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Author Topic: Prayer Beads  (Read 2183 times)

Demophon

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Prayer Beads
« on: April 27, 2017, 09:20:33 am »
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

They are used in a variety of religions, most recognizably in the west as the Dominican rosary of Roman Catholicism. There's also Anglican prayer bead chaplets, though I think that is more of an American thing in the Episcopalian Church, as most "high church" Anglicans here in Canada who use prayer beads just use the Dominican rosary. Eastern Christians use a knotted prayer rope, and traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism also use beads to aid in meditation to count repetitions of prayers and mantras, as do many religions, including various strands of paganism, I'm sure.

Personally, I use the Dominican rosary the most as a Marian devotional practice. I do have an Anglican chaplet as well, which I mainly use to pray the Trisagion and the Jesus Prayer. I've often thought the Anglican beads I have would be be good for pagans, as the symbolism is very non-descript. It's just a chapel of beads and a Canterbury cross, which is just a stylized equal-armed cross, which could represent so many things in various cultures. In particular I was thinking of the four elements or the four seasons.

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2017, 11:58:15 am »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?


Not a part of my regular practice, mostly because I've discovered that formalised prayer of this kind is often actively destructive to my current spiritual practice. (Interestingly, it wasn't when I was Catholic.) This is a 'me' thing, not a 'other people should do it this way' thing, but I mention it because every time this comes up, it feels like I hear someone else going "Oh, wait, that's not just me?"

That said, format I've liked most (and contemplate constructing for much more occasional use and specific ritual uses that aren't so much about 'repeated prayer' as 'this is a method of setting up a container for this specific thing') is the one I learned from Donald Engstrom. He's got a nice page up on his website both with some notes and examples of different sets he's made or contributed to.

The thing I like about them is the deliberate choice of beads, the simplicity of prayers, and the way you can vary structure, depending on need.

As someone who was Catholic (and previously Episicopalian), I'd find a chaplet like you describe... distracting, at best, even without my own personal thing about repetitive prayer not working for me in my witchy practice. A different tradition's choices about numbers, sequence, repetition, might be made to work for mine, but isn't it better to work with numbers and patterns and symbols that are inherent to my own systems, if possible? (Which in this case, they are, though obviously a bit easier if you can make stuff yourself.)

My training did also use simple strands of wooden beads as a counter, but not for prayer repetitions, but instead for 'how many times have I gotten distracted while meditating / doing this visualisation exercise'.

The beads were used for a dual goal of (hopefully) seeing a decrease in disruptions over time, and also to be able to maintain a trance state while doing something with the hand, rather than any minor movement kicking you out of it. Obviously that's handy both for minor physical adjustments of position, but also for things like doing a sketch or taking notes with your eyes closed so you don't lose pieces of what happens later.
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Jainarayan

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2017, 12:41:43 pm »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

 
Yes, Hindus use them. We use what's called a mālā (mah-lah, long a) typically 108 beads of a particular type of wood (tulsi for Vishnu), seed (rudraksha for Shiva), gemstone or other natural substance (e.g. coral for Hanuman), or crystal for the goddesses, depending on the deity one worships. 108 has spiritual significance in Hinduism, hence 108 beads. But prayer beads are not mandatory. It's just that they're convenient, and draw one closer to the deity. Btw, some people wear them around their necks. You will typically see ISKCONers, aka Hare Krishnas wearing them.

Sobekemiti

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2017, 01:52:03 pm »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

I use them a lot, yeah, though  not always in a 'counting the beads' sense. I have a set I use for my Quanyin practice, which is a 108 bead set made from moss agate. I also have a set for Hekate that I use for counting in breath meditation, and that is 9 sets of five beads, with larger beads between them. There's also a 108 set of lapis lazuli beads I use for Aset/Isis, but not always for chanting.

I have other sets, malas and other configurations of beads, and often, I will make them for a particular deity, and so then holding their beads while doing ritual or meditation with them is an aid to connection and meditation. I'm building a four-stage set of beads for Sobek and a set of prayers to go with them, that's the latest project on the 'prayer beads' front for me.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2017, 01:52:41 pm by Sobekemiti »
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MeadowRae

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2017, 03:09:14 pm »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

.

 
I have a set that has four different types of beads for the four elements. I don't use it every day, but I probably say the prayers/chants several times a week.
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Hildeburh

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2017, 07:46:50 am »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

 
I love the idea of prayer beads, when I was more eclectic I experimented with them, I made and collected beads and wrote my own prayer to accompany each bead. But in the case of Germanic paganism there is no evidence that prayer beads were used in a ritual context so when I became a Reconstructionist I gave them away.

Kylara

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2017, 10:40:49 am »
Quote from: Demophon;205554
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

 
In my early (high school) days, I was obsessed with Rosary beads.  I still have several sets I picked up back then, including a beautiful wooden full decade set.  I wanted to make a set that would more fit my own beliefs and needs though.


