[RnMomof7]

Spiritual associations began with the ancient Egyptians, whose use of beads goes back to 3200 B.C. Calling beads sha sha strongly implies the beads' talismanic significance, since "sha" is the Egyptian word for luck. Beads officially sanctioned as instruments of prayer have been an important fixture of most spiritual traditions for centuries. And most of the world's inhabitants -- nearly two-thirds of the planet's population -- pray with beads. Some scholars have theorized that counting prayers naturally evolved from the abacus, the Chinese counting instrument that also used beads. Other have noted that records of the third century Desert Mothers and Fathers indicate that they carried in their pockets a specified number of pebbles, which they dropped one by one on the ground as they said each of their prayers.

Traditionally, prayer beads have consisted of strings of similarly sized beads, seeds, knots, or even rose petals and beads made from crushed roses, from which we get the word "rosary." The Sanskrit term japa-mala means "muttering chaplet," which refers to prayer beads' function as a means of recording the number of prayers muttered. Since counting prayers was initially so important, each religion embracing the use of prayer beads developed its own symbolic structure to follow.

In addition to helping keep one's place in structured prayers, prayer beads also symbolize the commitment to spiritual life. With their circular form, a string represents the interconnectedness of all who pray. Each bead counted is an individual prayer or mantra, and the rote repetition of prayers and mantras is meant to facilitate a sole focus on the prayer or mantra itself.







Did you know the Muslims use prayer beads?http://shop.store.yahoo.com/islamicshoppingnetwork/beads.html

So do the New age meditators http://www.malaquest.com/about/about.html

And the Hindi"s http://www.themoontemple.com/mala/mala.html

And the Baha'i http://www.special-ideas.com/pbeads.htm


And the Buddhists http://www.dharmashop.com/jewelry/malaindex.html?mgiToken=AC9BC3HS1VHQ51


Wonder if they all have new mysterys too?

Jer 51:47   Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

[Polycarp]

So now you are insinuating that when I pray the Rosary, contemplating the bible story of Christ's Incarnation, Nativity, Agony, Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and Pentecost, that I am using a pagan prayer method?

Pleeease.

[St.Chuck]

That was very informative. I was aware of the Hindu's employing beads, but not the other major religions. Thanks for your input.

[Woodkirk]

Wow -- I knew that the Buddhists used beads but not the Bahai,
Moslims, Hindus. FWIW the rosary is the circle above the cross,
the circle of beads with the cross hanging below --- the
ensign of the female.

[Wrigley]

Good information. It'll be scoffed at. But when you don't want to see the Truth...

[Campion]

"Pagans use beads, therefore beads are bad."

Please try to grow up beyond the mind-numbed idiotic bigotry of Alexander Hislop. Pagans invented wedding rings, but I'm not stupid enough to claim you're a pagan because you wear one.

[RobbyS]

Which would be aweful if we were still under the law and bound to the customs of the Jews.

[biblewonk]

Very very interesting, thanks for the post. Probably falling on deaf ears here though.