If you want to practice hand analyses yourself, there is a wealth of information to draw from. A majority of the prevalent palm-reading techniques (such as the meanings and interpretations of hand shapes, palmar lines, palmar and thenar mounts) are closely associated with classical palmistry which, in its turn, has its roots in Greek mythology.

How to Learn Chiromancy

As a beginner palmist or chiromancer, you should first familiarize yourself with this classical knowledge, or what you may call the basics of palmistry. Equipped with this knowledge, you can begin your journey as a chiromancer at first with making ‘larger observations’. Relax yourself, free your mind and with the querent or seeker’s hand cupped in yours, try to apply the knowledge you have gathered to make some silent observations.

Focus and look closely at the plains and mounts, the lines and creases, at the several tiny markings, crosses, etc. that are there on the palm of the subject, all of which can provide you with valuable information on the subject’s personality, temperament and potentials. And as you gradually hone your skills, your intuitive abilities will get sharper and you may start to read clues about the future on the subject’s palm, too.

And as mentioned, modern chiromancy, in addition to classical palmistry knowledge, employ other techniques as well (such as reading of fingerprint glyphs). And once you have mastered the basics of palm-reading techniques and have acquired some confidence in your chiromancer abilities, you may very well start to explore those additional sources of knowledge.

As a beginner, however, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the basics first. So, we are talking hand shapes, lines, mounts and their possible interpretations. Let’s take a closer look at each of these sections.

Hand Shapes

Although there are many variations, most schools of palmistry recognize four basic hand shapes that correspond with the four elements of the world (each with its associated traits and temperaments as specified in classical astrology). So, we have:

Air hands

Shape: Rectangular or square palms; long fingers; often combined with low-set thumbs, protruding knuckles, and dry skin.
Traits: Good communication skills, innate analytical abilities, tendency to be edgy or anxious, or easily distracted.

Earth Hands

Shape: Square, broad palms with thick-set fingers; length of the fingers almost equal to the length of the palm (from wrist to the bottom of the fingers)
Traits: Level-headed, grounded, logical, practical; often taken up too strongly with immediate realities and this can sometime act as an obstacle to proper planning for the future.

Water hands

Shape: Easily recognizable by an oval-shaped and shortish palm with long, conical and flexible fingers.
Traits: Intuitive; high and acute sensibility; creative proclivities; easily swayed by emotion and compassion and this often makes individuals with water hands vulnerable to interpersonal stress, emotional pain, etc.

Fire hands

Shape: Rectangular or square palm; shorter fingers; flushed skin; length of the fingers usually greater than the length of the palm.
Traits: Industrious, confident, passionate, ambitious; in some individuals, lacking in empathy or regard for others’ feelings.

Lines and Mounds

In palmistry, the lines refer to the folds and creases that are found on our palms. It is believed that these lines give us a narrative of a person’s life as well as indicate karmic conditions and may also predict future happenings.

Although interpretations of various lines are performed through analyzing their relative length, depth, intersection and curvature, a palm-reader must always bear in mind the fact that that no two palms are alike. As such, the context must play an important role in every hand-reading exercise. Make close observations of where the lines intersect, the mounds they cross and exactly where they begin and end.

As a chiromancer, you should never lose sight of the fact that proper readings are not achieved by following any rulebook. There IS NO rulebook, as a matter of fact. Yes, there are certain meanings attached to particular lines, mounds, crosses, hand shapes, finger shapes, and so on: but what we call ‘meanings’ here are really ‘keywords’ that are meant to provide you with certain (often conflicting) insights.

As such, as a practising chiromancer, you must be creative and let your intuition guide your analysis. If you are any doubt whatsoever, never shy away from asking questions of the subject the answers to which may help your reading. Just as a physician needs to know his patient’s medical history, similarly certain aspects or facts of the subject’s life can play important part during a reading and may enable you to offer richer insights. After all, you are a hand reader or a palmist, and not a mind reader!

That said, to come back to our discussion of palm lines.

The three major lines found in a person’s hand are:

The Heart Line: The highest horizontal line or crease found on our palm is referred to as the Heart Line (or the Love Line) and it is believed that this line governs everything related to heart—both in its physical and its metaphorical sense. So, this line provides insights into a person’s romantic perspectives, emotional dispositions, how they will fare in their marriage or love life, etc. At the same time, this line can also indicate different aspects of cardiac health. For example, a chained heart line is often read as indications of cardiac trouble.

The Head Line: Similarly, the head line is associated with a person’s mind and mental activities such as intellectualism, communication style, learning pattern, etc. The shape and length of this line can provide clues to the above factors.

The Life Line: In palmistry, this line is thought to represent a person’s general well being, his physical health, and vigor and vitality. It is also believed that major life changes leave their reflections on the life line. However, contrary to the popular notion, palmists don’t believe that the life line has anything to do with the length of an individual’s life.

Apart from the above, some traditions of palmistry also regard the Fate line as one of the major lines.

Palmistry Fate line

This is the line or the vertical crease that runs from the bottom of the palm all the way up to the center with the direction being towards the middle finger. Also known as the destiny line, this vertical line is thought to reflect how a certain person’s life gets influenced by forces and circumstances beyond his control.

Then there are Minor Lines that include Sun Line, Girdle of Venus, Money Line, Ring of Apollo or Apollo Line, Mercury Line or Ring of Mercury, Bracelet Line, Mars Line, Travel Line and others.

The minor lines—both in their characterizations and in their meanings—partly correspond to and intersect with the mounds and plains (the fleshy areas in the palm). For example, the most common mounds found on the palm correspond to the seven planets recognized within classical astrology: Mercury, Venus, Luna (the moon), Apollo (the sun), Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. The minor lines and mounds are associated with attributes that correspond to the attributes of the Gods or Goddesses associated with each of these planets in the Greek mythology.

Conclusion

The above is a mere outline of what chiromancy and palmistry entails. There are many other techniques and nuances involved, some of them (such as the relation of fingerprint glyph with a person’s health) recognized by modern science as well. Although it can reveal glimpses of part of fortune of an individual, the art of chiromancy is not a fortune-telling practice. Rather, it is a divination practice aimed at developing insights that can illuminate one’s path ahead. After all, just as individuals themselves do, their hands, too, change over the course of a lifetime and we all have the power to guide our own destinies.