Palmistry is often thought of as the art of reading the lines in the hand. The lines tell only one part of the story that is etched into the hands. A skilled Palmist looks at palmar lines and ridges, the shape and length of each finger, the mounts and bumps on the hand as well as skin color, warts, cuts, blisters, scars and the subject's own unique calling card, the fingerprints.
Recognition of the shape of the palm and the correspondences given to the mounds and fingers provides a grounding in the study of the map of the hand. Once this mapping is understood, it becomes much simpler to learn to read the hand by viewing the lines, bumps, wounds and other unique markings as an 'overlay' on top of the map.