Everything Under the Moon

Hi everyone! Recently I finished the book, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, by Starhawk and others. It's full of really great meditations, rituals, blessings, and prayers. I was inspired by one of the sections on making Pagan prayer beads, and so I went to a bead shop, got my materials, and made my Pagan prayer beads!



My prayers that go along with this bead are based off of the ones written in the book by Donald L. Engstrom, so that they are personalized for me. Going widdershins, my prayers are as follows:

The blue and gold bead: "I honor the multiverse in which I dwell and which dwells within me."
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A black bead: “I honor the black. I honor the Wild realm of All Possibilities.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A yellow bead: “I honor the yellow. I honor the element of Air and the East.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A red bead: “I honor the red. I honor the element of Fire and the South.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A blue bead: “I honor the blue. I honor the element of Water and the West.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A brown bead: “I honor the brown. I honor the element of Earth and the North.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A purple bead: “I honor the purple. I honor the element of Spirit and the Center. I honor the Heart of the Spiral.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A gray bead: “I honor the gray. I honor the Mineral Queendoms.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A green bead: “I honor the green. I honor the Botanical Queendoms.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
An orange bead: “I honor the orange. I honor the Zoological Queendoms.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A white bead: “I honor the white. I honor manifestation: the making and the unmaking.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”

The crescent pearl bead: "I honor the Goddess, She Who Changes, the spirit of the universe, the love that is the ground of all our being. I honor the web of life and promise to do what I can to repair the web."

The turtle bead: "I honor Gaia, Mother of all who dwell on the Earth."

The Guanyin bead: "I honor Guanyin, She Who Hears the Cries of the World. I ask you to watch over me and inspire me with your infinite compassion."

The black and gold bead: "I honor Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. I ask you to be with me in dark times and bless me with the wisdom that comes from within."

The owl bead: "I honor Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. I ask you to guide me with your courage and strength to be just and righteous."

The painted bead: "I honor my friends and family, those who come before me and those who are with me now. I pray for their joy, prosperity, and health. May our love continue to feed us the powers we need to continue with our work."

The dice bead: "I honor my beloved, [Mr. Xiao], who brings laughter and love into my life. I pray for his joy, prosperity, and health. May our love continue to feed us the powers we need to continue with our work."

A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
A white bead: “Farewell to the white. Farewell to Manifestation.”
An orange bead: “Farewell to the orange. Farewell to the Zoological Queendoms.”
A green bead: “Farewell to the green. Farewell to the Botanical Queendoms.”
A gray bead: “Farewell to the gray. Farewell to the Mineral Queendoms.”
A purple bead: “Farewell to the gray. Farewell to the Mineral Queendoms.”
A brown bead: “Farewell to the brown. Farewell to the element of Earth and the North.”
A blue bead: “Farewell to the blue. Farewell to the element of Water and the West.”
A red bead: “Farewell to the red. Farewell to the element of Fire and the South.”
A yellow bead: “Farewell to the yellow. Farewell to the element of Air and the East.”
A black bead: “Farewell to the black. Farewell to the Realms of All Possibility.”
A clear bead: “I dare to live in beauty, balance, and delight. I dare to see with clear eyes and an open heart.”
Back to the first bead: “I honor the multiverse in which I dwell and which dwells within me.”
“Blessed be.”

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I think you're going to be a priestess one day.



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LOL! Thanks, Kass! Although that's probably a long ways away, and I can't take credit for the writing on most of the prayers ... Also, I was just so excited to get to go to a bead store, which just sounds stupid, but I live in a pretty rural area and the craft stores are slim picking, and I'd NEVER been to a bead store before. I spent FAR too much money on beads that day ...

Beautiful prayer beads ^_^ I thought a while back about experiementing with making prayer beads for sale on my jewelry site because I had seen some that mimic the Catholic Rosary but rather than holding the same number of beads (ie: 10 hail mary beads) the number was either 5 for the elements or 7 for the chakras. Recently for personal use I settled for the moment on making my own mala beads from turquoise dyed jasper, carnelian, and freshwater pearls. I even made the tassel by hand instead of using a store bought one and found a filigree pendant that resembled a lotus flower for the guru bead. I intend to find a payer to Ganesh that I could use with them.

I've still been turning this type of prayer beads over in my mind and think I'll go through with it after seeing your post so I can have something that is much more personal and meaningful.

Those are beautiful Xiao! I agree with Kassandra I can see you becoming a high priestess one day. You would be perfect for such.

I've thought about making some prayer beads. I have enough beads. I'm just not sure where I would begin with that. I really like your prayer beads though. Its really nice and it flows well.

Thanks, all! I've also seen really cool pagan prayer beads on Pinterest too which are a far sight prettier than mine, if you want to check out other designs!

tnx for sharing those beads; they re wonderful. tho the prayer is a personalized thing anyone think I could use shells for prayer and for what specifically? the element of water?

Yes, the prayer is personalized, so the middle part (with special beads for Athena, Guanyin, Persephone, the Goddess, etc.) could be (or really should be) written anew for each person. I'm sure shells could be used for the element of water, or any sea deities, or to honor the spirits of your place if you live by the sea or other large bodies of water. Or if you felt like the shells represented a particular person in your life.

I think yours is pretty.

Beautiful! I want one now! ;p

These are beautiful and I really love this! It's wonderful!!! (:

Zili wrote:Beautiful prayer beads ^_^ I thought a while back about experiementing with making prayer beads for sale on my jewelry site because I had seen some that mimic the Catholic Rosary but rather than holding the same number of beads (ie: 10 hail mary beads) the number was either 5 for the elements or 7 for the chakras. Recently for personal use I settled for the moment on making my own mala beads from turquoise dyed jasper, carnelian, and freshwater pearls. I even made the tassel by hand instead of using a store bought one and found a filigree pendant that resembled a lotus flower for the guru bead. I intend to find a payer to Ganesh that I could use with them.

I've still been turning this type of prayer beads over in my mind and think I'll go through with it after seeing your post so I can have something that is much more personal and meaningful.

I've tried to make Buddhist malas but never prayer beads. I feel like that would be disrespectful towards Catholics and I make sure to always respect other faiths.

xxmoonxraverxx wrote: I've tried to make Buddhist malas but never prayer beads. I feel like that would be disrespectful towards Catholics and I make sure to always respect other faiths.

Catholics aren't the only ones with prayer beads, though, they're found in lots of different religions. (I mean, really, malas are prayer beads as well.)