Palmistry

The Fortune Teller, by Caravaggio (1594–95; Canvas; Louvre), depicting a palm reading

Palmistry or chiromancy (also spelled cheiromancy, Greek cheir (χειρ), “hand”; manteia (μαντεία), “divination”), is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palm reading, or chirology. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice chiromancy are generally called palmists, palm readers, hand readers, hand analysts,or chirologists.
The practice of chiromancy is generally regarded as a pseudoscience. The information outlined below is briefly representative of modern palmistry; there are many ― often conflicting ― interpretations of various lines and palmar features across various "schools" of palmistry.

History

Palmistry can trace its roots back to Chinese Yijing (I Ching), India in (Hindu) Astrology (known in Sanskrit as Jyotish) and Roma (gypsy) fortune tellers. The Hindu sage Valmiki is thought to have written a book, whose title translates in English as "The Teachings of Valmiki Maharshi on Male Palmistry", comprising 567 stanzas. From India, the art of palmistry spread to China, Tibet, Egypt, Persia and to other countries in Europe[citation needed]. From China, palmistry progressed to Greece[citation needed] where Anaxagoras practiced it. However, modern palmists often combine traditional predictive techniques with psychology, holistic healing, and alternative methods of divination also.

-Captain Casimir Stanislas D'Arpentigny published La Chirognomie in 1839
-Adrien Adolphe Desbarolles published Les Mysteres de la Main in 1859
-Katherine Saint-Hill founded the Chirological Society of Great Britain in 1889
-Edgar de Valcourt-Vermont (Comte de St Germain) founded the American Chirological Society in 1897
-Count Louis Hamon (Cheiro) published Cheiro's Language of the Hand in 1894
-William Benham published The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading in 1900
-Charlotte Wolff published works from 1936-1969, contributed to scientific chirology
-Noel Jaquin published works from 1925-1958, contributed to scientific chirology
-Arnold Holtzman (Psychodiagnostic Chirology)

Techniques

Palm of man's right hand

Chiromancy consists of the practice of evaluating a person's character or future life by "reading" the palm of that person's hand. Various "lines" ("heart line", "life line", etc.) and "mounts" (or bumps) (chirognomy) , purportedly suggest interpretations by their relative sizes, qualities, and intersections. In some traditions, readers also examine characteristics of the fingers, fingernails, fingerprints and palmar skin patterns (dermatoglyphics), skin texture and color, shape of the palm, and flexibility of the hand.

A reader usually begins by reading the person's 'dominant hand' (the hand he or she writes with or uses the most)(sometimes considered to represent the conscious mind, whereas the other hand is subconscious). In some traditions of palmistry, the other hand is believed to carry hereditary or family traits, or, depending on the palmist's cosmological beliefs, to convey information about past-life or karmic conditions.

The basic framework for "Classical" palmistry (the most widely taught and practiced tradition) is rooted in Greek mythology. Each area of the palm and fingers is related to a god or goddess, and the features of that area indicate the nature of the corresponding aspect of the subject. For example, the ring finger is associated with the Greek god Apollo; characteristics of the ring finger are tied to the subject's dealings with art, music, aesthetics, fame, wealth, and harmony.