Lucky signs on the palm: star, triangle, square, fish and trident

What are lucky signs on the palm?

Lucky signs are small, clear marks on the palm that the old palmistry books read kindly. Western books, led by Cheiro, name three: the star, the triangle and the square. Indian books add the fish, the trident and shapes such as the conch, wheel and lotus.

The books rarely use the word “lucky” for a mark. Cheiro calls the star “with one or two exceptions, a fortunate sign” (Cheiro’s Language of the Hand, 1900, ch. XVIII). The Indian books call their signs auspicious.

A real sign stands on its own. Cheiro asks that a triangle be clear and distinct, “not formed by the chance crossing of lines” (ch. XXII). The same test works for every sign on this page.

The PalmSays scanner traces the four major lines, not signs, so the photo at the top shows none. Every sign on this page is a drawing, in gold, of where the books place it.

Lucky signs one by one

Each card gives a sign in our own words, from the book named under it. The books also promise riches, fame, children or high rank from many signs. No mark can foretell those, so we leave them out and say so.

What does a star on the palm mean?

• Star on the mount of Jupiter, under the index finger

  Ambition and a wish to lead, read as made stronger.

  Do you have this? Do three or more short lines cross at one point on the pad under your index finger?

  What the books say

  A star is three or more short lines crossing at one point. Cheiro reads it as a mark that makes its mount’s quality stronger. Under the index finger that quality is ambition. He also promises honour, power and position here, which no mark can do, so we leave that out.

  Source: Cheiro (1900, 1916)

The same star is read differently on each mount:

Where the star sits	What Cheiro reads (the part we keep)	What we leave out
Under the index finger (Jupiter)	Ambition, made stronger	Honour, power and position
Under the ring finger (Sun)	A love of art and beauty, made stronger	Riches and glory, which he says bring no contentment
Under the little finger (Mercury)	Eloquence and a flair for science or business	“Unusual success”
The two mounts of Mars	Patience and fortitude	Honours
Outer edge, above the wrist (Moon)	Imagination, made stronger	Fame through it
Ball of the thumb (Venus)	Warmth in love	“Extraordinary success” in love
Under the middle finger (Saturn)	Nothing: his reading here is a grave forecast	All of it

Cheiro adds a fair warning of his own. A star, he says, has little power on a hand whose other signs, such as a weak head line, don’t support it.

What does a triangle on the palm mean?

• Triangle on the mount of Jupiter

  A talent for managing people and organising everyday affairs.

  Do you have this? Is there a small, clear triangle on the pad under your index finger?

  What the books say

  Cheiro calls the triangle a curious sign that is often found clear and distinct. Under the index finger he reads more than usual skill in managing people and organising daily affairs.

  Source: Cheiro (1900)

On the other mounts, Cheiro’s Language of the Hand reads the triangle like this:

• Under the middle finger (Saturn): a leaning towards mystical study.
• Under the ring finger (Sun): putting art to practical use.
• Under the little finger (Mercury): a steadier, less restless mind. He also promises success with business or money, which we leave out.
• On a mount of Mars: calm in a crisis.
• On the mount of the Moon: method in following up the ideas of the imagination.
• On the mount of Venus: calm and good sense in love.

What does a square on the palm mean?

• Square over a break in the life line

  The mark of preservation: protection at that point, as a symbol.

  Do you have this? Is there a small, clear box over a gap in one of your lines?

  What the books say

  Cheiro calls the square “the mark of preservation”. On a line, he reads it as protection at that point from whatever the break seemed to threaten. Read it as a symbol in the books, not a promise. A gap in a line is often a crease or the light, not an event.

  Source: Cheiro (1900, 1916)

On a mount, Cheiro reads a square as keeping that mount’s quality from going too far: ambition under the index finger, or imagination on the mount of the Moon. The palm mounts guide explains what each mount is read for.

What does the fish sign on the palm mean?

• Fish at the base of the palm

  An auspicious sign in Indian books; Jain reads a religious-minded person.

