Palmistry, hast rekha in Hindi, is the old Indian tradition of reading the lines, raised pads (mounts) and small marks of the palm, and it is part of samudrika shastra. Here each line and mount is explained with a diagram: what tradition reads in it, and just as clearly, what no line can tell you. This is information about a tradition, not a forecast.
What samudrika shastra and hast rekha are
Samudrika shastra is the Indian tradition of reading the body's features: face, forehead, feet, moles, and above all the hand. Its name is tied to an old story naming Samudra, the ocean deity, as the first to know the art. The part concerned with the hand is called hast rekha or hast samudrika. For centuries it passed mostly by word of mouth from teacher to student, which is why its rules differ a little from region to region and lineage to lineage.
The English names in use today, "life line", "head line", "mount of Jupiter", mostly became popular through the books of the palmist Cheiro in the 1890s. Cheiro himself said he drew on Indian tradition. So Indian and Western readings overlap a great deal, but are not identical everywhere. Where they differ, each page says so plainly.
Which hand to read
The most common teaching is that the hand you write and work with is the hand of karma: it shows your present life, effort and habits. The other hand is read as what you were born with, the nature you came into the world carrying. The difference between the two is read too: tradition says it shows how far you have changed your own path.
Some older Indian lists say to read a man's right hand and a woman's left. Today most readers treat the working hand as the main one, whether you are a man or a woman, right-handed or left-handed.
The major lines
Four large lines are clear on most hands, and every reading begins with them. The life line, curving around the thumb, is linked with vitality and major changes, never with lifespan. The head line, across the middle of the palm, shows the way you think, and the highest crease under the fingers, the heart line, your emotional temperament. The fourth, the fate line, climbs towards the middle finger and is tied to work and direction; many hands have none, and tradition does not treat that as bad luck. The diagram above labels all four.
Minor lines, mounts and signs
Besides the major lines there are smaller ones that not every hand has. The sun line under the ring finger is linked with recognition and creativity, and the short horizontal marriage lines on the edge of the palm under the little finger with the nature of close bonds, not with a count or date of weddings. The fleshy pads of the palm are the mounts; the one under each finger carries a planet's name, such as Jupiter under the index finger and Saturn under the middle finger. Signs such as stars, triangles, crosses, islands and grilles are read alongside them, but they are uncommon and should only be counted when they are genuinely clear.
How to look at your own palm
- Light: soft window light from one side is best. The lines are faint ridges and grooves in the skin, and light from directly overhead flattens them.
- Position: open the palm fully with the fingers slightly apart. If a line is hard to find, bend the hand a little and the crease will deepen.
- Photo: hold the camera flat above the palm, turn the flash off, and fit the whole palm from wrist to finger roots in the frame.
- Patience: look at the whole hand rather than fixing on one line. The first rule of the tradition is that no single line decides anything.
What palmistry cannot tell you
This section matters as much as the rest. No line shows lifespan or the age of death; a short life line does not mean a short life. No line diagnoses illness; health worries belong with a doctor. And no line gives exact dates, not the year of a marriage, not the month of a new job. Some readers measure ages along the lines, but the method is imprecise and practitioners do not agree on it. If someone frightened you after looking at your palm, know that a palm could never have told them that. No line needs a puja, a gemstone or an expensive remedy either.
What you will find on these pages
Choose any line, mount or sign from the list above. Each page first shows where it is on the hand and how to find it, then what tradition reads in its length, depth, curve, breaks and branches, with a table. After that it says plainly what the line cannot tell you, and how the Indian and Western readings differ.
To read about the four major lines together in one place, see our long article on the palm lines. And if you would like your own palm read from a photo, there is an online palm reading.