Marriage line in palmistry: what it really means

Where is the marriage line?

The marriage line is one or more short lines on the outer edge of your palm, just under the little finger. They sit above the outer end of the heart line and run from the side of the hand a little way into the palm. Palmistry books place them on the Mount of Mercury, the pad under the little finger, which Indian readers call बुध पर्वत (Budh parvat). Dale’s Indian Palmistry (1895) describes them simply as “small lines on outside of hand on mount of Mercury”.

To find yours, close your hand loosely and look at its side, below the little finger. The small crosswise creases there are what palmistry calls marriage lines. In Hindi they are विवाह रेखा (vivah rekha) or शादी की रेखा (shadi ki rekha). English books also call them relationship lines, and Benham calls them lines of affection.

What does the marriage line mean in palmistry?

In the old books, the marriage line is read as the mark of a deep bond with another person, not of a wedding day. Cheiro reads only the long, clearly formed lines as marriages or lasting unions. The short ones he reads as deep affection.

Cheiro is also clear that the hand does not record a ceremony. In Cheiro’s Language of the Hand (1900) he writes that “the hand does not recognize the mere fact of a ceremony, be it civil or religious”. He reads the lines as a record of the people who have strongly influenced your life. Benham goes further. He calls them lines of deep affection, not marriage lines. They appear, he notes, whether or not a legal marriage ever took place. He adds that they have nothing to do with love for your family.

Marriage line age: why we don’t give one

Some old books do read an age from these lines. Cheiro reads an age at marriage from how close the line sits to the heart line. Benham also measures ages against the heart line. Dale’s book goes further and reads the number of lines as a number of partners.

We don’t repeat any of it. A crease a few millimetres long on the side of a hand can’t carry a date. So PalmSays never gives a marriage age, a count of marriages or a date.

How many marriage lines should you have?

There is no right number. Having no marriage line, one, or two is common, and so is having three or more short ones. Benham notes that some hands show none of these lines and others show many.

The number is not a count of marriages. Dale’s book reads it that way. Benham, writing five years later, called predicting marriages from the number of lines unscientific, a habit that led to constant error. Having no marriage line does not mean you won’t marry, and two lines do not mean two marriages.

No marriage line?

Having no marriage line is common, and it says nothing about whether you will marry. Even the old books read these small lines as bonds of affection, not weddings. Cheiro reads the short ones as deep affection, and Saint-Germain argues that they are lines of attachment, not lines of marriage at all. With no line there, there is simply no crease to read.

Marriage line types and what the books say

Each card below shows a shape the books describe, with their reading in our words and where it comes from. Some shapes carry famous scary readings. They are named here only to show why we don’t repeat them.

• Long, clear marriage line

  Cheiro reads a bond of deep, lasting affection. Never a date or a person.

  Do you have this? Is there one longer, clear line running in from the edge of your hand?

  What the books say

  Cheiro reads a long, clearly formed line as the mark of a marriage or lasting union. He says it should run straight and clear. Benham reads a deep, well-cut line as deep and steady affection. It describes a bond of feeling, never a date or a person.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900); William G. Benham (1900)

• Short marriage line

  Read as deep affection. Very common, and it says nothing about whether you will marry.

  Do you have this? Do you see one short line on the edge, under your little finger?

  What the books say

  Cheiro reads the short lines as deep affection rather than marriage. Short lines are very common, and many hands have only short ones. A short line says nothing about whether you will marry.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900)

• Two marriage lines

  Common. Two lines do not mean two marriages.

  Do you have this? Do you see two short lines there, one above the other?

  What the books say

  Two lines are common. Dale reads the number of lines as a number of partners. Benham rejected that: he read the lines as strong attachments over a life, not weddings. Two lines do not mean two marriages.

  Source: Mrs J. B. Dale (1895); William G. Benham (1900)

• Forked marriage line

  The shape behind the “divorce line” myth. We don’t read it as divorce.

  Do you have this? Does one of the lines split into two at its inner end?

  What the books say

  This is the shape behind the “divorce line” myth. Cheiro reads a fork at the end as a sign of separation or divorce. Benham disagreed: older palmists used it as a divorce sign, he wrote, but it does not always mean divorce. A fork at the start of the line he read as affection of unusual strength. We don’t read a fork as divorce.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900); William G. Benham (1900)

• Broken marriage line

  On a line this short, a gap is often just a crease or a shadow.

  Do you have this? Does one of the lines have a small gap in it?

  What the books say

  Cheiro’s Language of the Hand reads a break as a sudden break in married life. Benham reads an affection that is interrupted in some way. We don’t repeat either as a forecast. On a line this short, a crease, a fold of skin or a shadow can easily look like a gap.

