A Treatise on the Hand of Glory; Part 1

[sullo]

   In a recent development into my research in Necromancy I came upon the a common ritual which, with time your researcher has learned. After sending some cultists to dig up the proper grave they delivered unto me the left hand of a hanged felon along with the necessary minor ritual components, purchased easily in the Market Piazzo and the Turkish Bazaar.

   Your humble researcher has been a bit cooped up due to recent Diablerie, so rather than practice as much in the martial skills, he has been delving further into the Occult passions more common to the scholars in La Famiglia. In this Treatise your researcher would like to further discuss the reasons each step must be followed with such accuracy. 

   As to the requirement of a left hand specifically, It is well know that the Right hand is more attuned to white magic, the burgeoning power of the divine, where as the left hand has been known, in all times, to be the weaker side of human kind. Those left handed people tend toward the fouler of careers and purposes. A Left hand is the necessary bearer of black magic. Although the researcher has taken into consideration that theologically the Carpenter of Galilee is said to sit at the right hand of Yahweh, I find this to be a simple failure of translation. The left hand carries the shield, guides the spear and more importantly is never expected in a conflict. The left hand is the seat of protection, subterfuge and surprise. 

   As to the requirement of saltpeter and peppercorns. Saltpeter speaks for itself, in my humble opinion, as to its common name Niter, mentioned of course for it's cleansing nature. As mentioned in Jeremiah 2:22, "For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap." The Niter must be kept in the clay jar for its cleansing purpose, and incidentally as saltpeter is necessary for the production of gun powder, this researcher believes that the Niter is what keeps the flames of a Hand incapable of being put out with water. The peppercorns are a method, of course, used for their oils. Commonly used as a seasoning among the mortals, it is the oil from the drume and seed that makes the Hand so easy to light. 

    Of course, some of you may ask why a fortnight, why not a lunar month or a year and a day as is common with other powerful rituals? This is necessary for the separation between a half of a lunar month. The same separation between day and night. 

    As the time has passed, and the earthenware jar has been opened, remove the Hand and place it on a clean piece of linen. The last step is of course the boiling of the fat of a condemned man. For convenience and expediency I have found it easiest to gather the fat from the same felon that the hand came from. A copper cauldron must be brought up to heat and the fat rendered down until a clear white. Tying a piece of twine along the middle finger, the hand should be dipped five times, allowed to cool between each dipping, then dipped again. The entirety of the hand must be covered with the tallow and allowed to cool completely. Once completed, the Hand of Glory is ready for its purpose. 

     This first part has been with the intention to discuss the reasons that each step in necessary to the whole. The second part will go further into each specific finger and which should be lit, according to the starts, for each kind of house or domicile that might be attacked.

    With all praise for this research being paid to Nonna Donata, the most blessed

 - Sullo Palladio, House Palladio, Clan Giovani