Palmistry. 16th century woodcut illustration showing cardinal lines and points for palmistry. Palmistry, or chiromency, is the alleged ability to foresee the future of an individual from the crease lines in the skin of the palms. The lines in this diagram that would be familiar to modern palm readers are the 'heart line' just below the fingers, the 'head line' below this, the 'C'-shaped 'Life line' near the thumb and the diagonal which could be the 'Sun line'. Despite the abundance of practitioners, there is no scientific evidence whatever that such divination is possible. This illustration comes from 'Epitoma chyromatico' by Patricio Tricasso, published in Venice in 1538.