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The Magical Use of Prayer Beads: Secret Meditations & Rituals for Your Qabalistic, Hermetic, Wiccan or Druid Practice
Join author Jean-Louis de Biasi as he explores how the profound tactile experience of using prayer beads can be used to deepen spiritual work in Qabala, Wicca, Druidry, and Hermetic traditions. With tips and techniques for choosing prayer beads as well as cleansing and consecrating them for spiritual use, The Magical Use of Prayer Beads is an ideal guide for beginners and adepts alike. Includes rituals that can be performed alone, with two people, or with a group―extending the useful applications and power beyond the more traditional approaches. This book explores unique practices for some of the most prominent Western mystery traditions, creating new paths on the journey of spirituality and magic.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 28, 2017
Not what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a more theoretical overview of prayerbeads in general, focusing on the different religions in which prayer beads are used and their history. While the book very briefly touches on that, it is mostly a practical guide to using prayer beads in four different traditions: Kabbala, Hermetic, Wicca and Druidic. The author explains the different kinds of beads used (some illustrations would have been nice here, athough maybe there were simply not included in my ebook) and outlines a lot of rituals for different purposes.
Useful for people wanting to use a rosary-like object in their pagan rituals, but expect very much a how-to, not a how-come. :p
Useful for people wanting to use a rosary-like object in their pagan rituals, but expect very much a how-to, not a how-come. :p
June 3, 2018
I was initially curious to see what this book would have in it, as the idea is not exactly new. I was refreshed to find that the book was quite useful and had methods of use (Qabala, Wicca, Druid) that fit different types of practices or could be made to do so. The Druidic portion became relevant to me and I think the ideas represented in this work can be very useful.
I would add that it would have been useful to have some instruction as to the making of the different types of beads and maybe some illustrations. Illustrations for the positions of the body during the bead rituals would also have been helpful.
Other than what I mentioned above this is a solid work and I would recommend purchasing it as I will.
I would add that it would have been useful to have some instruction as to the making of the different types of beads and maybe some illustrations. Illustrations for the positions of the body during the bead rituals would also have been helpful.
Other than what I mentioned above this is a solid work and I would recommend purchasing it as I will.
January 1, 2023
I was excited and wanted to love this book, but it is VERY specific to the four magical traditions in the title - Qabalistic, Hermetic, Wiccan, and Druid practice.
I thought the book would include some general advice for using prayer beads in other pagan traditions as well, but after reading the first few chapters and then skimming through the rest, I found it to be too specific.
There are step-by-step rituals, but they aren't that helpful for pagans who don't follow Egyptian, Greek, Druidic or Celtic mythology. I will say that the druidic prayers in the book seem to be the most adaptable for anyone outside these traditions who follows a nature-based practice.
I found it a little odd that some Wiccan rituals have nature spirits, some have the Goddess and God and other rituals in the book have Greek, Hebrew, and Egyptian deities in them. This might be fine if the prayers were broad enough that you could just substitute the names for whatever aspect of Goddess and God you follow, but the prayers to these deities discuss specific attributes, so it's not like you could just cross out Hekate and write Diana or put Lugh in place of Ra. The prayers draw heavily on the mythos of the deity mentioned.
If you are Wiccan, but don't follow Egyptian, Hebrew, or Greek mythology, these prayers would not be applicable and you'd have to change the attributes and names to whatever aspects of the Lunar Goddess and Solar God you follow.
I haven't decided yet if I want to heavily mark through my copy and make a bunch of changes to it or if I want to copy down one or two prayers and then pass the book on to someone who will get better use out of it. I think I will need to design my own ritual prayers for my beads rather than relying on the ones in this book.
As someone who honors Greek deities, I can use the Wiccan lunar prayers to Hekate, Artemis and Selene and I might try adapting the Druidic prayers since they are more fluid, with less specific references.
I do appreciate the effort to make prayer beads accessible to pagans. I just wish the book was not so specific that it looses practicality. The first three chapters are more general and introductory, but the rest of the book is specific to the tradition discussed in each chapter.
I HIGHLY recommend skimming through it or finding a preview to make sure this book will work for you.
I thought the book would include some general advice for using prayer beads in other pagan traditions as well, but after reading the first few chapters and then skimming through the rest, I found it to be too specific.
There are step-by-step rituals, but they aren't that helpful for pagans who don't follow Egyptian, Greek, Druidic or Celtic mythology. I will say that the druidic prayers in the book seem to be the most adaptable for anyone outside these traditions who follows a nature-based practice.
