Rock and Roll Skull Incense Holder — 5 Inch Silver-Toned Skull Making the Horns Sign

Quick Specs

• Type: Stick incense holder
• Size: 5 inches
• Shape: Round
• Design: Skull in a bandana making the horns sign, over crossed bones
• Border: Twisted rope, ring of stars, beaded rim
• Finish: Metallic silver-toned

A Bandana-Wearing Skull Throwing the Horns

A skull wearing a bandana grins out from the middle of the disc. The headband is tied across the forehead, with the loose ends of the knot fluttering at one side, and long, straggly hair hangs down on both sides of the face. The teeth show in a wide grin, and the nose is a dark, heart-shaped hollow. Below the skull, two skeletal forearms cross in an X. Both bony hands rise on either side of the head with the index and little fingers extended, the sign of the horns. Behind the figure the ground is a dark, textured gunmetal gray. A twisted rope border runs around the relief, and beyond it a ring of small stars circles inside a beaded outer rim, so the whole disc looks a little like an oversized coin. Silver-toned metallic color catches every raised edge: the skull, the finger bones, the rope, and each star. The relief fills the 5 inch round from rim to rim, and the contrast between the bright silver and the dark gunmetal ground makes each detail easy to pick out, from the folds of the bandana to the knuckles of the raised hands.

The gesture this skeleton makes has a long history outside music. With the index and little fingers raised, it is a Mediterranean apotropaic gesture, used against the evil eye, which Italians call malocchio, and it has been described as the Mediterranean equivalent of knocking on wood. Ronnie James Dio is credited with popularizing the sign in heavy metal. He said he learned it from his Italian grandmother, and he began using it after joining Black Sabbath in 1979, though he doubted that he was the first to do so. Photographs from 1967 and 1969 show earlier uses in rock. Artists and fans of heavy metal have used it commonly ever since, often calling it throwing the horns, and a skull throwing it with both hands makes the whole holder a small tribute to that tradition. Gene Simmons of Kiss tried to trademark a related gesture in 2017 and abandoned the application two weeks later.

Practical Ritual Applications

Seat a stick of incense in the holder and set it where you play records, work at a desk, or keep a collection of band shirts and posters. The silver finish stands out against a black cloth, a dark bookshelf, or a plain wall, and the round shape sits well on a small tray beside a lamp. A stick in a scent you like gives a listening session or a long evening of drawing a bit of atmosphere, and the 5 inch disc leaves room on a desk for a notebook beside it. When no stick is burning, the skull holds its place on the shelf as a small piece of relief decor. Browse my stick incense collection for sticks to burn in it.

How to Burn Stick Incense in the Rock and Roll Skull Holder

The Tarot Fellow Standard

I stock this holder because it has humor and good detail: a bandana, a rope border, a ring of stars, and bones crossed below the skull, all on a 5 inch silver-toned disc. It suits an altar with a darker streak, a desk, or a music corner, and it burns stick incense. If you like the skull and bones look, my incense and burners collection has more holders and accessories to set beside it, from ash catchers to sticks and cones.

Frequently Asked Questions