Learning astrology

How to learn palmistry, from hand shapes to reading for clients

Palmistry, or hast rekha, has both an Indian and a European tradition. This guide shows what to learn first, which books to read, a course with its stated fees, and how to read hands responsibly.

Updated 2026-11-05

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Short answer

To learn palmistry, study the shape of the hand before the lines: Cheiro splits the subject into cheirognomy, the shape of hands and fingers, and cheiromancy, the lines, and sorts hands into seven types ². Then learn the five principal lines, the mounts and the marks, and read Brihat Samhita's verses on the hand for the Indian tradition ¹. The Indian Council of Astrological Sciences teaches palmistry in two six-month courses, Hasta Rekha Praveena and Hasta Rekha Visharada ^4,5. Kismo lets you list palmistry as a practice, though medical advice and lifespan readings are ruled out there.

Indian root: Brihat Samhita, chapter 68, reads fingers, palms and lines ¹
Two halves: Cheirognomy, the hand's shape, and cheiromancy, its lines ²
Hand types: Cheiro's seven: elementary, square, spatulate, philosophic, conic, psychic and mixed ²
Which hand: Cheiro reads both, relying more on the right ²
Course route: ICAS Hasta Rekha Praveena, then Hasta Rekha Visharada, 6 months each ^4,5
Fees stated: Rs 800 exam fee per course plus Rs 1,000 ICAS life membership ⁶

The subject

What is palmistry, and where do its rules come from?

Palmistry is the reading of character and tendencies from the hand, and its rules come from two traditions, the Indian samudrika and the European schools. In India, Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita, a 6th-century text, has a chapter on the features of men that reads the fingers, the palm and its lines ¹.

Brihat Samhita says deep, glossy lines in the palm show wealth, and that lines shaped like a conch, an umbrella or a lotus mark a king ¹. The European writers Cheiro and William Benham built fuller systems in the 1890s and 1900s ^2,3.

Start here

What should you learn first in palmistry, the shape or the lines?

Learn the shape of the hand first, then the lines. Cheiro calls the first part cheirognomy and says there are seven types of hand, each with seven varieties ².

Cheiro's type	His short description
Elementary	The lowest type ²
Square	The useful hand ²
Spatulate	The nervous, active type ²
Philosophic	The knotty hand ²
Conic	The artistic type ²
Psychic	The idealistic hand ²
Mixed	The mixed hand ²

Benham uses seven types too, but finds them from the mounts: Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, Mercury, the two mounts of Mars, the Moon and Venus ³. Learn one system thoroughly before you compare it with the other.

The path

What is a good learning path for palmistry?

A good palmistry path runs from the hand to the lines to the marks, then to applying it all, and the ICAS syllabus follows that order ^4,5.

Praveena, first paper
General rules, the palm print, the characteristics and classification of the hand, the four fingers, the thumb and the mounts ⁴.
Praveena, second paper
The five principal lines and the secondary lines (life, heart, head, fate and sun), then fingerprint patterns and important marks on the palm ⁴.
Visharada
Applied palmistry: signs of professions, marriage and partnership, personality traits, timing of events and practical case studies ⁵.
Ongoing
Print or photograph the palms of friends and family, both hands each time, and compare them every few months.

The second course also teaches medical palmistry, reading diseases from the palm, lines and nails ⁵. Learn it as theory if you wish, but do not diagnose illness for a client.

Books

Which palmistry books should you read?

The palmistry books to read are one European classic, one Indian text and one Hindi manual. The first two below are old enough to read free in scanned form ^2,3.

Book	Author or editor	Publisher and year
Cheiro's Language of the Hand	Cheiro	Nichols and Co., London, 1898 ²
The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading	William G. Benham	G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York; first published December 1900, 635 pages ³
Brihat Samhita, chapter 68, features of men	Varahamihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer	Wisdom Library ¹
Hast Rekha Vigyan	Pt. Gopesh Kumar Ojha	Motilal Banarsidass ⁷
Samudrika Shastra with Hindi tika	Radha Krishna Mishra	Khemraj Shrikrishnadas, Bombay, 1921 ⁸

Cheiro's book was drawn from real hands, including those of Mark Twain and Sarah Bernhardt, reproduced in its plates ².

