Palm Reading

Dating all the way back to 2,000 BC, the art of palm reading has firm roots in new age and astrological lore. Previously associated with Gypsies and evil magicians, this ancient art was once shrouded in mystery and fear. In modern times, however, palm reading is associated with pure fun. Whether you believe that your hand is an accurate indicator of personality traits or are a skeptic, you’ll have a fun time reading your own palm.

Unlike your zodiac sign, which you’re born with, the lines on your palm are not fixed from birth. As you progress through your life, your palm lines will form and change according to your personality and experiences. Therefore, your life determines what your palm looks like, rather than the appearance of your palm determining your life. For example, a traumatic emotional event may result in a break in your head line. Therefore, palm reading is not a form of fortune telling. It won’t tell you what will happen in your life, rather, it will tell you what has already happened.

You have three main lines on your palm, each which indicates a separate area of your life. Your love line is the line on the top, your head line is in the middle, and your life line is on the bottom.

Some of the lines of the hand in Palmistry
1: Life line 2: Head line 3: Heart line 4: Girdle of Venus
5: Sun line 6: Mercury line 7: Fate line

Your Love Line
Your love line, also known as your heart line, relates to all the emotions and situations that are associated with love. This line is above your head and life line. It begins under your index or middle finger and extends toward your pinky.

How to read your love line:

• If the line starts directly underneath the index finger, then you are content with your love life.
• If your line begins right below the middle finger, this indicates a selfish and materialistic outlook when it comes to love.
• A line that begins between the middle and index finger signifies that you give your heart away too easily.
• If the line is straight and short, you have a high sex drive and aren’t particularly concerned with romance.
• If the line points downward and touches your life line (which is on the bottom), then it’s easy for you to have your heart broken.
• A line that is long and curvy indicates that you freely express your emotions and feelings.
• A love line that is straight and parallel to the head line indicates that you have a good handle on your emotions.

Variations on the love line

• If your love line is wavy, you may have a slew of relationships and lovers, but a lack of serious relationships.
• A circle on the line refers to a time of depression in your life. Likewise, a broken heart line indicates emotional trauma, as does a heart line with smaller lines crossing through it.
• Smaller lines that stretch above the heart line are reflective of happiness in love, but lines that stretch down from the heart line indicate disappointment.

Your Head Line
This line doesn’t deal with how smart you are, but rather how you think. It can indicate your beliefs, morals and general attitude toward life. This line begins right above the life line (also, remember that it’s below the heart line) and travels across the palm.

How to read your head line:

• A short line shows that you prefer working toward physical achievements rather than mental ones.
• A curved, sloping line indicates creativity.
• If your head line and life line are separated, you enjoy the taste of adventure and have great enthusiasm for life.
• A wavy line shows that you have a short attention span and don’t enjoy deep thinking.
• If you have a deep, long line that stretches horizontally across the palm, then your thinking is clear and focused. The straighter the line, the more realistic your thinking is.

Variations on the head line:

• If you have a donut or cross in your head line, this indicates that you’ve been through an emotional crisis.
• A broken head line indicates that you are inconsistent in the way you think and may have even suffered a nervous breakdown.
• Multiple crosses through your head line represent momentous decisions in your life.

Your Life Line
This line starts on the edge of your palm, in between your index finger and thumb. It extends down your palm. Situated below your heart and head lines, this line will tell you about the quality of your life.

How to read your life line:

• A life line that runs close to your thumb indicates that you are often tired.
• If your line is curvy, you have a lot of energy.
• A long, deep lifeline indicates that you’ll have a long, healthy life filled with vitality.
• If the line is short and shallow, then it may indicate that you let others control your life for you.
• If the line swoops around in a semicircle, you have tremendous strength and enthusiasm.
• If the line is straight and stays close to the edge of your palm, you are cautious when it comes to relationships and often hold back from love.
• If you have two or even three life lines, then this means you have extra vitality and positivity around you.

Variations on the life line:

• A circle in your life line indicates that you were hospitalized or injured.
• A break indicates a sudden change in lifestyle, such as an accident, illness or heartbreak.
• If you have lines that extend up and beyond your life line, then you are good at recovering from bad situations, but if you have lines that extend below your life line, you tend to waste energy.

