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To: alt.magick,alt.magick.folk,alt.magick.tyagi From: "Phil Legard"Subject: The Glorious Hand Date: 20 Apr 1998 08:19:26 GMT The Hand of Glory is a subject which has fascinated me since my childhood, when my parents would take me to Whitby, where a Hand of Glory was on display in the museum. The legends of the Hand of Glory are gruesome and romantic, and have persisted well into popular culture. I have only recenty started to attempting to find out more on the subject, so here's the product of my researches so far: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTES ON THE HAND OF GLORY by Phil Legard@btinternet.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Hand Of Glory is a gruesome item which is mentioned in books of the grimoire tradition and also in later folk lore. The Hand Of Glory was believed to render the bearer invisible and it was this power which saw it crossing from the magical tradition into the ways of the thief and burglar. The tales of burglaries, failed and otherwise, employing the use of the Hand of Glory are still remembered today with macabre awe. The Hand of Glory was so called because it was created from the actual hand of a hanged man. Then a candle was created from the fat of the hanged man and placed in the hand, or, in some cases, the hand itself became a fivefold candle. There are several variations on the recipe of the Hand, but I shall present the recipe given in "The Little Albert", a grimoire supposedly written by the great theologian Albertus Magnus: "Take the hand of a dead hanged man, wrap it in a mortual piece of fabric and press it to make the remaining blood out, and put it in an earth vase with powdered "Zimat", saltpeter, salt and long pepper. Let it remain for 15 days then expose the hand to the Sun till it dries completely. If is has to be dried more, put in an oven with vervein and fern. Make out a candle from the fat in the hanged man, virgin wax and sesame of Laponie. Use the hand as a candle holder..." I will now endeavour to provide a short commentary on the above recipe. Naturally, all associated recipes for the item insist that the hand of a hanged man (though preferably a felon) should be used for the item. Also the recipes insist that the hand should be pressed of remaining blood using a length of a burial shroud. The process of 'sun drying' the Hand appears a practical way of drying the hand, but many books of the grimoire tradition give the insistence that a tool of sorcery should not be exposed to the light - especially those items which have a 'dark' purpose. The final part of the recipe varies most and is concerned with the construction of the candle. Magnus suggests the candle should be created from virgin wax - the use of 'virgin' materials was most important to the magicians or the time. He also mentions "Sesame of Laponie". This has been translated in a number of different ways. One writer claims that it is sesame and La Ponie, which is apparently horse manure. The more accepted version is that it is sesame from Lapland. Some recipes also say that the hair of the hanged man should be used to create a wick. There is another variation on the final stage of the recipe which says that the hand itself should be turned into a candle and each finger should be lit. There is an interesting piece of lore surrounding the use of this variation in burglary. It was said that if the thumb would not light then someone in the house which was intended to be burgled was still awake. Once the Hand of Glory has been produced it is ready to be employed in the way which the wielder chooses. The actual effect of the hand once more varies from tale to tale. The most popular power ascribed to the Hand is that is makes the wielder invisible, there is a variation in this which states that the Hand acts as a charm to prevent sleepers from waking. Thomas Ingoldsby wrote of this power in his "Ingoldsby Legends": Wherever that terrible light shall burn, Vainly the sleeper may toss and turn; His leaden eyes shall he ne'r unclose So long as that magical taper glows, Life and treasure shall he command Who knoweth the charm of the glorious Hand! The final variation on the Hand's power is that it should stupefy any person it was shown to. In other words the person would be unable to speak or move. As if to confuse matters more, the actual operation of using the Hand of Glory also varies. The burglar may choose to carry it with him as he enters the house. The candle may then be left somewhere in the house, or carried with him. In another variation the Hand is left outside the house. In Disquisitionum Magicarum (1599), Martin del Rio records an incident where the Hand of Glory was seen by a servant girl outside a families home. The maid doused the Hand in water, but it did not go out. She then tried beer, which also didn't work. For some reason milk did work and the family woke to catch the thief red-handed. This is a popular story in folk lore, one which was also retold in the Ingoldsby Legends. Along with the belief that only milk could be used to extinguish the Hand of Glory was also the belief that only certain people could extinguish it. It is not said who these certain people are, but it is probably safe to assume that the people referred to are virgins. Finally, there is a way of countering the Hand. The recipe is that between the days of July 3 to August 11 an unguent should be created of the following: The gall of a black cat The blood of a screech owl The fat of a white hen The ointment created from the ingredients was smeared over any entrance to the home, such as doors, windows and chimneys. The house would then be safe from the Hand of Glory. Despite the Hand of Glory's reputation as a powerful charm, it obviously failed on occasion. Until recently, Whitby museum (on the coast of England) displayed a Hand of Glory which had been dropped by some robbers disturbed in their work. The legend of the Hand of Glory has persisted and passed on into pop-culture. Every Hallowe'en candles in the shape of hands are available as novelties, the image of a flaming hand or a hand holding a candle has passed into the imagery of horror films. The Hand recently appeared in the camp TV series "Poltergeist: The Legacy", in which some university students used a hand from a morgue as a fivefold candle... even though it had been preserved in formaldehyde for years... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bibliography and thanks: Gettings, Fred - Dictionary of Demons Various - An Encyclopaedia of Magic and Superstition Robbins, Russel Hope - The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and Demonology "Magnus, Albertus" - "Le grand et le petit Albert" Thanks to Sylphis@yahoo.com for providing the excerpt ShanMonster@fox.nstn.ca - Article on tools of the great witch craze (1100-1700ad)
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