Hands at Izapa
About ten years ago, I attempted to write about the "Hand," as used in pre-Colombian Mexican iconography. I had originally discovered the symbol of the "left hand" had become a sanitary rule of the Gentiles in the East and again as one of the tortures of the Inquisition. In spite of this, I felt that the original concept had originated in Mexico. But I made one major mistake, and although I was looking straight at it, I could not find it. I knew my concepts were correct but I had been looking at a reversal of this idea and had not allowed for it. In March, 1996 when I attended the Maya Seminar at the University of Texas at Austin, John Carlson, mentioned the distinctive glyph of the Xoc fish in the hand.
He claimed that even when the set of glyphs in which it is found is written reversed, this particular glyph always shows the LEFT hand holding the Xoc fish. This agrees with my original premise ten years ago: the left hand is equated to "water."
In older research of the glyphs, as in David H. Kelly, Deciphering the Maya Script, (p. 123), this was found to be true. The word "Naab" (Ocean or salt water) was phonetically connected to "Nab" (palm of the hand) in which this fish form is found. The implication here is that the palm of either the right or the left hand implies ocean or salt water. From my previous research, only the left hand denotes "water;" and is the obvious implication when the xoc fish appears in a left hand. This type of meaning for the "hand" can also be deduced from the Aztec war drum 
and the tree of life as found in the Selden Codex. The common symbol for war in Aztec codices has been identified as a ribbon of blue and red or "water and fire." This iconography has been proven by European historical records of the Conquest of México. The "waters" of Chapultepec had been used to defeat enemies (Cortés was forewarned about the flood from the springs and was able to escape in time), while Cacaxtla iconography portrays the "hand of god" hanging down out of the square heaven with graphic references to a cosmic disaster. This particular hand type is also found in the Nuttall Codex, pointing down from a star web or grid. Other symbols nearby indicate that this form was a falling star. One can then infer that such an event would indeed appear to be the great hand of god as a fiery comet falling from the heavens. In this instance, the hand could be either in the sky as fire of a comet, of a deluge (rain), or, back on earth, as flowing volcanic lava as "water of fire" which could only come from a god. Here. the two concepts of the "hand" are in agreement with the Aztec symbolism of the "blue" and "red" colors of war. The left hand is strongly identified as water. The right hand then could be the indicator of "fire," even in Maya glyph representations; however, one does not "throw the baby out with the bath water." This is not to say that all right hands and all left hands are to be translated as only "fire" and "water." One must not forget the perfectly logical words that have come from the phonetic reading of these glyphs. 
Nevertheless, there are many instances where the "fire" and "water" elements are indicated, both in Aztec and in Maya. The Selden Codex shows the sacred tree growing on an island in the middle of an enclosed lake. The design under the water scrolls may indicate a marshland. In this tree, the foliage is deliberately drawn as "hands" having two thumbs. This would be a simplified way of drawing a right hand and a left hand. Apparently the reason for this is to illustrate that one of the two serpents twisted around the tree is a star-fire serpent while the other is a cloud-water serpent. Or to say that both hand concepts can be found where "life" began, within Lake Texcoco, which at the time of the Conquest, encompassed many more miles than at present. It was thought to be five thousand leagues across. Under this tree are five round earth forms which appear to indicate mountains. One has the Tlaloc circular symbol found on Stela 1 of La Mojarra and in the Nuttall Codex. Two other "mountains" are joined by an animal form but are seen as separate mountains. Probably they are Popocatepetl and Ixtaccíihuatl which has a geologic sheer thrust between them.
On the tree itself, the star-fire serpent begins on the right side of the base while the water-cloud snake begins on the left. The water designation is confirmed for the "fish -in-hand" glyphs of Professor Carlson. The next clue we have which illustrates the differences between fire and water is found on Stela 6 and Stela 25 at Izapa. Stela 25 shows two right hands (fire) and mouth (noise of earthquakes) of the crocodile (or caiman) as bound with rings or rope. If this is a fire concept, then the tied up areas would indicate that the volcano (Tacana) is now harmless (no more eruptions expected) and the crocodile (earth form) can be used for milpas and farming. And indeed, the tree is growing out of the crocodile's tail, while his back is scored as for farming. The sacred bird is sitting atop a three-bar pole. The man who holds the staff with the bird does not have a left hand. Instead blood flows freely from his arm. Since this image is found on the Pacific coast of Mexico, it may possibly indicate the Red Tide of El Niño.
Stela 6, by comparison, has shows a very obese creature, thought to be an very fat jaguar because of the pock-marked collar or cape that it wears, similar to El Tigre de Baúl. The left arm, the right arm, as well as each of the "feet" has a right hand attached. (Here was the "mistake" I could not see even though I was looking straight at it.)In this instance, one must look to the missing hand (water). In the Pacific Ocean from Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America to Baja California, there is a seal with a large proboscis (nose). This seal is called an elephant seal and it roams far out to sea where boats can be tossed hither and yon by giant waves, just as portrayed at the tip of this monster's bifurcated (serpent) tongue. The serpent tongue can be either "fire" or "water" as discovered in the Selden drawing. The fact that the RIGHT hands are on this seal and no left hand is visible, is in agreement with Stela 25.Apparently an event occurred in the ocean that caused this seal to leave his normal hunting grounds and come to land. The event included heavy seas and fire (or abnormal heat) in the waters during a sky-cloud storm that even affected the smaller fish (illustrated on the seal's back). At this point Tlaloc probably had not yet been identified as a storm entity. And although the man and his interaction with the great sky bird was acknowledged, he had not yet been named either.Such a sea-storm which involved burning waters is mentioned in most creation myths around the world. Hawaii described the event better than anyone; China had the most practical concept but India described the most imaginative version. Hawaii and China claim that it was a sky bird who dropped great eggs or stones into the sea. For Hawaii, the sea boiled and sizzled while these great eggs bounced around within the sea until they found anchorage and became the islands. China, being of a practical mind, decided that the great red-clawed bird attempted to fill the Ocean-Sea with pebbles. India, being far from the actual meteorite fall-out, decided that great clods of earth and singed elephants fell from the skies.
Although these images are supposed to be mythic in context, there are
too many references to this event around the world. The monuments and
manuscripts found in the Americas cannot be properly translated until these
universal records are evaluated. The Meso-Americans were not as isolated as
believed, but, instead, they recorded an integral part of celestial events
that occurred world-wide.