Thursday, February 4, 2010

Mano Cornuto (Horned Hand)

The mano cornuto is an Italian symbol and hand gesture of ancient origin. The Italian cornuto means literally to having horns, but figuratively it means the person is a cuckold - "a man whose wife has sexual relation with someone else". 

This hand gesture is formed so that the index and little fingers are extended while holding the middle and ring fingers down with the thumb. The reference is to the horned head of an animal. Whether made as an hand gesture or worn as an amulet,  mano cornuto is used for magical protection against the evil eye. Also, today this symbol has a variety of meanings in heavy metal music, where it symbolizes: devil sign, devil horns or goat horns.

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