Lotus~Dodecahedral~Sacred Geometry Plate

Even the tiny four-petaled flowers~~one in the center  of the star  and one centered within  each of the 12 flying-saucer shapes, circling the 12-pointed star (lotus?) ~~are filled with tiny lines, which are, it seems, impossible to photograph with the equipment I have. I said the shapes are like flying saucers, but perhaps they are like birds or ??? I don't know how to describe the shape....sort of a repetition of the blossom with two leaves coming from the sides...From some angles they look like masks with blossoms for noses and leaves as eyes. What do you think?

 Not  one person  I have shown this plate to, on first viewing,  has been impressed.  But then upon my urging a closer look, each has been thoroughly taken to wondering  aloud and often for days, where on earth it might be from. What artisan or manufacturer could be capable of such finely detailed  etching, or chasing? The intricate design is admittedly not "perfect." There are a few lines or dots in the wrong place.  But the overall impression is, that whatever process was used, it must have taken hours and hours to complete the very ornate design.

Astonishingly, I found this mysterious plate at a  philanthropic thrift store, placed right out in the open   and priced at $2.00.  It seems to be rare.  As to its  monetary value or worth, I can only say that I don't know.   When I started researching the  symbolic or religious significance it might have, skimming books and Googling,  at first I found nothing. But over the course of a week, I found that   a star with 12 points was significant in  early Christian symbolism and  also in  the Judaic religious belief system,  symbolizing the  12  tribes.  However,  in that case, usually the 12 points are the outer  expansion of a six -pointed star.  The twelve-pointed stars in  the diagrams that I saw  explaining this concept don't look similar to me. But I might well be missing something.
 

Because it is hard to duplicate the  rich metallic colors, I have photographed it on varied backgrounds.

I also found that the number 12-- repeated over and over in the pattern of the plate-- was meaningful as a symbol of a lotus in Buddhism, which represents perhaps, purity and enlightenment.   As the lotus, rooted in the mud  we reach up through the mud of life, the murky waters to the  beautiful crown of realization...or  something like that.  There seem to be many people espousing their own take on the esoteric meaning of the lotus. 



To the Egyptians, according to some experts, the lotus, symbolized by the 12-pointed star, represents rebirth. 

The concept of rebirth arises again (oh, interesting choice of words "arises again") when one considers that the plate has a dodecahedral design. Perhaps this is but an accident of chasing and hammering, but I think not. The plate was certainly not meant to be flat. I'm thinking that the  shape was  significant to the maker of the plate. The dodecahedral shape symbolizes regeneration for diverse mystics, according to various sacred texts. 

Actually, I did not understand all that I read and don't really understand how the plate might serve in any rituals.  Perhaps it is something one could meditate on and realize some  great truth, rather than  being any actual instigator of regeneration. Or maybe it is one of those plates one passes around for  congregants to  place money in--an offering plate.  Maybe it is a portal.... a plate with a secret that only the master of sacred geometry can decipher.

It  dawned on me, that when turned over and held in soft light, it gives an impression of being a warmly glowing lotus.




  From what I can determine, from my internet and reference book study, it would seem that the process of chasing and hammering was the one used to fashion this spherical  plate.  I don't believe it is a gong, as one of my friends suggested it  might be. However, it is clearly not a plate to dine off of.
When it is flipped over,  the extra- three-dimensional quality is readily apparent.  And the design, which on the  reverse (front) side of the plate might seem overly fine, almost cold in its adherence to the  repetition, assumes a softened,  faint, more graceful loveliness. And  the burnished brass(?)bronze(?)copper (?)otherworldly metal(?) glows softly and almost pulses with a heartbeat, if one is overly imaginative.

It presents an optical illusion, the star-lotus shape is concave from the top and convex on the bottom. But when viewed from the top, it could appear to be the other way.

Is this old? There seem to be no markings on it that would indicate its age or maker or where it was made.  Maybe it is an heirloom or  relic from our ancient Martian ancestors.