Out of all the various and complex forms of divination as a means to predict the events of the future, palm reading is one of the more basic, but most interesting forms. Formally called “Chiromancy,” (from the Greek “cheir”, which means hand, and “mantei”, which means divination) palm reading is the study of the patterns on the inner side of ones hand in order to predict future events or foreshadow things not yet come to past.
The roots of palm reading can be traced back more than 5000 years ago to India, where Hindu sages and Roman fortune tellers (gypsies) practiced the art based on astrological principles. The practice eventually gained popularity and soon spread to other parts of Asia and Europe including Chine, Tibet, Egypt, Persia and Greece.
The way that palm reading works is that the all of the lines on your hand are designated and organized into specific categories, for example, the “heart line” and the “life line”. The reader begins by examining the dominant hand of the subject, and correlates the patterns on a persons hand to these categories.
Largely based on Greek mythology, the implications of how the specifically organized lines appear on your hand correspond to a Greek god or goddess, who each represents some sort of theme or emotion. For example, the god Apollo resides in the ring finger of the subject’s hand, representing themes of artistic ability, musical ability, aesthetics, fame, wealth, and harmony.
Other aspects of palm reading pay attention to the other characteristics of the hand such as size, skin color, and fingernails. These characteristics are again organized, much like the line patterns how to read your palm, into 10 categories that are largely based on elemental theory. For instance, if one is deemed as having a “fire hand” (identified as a hand with a square palm, flushed skin, short fingers) then their personality should reflect a high level of energy, creativity, ambition, and sometimes, a short temper.
Other identifiable characteristics on a hand can be interpreted as “Earth hand”, seen through square palms and fingers, and coarse skin that is a darker, more murky color, “Air hand” seen through rectangular palms, long fingers, prominent knuckles, and dry skin, or “Water hand”, which is seen through an oval-shaped palm, with long, flexible fingers.
Concerning the scientific validity of palm reading, many scientists have called the practice into question, having been identified as having little to no significant scientific principles. Many will dismiss the legitimacy of palm reading based on this fact, and also because it can be classified as part of the “cold reading” culture. This means that palm reading is widely used by the culture of people claiming to have psychic powers, but are really only doing so in order to gain a profit. This sort of false practice suggests that palm reading is too much of a gimmick to be taken seriously. However, further study might suggest that some of the astrological principles that coincide with the symbols on your hand would produce an interesting analysis that is not focused on the psychological, but rather, on the scientific physical body and mind.
The intricacies behind the practice of palm reading are often overlooked so once the focus is taken away from the supernatural, some characteristics or astrological principles involved in the art of palm reading might produce some sort of significant scientific findings.