About how long are your pender wards? Also, what are the symbolic meanings of the different beads?
Each Pender Ward is going to be somewhat different in length, as unique Hagstones and Thunderstones are used for each piece. That being said, however, they are all going to be fairly close to 9 inches/23 centimeters in length.
Each bead available is made from a material I have personal experience with using in a defensive magical capacity. Accordingly, they all possess virtues that can be called upon for the sake of protection. As far as historical or folkloric associations go:
Rowan is a wood long held yhroughoit different parts of Europe to be protective against malefic magical influences—be it Witchcraft or Faerie Blast.
Serpentine is a stone that has been credited with the ability to protect against Sorcery, Disease, and Venemous Creatures in mutliple regions of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East.
Jet has long been held by multiple cultures to be protective in general and was especially renowned for its ability to protect against things like Troublesome Spirits or the Evil Eye in places like ancient Rome.
Obsidian is one of the oldest worked human materials, and was used for Millenia to create weaponry and fashion mirrors. I believe this longstanding connection to both offensive power and the ability to reflect creates a powerful mixture of virtues to be called upon for the sake of protection.
Black Tourmaline, or Schorl, was a stone used by multiple cultures since at least the bronze age. It has a modern reputation of being able to protect against malefic forces, which I have seen others claim repeatedly stems from it being used by ancient shamanistic cultures to defend against harmful spirits, but I have yet to find a single empirical source which backs up this claim. However, I have found it to be a mineral that is useful to call upon for the sake of defense in my own experimentation over the years. I believe that Black Tourmaline's natural pyroelectric properties are the physical basis of this stone's ability to absorb and redirect energy.
Job's Tears are seeds that have been used for a very long time by humans, though, mostly for food. They have a traditional place in folk-religion and folk-magic too, however, and have been widely used in Christian beadwork and Spellwork, respectively. Where the Craft is concerned, these seeds are generally used for luck magic and healing magic, though, in my experience, these very virtues of fortune and health can be called upon to great effect in protective magics. After all, most protection could be said to simply involve preserving one's luck and/or health.
