The main lines of the hand: life, head, heart, fate, mounts

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The life, head, heart and fate lines, the mounts and the secondary lines in traditional palmistry. Position, symbolism and warnings, with no prediction.

Key points

Main lines	Life, head, heart, fate
Secondary lines	Sun (Apollo), Mercury, girdle of Venus, bracelets
Mounts	Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Venus
Nature of the lines	Flexion creases of the palm, which change with age
Warning	The length of a line measures neither health nor life expectancy

Where do the lines come from?

The lines of the palm are flexion creases: places where the skin folds when the hand closes, already visible in the foetus. Their general pattern is fairly common to all humanity, with variations from one person to another, and their depth changes with age and use. Palmistry has given them names and symbolic meanings; it is these conventions that this page presents, without validating them.

To read a hand, one traditionally begins by identifying the three major lines (life, head, heart), then the fate line, then the mounts. The schools differ on the vocabulary and on the exact meaning of each sign.

The main lines

Line	Position	Traditional symbolism
Life line	It curves around the base of the thumb (mount of Venus)	Vitality, energy, relationship to existence; its length is not linked to life expectancy
Head line	It crosses the middle of the palm, starting from the thumb side	Way of thinking, the mind, concentration, creativity
Heart line	It runs beneath the fingers, across the top of the palm	Feelings, relationships, way of loving
Fate line	Vertical, towards the middle finger, towards the mount of Saturn	Direction, vocation, professional stability; it is often absent, which means nothing specific

The life line, the most commented on, is also the most misunderstood: a short line does not mean a short life. One must never announce a life span from the hand, lest one arouse groundless fears. These meanings took shape through the manuals of the 16th to 19th centuries, with variations.

The secondary lines

The line of the Sun or of Apollo, towards the ring finger: it is read as a taste for creation, recognition and clarity.
The line of Mercury, towards the little finger, sometimes called the "health line" or "hepatic line" in older manuals: it is associated with communication and adaptability. The name does not mean that it reveals anything about health.
The girdle of Venus, an arc beneath the fingers: sensitivity, emotionality.
The bracelets (or rascettes), creases at the wrist: traditionally three bracelets for three periods of life, according to an older reading.
The small lines of union on the edge of the hand: important relationships. Here too, the gap between the manuals is wide.

The mounts of the hand

The mounts are the small swellings of the palm. They are named after the planets, following the medieval astrological tradition.

Mount	Location	Traditional symbolism
Jupiter	Under the index finger	Ambition, authority, confidence
Saturn	Under the middle finger	Seriousness, solitude, a sense of limits
Apollo (Sun)	Under the ring finger	Creativity, brilliance, a taste for beauty
Mercury	Under the little finger	Communication, resourcefulness
Mars	Two zones, around the palm	Courage, endurance, combativeness
Moon	Lower palm, on the little-finger side	Imagination, intuition, daydreaming
Venus	Base of the thumb	Affection, taste for pleasure, warmth

A "full" mount is supposed to express the associated quality more strongly, a "flat" one less so. These notions refer to temperament types from ancient psychology, not to established measurements.

Special marks

The manuals describe marks on the lines: islands, crosses, stars, squares, chains, forks. A square is said to be a sign of protection, an island a passing weakening, a star a notable event. Meanings change from one author to another, and nothing corroborates them. They serve as a vocabulary for conversation, nothing more. Older readers sometimes added counting rules (three crosses, two islands) supposed to strengthen or weaken the meaning; these rules contradict one another from one manual to the next.

If these symbols interest you, treat them as a way of noticing details of your own hands, as an exercise in attention. If you are worried about your health, never look for an answer in a line: speak to a professional.

An observation exercise

Place your hand on a table, in good light. Describe aloud, simply, what you see: the length of the fingers, the hollows of the palm, the two or three clearest lines. Take a photo, then repeat the observation in a year. Note the differences. Do it too with someone close, comparing your hands without interpreting them. This exercise mainly shows that the lines evolve, which invites us to relativise fixed readings.

To go further, return to the introduction to palmistry or browse the other divinations.