It scared the @(&#$(& outta me too!! Supposedly it is an ashtray. Not sure what the tie-in with the prayer is (see other pic "pon my soul"..... lay me down to sleep) I thought one of you folks might see it and know what it is. Sorry for the pre-halloween scare.
That creepy looking thing is a match striker. The mouth held the matches and there should be a roughed up spot on it somewhere to strike them on. They come in all kinds of crazy designs! Pretty cool!!!
That is one artifact you don't want to put in your pocket.. especially if somebody demands to see what is in your pocket, and you pull that out.. it would be hard to explain away.. [:-]