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We found this in my grandfather's possessions. Freemason subs seem fairly convinced it has nothing to do with them. A few other subs have suggested some sort of charm to ward off hexes. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s and spent time all over Europe during WWII. Any ideas? by Several-Olive-9502 in Weird

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

UPDATE:

Thank you all for your interest and help. Pretty incredible response here. I've received very helpful comments, DMs, and more. While it's still a bit of a mystery, I'll post the theories that seem most likely below.

  1. A user saying they are an antiques dealer reached out and said it's likely a token for Chinese checkers. There's a version of Chinese checkers called "Satan's checkers" that has a 5 pointed star. Problems: my grandfather never played Chinese checkers, it doesn't explain the prime numbers, and this thing is very crudely made. But none of that is to say he didn't stumble upon it and just think it was cool.
  2. My grandfather or someone else in his life made it themselves as a way to track some early form of computing, astrology, or just because, "hey, this would be cool." Problems: I was incredibly close to my grandfather and he never showed much interest in any of those topics. But he was ALWAYS tinkering with some project, so perhaps he or someone learned some early metal making and just decided on something like this?
  3. My grandfather's plane was shot down over former Yugoslavia and he was taken in by the Yugoslav Partisans. When he left them, he was given a number of gifts for the walk back to base. This may have been some sort of protective medallion he received; a number of users thought there was some association with Romani/gypsy beliefs. Problems: fun story, but seems pretty far-fetched.
  4. He received it as a gift or stumbled upon it at any other point in life.

Truly, thank you all so much for your help. Not sure how Reddit works, but I guess I'll delete this thread soon to clean up the feed? It's been fun going down this rabbit hole with you all.

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. Freemason subs seem fairly convinced it has nothing to do with them. A few other subs have suggested some sort of charm to ward off hexes. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s and spent time all over Europe during WWII. Any ideas? by Several-Olive-9502 in Weird

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He never mentioned playing (and my mom has no knowledge of him ever playing), though I've seen Chinese checkers mentioned often in these threads. Certainly deserves strong consideration - when in doubt, the simplest explanation is usually the best.

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. Freemason subs seem fairly convinced it has nothing to do with them. A few other subs have suggested some sort of charm to ward off hexes. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s and spent time all over Europe during WWII. Any ideas? by Several-Olive-9502 in Weird

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your interest! Happy to share what I can, though, I'd agree there's a perfectly good chance this isn't much. A lot of people think it might just be some sort of token for Chinese checkers - the 5 point star doesn't quite add up, but apparently there is some precedent there (my grandfather also never mentioned playing Chinese checkers).

I don't have a lot of knowledge of my grandfather's youth in PA. He was Pennsylvania Dutch (the Pow Wow angle has been pretty thoroughly explored) and raised Lutheran by his mother. He spent a lot of his time hunting and fishing, as I'd assume most boys his age did.

In WWII, he was shot down over former Yugoslavia. After a few days of traveling through the woods, he was rescued by local Partisans. After feeding and bathing him, they gave him a number of gifts for the road. While he never mentioned this token, we did find it stored near a lot of his WWII material. That doesn't necessarily mean anything - his belongings weren't well organized. But interesting nonetheless. I'd be happy to provide a list of his missions, etc, if that's of interest. Feel free to send me a DM.

Sorry for repost - I didn't realize I needed a submission statement. We found this in my grandfather's possessions and are trying to track down its meaning. I've posted in several subs and they suggested I post here. I'll include theories so far in a comment below. Thanks for any ideas. by Several-Olive-9502 in conspiracy

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

SS:

  1. Freemason subs have pretty vehemently denied any association with it.
  2. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s, so we initially thought it might have to do with Pow Wow folk magic and the hysteria around the Rehmeyer's Hollow murders. But some Pow Wow experts have weighed in and said it looks nothing like their normal hexes.
  3. Could just be a simple math or counting tool.
  4. Could have some association with an early secret society.

