The practice of telling fortunes from the lines, marks, and patterns on the palms of the hands.
The ancient Chaldeans had their birds in flight and animal entrails to interpret. The Greeks had their oracles. And we have our palmists, crystal ball gazers, tea leaf and mind readers, and other psychics.
The desire for knowledge of the future seems to be at the root of these and other forms of obtaining secret knowledge through paranormal revelations. Just as important, however, is that psychic fortune tellers relieve us of the obligation to gather evidence and think about that evidence. Our palmists and graphologists, etc., relieve us of the difficult task of evaluating the consequences of taking various actions. They absolve us of the responsibility of decision-making. They are great comforts, therefore, to the insecure, the lazy, and the incompetent.
See entries on crystals, cold reading, graphology and scapulimancy.
further reading
Marlock, Dennis and John Dowling. License to Steal: Traveling Con Artists,Their Games, Their Rules--Your Money (Boulder, CO: Paladin Press).