Palm reading is a practice of analyzing the past and foretelling the future of a person by studying his/her palm. It is also known as palmistry, hand analysis or chirology. Believe it or not, our palms can reveal many things, starting from our personality to the major events of our life. Palmistry has its roots in Indian astrology. Later, it spread to China, Persia and other parts of the world. Nowadays, it is commonly followed all over the world, though there may be certain cultural variations. Those people who can read palms are called palm readers, palmists or chirologists. According to traditional palmistry, the left hand is seen for women and the right hand for men. In palmistry, seven major lines are studied. They are the life line, head line, heart line, line of sun, fate line, health line and the marriage line. In addition, there are several other secondary lines. According to palmistry, all these lines, whether minor or major, thin or thick influence life in one way or the other. It is often believed that the clear lines represent success; whereas, the indistinct lines stand for worse events in life. More On The Life Line Among the seven major lines of the palm; it is the life line that a palmist examines first. This line reveals the quality of life. Hence, it is also known as age line or paternal line. In every person's palm, this line begins between the thumb and the index finger, and usually forms an arc, as it travels towards the direction of the wrist. It is believed that a palmist can foretell the vitality, overall health and major events of life by examining the life line. Many people are under the impression that the length of the life line is proportional to the length of life; which is not true. Let's take a look at some of the interesting features of this line and their associated meanings.

• Clear and long - Vitality
• Multiple lines - Excess vitality
• Curvy - Energetic
• Shallow and short - Often manipulated by other people
• Forms a semicircle - Enthusiastic and courageous
• Straight - Be careful in relationships
• Close to the thumb - Gets tired easily
• Circle in the line - Injured
• Breaks in the line - Possibility of change in lifestyle
• Double line - Someone very close to you other than your partner
• Life line absent - Nervous

Some people may show one or more branches in the life line. Depending upon the direction of the branches, their meaning differs. In case, you have a branch that leads to the Jupiter mount (mount at the base of the index finger), it indicates academic achievement. A branch towards the Mercury mount (mount at the base of the little finger) represents success in business; whereas a branch to the Apollo mount (mount at the base of the ring finger) is a sign of wealth. If the life line ends below the thumb, it indicates a strong attachment of the person with his/her family. The person loves to be with people, with whom he/she has grown up. On the other hand, if the life line runs in the direction of the Luna mount (opposite to the Venus mount) and away from the thumb, the person is adventurous and seldom stays at one place. It may also indicate relocation of his/her home to another place. It is also believed that if a person's life line ends with many branches, he/she may suffer from ill health in old age. A life line that ends smoothly indicates the well-being of the person.