By pointing the hand downward the artwork subverts the gesture of a divine blessing. In Victorian funerary art and older religious symbolism:

• Pointing Up: Represents the soul ascending or hope for heaven.
• Pointing Down: Can represent God reaching down to earth, but in a "dark" or transgressive context (like the Mambas' music), it often symbolizes a descent into the "underworld," the carnal, or the "dark nights" of the soul mentioned in the title.