Also called: Serpentine line · Snaking line · Sarpa chinha

Where on the hand: Along the course of any major line; the Indian sarpa chinha is noted specifically near the Saturn line.

What it looks like: The line meanders in smooth S-curves rather than running straight — like a snake or a river. The zigzag is the angular version of the same idea.

Irregularity, instability, lack of directness. Benham's general principle applies inversely: “the more evenly they run, the clearer they are… the better is the line.” A wavy line is also an aggravating factor for other marks sitting on it.

Western reading: Benham's evenness principle is the anchor: the more evenly a line runs, the better it is. Saint-Germain treats waviness as an aggravating factor that upgrades a head-line cross from a grave accident to a fatal one.

Read with care: “Cross on a wavy head line at the Triangle = fatal head injury” and “bars crossing a sloping head line = danger of insanity” are Saint-Germain's severe register — Victorian fatalism with no evidential basis.

the more evenly they run, the clearer they are… the better is the lineBenham

will become a warrior or a heroMrs. J. B. Dale, Indian Palmistry