Science of Palmistry

Science of Palmistry is the ancient art of counseling according to occult knowledge of one's karma (i.e., "psychic counseling") revealed in the shape, size, color, and lines of the hands.

Because one's karma is supposedly revealed in this manner, one's future is also supposedly revealed. The objective of palmistry, then, is to learn the karmic consequences under which the counselee is living, and encourage him to alter his thinking in order to affect those consequences and ensure a better karma in his next incarnation.

Chiromancy, or palmistry, has a long history. It was practiced in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and extensively in China. Modern practices in palmistry were imported into Europe from Asia by Gypsies during the Renaissance.

This period was marked by a flourishing of beliefs in divining personality by studying parts of the body. It has long been a favored means of fortune telling.

It probably originated among medicine men, diviners, and priests, and was probably related to divination by the examination of the entrails of sacrificial victims. Confidence in the practice was based probably on the fact that no two palms are exactly alike, and, therefore, the palm was taken to be an index of marked individuality.

Some chiromancers even claimed to have found a greater authority in the Bible -- Job 37:7 ("sealeth up the hand of every man: that all men may know his work") and Proverbs 3:16 ("length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour").

Over many centuries in Europe palmistry was held in high repute. Men of rank in society, politics, and the church devoted time to its study. It was taught in the universities. From its early acceptance as a priestly institution it degenerated even further into a medium of commercialized fortune telling.

Thousands of palmists are active in places of public amusement. Millions of people spend millions of dollars every year throughout the world upon fortune telling. Yet, in no respect is it validated by scientific data or by intelligent understanding of human nature. More importantly for Bible-believing Christians, all forms of fortune telling are nothing more than ancient techniques of divination, and thereby, forbidden in God's Word (Deut. 18:10-12).

Note the following quote from the 7/28/92 Bloomington Herald-Times, indicating the religious nature of palm reading: