The Truth About Tarot Card Readings and Palm Readings

Updated February 23, 2022
Palm reading and tarot

Tarot card readings and palm readings are psychic sciences that deal with a person's personality and future. But neither is a science in the true sense of the word. So, what's the truth about tarot card reading and palmistry? Keep in mind that truth can differ according to individual beliefs and viewpoints.

Are Tarot Cards Real?

The history of how the tarot evolved from a parlor game into a contemporary tool for psychological insight and creative exploration is somewhat ambiguous. However, around 1750, people began to regard the cards as mystical. In modern times, many people believe that tarot cards are real and a means of foretelling the future. Others believe tarot cards provide insight and guidance. Some individuals give them no validity but still have fun readings. While some consider tarot cards a tool of the devil. The truth is that tarot cards are just a deck of cards.

The Truth About Tarot Card Readings

There are a lot of ways of reading tarot cards. The truth is that a tarot reading requires two qualities that most people have: intuition and the ability to interpret symbols. Tarot is about analyzing the various meanings of the cards or the images on the cards and applying those meanings in relation to other cards in the layout or spread and then to your life or the life of a client.

Tarot cards spread on wooden table background

Fortune Telling

Some believe that the tarot cards drawn are purely random and are made significant by the context. Others believe that spirit directs you to the cards you draw, but either way makes little difference. As for whether the cards can "really" tell the future, that depends on what you believe. Most readers believe that tarot is a means of acquiring information about a situation so that you can analyze the past and present and make informed decisions about the future. A tarot reading can call attention to aspects of your life that you might have missed, such as behaviors holding you back or potential opportunities you can take advantage of.

Connecting With Spirits

Tarot card readers have many rituals, but is it true that tarot cards can be a means of communicating with spirits? Yes, any divination method could be used for that purpose, but you can only channel the spirits if you want to. It's not tarot cards that connect to the spirits; it's you, using the cards as a vehicle. However, the truth is that you might not even be connecting with spirits at all, but the inner voice of your subconscious mind.

The Truth About Palm Reading

Palmistry is a unique system. There are billions of people in the world. Each has two hands, and each palm is unique. It's from the lines in the palms that a palm reader can tell a great deal about a person. Palm line reading, unlike tarot, has been practiced for thousands of years. Twenty-five hundred years ago, Aristotle wrote in De Historia Animaliun: "Lines are not written into the human hand without reason."

Palmistry hand and quote

Medical Palmistry

During Europe's 18th century Enlightenment movement, scientists thought hands were incredibly important. In the Bridgewater Treatise, a series of books written by some of that day's eminent British scientists, Sir Charles Bell. a surgeon, and physiologist wrote more the 400 pages in which he called attention to the incredible complexity of the hand, which he believed was designed by god. Charles Darwin's theories lead to the belief that the hand illustrated the complexities of evolution through natural selection. And that the minute grooves, ridges, arches, whorls, and lines were a sign of the uniqueness of each person.

Palmistry and Dermatoglyphics

The early 20th century saw the emergence of dermatoglyphics, which was an attempt to correlate the different features of the hand with specific medical conditions. It was successful--up to a point. A variety of mental and physical illnesses can be detected from the various shapes, distortions, and patterns of the hand. For example, the Simian Line, which occurs in only 3% of humans, can be found in people with Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, Cohen syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, Fetal alcohol syndrome, and more. Of course, genetics, in the end, surpassed the diagnostic potential of dermatoglyphics.

The Simian Line and Palm Readers

Palm readers believe that individuals with a Simian Line have difficulty balancing emotions and logic, tend to be assertive, stubborn, ambitious, and have a powerful ability to focus on one particular thing. According to Greek beliefs, a Simian Line foretold the best and strongest warriors.

A Kernel of Truth

Even if you're a skeptic, it's very tempting to wonder if there might not be more than a kernel of truth to palm reading. Perhaps the ancients somehow intuited the workings of nature revealed today by doctors and scientists. Palm reading is not a science in the usual sense or a foolproof approach to life. Still, it is a fascinating form of knowledge that gives food for thought and a relatively clear picture of what the future holds.

Hand covered with gold lines

Many Truths

The truth about tarot card readings and palm readings is that there are many truths. However, if you choose to use either as a source of information, they are not the be-all-end-all. They are a bit like Google, except they search your subconscious. They are simple tools you can go to for guidance and information.

The Truth About Tarot Card Readings and Palm Readings