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The introduction to The Face in the Frost notes that Prospero and Roger Bacon "knew what a Hand of Glory was [vii]."
Mrs. Izard uses a Hand of Glory to momentarily stun Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann when they and Lewis finally find the hidden Doomsday Clock [The House of the Clock in its Walls, 170-2, 174-6]. The talisman does not affect Lewis as he saw the Hand's reflection in the clock, having read about the objects in one of John L. Stoddard's books. It is fitting to speculate that neighborhood bum Hammerhandle may have hung around long enough to have a hand in creating the charm.
Also: [The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder, 22], [The Hand of the Necromancer, 158].
It is interesting how the prologue of The Face in the Frost makes mention of two elements that will play important roles in Bellairs' next book, The House with a Clock in Its Walls: the magical feat of eclipsing the moon and a hand of glory.
The Hand of Glory was (is?) a charm used for those who practice the black arts. To create such an object, the sorcerer used the right hand of a convicted criminal that was severed while the corpse was still hanging from the gallows, preferably removed during the eclipse of the moon. Afterwards it was wrapped in a shroud, squeezed of blood and pickled for two weeks in an earthenware jar. It was then dried, either in an oven laid out in the sun. Once ready for use, candles were fitted on it between the fingers made from another murderer's fat, with the wick being made from his hair. Some candles are shown as being on the back of the hand. Regardless, once lit the candles froze the victims in their tracks and rendered them speechless, with milk supposedly the only thing that could extinguish it.
Incidentally the term "hand of glory" is thought to be derived from the French 'main de glorie' or 'mandrogore,' related to the legends of the mandrake, a plant believed to grow under the gallows of the hanged man.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory |
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| Hand of Glory |
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