Palmistry 1

    Palmistry

    The Fortune Teller, by Caravaggio (1594–95; Canvas; Louvre), depicting a palm

    reading

    The Fortune Teller by Enrique Simonet (1899)

    Palmistry or chiromancy (also spelled

    cheiromancy, Greek kheir (χε?ρ, ??),“hand”; manteia (μαντε?α, α?), “divination”),is the art of characterization and foretelling

    the future through the study of the palm,also known as palm reading, or chirology.

    The practice is found all over the world,with numerous cultural variations. Those

    who practice chiromancy are generally

    called palmists, palm readers, hand readers,hand analysts, or chirologists.

    The information outlined below is briefly

    representative of modern palmistry; there

    are many ― often conflicting ―

    interpretations of various lines and palmar

    features across various schools of palmistry.

    These contradictions between different

    interpretations, as well as the lack of

    empirical support for palmistry's

    predictions, contribute to palmistry's

    perception as a pseudoscience among

    academics.

    History

    Ancient Palmistry

    Palmistry is a practice common to many

    different places on the Eurasian landmass;

    [1]

    it has been practised in the cultures of India,Tibet, China, Persia, Sumeria, Ancient Israel

    and Babylonia.

    According to some, it had its roots in

    [2]

    Hindu) Astrology (known in Sanskrit as Jyotish), Chinese Yijing (I Ching),and Roma (Gypsy) fortune tellers. Several thousand years ago, the Hindu sage Valmiki is thought

    [3]

    to have written a

    book comprising 567 stanzas, the title of which translates in English as The Teachings of Valmiki Maharshi on

    Male Palmistry.

    [3][4]

    Renowned palmist Cheiro learnt palmistry in India where he is believed to have read ancient

    scriptures on palmistry. From India, the art of palmistry spread to China, Tibet, Egypt, Persia and to other countries

    in Europe.

    [5]

    From China, palmistry progressed to Greece where Anaxagoras practiced it. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.)

    discovered a treatise on the subject of palmistry on an altar of Hermes, which he then presented to Alexander the

    Great (356–323 B.C.E.), who took great interest in examining the character of his officers by analyzing the lines on

    their hands. Aristotle stated that Lines are not written into the human hand without reason. They emanate from

    heavenly influences and man's own individuality.Wikipedia:Quotations Accordingly, Aristotle, Hippocrates and

    Alexander the Great popularized the laws and practice of palmistry.

    [citation needed]

    Hippocrates sought to usePalmistry 2

    palmistry to aid his clinical procedures.

    [citation needed]

    During the Middle Ages the art of palmistry was actively suppressed by the Catholic Church as pagan superstition.

    In Renaissance magic, palmistry (known as chiromancy) was classified as one of the seven forbidden arts, along

    with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).

    [6]

    However it

    experienced a revival in the modern era starting with Captain Casimir Stanislas D'Arpentigny publication La

    Chirognomie in 1839.

    Modern Palmistry

    Cheiro, an influential exponent of palmistry in the

    late 19th century.

    The Chirological Society of Great Britain was founded in London by

    Katherine St Hill in 1889 with the stated aim to advance and ......