I found it a little odd that some Wiccan rituals have nature spirits, some have the Goddess and God and other rituals in the book have Greek, Hebrew, and Egyptian deities in them. This might be fine if the prayers were broad enough that you could just substitute the names for whatever aspect of Goddess and God you follow, but the prayers to these deities discuss specific attributes, so it's not like you could just cross out Hekate and write Diana or put Lugh in place of Ra. The prayers draw heavily on the mythos of the deity mentioned.
If you are Wiccan, but don't follow Egyptian, Hebrew, or Greek mythology, these prayers would not be applicable and you'd have to change the attributes and names to whatever aspects of the Lunar Goddess and Solar God you follow.
I haven't decided yet if I want to heavily mark through my copy and make a bunch of changes to it or if I want to copy down one or two prayers and then pass the book on to someone who will get better use out of it. I think I will need to design my own ritual prayers for my beads rather than relying on the ones in this book.
As someone who honors Greek deities, I can use the Wiccan lunar prayers to Hekate, Artemis and Selene and I might try adapting the Druidic prayers since they are more fluid, with less specific references.
I do appreciate the effort to make prayer beads accessible to pagans. I just wish the book was not so specific that it looses practicality. The first three chapters are more general and introductory, but the rest of the book is specific to the tradition discussed in each chapter.
I HIGHLY recommend skimming through it or finding a preview to make sure this book will work for you.
November 18, 2020
The Magical Use of Prayer Beads by Jean-Louis de Biasi
336 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Release Date: April 8, 2016
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Prayers, Rituals, Meditation
The book is broken down into these chapters.
Chapter 1: What are prayer beads
Chapter 2: Main principles for a successful practice
Chapter 3: Consecration of your prayer beads
Chapter 4: Qabalistic tradition
Chapter 5: Hermetic tradition
Chapter 6: Wiccan tradition
Chapter 7: Druid tradition
There is a consecration ritual and blessing ritual to be performed before using your prayer beads. After performing these rituals, the reader can decide which chapter to read next. The rest of the book discusses the different religions that use prayer beads. Each of these chapters contains the purpose of using prayer beads, description of the beads (including the number of beads), symbolism of the beads, meditation, and rituals.
Prayer beads have always been in my life in some for When I was young, my grandmother gave me a set of Rosary beads. I still have them today in a little box. When I was in my teens, I was able to travel to Italy and Greece. I noticed so many people rubbing small beads on a piece of leather. I learned they were called “worry beads.” About 15 years ago I made my own set of element prayer beads and loved the feel of them in hands. Recently I purchased a set of Mala beads and I would like to use them but wasn’t sure what to do with them. Although, this book only mentions these beads in the introduction, I felt I could adapt some of the meditations and rituals listed to use them.
I really liked the consecration and blessings rituals for the prayer beads and plan on doing them on a regular basis. If you are interested in using prayer beads from one of the listed traditions, I highly recommend this book. The meditations and rituals are very easy to follow.
336 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Release Date: April 8, 2016
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Prayers, Rituals, Meditation
The book is broken down into these chapters.
Chapter 1: What are prayer beads
Chapter 2: Main principles for a successful practice
Chapter 3: Consecration of your prayer beads
Chapter 4: Qabalistic tradition
Chapter 5: Hermetic tradition
Chapter 6: Wiccan tradition
Chapter 7: Druid tradition
There is a consecration ritual and blessing ritual to be performed before using your prayer beads. After performing these rituals, the reader can decide which chapter to read next. The rest of the book discusses the different religions that use prayer beads. Each of these chapters contains the purpose of using prayer beads, description of the beads (including the number of beads), symbolism of the beads, meditation, and rituals.
Prayer beads have always been in my life in some for When I was young, my grandmother gave me a set of Rosary beads. I still have them today in a little box. When I was in my teens, I was able to travel to Italy and Greece. I noticed so many people rubbing small beads on a piece of leather. I learned they were called “worry beads.” About 15 years ago I made my own set of element prayer beads and loved the feel of them in hands. Recently I purchased a set of Mala beads and I would like to use them but wasn’t sure what to do with them. Although, this book only mentions these beads in the introduction, I felt I could adapt some of the meditations and rituals listed to use them.
I really liked the consecration and blessings rituals for the prayer beads and plan on doing them on a regular basis. If you are interested in using prayer beads from one of the listed traditions, I highly recommend this book. The meditations and rituals are very easy to follow.
October 8, 2024
a must
A must for anyone who would like to practice a form of portable magick a very informed book on prayer beads
A must for anyone who would like to practice a form of portable magick a very informed book on prayer beads
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews