Palm reading 101: "I asked a psychic for the 3 things everyone can learn about their palm."

I once had a psychic tell me with intense gravitas and conviction that your palms do not lie.

And so, on a blustery Thursday night, I braved the winter cold and went to see Paris Debono of The Fortune Teller in Sydney’s trendy Surry Hills.

I went in with one goal: to equip myself with the three basic palm reading techniques anyone, from the woo-woo-literate to the cynical, can use.

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Paris’ maroon-drenched, street-facing studio is filled with illustrations of palms and mysterious symbols, tarot cards are strewn across his round table.

The room is gently scented with incense and the light seems to be absorbed by the red cloth curtains. With 29 years of experience, Paris is well-versed in the practice of palmistry, as well as tarot card reading, astrology, numerology and gypsy card reading.

“Palmistry is the study of the hand. The lines, the mounds, fingers, skin tones and nails – pretty much everything,” explains Paris.

“Normally we can tell a lot about a person’s personality, their strengths, their weaknesses from their palm. It tells you about their character and is good for identifying archetypes.

“However palmistry is not good at predicting when things are going to happen. For example, I can’t tell on your palm if you’re going to move house, change jobs or get a promotion. I can tell you the type of work you’d like and the projection of your success and relationships, but I can’t tell you small details from the palm. That’s where things like astrology and tarot cards come in.”

Taking my right palm (Western palm reading uses a person’s dominant hand, or both if you’re ambidextrous), Paris shares the subtle details anyone can pick up from their hands.

This is what he had to say.

1. Know the shape of your hand.

Depending on the appearance of your hand and fingers, Paris says the majority of people fall into these five hand shapes:

Earth hand

Earth hands have very square and wide hands with squared-off fingers which look sturdy and strong in appearance.

“People that are physical and prefer to use their hands doing manual manual, trade and physical jobs generally have square or earth hands,” says Paris.

“They’re more do-ers than thinkers and are happiest when surrounded by routine and stability.”

Fire hand

Paris says my hands are fire hands which appear wider at the base and taper inwards at the top. They have also tend to have short and sharp fingers.

“People with fire hands are normally more creative, ideas-based and action-motivated. They also have the tendency to get bored easily.”

 

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Water hand

Water hands appear rounder and plumper and can have the tendency to sweat, says Paris. Their owners also tend to not like confrontation.

“They’re comfort people and this is something they crave and offer to people. They’re comforters and often sponges for emotions.”

Air hand

While air hands will have the squared-off appearance of an Earth hand, their fingers are fragile, long and skinny and they’ll have a lot of faint, light lines.

“Air people worry too much and tend to overthink. They’re analysis paralysis type people,” notes Paris.

“If I have a client with an air hand, I tend to have to talk to them about calming down and not living in their head so much.”

Psychic hand

It’s another very obvious hand, says Paris. These people have long hands with usually fragile, thin fingers. Paris uses Princess Diana’s hands as an example.

“Even though it’s called a psychic hand, they’re not very good at being professional psychics because they’re too sensitive and take on too much of people’s ‘stuff’,” he says.

“If you look at Princess Diana she was very sensitive, took on other people’s problems and wanted to save the children and be the people’s Princess.”

2. Understand the 'four main lines'.

Your life line, fate line, head line and heart line are the four main lines (see graphic below) a palm reader will analyse during a reading. While the shape of your hand won't change as you age, sometimes your lines will appear deeper and more defined as you age, says Paris.

The life line

The life line indicates your health and vitality and the longer and rounder the line the better.

"A well-rounded life line is a well-rounded life," explains Paris.

"Sometimes I'll also see a person with a lifeline which is in two pieces. This could symbolise a major lifestyle change, for example, maybe they've moved countries etc.

"A broken life line can show a threat to someone's life, like an illness or an accident but this will depend on its positioning."

The fate line

Your fate line is also sometimes known as a person's career line.

Having no breaks in this line means you'll probably dedicate your career in one field, where other people's lines will change direction or stop and restart.

"Sometimes if you have a line that crosses your life line, this could mean your family has influenced your career," says Paris.

"I see this a lot in older women who've had to give up their career to start a family."

The head line

Sitting above the life line is the head line and this represents the mind and how we think, says Paris.

If your line hits the 'moon' or intuition area of your hand (the flabby bit opposite to your thumb, see above), this shows your are empathetic, emotional, and a good communicator, whereas if your head line strikes higher you're probably more aloof and less emotional.

If your head line sits independent to your life line, Paris says this can also mean you're a free thinker and less gullible and "perceptible to brainwashing," unlike people whose head line and life lines touch.

The heart line

Finally, the heart line is about love.

"It's normally better to have a curved line over one that is ruler straight," says Paris.

"If your heart line is straight it shows me you're less emotional, straightforward, to the point, and more analytical in love. It can also signify that your love life may be less vibrant and fun, whereas curved lines show you're softer and more flexible."

3. The four planets as represented by your fingers.

In palmistry each of your fingers are also representative of certain personality traits and attributes. If your lines point towards certain fingers this could indicate that you have a certain disposition to that personality trait. For example, Paris tells me my heart line points upward towards Jupiter which indicates a desire for independence with a fork that sways towards Saturn, which represents convention and stability.

Paris also advises people to look where your hands show signs of scarring, blistering and calluses. Depending on where they appear this could represent a deficiency in something, he says.

"If I see scars on someone's Jupiter finger this could indicate that they have had problems with a law. Similarly, calluses on someone's Mount of Venus's could show that they need to pay more attention to their love life and relationships."

This is what each finger symbolises.

Jupiter (your index finger)

Jupiter is the teacher and traveller, representing authority and leadership.

"Jupiter was the king of the gods and he was the god of expansion and luck," notes Paris.

"People that have their lines pointing towards Jupiter are normally seen as lucky and charismatic personalities."

Saturn (your middle finger)

Saturn represents tradition, stability and discipline. If your fate line points towards Saturn, this means you'll probably stay in a job for a very long time, says Paris.

Alternatively, if your heart line points towards your middle finger this means you prefer conventional relationships over anything too 'out there'.

"I call Saturn the headmaster. They can be a bit intimidating but they do the work and they do it well."

Apollo (your ring finger)

Apollo symbolises artistic, unconventional and creative ventures and this can indicate a talent for visual arts and music.

"A lot of musicians tend to have it," says Paris.

Mercury (your pinky finger)

Mercury is the merchant and represents selling, buying and trading.

"It's business minded and can also signify good communication skills such as writing and speaking," says Paris.

How I felt after my reading...

In the words of Paris himself, palm reading is best paired with another fortune-telling modality like tarot card reading or astrology. On its own it can be rather general.

It takes a certain amount of confidence to grab someone's hand and declare that they have a fire hand and are thus creatively-inclined or to make assumptions about someone's fate line, but should you need a dinner party, or better yet, a first date icebreaker, I have no doubt a spot of palm reading would be a most effective conversation starter.

All-in-all, I'd rate it three and a quarter sage smudge sticks out of five.  After all, a little woo-woo never hurt anyone.

Do you believe in palm reading? Have you ever had your palms read? Tell us in a comment below.