Before you read any further, would you do something for me? Hold your dominant hand in front of you, palm facing you, and curl your fingers slightly. Now tilt it toward the light and look at the little hills and valleys across your palm.
Those raised, fleshy pads are what palmists call the mounts, and most people have never really noticed them. We get so excited about the lines that we skip right past the landscape they sit on, yet the mounts say a lot about where your energy naturally likes to flow.
Why the mounts matter
When I first started learning palmistry, I was completely obsessed with the lines. I'd peer at the heart line, the life line and the head line for ages and barely give the rest of the hand a second glance.
The mounts show us where your enthusiasm, warmth and drive tend to gather. A full, springy mount suggests that area of life feels alive and important to you, while a flatter one simply means your energy is more relaxed there, or busy somewhere else. Neither is better or worse, and I like to say the mounts confirm who you already are rather than judge who you have to be.
The seven main mounts and what they mean
Each mount is traditionally named after a planet, which can sound a little grand, but the meanings are quite down-to-earth once you get to know them.
The Mount of Venus is the large, rounded pad at the base of your thumb, inside the curve of your life line. It speaks of love, warmth, sensuality and how much you enjoy life's pleasures, so a full Venus often belongs to someone who gives the best hugs and adores good food and company.
The Mount of Jupiter sits just below your index finger and is linked with confidence, leadership and a sense of purpose. When it's well developed, it often shows someone who naturally steps forward and loves to guide, teach or inspire.
The Mount of Saturn lies beneath your middle finger and relates to responsibility, wisdom and your relationship with solitude. It's very often quite flat, which is completely normal, and a fuller Saturn tends to belong to the thoughtful, serious souls who like to understand things deeply.
The Mount of Apollo, sometimes called the Mount of the Sun, is found below your ring finger. It's all about creativity, joy, and how much you like to shine, and it pairs beautifully with the Sun line if you have one running up to it.
The Mount of Mercury sits under your little finger and reflects communication, quick thinking and a talent for business or healing. If you're a natural chatter who can talk to anyone, have a look here, because it's often lovely and full.
The Mount of the Moon, also called Luna, is the pad on the outer edge of your palm, opposite your thumb and down towards the wrist. This is the home of imagination, intuition and dreams, and it's often well developed in writers, artists and those who just seem to know things.
Finally, the two Mounts of Mars sit on the outer edge of the palm: one tucked just above Venus near the thumb, and one above Luna, with a flatter area called the Plain of Mars in the middle. Together they show your courage, resilience and how you handle life's challenges.
How to read your own mounts
The easiest way to begin is to compare them with each other rather than with anyone else's hand. Press lightly on each one and notice which feel firm and full and which feel flatter. You might find one mount clearly stands out, and that's usually where your energy loves to go.
It also helps to look at your hand's overall shape, because a broad earth hand will naturally have different mounts than a long, slender water hand. If you're not sure which you have, my guide to the four hand shapes is a lovely place to start.
A little myth-busting
You might read online that a flat mount means you're missing something, or that a very full one is a warning sign. I'll be honest: I don't read hands that way at all. A flat Mount of Venus doesn't mean you can't love; it may simply mean you show your love in quieter, more practical ways.
Hands change over time, too, so the mounts you see today reflect where you are right now rather than a fixed sentence for life. I find that reassuring because it reminds us we're always growing.
Coming back to you
What I love most about the mounts is that they reflect who you already are. When you look at your own hand and see that full Mount of the Moon or that springy Venus, it's often a lovely moment of recognition, as if your hand is saying, "Yes, this is you, and it always has been".
If you'd like to keep exploring, my How to Read Your Palms course walks you through the whole hand step by step.. For now, spend a few quiet minutes with your own palm this week and see what it shows you, because the answers are really within.
With love,
Carolina x