Courses

Where can you take a palmistry course, and what does it cost?

You can take a palmistry course through a chapter of the Indian Council of Astrological Sciences, which calls the subject Hasta Rekha. Unlike its Nadi courses, Hasta Rekha Praveena does not ask you to finish an astrology course first ⁴.

Course	Length	Who can join	Fee stated
Hasta Rekha Praveena	6 months, one semester of two papers ⁴	Age 18, SSLC, ICAS life member ⁴	Exam fee Rs 800 ⁶
Hasta Rekha Visharada	6 months ⁵	After Hasta Rekha Praveena ⁵	Exam fee Rs 800 ⁶
Life membership, once	Not applicable	Every first-time student	Rs 1,000 in India, Rs 5,000 abroad ⁶

Classes are in Hindi and English, on Sundays, and chapter tuition is not stated publicly ^4,6. The free route is the scanned classics plus a lot of looking at hands.

Ready?

How long before you can read palms for paying clients?

Reading palms for paying clients takes about a year on the ICAS route ^4,5, and longer if you learn alone. The test is whether you can read a stranger's hand in order, calmly, without reaching for the book.

You can name the hand type in seconds and say what it suggests.
You read both hands, as Cheiro advises, and explain why they differ ².
You treat a broken or short line as a change, never as an end.
You never read lifespan, illness or death from a hand.

The last rule needs saying because the old texts do the opposite: Brihat Samhita reads a person's lifespan from the lines ¹. Keep that out of every reading.

Clients

How do clients ask about palmistry online?

Online palmistry clients usually ask one worried question about a line: is my life line short, does my marriage line show two marriages, why is my fate line broken. Behind each is a life question about love, work or fear.

Answer the life question, not just the line. Cheiro's own saying is useful here: the left is the hand we are born with, the right is the hand we make ². Many palmists also learn numerology or Lal Kitab, which reads the hand alongside the chart.

On Kismo

What should a palmist know before applying to Kismo?

A palmist applying to Kismo lists palmistry among the practices in the first step and then does one chat reading of about 10 minutes, typed in their own words. The test client is drawn from the practices you list, and the card shows what your practice needs.

Decide your full list of practices before you submit; it cannot be changed later.
Pick Just starting out (0 years) if palmistry is new to you, rather than stretching your experience.
In the reading, explain what you see in plain words and stay inside the rules: no medical advice, no death predictions, nothing on a pregnancy's outcome.
A person reads the whole chat, and the decision comes by email within 2 days.

After approval, clients rate every session with stars and an optional note, and you can read each review under Profile, Reviews. Calm readings of worried questions about lines are what earn good ones.

Questions

What do astrologers ask about this?

Do I need to learn astrology before palmistry?

No. The ICAS Hasta Rekha Praveena course asks only for age 18, SSLC and life membership, with no astrology course first ⁴. Some palmists add astrology later to answer timing questions.

Which hand should a palmist read?

Cheiro examined both hands but relied more on the right, quoting the saying that the left is the hand we are born with and the right is the hand we make ².

Can I learn palmistry for free?

Yes, the classics are free to read in scanned form: Cheiro's Language of the Hand (1898) ² and Benham's The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading (1900) ³. A course adds a teacher who checks your readings on real hands.

Can a short life line mean a short life?

Never tell a client that. Old texts such as Brihat Samhita read lifespan from the lines ¹, but a responsible palmist reads a broken or short line as change, and Kismo's rules forbid death predictions outright.

Can I list palmistry on Kismo along with astrology?

Yes, if you already practise both. Kismo fixes your practices, languages and years of experience when you submit, so tick every method you use with clients before sending the application.

Read for clients on Kismo

Set your own per-minute rate for chat and calls, from Rs 20 to Rs 1,000. Apply in your browser with your Aadhaar or PAN and one reading.