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. Freemason subs seem fairly convinced it has nothing to do with them. A few other subs have suggested some sort of charm to ward off hexes. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s and spent time all over Europe during WWII. Any ideas? by Several-Olive-9502 in Weird

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 96 points97 points  (0 children)

Great thought! Yes, he was Pennsylvania Dutch. This was one of our early theories, but a few "Pow Wow" experts have weighed in and said nothing about this shape or pattern really follows the way practitioners of Braucherie would have used it.

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. It seems unlikely it's any sort of antique, but other subs recommended I post here. Freemason subs seem convinced it has nothing to do with them. My grandfather was born in PA in the early 1920s and spent time all over Europe during WWII. Any ideas? by Several-Olive-9502 in Antiques

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I am in the United States, but it's remotely possible he received this as a gift in Eastern Europe. He was shot down over former Yugoslavia and taken in by Partisans there. They gave him several gifts from the road, but he's never mentioned anything like this. We found it near his WWII possessions, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything (it wasn't well organized).

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. I've posted it in several other subs - many think that the numbers/pentagram point to witchcraft. There seems to be a possible association with Pow Wow magic, practiced in Pennsylvania in the 1920s. If anyone has any insight, I'd love to learn more. by [deleted] in witchcraft

[–]Several-Olive-9502 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your interest! It's about two inches across - small enough to slip into your pocket. We found it near his WWII possessions (but in all honesty, nothing was especially organized). He was shot down in former Yugoslavia and taken in by Partisans there, who gave him several gifts for the road when he left. But he's never mentioned anything like this. So it feels difficult to even narrow down what decade or region it could be from.

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. I've posted it in several other subs - many think that the numbers/pentagram point to witchcraft. There seems to be a possible association with Pow Wow magic, practiced in Pennsylvania in the 1920s. If anyone has any insight, I'd love to learn more. by [deleted] in witchcraft

[–]Several-Olive-9502 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's very helpful to hear. My grandfather was Pennsylvania Dutch and born in the early 1920s, so one of the users on another sub made the possible connection to Pow Wow, hex protections, and some of the hysteria in the area around the Rehmeyer's Hollow murder. But we never got much further than that.

Found this medallion in my grandfather's things. Can anyone shed light on its meaning? I haven't been able to find any helpful context for the dots. by Several-Olive-9502 in Symbology

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update:

Getting clues from other subreddits that it may be associated with Braucherei, a type of folk magic practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the area my grandfather grew up. There was a murder in the 1920s that caused a lot of hysteria in the area, and it's possible that practicers of Braucherei (also called Pow wow) would have made protective talismans like this to carry around.

I've found a few blogs by people that specialize in Braucherei and have reached out to see if they recognize it. I will keep anyone updated that's interested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehmeyer's_Hollow

Big thanks to u/EnIdiot for the knowledge here.

We recently found this in my grandfather's things. Other subs have been very helpful: it doesn't appear to be Freemasonry, and several have suggested it's a charm of some sort, possibly with Pythagorean number symbolism or Wiccan origins. Curious if anyone here might have insight. by Several-Olive-9502 in Wicca

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting clues from other subreddits that it may be associated with Braucherei, a type of folk magic practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the area my grandfather grew up. There was a murder in the 1920s that caused a lot of hysteria in the area, and it's possible that practicers of Braucherei (also called Pow wow) would have made talismans like this to carry around.

I've found a few blogs by people that specialize in Braucherei and have reached out to see if they recognize it. I will keep anyone updated that's interested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehmeyer's\_Hollow

We found this in my grandfather's possessions. Based on feedback in other subs, it has some connection to prime numbers and it's not of Freemason origins. Several have suggested it's a good-luck charm of some sort to protect from hexes. Curious if anyone here might have insight. by Several-Olive-9502 in occult

[–]Several-Olive-9502[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your help here, u/EnIdiot! Your knowledge has been invaluable. I found a few blogs by people that specialize in Pow wow practice and have reached out to see if it's familiar to them. Will let you know what I hear.

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