Interpretations
Twelve entries, keyed to the plate. Scroll and the map keeps pace.
I · The Five Rivers
01
The Heart LineLinea mensalis · uppermost crease
The highest of the three great creases, running from beneath the little finger toward the index. Readers of the Bolognese school treated it as a record of temperament rather than romance: how readily a hand opens, how long it stays open.
A line that ends high, under Jupiter, is read as idealistic. One that runs flat and long across the whole palm suggests a person who gives attention evenly and rarely runs out of it.
- Depth
- Firm, unbroken
- Temper
- Warm, outward
- Governs
- Attachment
02
The Head LineLinea cephalica · the middle crease
Begins at the edge between thumb and index and travels across the plain of the palm. Its slope is the whole reading: level for practical minds, sloping toward Luna for those who think in images before words.
Where it separates cleanly from the life line at the start, the manuals note independence — a person who left early, decided early, and did not consult.
- Depth
- Clear, even
- Temper
- Cool, deliberate
- Governs
- Judgement
03
The Life LineLinea vitae · the thumb arc
The long arc enclosing the thumb ball. Contrary to the fairground reading, its length has never been taken as a measure of years — only of vitality, appetite and the width of the life a person allows themselves.
A wide sweep encloses a large Venus and reads as generous energy. A narrow one, hugging the thumb, marks a life kept deliberately small and warm.
- Depth
- Deep, ruddy
- Temper
- Steady
- Governs
- Stamina
04
The Fate LineLinea saturnia · the vertical
Rising from the wrist toward the middle finger. Perhaps a third of hands carry it plainly; many carry none at all, which the older texts read not as absence of fortune but absence of a single fixed course.
Breaks and restarts along its length were catalogued as changes of trade. A line beginning inside the life line marks someone whose direction was set by family before it was set by them.
- Depth
- Variable
- Temper
- Sober
- Governs
- Direction
05
The Sun LineLinea apollinea · the line of brilliance
A short vertical rising toward the ring finger, always the faintest of the five and the last to appear. Where present it is read as public warmth — the quality of being easily liked rather than the fact of being famous.
- Depth
- Faint
- Temper
- Bright
- Governs
- Regard
II · The Seven Hills
06
Mount of JupiterBeneath the index finger
The pad below the index. Full and firm, it is the seat of ambition and the wish to lead; flat, it belongs to someone who would rather be consulted than obeyed.
- Relief
- High
- Temper
- Expansive
- Governs
- Standing
07
Mount of SaturnBeneath the middle finger
Usually the flattest of the four upper hills, and read as the hand's ballast: patience, solitude, the tolerance for long unglamorous work. Overdeveloped, the manuals warn of gloom; absent, of a person who cannot sit still.
- Relief
- Low
- Temper
- Grave
- Governs
- Endurance
08
Mount of ApolloBeneath the ring finger
Governs taste — the eye for proportion, colour and arrangement. A well-cushioned Apollo beside a faint sun line describes the person who makes beautiful things without needing anyone to notice.
- Relief
- Medium
- Temper
- Bright
- Governs
- Aesthetics
09
Mount of MercuryBeneath the little finger
The smallest hill, and the one concerned with exchange: speech, trade, quickness. Fine vertical hatching here was once called the medical stripe and marked out healers, midwives and anyone whose work is other people's bodies.
- Relief
- Small, firm
- Temper
- Quick
- Governs
- Exchange
10
Plain of MarsThe hollow at the centre
Not a hill but a basin, flanked by the two small Martian mounts — one for courage that acts, one for courage that endures. A deep hollow suggests someone who absorbs pressure quietly; a shallow one, someone who answers it immediately.
- Relief
- Hollow
- Temper
- Tensile
- Governs
- Nerve
11
Mount of VenusThe ball of the thumb
The largest region of the hand and the warmest to the touch. It is read for appetite in the broad sense — for music, food, company, weather. Its size is bounded by the life line, so the two are always read as a pair rather than in turn.
- Relief
- Broad, high
- Temper
- Warm
- Governs
- Pleasure
12
Mount of LunaThe outer heel of the palm
Opposite Venus across the plain, and its counterweight: imagination, restlessness, the pull of water and distance. Where the head line slopes down to meet it, the hand belongs to someone who thinks best while travelling.
- Relief
- Soft, full
- Temper
- Cool
- Governs
- Reverie