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image credit: Eadwine the Scribe, reported as self-portrait, Canterbury (c. 1150s)
Palm Reading Hidden in a Prayer Book
The Eadwine Psalter (also called the Canterbury Psalter) was created around 1160 in Canterbury, England. At first glance, it’s a religious book with psalms and a calendar. But hidden inside are two surprising texts: one about number fortune-telling (onomancy) and the oldest Latin guide to palm reading (chiromancy). Today, it’s kept at Trinity College, Cambridge.
An Arcane Book of Rivalry
The Psalter wasn’t just a holy book—it was part of a monastic rivalry. It was made at Christ Church Cathedral Priory, which competed with nearby St. Augustine’s Abbey. The calendar inside skips feast days for St. Augustine of Canterbury, the founder of English Christianity.
Some think this was a deliberate snub—like how the book also includes uncommon (rebellious, even) knowledge, such as palmistry. The monks who copied prayers also recorded fortune-telling secrets. By mixing religion and palm reading, they may have been quietly defying tradition during a time of competition.
What Your Hand Reveals: Life, Death, and Family
The palmistry guide starts with the three main lines and the triangle they form. Then it describes other marks, predicting:
- Death: Hunger, battle, drowning, fire, hanging, or dying far from home
- Health: Headaches, heart pain, wounds, blindness, or even leprosy
- Love & Family: Virginity, cheating, fertility, and having sons or daughters
Why Would Monks Include Palm Reading?
In the 1100s, palmistry wasn’t seen as taboo—just practical. People sought answers about health, luck, and danger, not only their souls. Even John of Salisbury’s Policraticus (1159), a leading political treatise of the time, mentions palm reading. He stated (accused, actually) that Thomas Becket consulted a chiromancer before marching with King Henry II into North Wales in 1157. That the future Archbishop of Canterbury turned to palmistry tells how seriously such practices were—even in church circles.
Copied, Illustrated, and Turned into Medicine
The Psalter’s palmistry guide didn’t stay hidden for long. By the early 1200s, scholars like Michael Scot—a renowned astrologer, translator, and physician— were weaving palm reading into medicine and astronomy. This marked an important step in a journey that would blend science and mysticism for centuries to come.
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