Cryptic Curiosities: Hand of Glory

Open, lock, 

To the Dead Man's knock! 

Fly, bolt, and bar, and band! 

Nor move, nor swerve, 

Joint, muscle, or nerve, 

At the spell of the Dead Man's hand! 

Sleep, all who sleep! -- Wake, all who wake! 

But be as the dead for the Dead Man's sake!

Now lock, nor bolt, nor bar avails, 

Nor stout oak panel thick-studded with nails. 

Heavy and harsh the hinges creak, 

Though they had been oil'd in the course of the week. 

The door opens wide as wide may be, 

And there they stand, 

That murderous band, 

Lit by the light of the Glorious Hand, 

By one! -- by two! -- by three!

- Tom Ingoldsby

Lock-pick, crowbar, lantern...  There are many tools of the trade a common thief might select for their work.  However, if the burglar were to have a background in black magic, a very unusual and gruesome addition might be included as part of their arsenal:  The Hand of Glory.

A Hand of Glory was the severed hand of a murderer who had been hanged.  Depending on which source you consult, the hand could be the left or right, but many agree that it was best to get the one that had "done the deed."   Specially prepared through an meticulously involved process of thoroughly draining the blood, drying, and finally pickling, the hand was then made into a candle using the body fat of the same hanged man, wax, and some special herbs.

Woodcut by Karel Němec

This begs the question:  Why would a thief go through all of this trouble?  When lit as a candle, the Hand of Glory was said to possess magical abilities a burglar would find most useful, such as unlocking doors and immobilizing any living soul within a household.  Additionally, the wielder of a Hand of Glory was the only one able to see the light it cast, allowing them to move undetectable as long as the candle remained lit.

It is interesting to note that, some legends state that only one finger of a Hand of Glory needed to be lit, while others contend that a robber needed to be aware of the number of individuals dwelling in a house beforehand - no pun intended - and light the corresponding number of digits accordingly (It is unclear what would needed to be done if the count of occupants was to exceed five...).

Artwork by James Deeb

Numerous German, Polish and Netherlandish legends from the 1500's and well into the 1800's describe the creation and use of such objects.  Depending on the story, a hand itself may not even be necessary; Some stories report that a foot or a mere digit such as a thumb or toe work just as well!  Even worse, however, other legends assert that parts of unborn children could be used instead.

Thankfully, if you fear that a robber might use a Hand of Glory against you, it is said that there are counter-spells that could offer some degree of protection.  If you are somehow able to avoid being enchanted to begin with and know the proper charm, you can turn the table on any would-be thieves by extinguishing their candle, thereby paralyzing the hand's possessor instead!

*  The top image is supposedly an actual Hand of Glory...

Cryptic Curiosities: The Red Ghost

For about a decade back in the late 1800's, settlers in American Southwest had reported numerous sightings of a phantom creature they called the "Red Ghost":  A spectral beast of burden bearing a ghastly rider upon its back.

In 1893 a farmer in Arizona spotted a large animal on the horizon, at the edge of his property.  Suspecting the beast to be a predator of some kind, he shot and killed it.  He was shocked to discover that the dead creature was a camel.  The animal wore a saddle with mysterious rope binding attached to it.  The farmer had found the Red Ghost!

Oddly enough, this and other strange tales of the Red Ghost apparently owe more to fact than fiction.  

In 1843 the U.S. Army Quartermaster was faced with the challenge of providing supplies and mail to remote western outputs.  Unfortunately, pack mules and horses were not up to the task with the heat and harsh terrain of the desert proving to be too much for them.  Eventually, a unique solution was proposed:  Camels!

Thus, the U.S. Camel Corp was born. The camels were ideally suited for the task being already acclimated to the conditions of the desert and were able to carry riders and supplies with little difficulty.  The program was successful and operational until around 1866 when the Transcontinental Railroad rendered it obsolete.  The camels used in the corps ended up being sold to circuses and private owners, but some managed to escape into the wilderness, which might explain the presence of a camel in the Arizona desert, but what of the Red Ghost's legendary rider?

This is where some speculation comes in:  The story goes that a young solider within in the corps who was fearful of camels slipped up somewhere along the way, and landed in some trouble.  In a cruel form of discipline, the man was bound to a camel to teach him a lesson.  Unfortunately, before he could be set free, the camel escaped into the desert, taking the man along for the ride.  It is supposed that the unwilling passenger, unable to free himself, died on the camel's back. If this is true, the rider could conceivably had rode on the animal's back for years, slowly decomposing until the point it fell off.

Cryptic Curiosities: "Ring Around the Rosie"

It's likely that you are familiar with the nursery rhyme and children's game "Ring Around the Rosie" which conjures whimsical, idyllic imagery of children dancing in a merry circle. However, it is less likely that you are familiar with the song's macabre implications...

Ring-around the rosie,

A pocket full of posies

Ashes! Ashes!

We all fall down.

Many have noticed a connection between the songs lyrics and symptoms of a plague. The "Ring around the rosie" is reported to allude to red rash found all over a victim's body.  "A pocket full of posies" was a method used in an attempt to stave the prevalent, overpowering smell of disease and death.  "Ashes, ashes" indicates the cremation of the bodies of the dead, claimed by the plague.  "We all fall down" ominously suggests the inevitability of death.

While the lyrics match up to historical accounts of the Bubonic Plague of the 1330's called the Black Death and England's Great Plague of 1665, the similarities are apparently nothing more than coincidental according to folklorist and historians.  The song was published in an 1881 edition of Mother Goose, which is far removed from both outbreaks.  However, you probably won't think of this nursery rhyme the same way ever again, will you?

The photography at the top of this post is the work of Tom Chambers.

Note:  As one of my two readers, you might have noticed that this and a few other posts in this vein were previously titled "Freaky Factoids", but I changed the name to "Cryptic Curiosities".  Turns out that "factoid" refers to a fact that is untrue, not a "bite-sized" tidbit of trivia as I had always assumed.  I couldn't live with myself after I found out, so I came up with a new title...  Plus, I can never pass up an excuse to apply my aptitude for awe-inspiring alliteration!

Totentanz (Dance of Death) - Franz Liszt

Totentanz (also known as the Dance of Death) is a piece of music written by the 19th century composer Franz Liszt.  

Intended for a solo piano accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, this piece is said to be inspired by a Medieval chant and a fresco painting by Francesco Traini called The Triumph of Death. Apparently during this point in history it was considered very stylish to reference Medieval artwork... The more grotesque, the better.  

Francesco Traini's Triumph of Death

The macabre nature of the music is meant to be ironic, but there are some truly suspenseful moments.  The piano is meant to be played in a very percussive manner, which gives the piece an ominous, yet immediate feeling of dread.  Liszt was a virtuoso pianist and Totentanz's composition makes that clearly evident from the start.  The piano is meant to be played at blazing tempo, rampaging through scales up and down the keyboard throughout the piece.  Meanwhile, the orchestration cannot be overlooked.  It is easy to see the influence Liszt's work had on modern day composer, particularly film composer seeking to capture the sounds of horror.  

Totentanz takes many twists and turns, shifting between frenzied musicianship and calm, almost regal- sounding dirges before reaching what, to the listener, must seem to be the climax.  But the piece starts up anew accumulating crescendo upon crescendo.

Simply put:  This is an amazing piece of music.  I'm no an expert on musical composition by any stretch of the imagination, but this piece makes it abundantly evident that Liszt was very much ahead of his time.