Laying cold hands on himself

• Laying-on of Hands: a religious ritual used in blessings, ordinations, confirmations, cures, etc

• masturbating → this phrase suggests that Jarl van Hoother is engaged in masturbation; further down Jarl is described as "shaking warm hands with himself" and then having "his hurricane hips up to his pantrybox, ruminating in his holdfour stomachs"

• cold ... warm: in the nursery rhyme, the pease porridge is both hot and cold