Also called: Ladder-like lines · Terraced breaks · Rungs
Where on the hand: On the Mount of Jupiter as a stack of short horizontal lines; on the health line as terraced breaks.
What it looks like: A series of short parallel rungs crossing a line at intervals — or, on a mount, a stack of short horizontal lines one above another like the rungs of a ladder. Related to terraced breaks, where successive fragments of a line step sideways.
Progress made and lost repeatedly; effort that must be re-started. The ladder is essentially a named subtype of repeated crossbars, and is thinly attested compared with the primary marks.
On each line
- **Health line, terraced breaks** — Chinese: declining digestive function, “worsening if the breaks are terraced.”
- **Any line, as repeated rungs** — the crossbar reading applies: repeated interruption and blocked flow, with each rung a fresh obstacle.
- **General** — progress made and lost repeatedly; effort that must be re-started.
On each mount
- **Jupiter** — Saint-Germain: “ladder-like short lines — a difficult life marked by repeated losses.”
- **Any mount, by the crossbar rule** — horizontal lines with no verticals block a mount's current entirely (Benham), so a stack of them is the blocked form of that mount's qualities.
- **Contrast vertical lines** — on the same mounts, vertical lines heighten the positive qualities; the ladder is their opposite.
Where it is positive
- **No positive reading** — the ladder has no benefic placement in the sources.
- **Mitigation by the neutralising rule** — a vertical line crossing a horizontal one is said to neutralise it, “indicating conquered trials”; a ladder crossed by a strong vertical is the nearest thing to a repair.
- **Weak attestation as its own mitigation** — the sources treat it as a descriptive subtype rather than a distinct classical mark, so little weight rests on it.
ladder-like short lines — a difficult life marked by repeated lossesSaint-Germain
Palmistry is a traditional interpretive art, not a science. Offered for reflection and self-understanding — not medical, legal or financial advice.