Also called: Order of reading · Practical method
Where on the hand: Applies to the whole hand — a method rather than a marking.
What it looks like: n/a — a procedure.
A synthesis of the method both traditions actually use, in strict order. The governing principle is that no single line ever carries a reading alone, and that the reader must never diagnose disease or predict death.
The twelve steps, in order
- **1. Both hands, prints or photographs** — raking light from the side; a magnifier for the Mercury mount.
- **2. Hand shape and texture first** — d'Arpentigny's types / Indian hasta prakar: elementary, square, spatulate, conic, philosophic, psychic, mixed. Soft/hard, thick/thin, flexible/rigid.
- **3. Thumb** — in both traditions the thumb outranks every line: will (first phalanx), logic (second phalanx), and the angle of opening (generosity/rhythm).
- **4. Fingers** — their length, set, tips and phalanges.
- **5. Mounts** — which are developed, which are flat, which are displaced toward a neighbour.
- **6. Colour and general line-count** of the palm.
- **7. The three major lines**, in this order: Life → Head → Heart. Then the Fate and Sun lines.
- **8. Minor lines** — only after the majors are settled.
- **9. Marks last of all** — never begin with a "fish" or a "star".
- **10. Combination and cross-check** — no single line ever carries a reading alone. Benham's rule stands over the entire discipline: adapt the line to the subject, not the subject to the line.
- **11. Calibrate timing against known past events** on that person's hand before saying anything about the future.
- **12. Never diagnose disease and never predict death** — both Cheiro and Benham said so explicitly, and every responsible Indian teacher repeats it.
Closing caveats for anyone using this reference
- **Nothing here is medically or predictively validated** — palmar creases correlate with almost nothing outside the narrow, non-diagnostic dermatoglyphic literature.
- **The two traditions genuinely disagree** on which hand to read, where children lines sit, what the Girdle of Venus means, and whether the Apollo ring is good or bad. Where they disagree, that has been flagged rather than papered over.
- **Several lines in the popular list — loyalty line, rebellion line — have no classical basis** in Cheiro, Benham, Dale or the Samudrika texts. They are modern coinages and are labelled as such.
- **The single rule shared by every serious source in both traditions** — never read a line alone, never predict death, never diagnose disease, and adapt the line to the subject rather than the subject to the line.
Read with care: Palmar creases form in utero by around week 12 and are largely determined by fetal hand flexion and genetics. This reference describes a divinatory tradition; it does not claim palm lines predict health, character or events.
The “adapt the line to the subject” maxim carried here as Benham is not in Benham (see the note on that entry).
Palmistry is a traditional interpretive art, not a science. Offered for reflection and self-understanding — not medical, legal or financial advice.