[attach=CONFIG][/attach]

So I planned out a stone elemental rosary, with one big stone beat for each of the elements, and smaller elemental stones in between.  You can see it there in the top right of the pic.  I use that one with elemental themed chants, or just wear it as a touchstone.

I made the bottom left one to be an every day short set of prayer beads.  My elemental rosary is a bit heavy and more fragile (I have had to restring it once already) and not well suited for every day wear.  The smaller one has a toggle, and I can wear it as an almost choker or as a bracelet wrap.  It has a simple 1-2-3-4-5 bead configuration, interspersed with knots.

The one on the bottom right is a very basic set I made for repeating affirmations.  It's just twelve (glow-in-the-dark) plastic beads on a bit of cord.  It has a little loop so could be added to my key ring or hung off one of the hooks on my altar (where I actually have another simple cord that is an old shoestring with 9 knots tied in it).  But these are just to have something simple to track repetitions on while I am saying mantras or affirmations.

The cord at the top left is my biggest, my most worn and my favorite.  It's a set of cords I made to honor the Norse deities, and I braided the cord myself out of strands of embroidery floss.  It has six different sections, each with a different color theme, dedicated to different groups of deities.  Each section has knots tied into it, and all the sections are tied together to make a large loop.  I typically wear it wrapped around my wrist, though I can wear it as a multi-strand necklace too.  It is very sturdy, and I don't have to worry about it breaking or anything like that (and I can wear it through airplane security!)  This set of cords travels with me, and has become sort of a fixture in my life.

I have really come to like knotted cords for prayer cords.  For me, they feel like they stand up to use better.  I have been meaning to make another set with bigger beads and knots between, but haven't figured out what I want to dedicate it to.  That is another thing I like about prayer cords is that I can have different ones for different needs.  They are easily portable, and something I can work with without drawing a lot of attention to myself.  They definitely help me when I am anxious about something (like flying) and need something to focus on.
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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2017, 09:02:11 pm »
Does anyone use prayer beads as part of their spiritual practice?

They are used in a variety of religions, most recognizably in the west as the Dominican rosary of Roman Catholicism. There's also Anglican prayer bead chaplets, though I think that is more of an American thing in the Episcopalian Church, as most "high church" Anglicans here in Canada who use prayer beads just use the Dominican rosary. Eastern Christians use a knotted prayer rope, and traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism also use beads to aid in meditation to count repetitions of prayers and mantras, as do many religions, including various strands of paganism, I'm sure.

Personally, I use the Dominican rosary the most as a Marian devotional practice. I do have an Anglican chaplet as well, which I mainly use to pray the Trisagion and the Jesus Prayer. I've often thought the Anglican beads I have would be be good for pagans, as the symbolism is very non-descript. It's just a chapel of beads and a Canterbury cross, which is just a stylized equal-armed cross, which could represent so many things in various cultures. In particular I was thinking of the four elements or the four seasons.

Yes, I use them.  I wrote a chaplet I say a few times a week reflecting the theology of my personal practices.  I meditate on various topics while reciting the prayers.
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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2017, 12:26:22 am »

 
Yes, Hindus use them. We use what's called a mālā (mah-lah, long a) typically 108 beads of a particular type of wood (tulsi for Vishnu), seed (rudraksha for Shiva), gemstone or other natural substance (e.g. coral for Hanuman), or crystal for the goddesses, depending on the deity one worships. 108 has spiritual significance in Hinduism, hence 108 beads. But prayer beads are not mandatory. It's just that they're convenient, and draw one closer to the deity. Btw, some people wear them around their necks. You will typically see ISKCONers, aka Hare Krishnas wearing them.

I am more familiar with how Buddhist use the mālā.  In Hinduism, do they repeat prayers to cretin deities over and over again or is there a cycle of different prayers used like in Christianity with the rosary?
« Last Edit: June 01, 2017, 12:28:51 am by Corr »
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Jainarayan

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Re: Prayer Beads
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2017, 04:49:50 pm »
I am more familiar with how Buddhist use the mālā.  In Hinduism, do they repeat prayers to cretin deities over and over again or is there a cycle of different prayers used like in Christianity with the rosary?

If I remember correctly Buddhists also choose one mantra and repeat it on the mala. Typically a Hindu devotee will use one mantra for one deity on one mala. For example, I chant a mantra om namo bhagavate vasudevaya meaning "prostration/reverence to Krishna" or "surrender to Krishna". Vasudeva is a name for Krishna (-aya means "to"); bhagavate refers to God.

Anyway, I chant that for a full 108 times, sometimes more than one round. Incidentally, when we do multiple rounds we don't cross over the large bead. We turn the mala around and start. There are times people will use other mantras as prayers to other deities. Someone may be in need of financial help and will chant a mantra of Lakshmi for x rounds over x days. It's called a vrata, meaning vow, promise, devotion.

Tl;dr version: Hindu mala usage is not unlike Buddhist.

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