Shownotes Transcript
You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by USPS. I know, I know, you've got your shipping game on lock, but did you know with USPS Ground Advantage service, it's like your shipment has a direct line to you.
You're in the loop the whole time. It leaves the dock, you know about it. It's on the road, boom, you know. And when it reaches your customer, you guessed it, you're in the know again. Here's the real game changer. It's one journey, one partner, total peace of mind. Check out USPS Ground Advantage service at usps.com slash in the know. Because if you know, you know. Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.
Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and this is The Artifact, a short-form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time. I'd like to take a break from all the recent Monster Fact episodes to discuss an artifact, though a monstrous one to be sure, the Hand of Glory.
It is, in short, a grisly candle holder made from the mummified, pickled, or otherwise preserved hand of an executed criminal, such as one left hanging at a crossroads. In Brewer's dictionary of phrase and fable, Evor Evans also describes it as a dead man's hand, quote, "...soaked in oil and used as a magic torch."
When candled, depictions vary. Sometimes the hand's very fingers taper into flaming wicks. This version was more or less brought to the screen in 1973's The Wicker Man. While other times a candle is simply inserted into the knuckles of the hand's closed fist.
The 18th century French grimoire Petit Albert provides a detailed recipe of the hand's construction, including how to cure it and how to make the candle.
But let us turn to the alleged power of the Hand of Glory, once lit. According to various 19th century stories, it would render those who gazed upon it, or all those within a given house, completely motionless. In some accounts it was also said to open locks, for the Hand of Glory was the dark magical item of choice for thieves.
As Richard Blakeboro discussed in the 1924 book, The Hand of Glory and Further Grandfathers Tales and Legends of Highwaymen and Others, collected by the late R. Blakeboro, the story often concerned a thief disguised as an old woman who attempts to light the hand of glory in an inn so as to rob everyone there with his fellow thieves who were of course waiting outside.
In one version of the story, the thief recites the following spell according to Blakeboro: "Let those who rest more deeply sleep, let those awake their vigils keep, O hand of glory, shed thy light, direct us to our spoil tonight, flash out thy light, O skeleton hand, and guide the feed of our trusty band."
In Brewers, Evan cites historian Robert Graves, arguing that, quote, "...hand of glory is a translation of the French main de gloire, a corruption of mandragore, the plant mandragora or mandrake, whose roots had a similar magic value to thieves," unquote.
The mandrake's often split roots have long inspired fantastic interpretations, as they sometimes resemble human beings. The fact that they contained hallucinogenic alkaloids only contributed to their magical reputation. In some traditions, to uproot one was to risk death and damnation, so it was necessary to have a dog do the work for you and suffer death on its master's behalf.
The mandrake was indeed said to scream when uprooted and in varying dosages and concoctions produced either good or ill effects.
But key to our consideration of the hand of glory, it was also said to stupefy or produce sleep. And finally, as Charles Godfrey points out in the 1892 book Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition, Dutch accounts held that Mandrake grew from, quote, the droppings of a thief's brain on the gallows, unquote. He who possessed the root, he says, which resembled a demon,
The Whitby Museum in North Yorkshire has in its collection a withered human hand, alleged to be a hand of glory, gifted to the museum in 1935 after its discovery in a cottage wall.
However, the hand apparently features no burn marks from a candle or candles. According to Wendy Pratt's 2018 Atlas Obscura article on the hand, Whitby Museum curator Robert Pickles has suggested that the hand in question, the one on display there, might have actually been a bad luck charm. As we've discussed on Stuff to Blow Your Mind in the past, see 2022's episode The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft with Brian Hoggard,
European and early American colonial history is full of protective magic, in which talismans of various make are hidden in walls and beneath floorboards. It is not unreasonable at all, then, to consider the possibility that such a strange and foul hand could have served a similar, if perhaps more diabolical, purpose.
Tune in for additional episodes of The Artifact or The Monster Fact or who knows what each week. As always, you can email us at contact at stufftoblowyourmind.com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Time is precious, and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24-7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow-ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments, and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year-round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.
You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.