[Oratam]

At first, Andrea Leipow thought the severed human hand nicknamed Freddy, found in a mason jar of formaldehyde on a basement table, was just a bizarre joke.

That severed hand is called a "Hand of Glory" in occult circles.

[wideawake]

Indeed. The "hand of glory" can refer either to the hand of a hanged man or to the mandrake (also known as mandragore and taken to be a corruption of the French main de gloire, i.e. "hand of glory").

The mandrake is a plant that allegedly grows only on the graves of executed persons.

In reality, it is the nightshade plant and grows well in dry soil. Josephus discusses it in his Antiquities.

The "hand of glory" is supposed top have all kinds of properties, including the ability to render someone motionless or to open locked doors.

This is hardcore occultism.