This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Voidstar (talk | contribs) at 22:58, 21 May 2003 (*First version, following Frazer.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 22:58, 21 May 2003 by Voidstar (talk | contribs) (*First version, following Frazer.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a man who has been hanged. According to old european beliefs, a candle made of the fat from a malefactor died on the gallows or of the finger of an unborn child, lighted and placed in the Hand of Glory as in a candlestick would have rendered motionless all persons to whom it was presented. Because of this the Hand was sometimes used by burglars to rob houses. During the 17th century robbers used to murder pregnant women in order to thus extract candles from their wombs.
References
- James George Frazer, The Golden Bough.
- The Hand of Glory and other gory legends about human hands, edited by D. L. Ashliman.