Rosaries and Rose Beads

The Rose, by Ann Mayhew, illustrated by Michael Pollard, includes "myths, Folklore and Legend." Ann writes, "The rosary is believed to have originated in the Orient, and is used as a devotional aid in many religions. ...In the East, Rose-beads are still made. Dried rose petals are crushed to powder, moistened with rose water and formed into pellets, which are strung, dried and polished, ready for use." 

This is essentially the process I came to, after much experimentation! 

My grandmother Mary grew and used herbs. My mama had a Rose bead necklace grandma Mary made 20 or 30 years before I was born! Sadly, I never knew my grandmothers Mary Irel and Minnie Vestella, so was fascinated by anything I could learn about them.
My first attempt to make rose beads, using a recipe from 'American Girl Magazine,' looked rather like raisins, as the instructions included simmering, but not mashing! 

Next go - round, I simmered my petals as instructed, "an hour a day for three days," then ran the mash thru the foley mill. Several years later, I began whirring my mash in a blender, with much better results. The outer necklace is one I made by that method 50 years ago, while in my teens. I used little brass beads and stung them on nylon line from the fishing supply (my dad was a fly fisherman), as we didn't have a bead shops. 

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In an herb class in the late 80s, our teacher Glen Nagle suggested storing dried herbs whole, then whizzing a small batch of "crispy dry" herbs in an electric seed/coffee mill when ready to use. 

Ah- ha! I could do that with the rose petals, as I generally used a combo of fresh & dried petals for my beads. Viola! The inner necklace, strung with rose quartz, is about 30 years old, the first made with the dried petal method.

Making Rose Beads

Drying: Remove the extras: stamens, hips and greenery, dry and store the petals (powdered or whole) in Jars or tea tins. Add "potpourri herbs to help preserve the fragrance: small amounts of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, ground nutmeg, cardamom... Other good additions are some lavender flowers and a few rose geranium leaves. If you have roses saved from a special bouquet, you may wish to add some of these petals to your beads.

Powder: Make sure your petals are crispy dry when you whizz them in an electric coffee/herb/seed grinder in small batches. You can grind a bit of lavender and rose geranium leaves along with your petals or not, as you please. Pick out any lumps, you can use a wire mesh to sift, and regrind the coarser bits. I usually prepare a cup or so of rose powder, and store in tea tins.

Tisane: Steep Rose petals, lavender, & rose geranium leaves with favorite spices (cinnamon, cardamom & nutmeg, or perhaps Garam masala) in hot water 10 minutes when you're ready to make beads. You want it to smell rosy, so don't overdo with the spices. Rose geranium leaves aide having a lovely rose fragrance! 

Cooking: A small electric potpourri crock pot (thrift store!!) is ideal for the heating & mash making process. Mix some of your rose tea with 1/4-1/2 cup of your powdered those petals, stir, turn on the pot, and let it simmer an hour or so, stirring occasionally, adding more tea as needed.

Jude the Obscure

My original recipe called for "simmering the petals an hour each day for 3 days." Now, I may just do one round, but it is easy to have it simmering daily for awhile when you're painting! 
Add more tisane (herbal tea) as needed, you don't want it soupy wet. If it gets dry, scrape the sides and add a bit more tisane. If it's too wet, add more rose petal powder.

Pour some tisane for yourself as well - ahh 

You can put the mash in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it if you can't make the whole batch into beads!

Beads: The word bead comes from the Anglo Saxon word bede, prayer, to "bid spirit to enter." Rosary comes from the Latin rosarium, Rose garden or rose bed. 
In 1990, I was at an Earth Day gathering, wearing my "new style" necklace, and a Native American man was speaking about praying with the flute, the hollow allowing breath, allowing spirit and sacred sound to flow. And the space in beads.
I (after arguing with my guides!) spoke into a lull in his words, adding the meaning of bead, "to bid spirit to enter." After, he asked where that word came from. "Anglo Saxon, like most of our words." He nodded, and invited me to pass the necklace around the circle.

This is like playing with clay! Take a small amount of your mash out of the pot. (You can leave the pot on, adding a bit more tea.) You want your mash a 'playdough' consistency. Roll the beads in the palm of your hand, about twice as big as you want - they'll shrink! Add some dry powder if you need to. 
Yes, it's messy! But oh, so sweetly fragrant! Have a bit of the tisane in a small bowl to dip your fingers, or use rosewater, as they do "in the East." Scrape residue off your hands and drop it back in the pot.

I make several size beads, as I like to string in patterns of 3s & 5s.
Set the beads on small dishes to dry for a day or so, till slightly firm, before piercing with a large needle. (if one breaks, just drop it back into the 'mash.')

Pierce with a large "carpet needle," and string on waxed carpet thread, hemp cord, or fishline, about a dozen beads on a string, & hang from pushpins along the edge of a shelf or above a door. You don't want them close to heat! (They'll dry too fast and fall apart!) Turn then on the string every few days till they have shrunk and dried. You can leave them on their strings till you're ready to string them. 

