From the time I was old enough to go to a library, I was always the kid in the 130-section. For those not familiar with the Dewey Decimal System, this was the Parapsychology and Occult section. I was fascinated by accounts of ghosts and hauntings, by werewolves and witches, and by various divinatory arts, but what engaged me most were the books on crystals and all they could do. I desperately wanted a real quartz crystal so I could try all the things in the books. Strengthening the aura and telepathy were at the top of the list.
In 1987, my family moved to Liberal, KS. We made infrequent road trips to our home state of Illinois (where we don’t pronounce the ‘s’) to visit extended family. On one return trip, Mom stopped in Greensburg, KS to visit the Greensburg Well, also known as The Big Well. At the time, it was boasted to be the world’s deepest hand dug well. Visitation was slow, so the gentleman operating the museum led us part way down into the well for free. Mom then let us each pick out a small souvenir from the gift shop. One entire wall was lined with shelves holding quartz crystals that had come from the area. I chose a smaller one that felt right and would fit in my pocket. At last, I had my crystal. This was when my fascination with the familiar 130-section of the library transitioned from theoretical to practical. However, it wasn’t until I discovered “Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic” by Scott Cunningham that I realized there was a world beyond quartz crystals.
I began collecting other stones and crystals and doing further experiments. My collection grew and ebbed over the next twenty or so years. After I passed the half-century mark, I decided that I wanted to do more with crystals. My father had been Catholic, and although I never saw him pray the rosary, it had occurred to me that people who pray or meditate with beads also tended to carry a good luck charm of some sort. I decided that prayer beads could include a charm for luck, love, abundance, or protection. I could further incorporated crystals and gemstones aligned with these desires.
The first thing I had to learn was how to make a prayer bead necklace. The rosary seemed like a natural place to start. Thank goodness for YouTube. There were so many wonderful people who had generously made tutorials on using a rosary knotting tool, checking your bead count as you go, and giving the work a finished look. I went to work acquiring the knotting tool, the cords, and the beads. I made so many mistakes, but over time I learned and improved.
But I didn’t feel connected with the Catholic rosary as I had never been Catholic, myself. That was when I discovered the Anglican Rosary. This type of rosary has four sections of seven beads each. I increased each section to thirteen beads to reflect the thirteen weeks in each season of the year. I was quite pleased with my personal spark of genius until I read “Mindful Beads” by Alice Peck and found that my new creation was already documented and called an Earth Rosary. Okay, so I may not be a genius, but I had a string a prayer beads I felt comfortable with and was right for me.
I kept making the Earth Rosary, varying its purpose using charms and crystals, and I kept improving my bead spacing and knotting skills. Then (insert dramatic percussion here) came the day when I decided to make a set of prayer beads for Pride. I had six different crystals and stones for each stripe of the rainbow flag, and I also had a rainbow flag bead. Using the flag bead as a centerpiece and equally spacing the six beads resulted in seven sections. Repeating the number seven, I gave each section seven beads. I decided to use the same pattern for all of my designs and Lucky 7 Prayer Beads was born. Now, this design is not original, either. Years ago, I purchased a Catholic rosary dedicated to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, which has seven sections of seven beads. There may be other prayer beads with this design.
The seven sets of seven beads design still worked as a pocket length set of prayer beads, but I received continual requests for necklace length beads. I increased each section to twelve beads. This was fine, but further requests for a longer necklace prompted me to add an extra bead to each section. When a client requested a prayer bead necklace for an expecting family member, I included the mother and child’s birthstones, placing the child’s birthstone at the center of each section. This in turn became my new bead design, which I follow now. This year I have made shorter necklaces and even bracelets in my own style. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks.