Also called: Anatomical landmarks · The normalised palm grid
Where on the hand: The coordinate frame used for every other entry. All descriptions assume a right palm, facing the reader, fingers up, thumb on the LEFT of the drawing. For a left palm, mirror everything.
What it looks like: Treat the palm proper — below the finger bases, above the rascette — as a unit square: x = 0.0 at the radial (thumb) edge, x = 1.0 at the percussion; y = 1.0 at the finger bases, y = 0.0 at the wrist crease.
Before any mount can be located, the reader needs a shared coordinate frame and a shared vocabulary of landmarks. Both traditions use the same anatomical points; the normalised grid simply makes them drawable.
Anatomical landmarks used by both traditions
- **Fingers, numbered** — 1st = index (Jupiter finger), 2nd = middle (Saturn finger), 3rd = ring (Apollo/Sun finger), 4th = little (Mercury finger).
- **Percussion** — the outer/ulnar edge of the hand, the karate-chop edge, running from the base of the little finger down to the wrist. Everything on this edge belongs to Mercury (top), Upper Mars (middle), Luna (lower).
- **Radial edge** — the thumb side.
- **Rascette / Bracelets (मणिबंध, manibandha)** — the one to three horizontal creases at the wrist; the lowest boundary of the palm.
- **Thenar eminence** — the big muscular pad at the thumb base: the Mount of Venus.
- **Hypothenar eminence** — the pad on the percussion side below Upper Mars: the Mount of Luna.
- **Apex / triradius (शिखर)** — the point where the skin ridges of a mount converge into a small tented pattern. Benham's whole system of displacement depends on this: the mount is where its apex is, not where the flesh happens to bulge.
Mount centres on the normalised grid (x, y)
- **Jupiter / Guru — 0.22, 0.93** — pad directly under the index finger, between the finger crease and the head/life line origin.
- **Saturn / Shani — 0.45, 0.95** — pad under the middle finger.
- **Sun–Apollo / Surya — 0.66, 0.94** — pad under the ring finger.
- **Mercury / Budh — 0.85, 0.92** — pad under the little finger, extending onto the percussion.
- **Upper (Outer) Mars / Ūrdhva Mangal — 0.92, 0.62** — percussion strip between heart line and head line.
- **Luna / Chandra — 0.82, 0.25** — hypothenar pad, percussion side, from below Upper Mars to the wrist.
- **Neptune / Varun — 0.50, 0.08** — directly above the rascette, in the valley bridging Luna and Venus.
- **Ketu (common Indian placement) — 0.42, 0.10** — immediately above the bracelets, at the junction of Venus and Luna; overlaps Neptune.
- **Venus / Shukra — 0.14, 0.35** — the whole thenar ball enclosed by the life line.
- **Lower (Inner) Mars / Nimna Mangal — 0.24, 0.68** — small area inside the life line, above Venus, below Jupiter.
- **Plain of Mars / Mangal Kshetra — 0.50, 0.50** — central hollow of the palm.
- **Rahu (common Indian placement) — 0.50, 0.45** — central basin, essentially coincident with the Plain of Mars, under the head line.
Structural caveat
- **Rahu, Ketu and Neptune are the least standardised features in the whole literature** — Indian sources actively contradict each other on their placement.
- **Everything else is broadly consistent across sources** — the seven classical mounts and the regions can be mapped without controversy.
Read with care: Any drawn palm map should mark Rahu, Ketu and Neptune as disputed territory rather than presenting one placement as settled.
Palmistry is a traditional interpretive art, not a science. Offered for reflection and self-understanding — not medical, legal or financial advice.