Friday, August 27, 2010

Prayer Beads


A man in Khan el Khalili strides past a shop selling prayer beads. Islamic prayer beads come in strings of 33 or 99 beads, for the 99 "names" or attributes of Allah. It is thought that prayer beads originated with the Hindus, were passed on to Buddhists, then to Muslims, and on to Christians who say that the Dominicans had the rosary revealed to them in the 1300's. Every religious group has a different number of beads and a slightly different pattern of usage, but the essential idea is the same, a way of reminding people of God during a busy day.

3 comments:

rapunzel said...

A much-needed reminder.

BooCat said...

One of my pursuits is the creation of Anglican Rosaries--33 beads (interesting that the numbers coincide). In our case, it represents the number of years Christ was on Earth. We all think we are so different when we are really so alike.

The Equestrian Vagabond said...

the way the Greeks constantly click and clack their worry beads DRIVES ME MAD!!!!
- The Equestrian Vagabond

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