Palmistry, also known as chiromancy, is the art of interpreting lines on the hand to evaluate someone’s character or foretell their future.

After falling into disrepute due to its associations with magic and witchcraft during the middle ages, interest in palmistry saw a resurgence during the 17th century, when scholars began to attempt to find rational and scientific foundations for the practice.

It’s interesting to see the common language of Western mysticism exhibited in this, with inevitable comparisons to medieval alchemy and astrology to Renaissance demonology.

From Jean Baptiste Belot’s Les Ouevres via Ridiculously Interesting.