“It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances,” wrote Oscar Wilde in a letter. “The mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.”

A chronology of life is implicit in the visible lines of the hands, a linear clock of our personal progression and growth.  These mutable inscriptions mark temporal passages through difficulties and triumphs. The linear messages are highly relative to other indications of lines, mounts and the general shape of the hands and fingers. 

Midway between the Life line and the Heart line is the Head line. The Head line is our mentality and it reflects a good many intellectual qualities.  If the Head line starts out joined to the Life line it shows a cautious and sensitive temperment.  Separated from the Life line at the juncture between the thumb and index finger, the plain of Mars, self-reliance and independence of thought are shown.  These qualities may seem to be hidden at times in different individuals and may only reveal themselves under remarkable circumstances. Quiet people, for example, though not readily forthcoming with their opinions, may have genuine intellectual force, deeply held beliefs which may primarily exhibit themselves through actions and not words.

How can we really know one another? So much of human communication is an observed and reflected consensus of discourse.  How often do we actually reveal ourselves, even to our closest friends and loved ones? Palmistry, if nothing else, can be a portal on the complexities of the self which, of necessity, wears a social and visible mask.

The hands lay themselves forth with simple gestures and, to a tireless student of their balletic hieroglyphs, will reveal naked truths about their bearer. The intellect, the heart and the physical body form the great triad of being with the major lines in the hand. It is the intellect which can limit or expand our physical well-being.  It is the mind that can forestall love or create a context for its expression.

If the Head line connects to the Life line at a point lower on the Life line after it commences, an early period of dependent thought is shown. Lifelong learning is indicated by a deep Head line running all the way across the palm.  If the Head line curves down to the Mount of Luna at the base of the palm an inclination to intuitive and psychic matters is illustrated. Often, the pursuit of spiritual knowledge is something that occurs later in one’s life.

If the Head line is close to the Heart line above it, the emotions may be closely allied to thought in that individual. In certain individuals the Head and the Heart lines are joined into a single line, often called a “Simian” line. Such a line is an emphatic indication of the conjunction of thought and emotion.

The great palmist Cheiro had a double Head line.  “A double Line of Head is very rarely found,” he wrote, “but when found it is a sure sign of brain power and mentality.”  Cheiro, in an interesting self-reflection, then enumerated some of the ambivalent qualities of the double Head lines: “Such people have a perfectly double nature–one side sensitive and gentle, the other confident, cold, and cruel. They have enormous versatility, great command of language, a peculiar power for playing and toying with human nature, and generally great will and determination.”

These dual characteristics are also generally thought to be present when the Head line ends in a fork with double lines.

The Chinese have called the Head line the “line of Man” and have envisioned it floating between the line of Heaven (Heart) and Earth (Life).  They regard the Simian line as an example of Man in unnaturally close relation to Heaven.  In all systems of palmistry, however, the Head line plays a highly significant role, mediating between the physical and emotional sides of the individual.