Palmistry

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The Practice of Palmistry is the main source used, and a good source, if you look at it in context. It was written by C. de Saint Germaine before the turn of the century, and is somewhat sexist in its viewpoints. However, he did a lot of emperical research, comparing individuals with distinct traits and distinct lines on the palm, and drew his conclusions from there. These are surprisingly co-incidental with other palmistry traditions. On the down side, this book is definitly not a easy read and is not particularly recommended for beginners.

Palmistry is a form of divination, or reading of the "unknowable," by studying the lines of the hands. Like most forms of divination, palmistry is highly intuitive, meaning a reader will trust the "feel" of a line in addition to just reading its book definition. And, as in all forms of fortune-telling, the future can always be changed.

St. Germaine offers no distinction between the hands, but most people will find the lines are different on each hand. Traditionally, one looks at the "dominant" hand (left for a left- handed person, right for a right-handed person) to see what you're doing with your life now, and the non-dominant hand to see how you were born to be. A comparison of the two can see how you have changed your destiny over the years.

The hand is divided into many different parts corresponding to the planets of astrology, and will be explained as needed. There are many aspects of palmistry, as specific as analyzing one's fingerprint, so only a few general things will be discussed to give an idea of what palmistry is about.

Types of Fingers:

pointed (rare): People with pointed fingers are imaginative, talented, idealistic, impractical, and somewhat lazy. Artist's fingers.

conical (look somewhat like pointed but are more rounded at the ends - most people have conical fingers): reasonable, but imaginative. Creative and personable. A happy medium.

square - reasonable and practical to the point of empericism.

spatulated (wider at the tip than the rest of the finger) - very action-oriented, not very reasonable.

Thumb:

thick - primitive tastes, uncouth

flat - a nervous person, can be cruel

broad - prone to violent outbursts. if also short, prone to fits of stubbournness.

slender - an artistic person

The following refers to the degree which one can bend one's thumb back, away from the hand. This doesn't count if you've had thumb surgery. ;)

stiff - an inflexible person, but probably good with money.

thrown-back - an artistic and generous person (again, the average)

very flexible - an unconventional person, money probably flows through their fingers.

Mounts:

The mounts refer to the fleshy lumps that appear on your hand, the high spots or "mountains" on the plane of the hand. The most prominant ones are roughly at the base of each finger and thumb. These are named after the finger or other feature which they are nearest. In general, the larger the mount the stronger the characteristic in the person. There is a special meaning if the mount is not exactly under the proper finger, but that's more specific than will be discussed here.

Jupiter (under index finger) - religion, pride, respect

Saturn (under 2nd finger) - morbidness, sadness, interpersonal relationships.

Sun (under ring finger) - artistic talent

Mercury (under pinky finger) - inventiveness

Upper Mars (directly under the Mount of Mercury) - courage

Moon (directly under Upper Mars, large) - imagination

Venus (under thumb, across from Moon) - love

Lower Mars (above Venus, across from Upper Mars) - indifference

Lines:

Germaine belived that the lines on the palm are caused by the flow of energy through the hands, and because the energy flow reflects that of the whole body we can read the entirety from a small part. He belived the energy flowed in through the fingers and then throughout the body. He supported this with the fact that unborn children do not have lines until late in development.

There are several easy-to-spot lines on the hand, and many finer ones. There are thousands of specific meanings for markings such as loops, crosshatching, heavy lines, weak lines, etc., but only the general meaning of each line will be given here.

The life line is the line running in a curve from above the thumb, between the thumb and the forefinger; to below the thumb, attaching to the wrist. It indicates the course of one's life. A short life line does not mean a short life - one's entire life is mapped out in the line to no particular scale.

The head line is the line running across the palm from the area between the thumb and the forefinger to the Upper Mars or Moon area of the hand. It deals with thinking and reasoning.

The heart line is the line immediately above the head line, running from the Mount of Mercury to the Mount of Jupiter. This line deals with the love life. There's much dispute as to the meaning of the variations in this line: some say a chain-like heart line means a strong love life, other say it means many breaks and splinters. The line running vertically down the middle of the hand, from between the Mount of the Moon and the Mount of Venus to the Mounts of Saturn and the Sun, is the Fate line. It is often faint, and refers to the play of luck and Fate in one's life. It doesn't necessarily mean GOOD luck, however. The line of the Sun arcs around the Mount of the Moon, and is the line of fortune, similar to the line of Fate. Often, people will have one and not the other. The health line runs perpendicular to the head and heart lines, across the center of the hand and into the Mount of Mercury or Upper Mars. It is also known as the liver line, and refers to physical health.