Palmistry reads the hand as a whole: its shape and texture, the mounts at the base of the fingers, and then the lines. It is one of the few readings that genuinely works better in person, because the reader needs light, angle and often touch.
What a palm reader looks at
The heart line for emotional style, the head line for how you think and decide, the life line for vitality and changes of circumstance, and the fate line, which is absent in plenty of hands, for career direction. The mounts under each finger carry traditional planetary associations, and hand shape is classified by element before anything else is read. The convention is to read both hands: the non-dominant one for what you started with, the dominant one for what you have done with it.
Sessions and prices
Twenty to forty-five minutes, typically $40 to $120. Some readers photograph the hands with permission and send notes afterwards, which is worth asking about, since a palm reading is hard to remember accurately once you leave.
Two things to be clear about
No line gives a death date, and no reputable reader will offer one. Lines do change slowly over years, which most palmists treat as the interesting part of the practice rather than an objection to it.
Finding a reader
Palm reading is often offered alongside tarot or general intuitive readings, so check what else is on a listing before you book. Our guide to the major lines and mounts explains what a reader is actually looking at, which makes the session easier to follow.