Left or right hand: which palm should you read?

It is the first question almost everyone asks before a palm reading. The short answer is both. The longer answer depends on which tradition you follow.

The Western rule: dominant and non-dominant

In Western palmistry your dominant hand, the one you write with, is read as the present and the life you are actively shaping. Your other hand is read as your natural tendencies, the potential you started with. If you are right-handed, the right palm is your here and now and the left palm is your starting point.

Comparing the two is where it gets interesting. If the lines on both hands look much the same, palmists read that as someone living close to their natural path. Big differences are read as change, effort or a life that has taken a turn away from what was expected.

The Indian tradition: men and women

Traditional Indian palmistry, called Hast Rekha or Samudrika Shastra, often reads the right hand for men and the left hand for women. Many modern Indian palmists have moved toward the dominant hand rule, and most look at both hands anyway before giving a reading.

Left-handed people

If you are left-handed, simply swap the Western rule. Your left palm becomes the present and your right palm shows your natural tendencies. People who are fairly ambidextrous are usually told to treat the hand they use for fine work as dominant.

Photographing each palm

If you are using a phone camera, hold the palm facing the lens with your fingers slightly apart. On a right palm the thumb appears on the right side of the screen. On a left palm it appears on the left. That catches a lot of people out, because it feels like a mirror and it is not one.

• Use soft side light, such as a window, rather than a ceiling light.
• Keep the whole hand in the frame, from the fingertips to the wrist crease.
• Hold still for a second so the camera can focus on the fine lines.
• Take a second photo with your fingers relaxed and the palm tilted toward the light. Faint lines often show up better that way.

In Palmastra you can scan both hands for one person. The reading compares them, so you see what has stayed the same and what has changed.