The three lines found on almost all hands, and generally given most weight by palmists:

• The heart line is the first of the major lines examined by a reader. It is found towards the top of the palm, under the fingers. In some traditions, the line is read as starting from the edge of the palm under the little finger and flowing across the palm towards the thumb; in others, it is seen as starting under the fingers and flowing toward the outside edge of the palm. Palmists interpret this line to represent matters of the heart, both physical and metaphorical, and believe it can indicate emotional stability, romantic perspectives, depression, and stoicism, in addition to various aspects of cardiac health.
• The next line identified by palmists is the head line. This line starts at the edge of the palm under the index finger and flows across the palm towards the outside edge. Often, the head line is joined with the life line (see below) at inception. Palmists generally interpret this line to represent the person's mind and the way it works, including learning style, communication style, intellectualism, and thirst for knowledge. It is also believed to indicate a preference for creative or analytical approaches to information (i.e., right brain or left brain).
• Finally, readers look at perhaps the most controversial line on the hand, the life line. This line extends from the edge of the palm above the thumb and travels in an arc towards the wrist. This line is believed to represent the person's vitality and vigor, physical health and general well being. The life line is also believed to reflect major life changes, including cataclysmic events, physical injuries, and relocations. Contrary to popular belief, modern palmists generally do not believe that the length of a person's life line is tied to the length of a person's life.

Additional major lines or variations include:

• A simian crease, or fusing of the heart and head lines, has special significance in that both emotional as well as reasoning nature have to be studied from this line alone. The peculiar line is thought to be a combination of the head and heart lines on such hands that are separately marked on the rest of the hands.

According to Cheiro, this line is thought to endow a person with an intensity of purpose or single-mindedness, the nature of which is decided upon by exact position of this line on the hand and the direction of any branches shooting from it, which is normally the case. In hands where such a line exists without any branches as a singular mark, it indicates an extremely intense nature and special care is needed for such persons. The normal position for the line is starting below the index finger and ending where normally the heart line terminates at the edge of the hand below the little finger, indicating average interests for the person and the intense side of the nature is decided purely by the direction of any branches shooting from it.

The upper half of the palm lying immediately below the fingers is considered to represent the higher or intellectual nature and the lower half of the palm to represent the materialistic side of the nature. If one of these halves is larger than the other as decided by the central placement of the head line or in this case the single transverse palmar crease it shows greater development of that aspect of the nature. Based on this general principle, if this line is placed below its abovementioned normal position it indicates an intensely intellectual nature; if it is placed above its normal position it indicates an intensely materialistic nature and interests.

The direction in which any branches may be found shooting from this line have a significant impact on the nature of this line resulting in suitable modifications from the above defined results depending on the nature of the mounts on the hand. For instance, if a branch from this line shoots to the mount of Moon lying on the lower edge of the hand exactly opposite the thumb, it indicates an intensely vacillating nature and emotional temperament.

• The fate line runs from the bottom of the palm near the wrist, up through the center of the palm towards the middle finger. This line is believed to be tied to the person's life path, including school and career choices, successes and obstacles. Sometimes this line is thought to reflect circumstances beyond the individual's control, or alternately the person's choices and their consequences.

Other minor lines:

• Sun Line - parallel to the Fate Line, under the ring finger; believed to indicate fame or scandal
• Girdle of Venus - starts between the little and ring fingers, runs in a rough arc under the ring and middle fingers to end between the middle and pointer fingers; thought to relate to emotional intelligence and the ability to manipulate
• •Union Lines - short horizontal lines found on the percussive edge of the palm between the Heart Line and the bottom of the little finger; believed to indicate close relationships, sometimes - but not always - romantic.
• Mercury Line - runs from the bottom of the palm near the wrist, up through the palm towards the little finger; purported to be an indicator of persistent health issues, business acumen, or skill in communication.
• Travel Lines - these are horizontal lines found on the percussive edge of the palm between the wrist and the heart line; each line is said to represent a trip taken by the subject - the longer the line, the more important the trip is to the subject.

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