the universal symbol of the hand
DESCRIPTION
The Universal Symbol of the Hand . Across History and Culture. Entrance to Cave where Cave Paintings were discovered. Similar caves are located in Chavet and Lascaux in Southern France and Altamira in Northern Spain. Paintings in Europe. 10,000 to 35,000 years ago Late Pleistocene epoch - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Universal Symbol of the Hand
Across History and CultureThe Universal Symbol of the Hand
1Entrance to Cave where Cave Paintings were discovered
Similar caves are located in Chavet and Lascaux in Southern France and Altamira in Northern Spain Paintings in Europe
10,000 to 35,000 years ago
Late Pleistocene epoch
Done by accomplished shaman artists
Some done by teenage male artists - graffiti artists
artists chewed up a piece of red ochre, placed their hand on the wall and spit over their hand
3
Cuevas de las Manos(Spanish for Cave of the Hands) Located in the Santa Cruz Provence in Argentina in South America
Dated around 550 BC
Mostly left hands
The painters held the spraying pipe with their right hand
The size of the hands resembles that of a 13-year-old boy, though possibly a few years older
Marked their right of passage into manhood by stamping their hands on the walls of this sacred cave
Gua TewetThe Tree of Life
Located in the rain forest of eastern Borneo, Indonesia
Dated back to more than 10,000 years ago
Stenciled hands were decorated with dots, dashes, and other patterns
Perhaps related to prehistoric Aboriginal art in Australia.
The design may symbolize ties that connect individuals, families, territories, or spirits to each other."
Traditional Aboriginal PaintingTraditional techniques:blowing a fine spray from the mouth to produce stencils (silhouettes) brushing the pigment using a fine stick, crushed stick or hair brushapplying the paint using fingers and hands - for example in body painting.
Stencil images are some of the oldest painted images known from the Australian continent.
Stencil images are a common form of rock art
Often of hands or arms, animal tracks, boomerangs, spear throwers or other tools such as stone axes. The Anasazi Cave Paintings Navajo for The Ancient OnesDated 1100 B.C. to 800 A.D. Located in San Juan County, Utah
Colorado Plateau - hundreds of handprints: painted hands, carved hands, handprints stamped with images and negative handprints.
Spitting or blowing a white calcite substance over a hand placed on the cliff wall created these negative image handprints.
Located above a cliff dwelling.
What do these prints mean?
Pueblo Indians left handprints at sacred places where they prayed
Believed that supernatural beings would identify a person by his handprint.
The Hand of Fatima Hamsa Hand
The fear of the evil eye has been ongoing since prehistoric times.
A universal symbol for protection to ward off negative energies became an eye placed in the palm of a hand.
In the Islam culture this was called the Hand of Fatima, or the Hamsa Hand.
Fatima is the Prophet Muhammads daughter
The Jews refer to it as Miriams hand
It is a sort of protection of the hand or The hand of God.
The five fingers have different meanings:
The Five Pillars of Islam The five books of the Torah to Jews The five fingers of the Hamsa represent our five limbs, arms, legs, and head, the power of the enlightened being.
In recent years, several peace activists in the Middle East, have chosen to wear the hand as a symbol of resistance. The Hamsa Hand illustrates the similarities between the Jewish and Islamic tradition.
Hindu Images the Evil Eye
Images of the Hand of Fatima and Miriam
Images of Henna Designs
Additional Images
http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/methods/methods.php
http://joyrb.hubpages.com/hub/The-Hamsa-Hand-Symbol---Its-History-and-Use-in-Jewelry-and-Art
http://www.livescience.com/7028-ancient-cave-art-full-teenage graffiti.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/features/world/asia/indonesia/cave-art-text http://scholarspacue.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/17232/AP-v44n1-219-230.pdf?seqence=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Pueblo_Peoples Bibliography