  Source: Cheiro (1900); William G. Benham (1900)

• Marriage line curving up

  The old books attach a gloomy claim to this shape. We leave it out.

  Do you have this? Does a line bend up towards your little finger at its end?

  What the books say

  The old books attach a gloomy prediction about marriage to this shape. It is a claim about a whole life, which no crease can make, so we leave it out. A line that bends at its end is also hard to judge on the curved edge of the hand.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900)

• Marriage line drooping down

  Cheiro’s gloomiest reading, about another person’s life. We leave it out.

  Do you have this? Does a line droop down towards your heart line at its end?

  What the books say

  Cheiro attaches one of his gloomiest readings to a line that droops towards the heart line, about what happens to a partner. It is a claim about another person’s life. No mark on your hand can show that, so we leave it out entirely.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900)

What you see

Your marriage line looks forked or broken.

What the tradition says

Cheiro reads a fork as a separation and a break as a break in married life. Benham disagreed that a fork always means divorce, and PalmSays doesn’t read either shape that way.

What it can’t tell you

No line can tell anyone’s future in a marriage. A tiny fork or gap on the edge of the hand is often just a crease or a shadow. How a relationship goes depends on the two people in it: talking, time and care are yours to give.

Love marriage or arranged? No line can tell

No line on the palm can show whether a marriage will be a love marriage or an arranged one. It is one of the questions palm readers in India hear most, and the honest answer is short. How a marriage begins depends on people, families and choices, not on creases in the skin.

The old books themselves read these lines as bonds of feeling, not as the way two people meet. Markun’s What You Should Know About Palmistry (1927) even notes that fortune tellers look for other clues, such as a wedding ring. They “watch for such clues with very keen eyes”, he writes. If a reading claims to see love or arranged in your hand, it is going beyond anything a palm can show.

The “divorce line” myth

There is no divorce line. The name comes from an old reading of a forked or broken marriage line, and we name it here only to take it apart.

Even the old books don’t agree on it. Cheiro reads a fork as a separation, while Benham said a fork does not always mean divorce. Markun opens his section by saying “the Marriage Lines appear to be somewhat uncertain”. He then lists the old readings, the forked line as divorce among them. He answers the last of them with a joke: “Perhaps it shows a sweet tooth, a tendency to write nonsense verse, or a limp in the left leg.”

We don’t read any marriage line as a divorce. A relationship depends on the two people in it: how they talk, choose and look after each other. If you are worried about a relationship, talk it through with the people in it, or with someone you trust.

For women and men: the same line

The marriage line is read the same way for women and men. There is no separate marriage line for a woman, and no line describes a woman’s or a man’s fate. What traditions differ on is which hand to look at.

Tradition reads the hand you write with as the life you are making, and the other hand as what you started with. Dale’s Indian Palmistry records an Eastern custom of reading a man’s right palm and a woman’s left. Then it adds practical advice: read the hand where the lines show most clearly. Our guide on which hand to read for the marriage line and the other lines explains this in full, for female and male palm reading.

Marriage line vs heart line

The marriage line and the heart line are different lines. The heart line is the long line across the top of your palm, just below the fingers. The marriage lines are the short marks on the edge of the hand, above its outer end.

If you want to know what palmistry says about how you love, look at your heart line, not the marriage line. Palmistry reads the heart line for your emotional style: how you feel, show affection and relate to people. The guide to the heart line shows each of its types with its source.

Marriage line touching the heart line

The marriage lines sit just above the outer end of the heart line, so a line that droops a little, or a crease from bending the little finger, can easily meet it. That is a common shape. Cheiro reads a marriage line that curves down into the heart line as the loss of a partner, and a fork turning down towards it as a separation. Both are claims about another person’s life and about a marriage’s future. No crease can show either, so we don’t repeat them as readings.

Can a photo show your marriage lines?

Usually not. Marriage lines sit on the side of the hand, running in from its outer edge. A normal palm photo, taken from above an open hand, sees them edge-on or not at all.

The small marks the books read on these lines, such as islands, crosses and stars, are far too small for a phone camera. Even a fork or a gap on a line this short is hard to tell apart from a crease made by bending the little finger.

That is why the PalmSays app does not read marriage lines. It reads the heart, head, life and fate lines, measures your hand type and fingers, and it says so when a line isn’t clear. If you are curious, look at your marriage lines yourself in good light, as a reminder of the bonds that matter to you.

Island on the marriage line

An island is a tiny loop in the line. Cheiro reads an island on the marriage line as trouble and separation in married life. We don’t repeat that: it is a forecast about a marriage, and an island on a line a few millimetres long is far too small for a phone camera to show.