| Palmistry, or chiromancy (also spelled cheiromancy; from Greek kheir (χεῖρ, ός; "hand") and manteia (μαντεία, ας; "divination"), is the claim of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as chirology, or in popular culture as palm reading. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice chiromancy are generally called palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists.
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 evidence for palmistry's predictions, have caused palmistry to be viewed as a pseudoscience by academics. |
