The History Of Palm Reading Explained

Palm reading has been around for centuries. It apparently originated in India, though it has been found all over the globe, most notably in Europe and Greece. The Romani people, in particular, learned and passed on the fortune telling arts, including palm reading, to the rest of the world due to their mostly nomadic nature (via Seagrape Apothecary). Modern palm readers now occasionally include psychology in their readings as well.

Palm reading is essentially using the lines of the palm to figure out a person's characteristics or future. Different features of the palm and fingers signal different signs to individual palm readers, though certain concepts are common. Palm reading has also been featured in paintings and literature throughout history.

Palm reading is a way for people to feel as though they have more of a hand in their own futures because they are able to foresee them. Though certain religions forbade divination, people still flocked to palm readers. Believing that they carry the possibility of their futures in their hands is powerful knowledge. So, let's learn more about the history of palm reading.

Palm reading can be found all over the globe. In general, the origins of palmistry are somewhat uncertain, writes Britannica. Much of the practice of modern palm reading came from ancient Greece, though it was also found in China, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Tibet.

According to "Wonders of Palmistry," the Greeks Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Anaxagoras all wrote about their individual views on palmistry. One particular book, written by Hispaunus, was inscribed in gold when it was presented to Alexander the Great.

However, the fortune telling of the Romani people, which included palm reading, began in northern India; palm reading was possibly practiced by the Brahmin caste. It is likely that the Indian practice of palm reading is even older than that of the ancient Greek or Chinese practices. Indian astrologers first gained knowledge of the signs that were later used in palm reading. Samudra Rishi was the first Indian scholar to write about palm reading; he was followed by many others. Knowing about their life challenges ahead of time allowed those who had their palms read to have time to work to change themselves or the events before they happened in order to improve their life.

People have always aimed to bring stone-cold certainty into their lives by trying to read the future in various ways. Palmistry was just one way of accomplishing that. Palm reading was popular in the Middle Ages, ironically with witch hunters. According to Google Arts and Culture, they saw birthmarks and other marks on the palm as proof of a Satanic pact. Palm reading allowed them to find further signs of witches and apply those to their work. Medicine wasn't so advanced yet as to convince people living in rural areas that a series of moles on the back of the hand were harmless. No, it must be the work of the devil; it couldn't possibly be anything else.

Nevertheless, the practice's popularity continued, albeit with some skepticism. At the time, female Romani soothsayers, known as "drabadi," told fortunes in various ways, including palmistry. As the age of witch hunts began to fade into the past, people began to think less of the actual features of the palm and their possible connection to the Devil and more of the art itself and its own connections to either magic or science.

Palm reading was elevated in popularity during the 19th century due to the efforts of palmists William Benham, Casimir d'Arpentigny, and William John Warner (also known as Louis Hamon or Cheiro). Both d'Arpentigny and Benham became interested in palmistry after being introduced to it by the Roma people. 

According to Hand Reading, Benham didn't really make palmistry into a proper science, even though that was his original goal. He focused on classifying the planets to fit with a handshape, which is now seen as unreliable and unscientific. He also proposed a system for figuring out what someone's career should be from their hand. Benham and d'Arpentigny both did work on the morphognomy of the hand, fingers, and thumb, which essentially meant studying the psychology of the hand. Benham specifically saw the lines of the palm as expressions of the flow of energy in the palm, and felt that the whole hand should be considered when making a judgement, instead of just the fingers. He used photographs and hand prints of prisoners in his work, and founded a school of palmistry in New York, as well as an Institute for Vocational Guidance.

Famous palmist William John Warner (or Louis Hamon, or Cheiro) wrote a book on palmistry at the age of just 13, and was known for having wealthy clients. When he died in 1936, Time reported that a nurse who was there said the clock outside his room struck the hour of 1am three times.

People who read palms today often combine it with psychology and holistic healing. Other methods of divination are also often used, depending on the practitioner.

Professional palmist Patti Lightflower has researched and investigated the modern science of palmistry over the past 30 years. She considers palmistry to be the understanding of the body's language, and teaches classes in palm reading. According to her site I Read Hands, people's biology and self are connected. Their hands interact with the world and the world, in turn, interacts with their hands. For example, someone can explore their surroundings or be visibly afraid of where they are. The fingertips contain plenty of nerve endings; what are their brains telling them to do, by sending messages through their nerves?

She claims that human beings also work at different electrical speeds, which can be seen through the different patterns on people's palms and fingers by way of nerves working beneath the surface. Experiences combine with behaviors and personality to equal a person, and the hands are part of that, forever sensing what's going to happen next (via I Read Hands).

Tarot cards, crystals, and palm reading are the trifecta of fortune telling, particularly among the Romani people. Tarot, like palm reading, tells stories about people's lives, including where they're going and where they've been.

According to the Human Rights Fund Progress, fortune telling was a Romani female livelihood and it was only done with non-Romani. The Romani stylized their fortune telling to either be lofty, familiar, or homely, depending on the client. Though divination was valued by those who paid for the service, the practice was historically punished harshly by the Catholic Church. Whoever told fortunes could even be arrested without a warrant.

Playing cards were eventually also used to tell fortunes; it is unclear whether it was originally intended that they were used for telling fortunes or playing games. In the 16th century playing cards were used for fortunes, but by the 18th they were being used for their current more common purpose in daily life.

Dermatoglyphics is the study of ridge patterns in skin, specifically of the palms and fingertips. It is often used in criminology in regards to fingerprinting, and often vital in making formal identifications and linking a suspect to a crime scene (via Brown and Rutty's 2005 article in the Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine).

Everyone's ridge patterns are completely unique, writes Indiana Public Media. They were created in the womb, forming as the result of stress patterns. During fetal development, if the growth of the limbs is changed in any way, subsequent changes in the ridges of the skin are common. Possibilities are chromosomal aberrations or gene mutations, writes Health Jade. Papillary ridges (on the palms and soles of the feet) form early and are unchangeable during the later stages of pregnancy. They only get bigger during someone's life, but otherwise don't change.

Certain diseases leave their tell-tale signs on the palms and the ridges of the fingertips. Scientists have catalogued various genetic diseases with unusual palm prints. For example, schizophrenia, certain allergies, and fetal alcohol syndrome have all left specific fingerprint patterns. Dermatoglyphics have therefore been used in genetics, anthropology, and medicine to identify diseases, since it is quick, cheap, and a good diagnostic tool.