I have been utilizing different types of prayer beads as a spiritual practice for around a decade. I find these practices a great way to build and strengthen relationships with Goddess/es and to work time for quiet prayer and contemplation into busy days. In her book, Whole and Holy: a Goddess Devotional, Molly Remer draws a connection between tactile practices like prayer beads and the trolley strap on public transit: practices that can catch you and keep you balanced and grounded when the road gets bumpy, "a small conduit of the holy in your very own hands." I recently made a presentation for my local group of different ways to approach and craft a prayer bead practice as a Goddessian Pagan, and I thought it would be a useful resource to share here as well.
The practice of using prayer beads is quite old. Indeed, the word bead is from the Old English word bede which meant prayer. The oldest image of a string of beads in a religious context and resembling a string of prayer beads is found on the fresco of the "Adorants" at the Xeste 3 building of the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece, dating from the 17th century BCE1 (this site has some VERY cool Goddess history you can read about here).
The practice of using prayer beads can be meditative, petitionary, or devotional. These are broad, overlapping categories, but I think it can be useful to consider what type of prayer practice you are looking for. Are you looking for aid to focus your mind or deeply consider a particular concept or idea? Are you looking for a practice to bring you comfort when you are stressed or raise energy or call blessings toward a particular cause? Are you looking to deepen your connection with a particular goddess? Often a prayer bead practice will accomplish more than one of these goals at once, but it is worth considering what style of practice you are looking for.
Once you've considered the broad goal of your practice, you will want to consider the type of prayer bead practice best fits your goal. The most common type of Goddess prayer bead practice that I've seen has been reworkings of the Catholic Rosary, which are often lovely, but may not be the best fit for your practice or, in the case of devotional practices, for the Goddess you are working with. I've grouped the types of prayer bead practices into three (again, broad, overlapping) categories to consider: mantras or affirmations, repeated prayers, and litanies.
Chanting a Mantra or Affirmation
The word Mantra derives from Hindu and Buddhist devotional practices, but I am using it here more in the colloquial sense of a sacred phrase, which is repeated on each bead. Traditionally, this can include sacred words or sounds, such as OM or MA. This can also include the names of deities (which we will discuss more under Litanies) and important phrases from sacred texts. For example, the Gayatri Mantra is derived from a passage of the Rig Veda, translating to "We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may She enlighten our minds."2 This sort of chanting practice could also be used in the practice of affirmations, such as "I am strong," "I am passionate," "I am kind," etc.
Goddess mantras could be sourced from the Charge of the Goddess, such as She has been with me from the beginning, and she is with me endlessly, or there is beauty and strength within me. If you work closely with Goddesses that have ancient hymns associated with their worship, such as the Orphic or Homeric hymns or Pyramid Texts, those could be excellent sources of sacred phrases. If you are crafting a practice around work with a particular Goddess and find the practice of affirmations appropriate, you might select affirmations that reflect the values or attributes of the Goddess in question, such as I am creative for Brigid or I am surrounded by love for Aphrodite.
This is the rosary-style practice: a short prayer which is repeated on each bead. This is particularly suited to prayers with themes of seeking refuge or aid, such as the Hail Mary, but could work for other themes as well. A good general structure is "Hail [goddess], [praise]. [Epithet], [prayer]." It is vital to keep this prayer short. Part of what makes this practice comforting is the breathwork involved. When our exhales are longer than our inhales, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes us. The prayer needs to be short enough to comfortably say once or twice in one long exhale. If the prayer is too long, the rhythm gets disrupted, making you take a breath mid-prayer, complete the phrase, only to have the same thing happen again on the next breath and so on. If you have tried crafting a prayer bead practice before and found it difficult to execute, check your breathing rhythm! You may need to go back to do some editing to your prayer.
A Goddessian practice could be dedicated to the Great Goddess or devoted to a particular Goddess. As I mentioned at the top, there are many Goddess re-workings of the Rosary, such as Carol Christ's "Hail Goddess, full of grace! Blessed are you and blessed are the fruits of your womb. All-Holy Mother of All! Be with us now and in the hour of our need. Blessed be." A prayer dedicated to a goddess could be something like Hail Brighid, comrade woman, my maker of song. Brighid of the Golden Shield, may I feel your love encompass me in times of peace and in times of need. Something like the Fellowship of Isis attunement prayer would also be a good model: "Holy Goddess Isis, Mother of all beings, come to our hearts. Grant us, Thy children, Love and Joy, Wisdom and Abundance. We offer Thee our loving care for all who are born of Thee." And of course the Charge of the Goddess could be used for inspiration here as well, drawing on whichever parts of the text speak to you the most. Perhaps, something like "Hail Goddess, full of magic, Your body encircles the universe. Soul of Nature, may I see Your spirit in every being."
