A Talisman or just jewelry

I am gonna talk about Korona Beads on this one. Kind of an odd topic to talk about. But I am compelled to wax about it since I thought that I lost mine this morning. Forgot that I left it in my inner jacket pocket two days ago. Spent most of the morning looking for them. Would you believe they were not in the last place I looked? I only found them because when I put on my jacket to see if I ‘stupidly’ left them in a locker at one of my job sites, they pressed against my chest when I zipped up my jacket. Uuuuuggghhh!

Anyway…

It is also called The Wreath. Basically you can categorize them as prayer beads. It has been a traditional spiritual tool for well over 2000 years. Select Vitsi’s that came to the Americas from the Isle of Man in the early 1900’s used to call them prayers of the wanderer.

As the tradition went, the matriarch of the Vitsi would make the wreath for each child member that chose to receive their true name. Taking weeks to craft with the child. Teaching them the meaning of each bead that represents every aspect of the Celtic Romani culture. A foundation to understanding the world we all live in. The endless cycle of life and death we each take a small part in playing. The duality between the mortal world of the physical and the immortal world of the spiritual.

At the wreaths completion, the child is given a sacred spot to bury the Wreath about three feet deep in undisturbed fertile soil. Once dug and then covered by the child. The matriarch and the child perform a day long meditative prayer over the area. Beginning at dawn and ending at dusk. The heads of the Vitsi then make a circle camp around the child as they sleep over the buried wreath until dusk the next day. It is then, that the child must dig up the Wreath and wash each bead by hand while reciting the meditative prayer taught by the matriarch while the Wreath was being made. This completes “the binding” of the Wreath to the child.

Usually this Wreath is kept throughout childhood until adulthood. When the Wreath is finally broken apart on purpose and permanently buried by naturally running water or near a large lake or ocean. The individual then makes a new Wreath (in the same manner) by themselves. To carry with them for the rest of their lives.

To use the Korona Beads or “The Deoraí Ruđimata Korona” (Wreath of Wanderer Prayers), hold the beads in your hand and move through each of them one at a time, reciting a chosen prayer, chant, or mantra with each bead, using the beads as a physical reminder to focus your mind on your spiritual intent. You can either repeat the same prayer on each bead or assign different prayers to different sections (seasons) of the beads depending on your intention and spiritual strength on the matter of purpose. Meaning that the more specific your intention is, the more repetitive and emotionally charged you are with using the wreath.

Key points about using the Wreath:

• Setting up intentions:
  Before starting, take a moment to set your intention for the prayer session, focusing on what you want to achieve with your purpose. 
  
  

• Start with the focus bead:
  These prayer beads have a special bead at the beginning of your present season (base bead from one of the four represented seasons consisting of nine or five path beads each), which you can use to begin your prayer with an invocation or opening statement. The four seasonal cycles include - Imbolc: Early spring, Bealtaine: Mid-summer, Lughnasa: Early autumn, and Samhain: Winter
  

• Move through the bead path:
  As you move through the beads of the season, recite your chosen chant, prayer, or mantra, allowing the tactile sensation on your fingers to help you stay focused. 
  
  

• On repeating the cycle:
  You can choose to go through the beads once for one season or repeat the cycle multiple times depending on your preference and intent. Using more than one season in this practice denotes a strong long term intent that must always be meditated on throughout the intended term the prayer extends. For each season has multiple deity representatives of various aspects. In turn, the intent must take into account these aspects and the impact such resolutions may have. Knowledge of all the deities in all the seasons is a must. Primarily to understand how intent should be given and how it will be received.
  
  

• A closing prayer:
  When you reach the end of the season section/s, you must conclude on the closing bead (the top bead from one of the four represented seasons consisting of nine or five path beads each) with a closing prayer or reflection that solidifies the meditation as a whole.

Important considerations to understand:

• Personal meaning: These beads are often associated with Celtic spirituality, so consider incorporating prayers or mantras that resonate with that tradition. They are not a rosary or mala. So utilizing them for a completely separate culture can be considered disrespectful to your own belief system.
  

• Respectful handling: Treat your beads with care as they are considered sacred objects. Being just objects, they are only a tool to amplify your personal state of spiritual being. Their personal value must be cherished. However, not ever coveted or staked in monetary worth.
  

• Meditation practice: Some people also use prayer beads as a tool for meditation, focusing on the breath while moving through the beads. This practice is a common focusing technique used to calm one’s thoughts and focus on the inner most peace of just being in the present. The seasonal sections still apply and must be mentally recognized when moving through each one.

Bead selection and numbers when creating your own:

A wreath is never something that should be purchased or made by anyone other than the person using them. As already stated, they are considered a sacred object. Using individual beads that are purchased, traded, or given freely is fine. It is the creation of the Wreath that is important. The use of natural materials is also just as important. Using plastic and/or man made materials in its creation defeats the purpose of the Wreath and what it represents.

Whether you use wood, gemstones (cut or uncut), or different types of rock minerals; is entirely up to the one crafting the Wreath. However the 4 seasonal “shift” beads, the base and closing “marker” beads (inside each season section), and the five or nine “path” beads (between the base and closer beads) must be different from one another by sight or shape or texture (or any combination of the three). This is only a practical aspect to differentiate one from the other.

The shift beads usually represent the seasons by color and transparency. Like crystal or see through gemstones. The marker beads are usually a dark opaque color and of a heavier make. The path beads used are entirely left to the discretion of the one creating the Wreath. They not only reflect the individual’s personality. But represent the expression of their own spirituality. Be it by color, quality, or texture (or any combination of the three). Just as long as they differ from the aforementioned “marker” and “shift” beads.

Lastly, there are two aspects of the Wreath one has to consider. The first aspect is having five or nine path beads inside each seasonal section. This depends on the kind of devotion one has on using the Wreath in one’s own life.

Usually having five beads is for individuals that choose not to use the wreath on a regular basis. Maybe once a week or month. By traditional practices, those individuals whose spiritual life revolves around a more busy lifestyle.

Having nine beads usually denotes a usage on a daily basis. Where one’s lifestyle revolves around one’s own spiritual practices.

The second aspect is that of a charm or pendant that is attached by a bale. This is a personal adornment that wholly signifies the individual. Not a necessity to the Wreath in meditative prayer. But a signifying factor of self and personal identification. It really can be anything. A symbol, a gemstone, a relic, a memento, etc. This is part of the Wreath that doesn’t need to come from a natural material. Since it is added onto the Wreath after its creation.

And that is, how they say, “there you go.”

I also want to mention that these beads usually were carried around in a pouch back in the day. It wasn’t until around the 1950’s when the Wreath began to be worn around the neck. Back in the late 80’s it began to also be worn around the wrist and ankle.

I personally don’t like wearing it like jewelry. That being said, if I did wear it like jewelry, I wouldn’t have spent hours freaking out over loosing it.

Obviously this has not been the first time this has happened. I did say it was supposed to be a sacred object right? You would think I would have come up with a more trusted method of not loosing something so precious to me.

“Mama says stupid is as stupid does.”