The Bottom Line
If you've ever thought about creating prayer beads to work with your deities, this book covers all the bases. Easy-to-follow instructions make it usable for beginning beaders, and there's a wide variety of designs, from a Wiccan goddess rosary to Druid prayer beads. Greer, a Pagan scholar, took the time to work with a beading pro, Clare Vaughn, so this book manages to combine the best aspects of both experts. The designs in Pagan Prayer Beading are fun, easy to make, and beautiful to look at, and the accompanying prayers are simple yet lovely.
- The instructions are easy enough for inexperienced beaders to use.
- There's a good variety of different types of Pagan rosaries.
- In addition to beading designs, there are prayers to go along with the pieces.
- The black and white photos don't really do the work justice.
Description
- A great resource for anyone who loves beads or jewelry, and wants to design their own rosary but doesn't know where to start.
- Plenty of detail is provided, but there's also enough room to let your own creativity flow into designing your own ideas.
- There's plenty of information on incorporating colors, woods and other material aspects into personalizing your design.
Guide Review - Book Review: Pagan Prayer Beads
I've always been fascinated by the concept of beads as a meditative focus, since being gifted with a set of Greek worry beads as a child, so when I saw that there was a book out on Pagan prayer beading, it got my attention. Although rosaries are typically considered the domain of Catholicism, the idea of using them as a meditative tool for Pagan rituals is not a new one. Whether using them to invoke deity, memorialize your ancestors, or celebrate a life event,Pagan Prayer Beads has a variety of designs available.
Sections are included on how to design your own rosary and shop for materials -- some very helpful hints in this section about what materials to avoid, as well. From there, the authors take you on a step-by-step journey through the creation process. There are chapters on specifically Wiccan and Druid prayer beads, as well as wearable rosaries such as necklaces and bracelets. Finally, they present a number of litanies and incantations that can be used in tandem with the rosary designs.
One of the great things about this book is that you don't need to have a lot of beading experience to make one of these rosaries. While it helps to know your way around the bead section of your local craft store, the instructions are simple enough that beginners can follow them. My major complaint about Pagan Prayer Beads is that it would have benefited from color photos rather than black and white ones, and from having more pictures all around. Some of the designs sound just beautiful in description, and to see a full-color version would be really helpful.
This is quite possibly the first and only book of its kind on the market. All in all, it's definitely a book that any Pagan or Wiccan crafter will want to have on hand.
