Flabellum disc

This liturgical fan, which is essential for the celebration of the mass, symbolises the seraphim protectors of holiness. Originally, it was used to keep insects away from the altar, hence its Armenian name k'chots, meaning "hunter".
This use has now been entirely forgotten. Placed at the top of a wooden pole, with little bells all the way around, it tinkles when shaken. Considered an "instrument of joy" in Armenian ecclesiology, it is sounded at solemn moments of mass.