The upward-pointing late Roman Hand of Power talisman continues in popularity today in the form of the Roman Catholic Powerful Hand (Mano Poderosa in Spanish) which is sold on holy cards and applied to votive candles. The meaning of the hand is the same as in ancient times -- magical protection and benediction -- but in the modern Catholic version, the fingers are all stretched upright, as is the thumb, and various saints and angels are standing on and around the digits.
For a similarly protective hand image, see the Helping Hand, an African-American hoodoo symbol, an open hand held horizontally; it frequently appears on candles and . The Jewish and Arabic hamsa hand is another protective hand; it hangs downward. Downward-hanging milagro hands are common in Mexico; one can be seen in the Mexican Snow Globe Pyramid of Luck. Related hands, used to guard against the evil eye in Italy, are the downward-pointing mano cornuta and mano fico. In Southern Europe, North Africa, and India, the downward-pointing eye-in-hand also averts the evil eye.
Fred Burke describes the Powerful Hand thus:
The image is of a huge wounded (but not bleeding) right hand, which points up through clouds, cut palm toward us. The lines in the palm are shown, and it looks like the head line is cut. The fingers are all of eerily uniform length, with a long thin thumb. Small, disembodied, winged cherub-heads float in the sky above the hand.To the left and right of the hand are four kneeling female angels who gaze upward and bear the tools of the crucifixion. Of the two on the left, one holds a bowl to catch Jesus' blood; the other holds a spear and vinegar sop in one hand and hammer and nails in the other. Of the two on the right, one holds a cross and the other a crown of thorns.
Atop clouds on the little finger stands an older male saint with a book. The ring finger's clouds hold a female saint; the middle finger's, a younger male saint with a white lily; the forefinger's, the Virgin Mary; and the deformed thumb's clouds bear the toddler Jesus holding a globe in his right hand and raising his left.
The prayer on the back is printed first in Spanish and then in English. The English version:
"O Powerful Hand of God! I place my Christian soul before you, and in my despair and anguish, beseech you to aid me with your almighty power. At your feet I place the devotion of my sorrowful heart that I might be delivered from my suffering. May the loving kindness of your power help me and give me strength and wisdom to live in peace and happiness. (Here present your petitions). Amen."
To which i can only add that a reader of this page, Carla Wisch, informs us that "the figures atop the four fingers represent St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne. The Christ Child is depicted on the thumb."
For other hand charms, see:
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