Yeah, the amulet was something that JA and the prop guy (girl?) came up with, along with his ring. JA wanted stuff that would show that Dean had been around the block a few times, and that he had picked up a few keepsakes along the way... they chose some stuff out of a box, then went to Kripke and asked for permission.

It's funny that it was so random, because the symbol actually ties in really well with SPN (see this post if you're interested... even if you're not into SPN meta, this is some cool stuff about lore... hey, I forget, but don't you have an anthro degree or something? Or did I just imagine you mentioning it? )http://researchgrrrl.livejournal.com/70908.html