Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-10-18
Saint Maru's Beacon



odd looking little ornament Of pink
coral, shaped very much like three
tiny fingers.
ooh, that" said Uncle Jack,
turning the little trifle over and
smiling, sis what superstitious peo-
pie in Naples wear to ward of the
evil influences Of anyone they sus-
pect of witchcraft. Sometimes, il
you happen to live or be visiting in
Naples, you would see people do
this. put the thumb in the middle |
of their hand, fold their second and |
third finger over it, and with the
first and fourth fingers held straight
like horns, point towards anyone
they believed possessed of an evil
eye. 1t is one Of the many ancient
signs of the hand"
"What signs?" said Peter, who
dearly loved to ask questions.
"Why, don't you know" replied
his uncle, taking Peters hassd in
his, "that nearly every gesture you
make with your hands has come
down from the most ancient of
times! For instance, when you
shook hands with Mrs. Brown, who
just went out, you followed one OF
the Oldest of customs, that began
in the days when men shook hands
to prove that they meant no harm
to each other and carried no weap-
ons. When you lean out of your
carriage window and kiss your hand
to your mother on the doorstep,
you are following an old habit Of
the Persian sun worshipers, who
first laid their hands on their
mouths, and then lifted them to-
ward the sun.
Nowadays, in England, those
who are presented to the Queen kiss
her hand, which is token of revsr-
ence and submission as old as the
days of the Trojan war, when King
Priam kissed Achilles hand, as he
asked for the body of his brave dead
son Hector. Julius Caesar, the
great conqueror, never permitted
the common folk to kiss his hand,
but in his presence they kissed their
own hands. In Morocco no one in
the presence of the Emperor men
tions the number five, because it
represents the hand that holds the
scepter and power. The Turks
call the hand an emblem of the
Creator. The Ia knuckles repre-
sent the beads of their rosary, and
the five fingers their five great rules
for religious life.
"Among the early Christians the
thumb, first and second finger were
thought to signify God, His Son
and the Holy Ghost, and that is
why those three fingers are held up
when priests in the Catholic Church
give what is called an episcopal
blessing. Long ago in marriages
the ring was in turn slipped over
the thumb, first and second fingers,
and finally left on the third, to
show that the man gave his allegi-
ance, first to the Holy Trinity, and
lastly to his wife. 1t was then that
people believed the third finger was
possessed of unusual virtues, be-
cause rich, pure vein of blood ran
from its bottom knuckle to the
heart. 1t was made the ring finger
for that reason, and in times Of
plague doctors mixed their drugs
with it, thinking it the only finger
free from faint.
''In these later days it has been
found out that there is no vein run
ming, as was beliyed, but it remains
the marriage finger by custom.
Perhaps one of the strangest super
stitions about hands is that GEN.
tury ago it was believed that the
hand of man who had been hung
would cure warts if touched by an
afflicted person, and that the hand
ola man dead on the gallows would
open the strongest lock if merely
touched to the key hole, moving
the bolts without sound, and
housebreakers were supposed to car
~ such hand among their tools. !"
And here Uncle Jack hurried out
OF the room, leaving Peter still gaz-
ing at his own hard, brown little
hand that never before had seemed
so interesting in his own eyes,
Republic.