Hand II

Still thinking about hands.

Three Rivers is a petroglyph site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Nearly half the stone surfaces have some Jornada Style rock art of the Mogollon Culture. Archaeologists estimate these examples are between 600 to1000 years old. Unlike the previous example which was created from paint and stamped on the shelter surface, this hand was pecked into the rock.

Again, though, I'm struck by the power of this symbol. The petroglyph to the right is a geometric design and has it's own beauty; the hand, however, is personal. I guess that's what attracts me. Stop a minute and think of all the purely human actions associated with the hand. We wave greetings, solemnize commitments, comfort, insult, express joys and frustrations and talk. We build every imaginable thing, create art, buildings, cars. We clap, pat and slap with them. We beat drums and play the most amazingly complex music with hands. Hands express the most intimate connection between one human and the next. There are hands which heal and hands which harm. Creation and destruction emanate from our hands.

Hands can represent nearly everything that makes us human. Is it a wonder that hands are such a powerful and attractive symbol of what it means to be human? There's this idea that it's not what's in us, but what comes out of us that makes us what we are. What kind of person do your hands reveal you to be?