Palm reading may be seen as an index of the perpetual tug-of-war between destiny and free will. The left hand, the passive hand, is illustrative of one's predispositions and the active right hand is a map of the free will in action. And within the hands are arrayed the planets, and sometimes, the signs of the zodiac.

The moon in the hand resides on the Lunar mount on the base of the palm, opposite the thumb. Here are intuition and the abilities of the dreaming mind. Directly underneath the thumb is the Mount of Venus wherein resides all of one's affective qualities, passions and enthusiasms. The fingers arise from their respective planetary mounts, which are located directly below the fingers, on the palm of the hand.

The sun is in the ring finger of Apollo within which is the personality itself, one's father qualities as well as capabilities in art and commerce. Saturn is the middle finger, longest on the hand. Central in the array of the fingers, Saturn is growth, transition and duty. A line of transition, a career line, that in the past has been called the line of "fate" or destiny runs directly up the palm to the mount and finger of Saturn.

The index finger, directly opposing the thumb and pointing one's way through life, is Jupiter, which is decision and leadership. The little finger is Mercury, quickness and communication, which is so often a matter of timing.

When Jupiter and Saturn set apart on the hand, there is independence of thought. If Saturn and Apollo are widely separated, a certain recklessness may be in evidence, a casual disregard for the future. When Saturn and Apollo are close there is care for the future, an importance on preparation and planning. Separation between Apollo and Mercury indicates independence, a certain need for a "room of one's own."

The thumb stands alone as the most individual unit on the hand. It most accurately represents the individual standing alone in the world. And it is no accident that the thumb sits atop Venus, the well of our vitality and interests. So meaningful is the thumb as an indicator of the individual, that there are entire schools of palmistry which are based on nothing but the thumb, its shape, proportions and lines.

Mars, our initiative, aggressiveness and ability to stand against opposition, is found in two mounts halfway up the palm on either side at the outside edge. The space between the two Mars mounts, the central palm itself on which the major lines of Life and the Mind are inscribed, is the "great plain of Mars." This great plain is the battlefield of our lives in which is recorded our struggle for survival, growth and progress. Emanating from this great plain, like planets flung into space, are the celestial fingers themselves.