Litany of Names or Epithets
My personal favorite prayer bead practices are litanies of names or epithets. This practice involves either chanting the name of a deity, the names of multiple deities, or the epithets or titles for a particular deity. Examples of this sort of practice in other traditions include the names of Allah in Islam (Most Merciful, All-Holy, Giver of Peace, etc.), litanies like the Litany of the Blessed Virgin in Catholicism ("Mother of the Church, pray for us./Mother of Mercy, pray for us./Mother of divine grace, pray for us…"), or Hindu mantras (eg. "Radhe, Radhe, Govinda, Govinda, Radhe").
There are lots of possibilities for Goddessian litanies. Something like the Isis Astarte chant would work well. Of course, you could once again look to the Charge of the Goddess: "the Great Mother, who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arianrhod, Brigid, and by many other names." You might repeat this sentence, or adapt it to The Great Mother, who of old was called Artemis. / The Great Mother, who of old was called Astarte/ The Great Mother, who of old was called Dione... For a Goddess like Brigid whose name is present in many different dialects, you might chant a a collection of the different manifestations: Brighid, Brigid, Bridie, Bride, Ffraid. Again, if you work closely with Goddesses that have ancient hymns associated with their worship, there are likely to be many historically-attested epithets, such as Enodia, Kleidouchous, Phosphoros (Of the Way, Keeper of Keys, Light-bearer) for Hekate. This is also a space where your personal gnosis can shine through, calling on your personal associations with the Goddess.
In my personal daily practice at the moment, I have two litany practices, one for Brigid that I have been doing for years now and a recent one one for Isis-Aphrodite. For Brigid, I adapted something I found on the internet once upon a time called "the Adorations of Brigid," which I have not been able to locate again since (if you know its source, please let me know!). And it goes like this:
I adore you, joyous one. I adore you, wise in lamentation. I adore you, who brings incantation's fire. ... spark of inspiration. ... wellspring of imbas. ... forge-fire of creation. ... mother of bards. ... adoration of poets. ... exalted one. ... lady of the dawn. ... bringer of grace. ... midwife of the spring. ... keeper of many holy wells. ... lady of the hearth. ... of the welcoming arms. ... who makes a house a home. ... who nourishes all beings. ... who holds the center. ... perpetual flame.
For Isis-Aphrodite, I was inspired by a piece of Roman graffiti etched into an Isian temple which read "Una quae es omnia, Dea Isis," or "The One who is All, Goddess Isis," which I repeat after each name
Lady of 10,000 names, Una quae es omnia, Dea. Star of the Sea, Una quae es omnia, Dea. Lady of the Words of Power, … Queen of Beauty… Great of Magic… Goddess of Life… Bringer of Peace… Safe Harbor… Irreproachable protector… Hearer of prayers….
If you don't already have a set of beads suitable to the task, I would generally recommend making your own -- the crafting of the set could be a devotional practice in and of itself. Before jumping into that, I would recommend first crafting a prayer rope out of any spare cord or yarn you might have lying around. You can knot or braid the cord as a counting implement and undo or make more knots as you make adjustments and find a practice that works for you (this is also a great thrifty alternative to a potentially-pricey bead set! Alternatively, you can re-string an existing necklace or bracelet you may have -- reduce, reuse, recycle!). Then, if you decide you would like to make your own set, it is an opportunity to consider colors or materials associated with the goddess, and you may wish to group your beads in a series of sacred numbers (you may have noticed my Brighid example above is a set of 19).
The physical size of your prayer bead set is also something to consider. Many traditional practices have necklace-length sets with 59, 99, or 108 beads, depending on the tradition. Large sets can be nice for getting into a deep contemplative practice, but I am personally partial to bracelets. I find the shorter length to be ideal for a sustainable regular practice, but of course, there is always the option to do multiple repetitions when a longer practice is desired. Additionally, when wearing the bracelet throughout the day, they can be utilized as a sort of worn prayer wheel by either moving the bracelet around your arm or allowing the movements of your arm to imbue additional energy to the prayers.
Whatever form you choose, I hope this is helpful in building a practice that is meaningful for you.
2087
gracieabrams
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
ellievsbear
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