The original instructions suggest using all white and yellow rose petals for paler beads, like the outer necklace from a friend pictured bellow, strung with pearls and glass beads. Mine usually end up dark.
 If you want to insure they are dark, you can add a rusty nail while they simmer.  I store the strings of beads & finished necklaces in tins & jars with rose potpourri, a few whole roses & sprigs of lavender. If you wish, you can rub them with a silk scarf to polish the beads.

Stringing: from The Rose: bead numbers in different traditions: 

• India: Buddhists use a rosary of 99 beads
• China and Japan, 108
• Mohammedan: 108
• Greek: 100
• Russian Orthodox: 103
• Catholic: 165 (15 sets of 10 "hail Mary," 15 large: Pater Noster)

String as you would other beads, in a way that is pleasing to you. Tiger tail is great for stringing actual necklaces with clasp closure, and natural stones, pearls, glass beads can be added in patterns.
You could also make a prayer bracelet, stringing fewer beads.

When teaching a rosebead class, I buy small tins at the thrift stores, & make a bag or sprinkle potpourri in the bottom, to gift the students. The beads smell more fragrant when worn, as your body heat warms them. Just keep them dry, & they'll last a long, long time.
I've written earlier on making Rose Beads here.

Red Thread Circles

Tonight's my monthly Red Thread Circle, and we're doing Medicine Baskets.

This is a

Medicine Baskets

short, two hour group, where we'll share a RT circle, brief journey, and creative time. I've invited participants to being bring Art Journal and any favorite supplies. 
It's by donation, and a good introduction to IC. I pay $25 for the room, so always hope several come (some months, I just pay half of what I received!) I've been holding a monthly circle for over 2 1/2 years, and attendance varies, but it's always appreciated!

I held my first Red Thread Circle early in my CoW journey, as part of a Reiki I class. One of my 2 students was Lora Pirtle, a recent CoW graduate, so it was a gentle beginning! That was in the spring of 2015, and this evening, it's time to circle up again. 

I chose those Story Cards and Medicine Basket as my RT Event during my quest, and learned a lot! I had "artists" in each class, who wanted to do their own thing, and needed to learn how to field that! Shiloh gave me the helpful tip of inviting them to, "try it this way this time," ... And saying, "If you do it another way, or choose different materials I may not be able to help you, it would really help the other students if you try it this way this time." And they may need to go their own way, as long as it's not disruptive, we may need to just let it go!

What could go wrong with those simple projects? 
With story cards, the "artist" wanted to bring her own materials, and not pay for instruction, as she already knew how to do it (! ... It was the one event she attended) She did chip in for the room, and mostly went her merry way ... she didn't really address old stories, but enjoyed the cards she made. I needed to reign her in when she challenged an "old story" another beloved was processing, as not being a bad trait ... I explained again that our process was supporting the other student in discovering an antidote!

Reiki 2 Journal Cover

For my second Event, I offered Red Thread Reiki 2, and we created Reiki journals, with Medicine Baskets on the cover! 
In Reiki 2, we learn three symbols, and I've had my students grind the ink and paint the symbols using Sumi-e. 

For the journal covers, we tore the rice paper practice sheets into strips, and glued them to our background papers, then painted medicine baskets on the covers, and did more collage with our medicine gifts. 

Challenge: 

• If you've made a Medicine Basket, what gifts do you claim? Are there still appropriate? Share a photo and a little about your gifts in our Facebook group.
• Haven't done it yet? The instructions are in the CoW kajabi site, you're invited to tap the group energy and pull out your paints! 
• Have you written about your Medicine Basket (or House of the Heart, if you choose that) for your initiate book? This is a good time to document it.
• Did you offer Medicine Basket as one of your Red Thread Events? It's a great one to do, and well received! I love the variety it affords, grad Lorraine Tilburg works with horses, and offers it as "saddle bags!" With kids, you can do backpacks. 
• It can also be done on canvas, in a short "Paint Party style event. I did that art a friend's home around Easter.
• Is it time to look into getting a class on the schedule? 

So, what happened at that second Event? 
One of the "artist" students (not our CoW SiStar!) wanted to use the oil pastels on her cover, rather than paint (I brought the pastels for our grounding page!) ... 
Then, she was disappointed I didn't have a hair dryer along to set them! ... In both classes, the other students kept on with their own projects, and didn't seem distracted, which helped. After that student got home, she was able to use her familiar materials,  deconstructed the cover, and was  ultimately happy with the journal. 

I began holding regular 2 hour Red Thread Circles in the back door studio later that year, and have offed Medicine Basket in that format several times. I often use a pad of watercolor paper, and watercolor paints (rather than acrylics) for these circles. When my friend Sepha was going through the training, I did a larger one on half a sheet of watercolor paper. I enjoy it each time I lead it, with new insights about my gifts.

What have been some of your circle experiences? 
I'd love to hear about them, here or in the FB group.