  Do you have this? Is there a small fish shape near your wrist, at the base of your palm?

  What the books say

  The fish is मछली (machhli), or matsya. Mrs Dale (1895) places it at the root of the hand, and Chhotelal Jain (1927) at the wrist. Jain reads a religious-minded person, and a fish’s tail as the mark of a learned one. Both books also promise riches and children from the fish. No mark can tell either, so we leave that out.

  Source: Mrs J. B. Dale (1895); Chhotelal Jain (1927)

What does a trident (trishul) on the palm mean?

• Trident (trishul)

  Jain reads a generous, religious-minded person.

  Do you have this? Do three short lines rise from one stem somewhere on your palm?

  What the books say

  The trident is त्रिशूल (trishul). Jain reads the sign of a generous, religious-minded person. Mrs Dale reads a rise to fame and high rank, which we leave out. Neither book gives the trident one fixed place, so our drawing shows only its shape.

  Source: Chhotelal Jain (1927); Mrs J. B. Dale (1895)

A sign is read as a tendency, never as luck that will arrive. The promises in the old books are theirs, not ours.

Indian auspicious signs: conch, wheel, lotus and flag

Mrs Dale’s Indian Palmistry (1895) and Jain’s Hindi book (1927) list more shapes. Most of their readings are promises of wealth, sons or high rank, so only a few tendencies are left to keep:

Sign	Hindi	What we keep	What we leave out
Conch	शंख (shankh)	Dale: a learned person, above all on the little finger or the mount of Mercury	Nothing else is claimed
Flag	पताका (pataka)	Dale: a philosopher and a great thinker	Jain: a lord of treasure
Wheel	चक्र (chakra)	Jain: with the conch and flag, a learned person who gains standing easily	Riches and power
Lotus	कमल (kamal)	No tendency, only rank	Fame and rank in Dale, a king in Jain

Jain even ranks the fish, wheel, lotus and conch by the amount of money each brings. That is a money forecast, and no mark can make one. We found no swastika or temple sign in either book, so pages that list them as classical signs give no source.

Which palm signs do the books not call lucky?

Not every mark is read kindly. Cheiro reads an island as weakening the line it sits on, and a grille as working against the qualities of its mount. He reads most crosses and circles as trouble. We give no meaning for an island at all: the old books read it as illness, and palm lines are not a health test.

The best-known exception is the mystic cross between the heart and head lines, read as an interest in the spiritual. The crosses on the palm guide covers it and the other crosses.

Are lucky signs rare?

We can’t say, and we won’t guess. No book we use counts how often any sign appears, and we know of no study that does. So we call none of them rare.

What makes signs hard to find is their size and the light. A sign is small, and many apparent signs are short lines that cross by chance. Check yours in bright daylight, from more than one angle.

Can a phone photo show these signs?

Usually not. Stars, triangles, squares and fish are only a few pixels wide in most phone photos, too small to see reliably. The PalmSays app observes marks like these but leaves them out of the reading for that reason. Look at your own hand instead.

The M is the exception. It is made of the four major lines, so a photo can show it: see the M on the palm.

Lucky signs in the left and right hand

A sign is read the same way on either hand, for women and men alike. Tradition reads your writing hand as the life you are making and the other as what you started with. Jain lists separate signs for women, nearly all about husbands and sons; we leave those out. The guide to which hand to read explains the traditions.

Check yourself: lucky signs quiz

Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if you are right. New to palmistry? Start with how to read palm lines, or look up any sign in the palmistry terms glossary.

Myths about lucky signs

MythA fish on your palm means wealth.

Reality

The Indian books do promise it, but no mark on the skin can foretell money. What we keep from Jain is a religious-minded nature, and learning for a fish’s tail.

MythA star on the palm is always lucky.

Reality

Cheiro himself made exceptions. He read a star under the middle finger darkly, and said a star means little when the rest of the hand doesn’t support it.

MythRare signs mark a special fate.

Reality

No book we use counts how rare any sign is. A sign is read as a leaning in character, and your choices matter more than any mark.