The practice of palm reading goes way back into prehistoric times. Cave paintings even show that the hand was considered to be a significant part of the body. For prehistoric people the hand would have been one of the obvious advantages that distinguished them from the other animals around them. In later times as communication skills developed and greater understanding emerged the first signs of what we would recognise as palmistry began to emerge. It is in India that the first palmistry seems to have developed. There are surviving ancient writings that refer to the practice; techniques that are still used today have been derived from these early writings.
From its roots in India, the art of palm reading began to spread across the world. As the art moved from country to country the techniques were adapted based on different cultures own interpretations of how it worked and their own spiritual and religious beliefs. Some cultures have clearly understood a link between palm reading and psychic communication from a very early stage.
Aristotle wrote about palm reading and there is other evidence that it was commonly practised in ancient Greece. In his travels Alexander the Great is said to have gone back to the birth place of palmistry to find out as much as he could about it. It is possible that he found out the idea of connecting meaning and significance to the different lines. Whether or not this is true it seems that palmistry palm line was definitely used in some form alongside other disciplines and practises in ancient Greece and other ancient civilisations. An example of this is some evidence that Julius Caesar used it in Rome. It is possible that he used palm reading techniques to decide if people were loyal to him or not.
In the western world palm reading was frowned upon during the expansion of Christianity. It became linked with pagan and heretical practices and anyone found using palmistry ran the risk of being accused of witch craft. The art, therefore, went underground. But it remained popular in India and continued to develop there with no risk of persecution for its users. In fact it became more and more respected as a form of fortune telling. Gypsies brought it out of India again and it gradually became more wide spread across Europe again thanks to their influence.
Today palm reading is widely practised and there are many people who earn money from it through its practice and through writing books on how to do effective readings etc. There are in fact many publications and websites available if you are interested and want to learn the meanings of the lines, how they inter relate and how to do readings.
Sarah Saxon is a Reiki Master and writes for the psychic & metaphysical industry, promoting the discovery of the personal spiritual path, and recommends the following sites:
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