When the Saturnian Line starts from the wrist, exactly below the finger of Saturn, and goes in a direct line to it, cutting through the mount, but stopping at the root of the finger, it is a sign of a life of extreme happiness. If the line goes toward the mount of Jupiter, this happiness is the result of a marriage bringing both riches and love. If the Saturnian Line stops short at the Line of Head, it is misfortune in affairs through a false calculation; or, taken in conjunction with a troubled Line of Life, it would mean a physical brain affection.
If the Saturnian Line is straight and well-coloured at its termination—that is, as it nears the finger of Saturn—it indicates happiness and success in old age, however troubled the life may have been before. If this line only starts from the Line of Head, it denotes poverty and stupidity.
The age, on the Saturnian Line, is counted from the wrist upwards; from the wrist to the Line of Head chiromancists count thirty-five years,[19] from the Line of Head to the Line of Heart fifteen years; and from the Line of Heart to the root of the finger are the remaining years of Life.
If the Saturnian Line is broken and irregular, it means trouble and worry in life; and according to whether these breaks occur on the Line of Head or on the Line of Heart, so will the troubles be of the head or heart—troubles arising from affairs or from the affections. If the Line of Life be irregular, denoting uncertain health, these troubles may be physical evils to the heart or head.
Short Lines crossing the Saturnian show vexations in either the affairs or in love-matters. A downward branch from the Saturnian going towards the Moon shows sorrow from the death or treachery of a woman. This is the same whether it be on a man's or a woman's hand.
If the Saturnian Line is twisted in a sort of spiral at the starting-point, but yet the upper part of it goes in a clear, direct line to the Mount of Saturn, and cuts through it to the root of the finger without penetrating beyond, it indicates a troubled and anxious youth, followed by riches and good fortune in middle age. If the twisted line continues and crosses the Line of the Head and the Line of the Heart, the troubles will continue until old age, and the good fortune be only quite at the close of life. A triangle, or small island, at the commencement of the line, shows death of the father or mother in early childhood.
If the Mount of Saturn is much wrinkled, and the Saturnian Line cuts through it, and is of a deep-red colour, and mounts as high as the third joint of the finger of Saturn, it indicates a violent and disgraceful end—death on the gallows. Upward lines from the Saturnian Line mean events of happy omen either in the affections or affairs at the age shown on the line; downward lines have the reverse signification.
There are some hands in which the Saturnian Line is very faintly indicated and, when this is the case, it signifies an uneventful, insignificant existence. The Esquimaux, for example, who live in a wretched climate, and live hard, unlovely lives, have absolutely, some of them, no Saturnian Line in their hands; and M. Serres, a famous French anthropologist, asserts that this line (which he calls the Caucasian Line) is only to be found in the hands of the white races; whilst M. Desbarrolles, another French writer on this subject, goes farther, and affirms that, among persons condemned to a dry, unintellectual vegetative life, even among the white races, the Saturnian Line is often found entirely wanting.
The Saturnian Line is one of great importance, for it corrects and modifies the significations both of the lines and of the mounts.
A double Saturnian Line, which is sometimes, but very rarely, seen, indicates great moral corruption and physical infirmities, brought about by abuse of material pleasures. A cross upon the line shows a change of position or a crisis in the affections at the age indicated by its position on the line. A star on the line shows disaster at the date at which it appears.