I was first introduced "officially" to the idea of prayer beads when I was in high school, attending Camp Sumatanga. My bestie growing up was Catholic and she had a rosary, but I never knew what it meant or what it was or why it mattered. While at camp, my counselor made all of us in her cabin some prayer beads and she explained the ways there were to use them and what she liked to do with them. Being the crafty soul that I am, I took it upon myself to make a few sets. To this day I'm not exactly sure what happened to my first set, but I do have some others I have made.I hadn't made them (or really even thought about them) in many years. But recently, on my religiously-inspired craft kick, I got the bright idea to make a set of prayer beads in which each bead represents a day on the liturgical calendar. I made a field trip to a local shop called The Bead Biz and spent more than I intended on getting the supplies for this little project. The good news is that I have lots of leftovers of most of my beads. Only a few were singles, most came on strands.
What do you think? Can you find the beginning? I'll give you a hint - it's not the cross!
Now, normally this is not something I do here, but I'm just going to throw it out there. Would you buy something like this? And if you would, how much would you pay for it? I'm going to make at least one more set to give as a gift, but that leaves a whole bunch of beads that I really don't have any other use for and would like to see go to a good home and also help me recover a little bit of the cost of these. All the beads are glass, stone, or metal - no plastic.
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
We did something similar to this in VBS one year, but I can't remember exactly what it was. It I know there was a black bead, a purple bead, and I want to say a red and yellow. I don't remember the meanings either but I do remember finding it when I was older and trying to remember. I know that's kind off topic. I would love to know more though about these and about what each one stands for. I don't know that I've ever heard of prayer beads.
ReplyDeleteThe one you made in VBS is probably similar to this: http://www.orientaltrading.com/rainbow-faith-bead-bracelets-a2-36_6190-12-1.fltr?Ntt=religion+beads
ReplyDeletePrayer beads can be used a variety of different ways. Some, like rosaries, have each bead represent a different specific prayer (or different type of prayer) I just used them as something tangible to help keep me grounded and focused as I pray.
I can tell you more about the liturgical calendar and these particular beads whenever we get together next time!
I just now saw you posted this, sorry! That was kind of like it, but it was more...tacky lol it was leather and had just cheap plastic beads, but thank you for the link, it reminded me of what each color stood for!!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of these beads though!! Each one standing for something. That is a great idea.