Ceremonial Beads 

Beads are not just adornment, since the beginning of mankind some 40,000 years ago beads have expressed social circumstances, political history, and religious beliefs.

Beads have been used to adorn necklaces and anklets, headbands, headdresses, scattered like seeds to induce bountiful harvests, offered in ritual to insure the future of newly built houses, and placed in pairs into a cup by wedding attendees in the Philippines to bind a new marriage and beads have been used to barter in trade. 

Beads are thought to have sacred knowledge and curative powers and act as prompters to insure proper conduct of ritual and prayer.

Beads “mirror a culture” of which they are a part of telling us about the social, political, economic, and religious lives of people who have made and worn them.

Through history, beads have often been the first items produced when experimenting with new technology i.e. the advent of bronze and iron technology (weapons, tools and beads at same time).

Some psychologists say that beads are pleasing to the human eye and that we use our eyes to communicate when words are not possible; therefore, even without “speaking words,” a person’s beads will speak for them to others.  The eyes are extremely important to survival—the “eye beads” are thought to look out for the “evil eye” that can be harmful to the wearer’s existence. 

There is also an emotional stimulation stemming from the tactile sensory input of holding beads. 

“…beads have been deeply imbedded in human society.  Beads are tools by which people convey information to other people, while reminding the wearer of his or her own commitment to a state of beliefs and principles.  They are and have always been used to state basic relationships to life and the supernatural.  People have used beads to organize and symbolize their world.  They have been guideposts in human relationships and expressions of innermost feelings.”

Central Asian Beads

Central Asian Buddhist beliefs in Tibet blend orthodox Buddhist teachings and indigenous folk practices.  Tibetan culture believes that beads can appease evil spirits and suppress the disasters that can occur in their rugged mountain environment. 

Steve’s Necklace

Ron & Steve Ilg...transfer of Chi with Zenbeadz

Dzi Center Bead: (pronounced zee)  Steve’s dzi bead is 90-100 years old.  Dzi beads are revered in Tibet.  Tibetans believe dzi beads are precious jewels of supernatural origin with great powers to protect their wearers from disaster.  Authentic dzi beads are ancient and extremely rare and probably limited to collectors and museums.

Dzi beads do not remain with unlucky people.  In Tibet, it is believed that if a person sells a prized dzi bead they will soon meet misfortune and get ill or die soon after.  A Tibetan will refuse to sell a prized dzi even for the highest price; thus, a dzi bead is meant to stay with its owner for life then passed to the next generation for protection and not taken to the grave.

Turquoise Dotted Beads: Chinese influence; the turquoise color in Central Asia Buddhist and Hindu cultures represents the elements of water, sky, and air.  For me, the touch of color also represents the feminine nature and sensitivity that one needs to care for the human tribe.  These beads are also probably at least 100 years old.

Nepal Prayer Beads:  Used in daily prayer rituals.

Antique Eye Beads: to thwart off the “evil eye.”  One cannot stare at the eye bead—it is unsettling.  The eye beads serve to make the onlooker look away from the vulnerable neck the eye beads adorn and protect. 

Small Dzi Beads:  Not the classic eye design but still dzi bead.

Etched Beads: These are African trading beads and are at least 100 years old.  The Africans call them “dog teets” because they look like nipples of a dog.  To me they represent the warrior and harsh environment of battles.  The etched surface reminds me of the teeth of a predator.  They are above and separated from the center of the necklace that is representative of peace, safety, and rejuvenation.  However, in this imperfect world, it behooves one to know the art of the sword…and so the warrior beads are there to remind the wearer to use the warrior self and masculine self in order to survive. 

Reference: Dubin, Lois Sherr.  The History of Beads. 1995. Abrams: New York.

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