this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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What is this thing?

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I found this at a thrift store a few years ago and I've struggled to identify any of the symbols. I've tried online symbol databases, I think I tried reverse image searching, and I've tried just scrolling endless "fish" symbols to no avail. It's handmade and uses poly-fabrics, so it's certainly not an antique (or at least not a really old antique).

I love it. I think it looks really cool. I don't want to hang it up, though, if it has meaningful and/or religious meaning that would make that inappropriate.

Can anyone toss a theory my way? Is this religious imagery? Will it curse my descendants? Is this someone's Saturday afternoon craft, and they had no foresight that their fun "designs" would torture the back of my brain for years?

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So, I grew up Catholic, and a few of those symbols do look kind of similar to things I'd see in church, etc., they're also different enough to make me think it's probably just coincidental. That being said, it's been decades since I've been a practicing Catholic, and I suppose it's always possible that these are someone's personal/artistic renditions of "official" symbols.