Module 1

A Brief History of Palmistry

Introduction To Palmistry
It is believed that palmistry originated in India with its roots in astrology.
The Hindu sage Valmiki is believed to have written a book several thousand
years ago entitled The Teachings of Valmiki Maharshi on Male Palmistry.

Hand reading spread from India to China, Tibet, Egypt, Persia and finally to
Europe. It was in Greece that the basic framework for classical Western
palmistry was established.

We know that there was contact between India and ancient Greece and the
practice of hand reading was known in Greece by at least the fourth century
BCE. Hindu Sage Valmiki

Legend has it that Aristotle (384 322 BCE) discovered a treatise on palmistry
on an altar of Hermes which he presented to Alexander the Great, who used it
to analyse the lines on the hands of his officers.

The Greek physicians Hypocrites and Galen (130-200 CE) were both
knowledgeable about the use of palmistry as a clinical aid.

Although there are actually very few references to hand reading in surviving
literature from this period, it does appear that a hand reading tradition was
known in ancient Greece.
Aristotle

Some form of hand reading was practiced in ancient Rome, but there are no remaining works discussing the
practice. The only evidence of hand reading in this period is a few passing references made in a number of
books. For example, Pliny (23-79 CE) mentions that broken lines in the palm are indicative of a short life in his
Naturalis Historia, and Juvenal (60-130 CE) makes a remark about chiromancy in one of his plays, where he
says that while women of the upper classes consult astrologers, women of the middle classes go to
chiromancers.

In ancient China, descriptions made of the hands by some of the earliest Chinese Emperors appear in early
written works, and it can be inferred that the Chinese had some knowledge of chiromancy going back to at
least 2350 BCE. However, the texts that offer this information dates from about 650-475 BCE so that is the
earliest definite date that we have for hand reading in China.

Unlike classical Western palmistry, Chinese chiromancy has long recognised fingerprints and similar features
as important. The Chinese have used fingerprints (sometimes whole handprints) in addition to signatures on
legal documents for hundreds of years.

In both Chinese and Japanese hand reading, fingerprints are interpreted.

Palmistry did not spread across Europe until the twelfth century when we find
it mentioned in a number of texts. This is confirmed by the fact that the term
chiromancy does not appear until 1160.

Numerous texts became available in translation during this period and

alchemy and astrology were introduced to Europe from Arabic culture. It is
quite likely that chiromancy came into Europe from the same source at the
same time.

In the Renaissance, chiromancy was classified as one of the seven

forbidden arts, along with necromancy (speaking to the dead), geomancy
(earth divination), aeromancy (divination from air), pyromancy (divination from
fire), hydromancy (divination from water) and spatulamancy (divination from
the shoulder blades).

Numerous texts appeared all over Europe during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries and chiromancy achieved its greatest ever popularity.

Knowledge of both chiromancy and astrology were in the practice of

medicine and surgery at this time and they had considerable support at the
highest levels of society. Chiromancy remained on the official curriculum of
many European universities until well into the seventeenth century.

It is clear that both astrology and chiromancy were widespread in Italy during
this period, evidenced by the interest shown by the Papacy. At least four
popes in the sixteenth century had an active interest in astrology and Pope
Alchemy
Leo X was predicted to become pope by a chiromancer called Father Serafino
of Mantua.
In the sixteenth century attitudes changed, and Pope Paul IV and Pope Sixtus V both issuedpapal edicts
against the study of the divinatory sciences. The practice of chiromancy was banned and books were
blacklisted. With few works written in Italy after this time, the more active studies of the hand took
place in Northern Europe, in countries such as Germany.

Chiromancy was also widely practiced within European Jewish

communities. Kabbalistic teachings flourished from about the twelfth
century onwards and had a strong influence within sixteenth century France
and Italy and seventeenth century England, and by the sixteenth century
there had been a number of attempts to correlate chiromancy with the
teachings of the Kabbalah.

Hebrew texts advised looking into the palms for sacred letters formed by the
lines of the hands and this practice entered European hand reading.
Kabbalistic ideas had a strong effect on a number of palmists through to the
nineteenth century.

By the seventeenth century, texts on hand reading had become popular in

France and there was a trend of associating chiromancy with physiognomy.
Writings on chiromancy often formed small sections of much larger works
that addressed subjects as geomancy, Kabbalah, magic and astrology.
Although legend suggests that chiromancy and
astrology were forbidden during the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, numerous kings, queens and
clergymen were sympathetic to both studies, some
even writing treatises on the subject.

During the English Civil War and the Interregnum,

astrologers and chiromancers were in enormous
demand by the politicians and generals of both sides.

Hand readers and astrologers were not prosecuted for

witchcraft as usually witchcraft was considered to be
completely different to astrology or chiromancy.

The Witchcraft Act of 1563 did not cite anything Witchcraft Act 1563
specifically against chiromancy.

The traditional request to Cross my palm with silver

stemmed from the fact that the use of silver and the
making of the sign of the cross were two ways of
warding off the devil, and therefore a way to ensure that
there was no witchcraft taking place.

Palmistry became more closely aligned with astrological

theory and many astrologers included it in their works.

In England, France and Italy, palmistry almost

disappeared in the eighteenth century, although a few
works appeared in Germany. The practice of hand
reading had not died out but new work and research on
the subject ceased.

In the nineteenth century, interest in palmistry increased again along with

the occult revival.

There was an upsurge of interest in Eastern thought and Eastern

traditions, and texts were being translated into European languages for
the first time.

Groups such as the Theosophical Society and the Golden Dawn

promoted all sorts of ideas including palmistry.

The Chirological Society of Great Britain was founded in London by

Katherine St Hill in 1889 and Edgar de Valcourt-Vermont (Comte de St
Katharine St Hill Germain) founded the American Chirological Society in 1897.
Famous Fans

An important figure in the modern palmistry movement was William

John Warner (Cheiro). After studying in India, he set up a palmistry
practice in London and had many celebrity clients including Mark
Twain, Sarah Bernhardt, Mata Hari, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Edison and
the Prince of Wales.

William John Warner

Cheiro
Within the scientific community, there was a growing interest in the
inner workings of the mind, and the science of psychology was
beginning to become established.

Carl Jung, in particular, had an interest in a whole range of hermetic

thought and had his handprints taken on several occasions.

Jung also wrote the foreword to the only book written on hands by a
trained psycho-analyst, Julius Spier.
Carl Jung

In 1901, Scotland Yard adopted the technique of fingerprinting in criminal investigation.

Medical researchers studying skin patterns (dermatoglyphics) have discovered a correspondence

between genetic abnormalities and marks on the hand.

The study of the hand is becoming accepted by the scientific community and hand is often now used, not
to tell fortunes, but as a way of describing personality and diagnosing well-being.

In the scientific world, the lines of the hands tend to ever, be ignored as crease lines, however the Simian
line has proven reliable in the diagnosis of chromosomal disorders such as Downs Syndrome, and many
palmists hope that this will lead to further research on the part of medical science into the other lines.

The old traditions are still practiced, especially in India, often alongside astrology. The emphasis is mostly
upon the lines of the hand, especially those indicative of love, marriage and children.

At the same time, research continues into studying the hand with attempts to develop scientific systems.

Some modern palmists seek to redefine palm reading within the framework of modern psychology and
research has been published in psychiatric journals.

As a divinatory art that requires no special equipment and has easy to learn techniques, palmistry
continues to be popular.
Notes
Notes