Miao Spirit Lock or Padlock Pendant

Two long silver hooks sweep up from the plate and curl into tidy spirals at the center.

This spirit lock, or padlock pendant, is Miao (Hmong), from Thailand, in silver. Among the Hmong, lock-shaped pendants are generally understood to keep the wearer's soul securely in the body, and they are often given to children. The flat rectangular plate is engraved with two large X-shaped stars, each with a small dot at its center, divided by a hatched vertical band and framed in fine chevrons. From each end a thick hatched wire arcs up and inward, finishing in a spiral. It is 3.75 inches long and 2.25 high.

A lock that keeps something in, not out.