The Facts about the Myths…..
Posted June 27th, 2025
There are a number of widely held assumptions about what handreading is all about. They’re not true !
| Widely-believed Myth | But in actual fact…. |
| The lines of the hand tell you how long you are going to live | No. The length of the palmar lines do not indicate the length of your life |
| The markings in the hand show how you are going to die | No they do not |
| Your ‘fate’ can be seen in your hand | Your genetics can be seen in your hand, for health and disease. But not your ‘fate’ |
| You can predict the future from the lines of the hands | No, this is not possible. The lines of the hands change over time – and you cannot predict in advance how they might change ! |
| Can you tell if I am going to get married from the hand ? | A better question would be to ask: do you want to get married ? |
| Can you tell how many babies I am going to have? | As a modern woman, you have contraception available. It’s your choice. |
| Can you tell if I am going to win a fortune ? | No |
| The lines are formed by folding, by the folding action of the hand | Funnily enough, the lines form on the palms of the hands before the muscles of the hands. So, the lines are present before the hand is even capable of movement |
| Handreading was invented by the gypsies | Palmistry is very old, with a written history going back to at least C12th in Europe |
| Handreading was banned by the Church | In Europe, the earliest extant texts were written by monks and found in monasteries ! |
| The left hand is what you are born with, the right hand is what you have made of it | You are born with both hands! And both hands are important for interpretation |
| If you have a simian line, it means you are a monkey | 5% of people have Simian Lines. But it’s seen in 55% of those with Down’s Syndrome |
MS Digby 88 – This image is taken from a mediaeval manuscript on chiromancy found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford dating from around 1450AD showing indications of manner of death (wounds in the head, death by the boody flux, sudden death), signs of ecclesiastical promotion and worship and numbers of wives and children as were supposed to be able to be seen in the lines of the hands. The writings between the fingers say:
On the first finger above a cross and three horizontal lines:
‘The crosse betokenyth worship and dignytes for they shuld be byssops and the other lynes be wondes in the hedde’
Between first and second fingers:
‘This lyne mensall bitwene this too fyngers it betokenyth deth of a man by a wonde or els the blody flux’
On the second finger:
‘This lyne yf it begyne noo wher nor ende no wher it betokenyth dedely synne or sodeyn deth’
Between second and third fingers above a vertical line:
‘This lyne betokenyth foly and want of witte in man or woman on makyng a vow’
On third finger above a vertical line:
‘This lyne betokenyth much worship and plenty of all goodis’
Between third and fourth fingers above a vertical line:
‘This lyne bytwene this too fyngers betokenyth much worship both in man and woman’
On the fourth finger above three horizontal lines and two curved lines:
‘As many lynes as a man hath her so many wyvys and the other strykes betokenyth wondes in the hedde’
