TL;DR: Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) traced chiromancy to Greek and split the subject into two branches: chirognomy, reading character from hand shape, and chiromancy, reading the mounts and lines, associated with d'Arpentigny and Desbarrolles. According to the same two authors, d'Arpentigny divided hands into seven types, while Cheiro (1916) and Mrs. J. B. Dale (1895) recount Indian and Greek origins based on practitioners' own accounts. What is more firmly established is the subject's history in 19th century Europe, including a British law banning paid palm reading.
The History and Origins of Palmistry: From Ancient India to Cheiro
What is palmistry called and how does it have two branches?
In the book Chiromancy, or the Science of Palmistry, Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) explain the word chiromancy from Greek: the first root is the hand, the second root is foretelling. The two authors split the discipline into two branches: chirognomy reads temperament, inclinations and occupation through the shape of the hand, the fingers and the outer lines; while chiromancy reads the mounts and the lines to speak of the past, character and destiny.
According to Frith and Heron-Allen (1883), d'Arpentigny was the one who established the first branch, while Desbarrolles established the second; the two authors write that the two branches complement each other and together form a single whole. Naming them this way is useful for today's reader: the same hand, one side looks at shape, the other side looks at lines.
How did palmistry in nineteenth-century Europe take place?
Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) themselves claim the discipline dates to ancient Egypt and has its root in what they call "the Kabbala of primitive India". That is the authors' own claim, not historical record; the two of them also write that it took d'Arpentigny and Desbarrolles for the discipline to be noticed by the learned.
Also according to Frith and Heron-Allen (1883), d'Arpentigny divided all hands into seven types, and the two authors reproduce exactly those seven types in the chirognomy section of their book. The table below keeps the original English names as the book records them, with a Vietnamese rendering for easier reading.
| Vietnamese name | Original name in Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) |
|---|---|
| Elementary hand (large hand) | The Elementary (or Large-palmed) |
| Spatulate hand | The Necessary (or Spatulate) |
| Artistic hand (conical) | The Artistic (or Conical) |
| Useful hand (square) | The Useful (or Square) |
| Philosophical hand (knotty) | The Philosophical (or Knotty) |
| Psychic hand (pointed) | The Psychic (or Pointed) |
| Mixed hand | The Mixed Hand |
For the elementary hand, Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) describe thick, hard fingers, a short thumb that often turns back, and a palm that is large, broad, thick and very hard, and they hold that this is the hand of the manual labourer. That is the book's reading, not a scientific conclusion.
In late nineteenth-century England, the practice of palmistry came up against the law. Mrs. J. B. Dale (1895), in the preface to the book Indian Palmistry published by the Theosophical Society, records that in England a new Act of Parliament had banned the practice of palmistry for money or payment. She also notes in that same preface that the name palmistry is the popular term for cheiromancy, and that the Act itself uses that very word.
What does Cheiro tell about the origins of palmistry?
According to Cheiro (1916) in Palmistry for All, he was shown and allowed to copy from a book on palmistry that a group of Brahmins of the Joshi line, whom he was close to during his time in India, regarded as almost sacred. He also writes that the philosopher Anaxagoras not only taught but also practised palmistry, and that the early Church Fathers condemned the discipline harshly. All three of these are Cheiro's own account; his book cites no ancient text to prove them.
In that same book, Cheiro (1916) recounts an anecdote about a book of palmistry written in gold letters placed on the altar of the god Hermes. By his account, the person who found the book was Hispanus, and Hispanus sent it as a gift to Alexander the Great, as a gift worthy of a mind broad enough to give it attention. Aristotle appears only in the list of those who studied the discipline that Cheiro gives, along with Pliny and Albertus Magnus; Cheiro does not say Aristotle found the book, and cites no ancient text for the anecdote either.
Regarding famous people, Cheiro (1916) only recounts that he got Gladstone, Professor Max Müller of Oxford, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Russell and King Edward VII interested in the discipline. That is Cheiro's own account of his achievements, with no independent source in the book.
How is palmistry in India presented by the book of the Theosophical Society?
Mrs. J. B. Dale (1895) wrote Indian Palmistry for the Theosophical Society, presenting a style of palmistry she says is Indian: a model hand for comparison, mounts named after planets, the main lines and many small signs. The book is laid out as a listing of sign names, positions and interpretations, convenient for anyone who wants to look things up quickly.
It should be said clearly: Mrs. Dale calling it an Indian style of palmistry is the author's own presentation, and the book cites no ancient Indian text for comparison. What this book shares with Western books of the same period is the easiest part to compare, since they all use mount names taken from the planets and divide the same main lines.
How are the three main lines and the mounts understood?
The three lines most often mentioned on the palm are the Life Line, the Head Line and the Heart Line. The common understanding today treats the Life Line as the arc around the mount of the thumb, tied to vitality and the major upheavals of life rather than to length of lifespan; the Head Line runs across the palm, tied to ways of thinking and learning; the Heart Line lies above, tied to emotional life and ways of expressing feeling.
The mounts are the raised fleshy areas beneath each finger and around the palm, named after planets such as the mount of Venus, the mount of Jupiter, the mount of Saturn. Naming the mounts after planets shows that in the West the discipline became tied to astrology in the course of its transmission, rather than being a separate system.
A palm reader usually observes the whole first: the shape of the hand, the length of the fingers, the texture of the skin, and only then goes into each line and each mount. The book by Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) as well as Cheiro's book (1916) both place the section on hand shape before the section on the lines, and both mention comparing the two hands when interpreting.
Why is the ancient origin of palmistry hard to verify?
The three books used here are all books by practitioners. Frith and Heron-Allen (1883) claim an Egyptian and Indian origin, Cheiro (1916) tells his own story of learning from a group of Brahmins and of the book in gold letters, Mrs. Dale (1895) presents an Indian style of palmistry; none of the three cites any ancient text for the reader to check.
So the surer part is not the chain of ancient origins, but the history of the discipline in nineteenth-century Europe: the emergence of the two branches chirognomy and chiromancy tied to d'Arpentigny and Desbarrolles, Cheiro's popular book, the book of the Theosophical Society, and also the Act of the English Parliament banning the practice of palmistry for money. Those are landmarks with names of people, names of books, years of printing, and they can be looked up again.
A cautious attitude should also be kept toward the interpretive content itself. This is a system of contemplation passed down through the books of practitioners, not a method of prediction that has been verified; today's reader can view it as a way of self-reflection and of opening up perspectives on oneself.
