study of the palm. Palmistry is also referred to as palm reading, hand analysis, and chirology. Palmistry can be traced back more than five thousand years to ancient India. Its roots started as an Indian Astrology known as Sanskrit or Jyotish. Palmistry spread to China, Egypt, Tibet and Persia around 3000 B.C. Palmistry was used during the middle ages to detect witches. It was believed that certain spots on the hand indicated one had made a pact with the Devil. The original intent of palmistry was for personality assessment and counseling. One's emotional tendencies, social attitudes, conscious awareness and subconscious fears, blockages and strengths can be understood in great detail through this in-depth system which analyses the hand and the markings it carry. Today palmistry is practiced as a holistic healing practice in addition to alternative methods of divination.


Palmistry consists of the practice of evaluating a person’s character or life in the future by reading the palm of the person’s hand. In palm reading the various lines and mounts found on the palm indicate what will be seen during the palm reading, by their sizes, and qualities. Very often a palm reading will also include an examination of the characteristics of your fingers, fingernails, fingerprints, palmar skin patterns, skin color, texture, shape of the palm, and flexibility of your hand.

A palm reading usually begins by a reading of the person’s dominant hand. Meaning the hand that is used most often. It has been said in some traditions of palmistry that the “other hand” carries some sort of past life or karmic information, as well as some hereditary traits. The basic idea behind palmistry is rooted from Greek mythology. Each area of the palm and fingers is related to a Greek god or goddess. The features of that area indicate the nature of each aspect and how it relates to the subject getting the palm reading.

The type of palmistry being practiced will depend on the type of reading you receive. During a palm reading there are many areas a palmist may look at while doing a palm reading. One is the hand shape. Most schools of palmistry divide the hand shape into either 4 or 10 types. These types are either based on elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Air) or temperaments. Hand shape is supposed to indicate character traits, according to the type of element or temperament indicated.

During a palm reading it is also common to study the “mounts” of a palm. This study is known as Cheirognomy. Each mount represents a planetary influence, in an astrological sense. Perhaps what is most commony known is the study of the lines in your palm during a reading. Each line represents something different. These lines are a map to your furture and what lies ahead for you in all areas of your life.

Everything matters in Palmistry...the size of the hand, it's shape, color, texture, the nails, depth of lines, even the manner in which you hold your hands while getting a palm reading.