A palmist is a person who examines the palms and fingers of people, as well as the soles of their feet, with the goal of making future predictions based on the characteristics observed during the examination. Palmistry is widely regarded as a pseudoscience, and palmists take their jobs seriously in varying degrees. Some fortunetellers genuinely believe that they can read their clients’ futures and other information from their palms, while others take a more lighthearted approach, allowing clients to partake in a long cultural tradition without necessarily believing that the palms hold the keys to the future.
Reading palms is a common practice in many cultures, and it appears to be thousands of years old, as evidenced by numerous contemporary accounts from China, India, Greece, and Egypt. Each culture has developed its own approach to palmistry, analyzing the folds and creases, mounds of the palm, and fingerprints, among other features of the palm. Palmistry has been used for a variety of purposes in the past, including informing medical practice and identifying suspected witches.
Chiromancy, as it is also known, is said to be able to predict when someone will die, as well as make predictions about wealth, luck, and marriage, as well as character and personality. A palmist’s perceptive abilities can be used to gather information from clients so that more accurate predictions or statements can be made. Different traditions take different approaches, such as contrasting the dominant and nondominant hands, associating specific fingers with specific entities or gods, and assigning values to the deep lines that score the palm’s middle. A palmist may combine several traditional practices or concentrate on just one.
Palmists can be found performing their services at street fairs, circuses, metaphysical stores, and other similar venues. Some may also provide other fortunetelling services, such as card readings or crystal ball interpretations, and many adopt personas for their palm reading, which may rely on stereotypes about palm reading. A palmist may use free palmistry to entice clients, reading palms for no charge and then charging for additional fortunetelling services.
Palmistry is a practice that is regulated to varying degrees. In some countries, a palmist is free to practice and make whatever claims he or she wants about the services provided. Palmists may be required to obtain licenses in other areas, and they may be prohibited from making certain types of misleading or false advertisements. Those interested in becoming palmists can learn the trade from experienced palmists as well as from a variety of texts and videos.