A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads
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Product Description
Product Description
Eleanor Wiley and Maggie Oman Shannon have taken an ancient practice and made it new. A String and a Prayer recounts the history and symbolism of prayer beads, teaches basic techniques for stringing beads and a host of other objects into prayer beads, and offers a variety of prayers and rituals to use those beads on a daily basis. Beads have appeared throughout history. Prayer beads are used in the spiritual practices of cultures as diverse as the African Masai, Native Americans, Greek and Russian Orthodoxy, as well as the religious rituals of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism. But prayer is highly personal. By infusing prayer beads with personal associations, we can keep our spirituality fresh. The beads are a device to help build and rebuild meaningful ritual in our lives. With myriad ideas about what makes objects sacred and where to find sacred objects -- from the personal, perhaps beads from a grandmother's broken rosary, to the unusual, maybe seashells from far away found in a thrift store -- A String and a Prayer offers many suggestions for different ways that beads can be made and used, exploring the creative roles they can play in our relationships, ceremonies, and rituals. "You are the expert, trust yourself. Let the instructions be a guide to your own creativity," write the authors.
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Making, using, and wearing prayer beads creates a tactile communication, linking our senses to universal prayer energy. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Making, using, and wearing prayer beads creates a tactile communication, linking our senses to universal prayer energy. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a small compact paperback, nothing flashy. But it's probably the best thing I've bought this year. Eleanor Wiley makes prayer beads which may be traditional or untraditional in format and purpose, and she also conducts beading workshops.
There is a chapter on the tradition of prayer-beads, used not only in Catholic practice (the rosary) but also in Buddhism (the mala) and in Islam. And there's a particularly fascinating chapter which features some of Wiley's students and the beads that they have made. Some of these are for use in what may be called mainstream religion but one is to honour a much loved cat, whilst others are made for encouragement, celebration at the end of a long illness, or to mark an important rite of passage.
Being dyspraxic, I am not a very handy person. But Wiley's clear instructions and to-the-point diagrams are excellent.Since buying and reading this book I have purchased bead pliers, crimp beads and the other important (but not numerous or expensive) bits of equipment Wiley suggests. . .and have made several prayer-beads/necklaces, some with wire, others with cord or leather ! Some are for friends, others I will keep. And treasure. I really recommend this book to anyone, beginner or veteran craftsperson, who loves beads and is drawn to spirituality of any type. It's a keeper. And it's light, which means you really can take it on a journey with your bead supplies !
There is a chapter on the tradition of prayer-beads, used not only in Catholic practice (the rosary) but also in Buddhism (the mala) and in Islam. And there's a particularly fascinating chapter which features some of Wiley's students and the beads that they have made. Some of these are for use in what may be called mainstream religion but one is to honour a much loved cat, whilst others are made for encouragement, celebration at the end of a long illness, or to mark an important rite of passage.
Being dyspraxic, I am not a very handy person. But Wiley's clear instructions and to-the-point diagrams are excellent.Since buying and reading this book I have purchased bead pliers, crimp beads and the other important (but not numerous or expensive) bits of equipment Wiley suggests. . .and have made several prayer-beads/necklaces, some with wire, others with cord or leather ! Some are for friends, others I will keep. And treasure. I really recommend this book to anyone, beginner or veteran craftsperson, who loves beads and is drawn to spirituality of any type. It's a keeper. And it's light, which means you really can take it on a journey with your bead supplies !
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
85 of 87 people found the following review helpful
I was a little disappointed
8 Aug 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found that there were a couple of nice ideas I hadn't seen before: one was the idea of making a string of beads to memorialize some occasion or person. A woman who had lost custody of her children, for example, made a string for each of them and told them when they held them she would be holding their hands. Another woman whose cat had died made a string using the colors of her cat's fur, and little charms that reminded her of her cat.
The other idea I liked was making a strand that was not in the form of a circle, but had a loop on one end and a pendant on the other, rather like a button and buttonhole. The strand could be buttoned into a circle around the wrist as a bracelet or around the neck as a neclace.
But beyond that I was a little disappointed in the book. It seemed mostly to be about prayer beads as an art form, rather like any other book on jewelry art, but there wasn't much about their actual use in prayer. There was a little lip service to prayer beads in world religions (including modern uses), but not much detail on the subject. I've found that sites on the Internet have a lot more information than her book did. There was a nice compilation of prayers at the end, but nothing about how to arrange them for use with prayer beads. The beads shown in the photos were in random arrangements, chosen more for length than number of prayers. The instructions would talk about using enough beads to make the necklace two feet long, for example.
Anyway, just my reaction. I've found so very much great information on the 'Net that the book just seemed to fall short. Actually Basil Pennington's book on the Catholic rosary ("Praying by Hand") had more information on prayer beads in world religions than Wiley's book did.
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
A little book full of prayerful practices and ideas!
18 July 2003
Format:Paperback
I originally bought this book hoping to find new styles, patterns, and detailed instructions to make the traditional Catholic style rosary.....however, what I ended up with was a wonderful tool explaining the meaning of rosaries and the spiritual significance and prayerful practice of making 'non-traditional' rosaries (Malas, Rosary Bracelets, Rosary Shawls, etc.).
Recommended for anyone who loves working with beads and incorporating beadwork into their spiritual practices. Few photographs (black & white only) and some crudely drawn (but user friendly) diagrams scarttered throughout the book. A good book for beginners, but advanced and professional Rosary Artisans may find this reading dreadfully dull.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I paid full price, but would definately recommend buying it 2nd hand or when it is on sale!
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
the point is the process
15 Oct 2005
Format:Paperback
I think this book is probably most helpful if you are already familiar with meditative prayer, using beads or not. Selecting the beads and resources (or finding you already have them, as I did today after getting the book as a gift) and making the beaded object are all parts of a prayer in themselves. When you come back to the object you have created, you are aware of the process and the feelings you put into the work and can call these up again--either in actual prayers you have memorized or which come to you at the time *or* simply in holding the beads and moving them through your fingers. If you assign a special prayer purpose to each bead (red bead = pray for your mother or whatever) then you may use the beads with a prayer for each one like a traditional Catholic or Anglican rosary. But making the beaded piece itself creates a prayerful mood you have access to when you use it--or which you can explain to others if the piece is a gift.
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