Also called: Simple hand · Full hand · Complex hand · Empty hand

Where on the hand: Judged across the entire palm surface at a glance, before any individual line is examined — how many creases the palm carries in total.

What it looks like: Either a palm carrying only a few deep, clearly cut creases with large clear spaces between them, or a palm netted all over with many fine, shallow lines running in every direction.

The sheer quantity of lines is a temperament reading in itself. Few lines indicate a focussed, robust, low-tension nature; many fine lines indicate sensitivity, nervous tension and mental restlessness. Neither is better — each carries its own limitation.

Western reading: Benham attributes a full hand's many fine lines to an overflow of nervous force.