The Ears of Sundry Gods:
The Mojo Hand is a tool for conjuring in the American South.It may not be a hand at all, but a bag of herbs containing a type of root called hand root, or more rarely, it could contain real hand or finger bones.
I have used the term Mojo Hand in this series of sculpture, to refer to all powerful hands and hand gestures.
The folklore of the powerful hand occurs in many cultures, and in surprisingly similar form. Blessings are often passed through the hand, such as in the laying on of hands. The Eye in Hand recurs as a way to ward off the evil eye.
The Mano Poderosa or Powerful Hand represents the pierced hand of Christ holding a Christian saint on the tip of each finger and the baby Jesus on the thumb. At the other end of the spectrum, the Glory Hand was the hand of an executed thief, which had the power to protect a house from thieves, or if in the possession of a thief, would give him the power to rob any house.
Other powerful hands that I have carved from apples are the Italian Mano Fico (Fig Hand) and Mano Cornuto (Horned Hand) both for warding off evil, and Christ's Benediction and the Buddhist Mudras, such as the Beyond Misery Gesture and the Fearlessness Gesture as well as the Warding Off Evil Gesture.