Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice palmistry are generally called palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists.
A fortune-teller conducting a palm reading, with lines and mounts marked out on the person's left palm
Gold stamped front cover of The Psychonomy of the Hand
The Fortune Teller, by Caravaggio (1594–95; canvas; Louvre), depicting a palm reading
The Fortune Teller, by Enrique Simonet (1899), depicting a palm reading
Fortune telling is the unproven spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.
Gypsy Fortune-Teller (1841) by Taras Shevchenko
Storefront psychic fortune teller in Boston
A fortune-telling storefront on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
The screene of fortune here behold, fortune-telling game, c.1650–1750