Personal Pantheon Prayer Beads
This is the first set of prayer beads I made to honor all the Gods and spirits I work with, my personal pantheon. Clicking on the image will open it in its full size so that you can see the individual beads in more detail. The beads are shown here lying on a sheepskin I use for seidhr. I had originally intended for this set to grow and evolve as my personal pantheon did, but instead have left it as it is and gone on to make and use a second, "upgraded" set of personal pantheon beads, along with a separate bracelet to represent my non-deity spirits.
Making this set involved a bit of a treasure hunt since I went to the bead store armed only with a list of the Deities and spirits (in some cases, groups of spirits) I wanted to include but having very few preconceived ideas about what kinds of beads I was to get for any of them. I walked around the store with my list in hand, looked at what was there, and listened to what They wanted. Some of the choices ended up being based on the color or type of stone (most of the beads are semi-precious stones, although a few are bone or ceramic), some on the magical/spiritual qualities generally attributed to the stone, some on the shape of the stone, and some even on the stone’s name. In some cases, a bead has overlapping significance; for example, the large bone snake is for Bolverk but also for Snake.
All in all, it’s a very eclectic and funky looking set. I mostly don’t wear it as a necklace, except during special rituals when I want to feel the support of all my Gods and spirits very tangibly. I don’t have any formal prayers I use with this set, either; usually I will just sit with it when I feel the need, and say whatever prayers come to mind as I go through the beads. It’s a way of connecting, and a reminder to include all the members of my extended spiritual family in my life on a regular basis.
Starting at the clasp and moving clockwise, the Deities and spirits represented are: Sleipnir, the Wild Hunt, the Valkyries, Yggdrasil, the Well-Wight (a spirit I work with during oracular seidhr), Mimir, Borr, Bestla, Loki, Odin, Gunnlod (at Odin’s insistence She got the central pendant, a rose carved from blood-red coral), Bragi, my ancestors, Huginn and Munin/Raven, Geri and Freki/Wolf, Bee/Idunna, Gullveig, Bolverk/Snake, Amadeus (a cat spirit, formerly a pet of mine), Yew, and Mugwort.
© 2008
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