The Magical Use of Prayer Beads: Secret Meditations & Rituals for Your Qabalistic, Hermetic, Wiccan or Druid Practice

This is a good reference book to have especially if you have or make prayer beads or malas. Good basic information on the subject, but in gifting prayer beads you can always tuck in a meditation from the book as a kick starter for the recipient! Especially if the recipient is a new Pagan.

Very dense read. I actually did not enjoy this read but am mining for some information that is helpful.

From theory to the real rituals, this book approaches the subject from all points of view. Planetary magick, Celtic-Druidic tradition, Qabalistic tradition, Ancient Greek pagan tradition etc

Having never considered prayer beads for Pagan rituals, I was very pleasantly surprised how well they work, and how truly enjoyable it is to use them. The book itself is very well written, easy to understand, and has several different Pagan traditions detailed including Hermetics, Wicca, and Druidism.My wife and I have done several of the rituals in the book, from each of these traditions, and found them very moving!The author sells the prayer beads that go with these rituals and they are excellent! For those who like making their own, he describes them in depth. There is also an intense consecration ritual for the prayer beads in the book to really make them your own.This is a fantastic book not only for learning how to use prayer beads, but offers new ideas and methods for a meaningful Theurgic practice. We love this book!

Not what I expected

A very thorough book. Something for whatever faith you practice.

Great product.

A key to the use of prayer beads or any type of repetitive prayer is hinted at in Bruce MacLennan's Foreward: "[T]o know The Ineffable One, you must become like it: that is, completely simple, unified, and unchanging." What MacLennan leaves out (but well knows, I have no doubt) is that this unadulterated, eternal unity has its closest human cognate in the concept of Love. That state of Love can be reached through the ladder of religious or spiritual devotion, as long as that devotion is animated by emotional fervor. To pick up the thread of emotional fervor, you must (a) surf the large wave of the group mind of your religion or spiritual tradition to carry you along; or (b) be working with exceptionally worded and metered prayers/rituals that cut you to the heart, inspire you, instruct you, and never leave you feeling stale.The book falls a bit flat in both of those areas. It is written with four traditions in mind and in practice: the Qabalistic, Hermetic, Wiccan, and Druidic. Compared to, say, the spiritual practice of the Marian Rosary, with the whole awesome force of millions and millions of Catholics behind it for hundreds of years or, in the Hindu tradition, the use of mala beads with mantras that were ancient even to the ancients, these four practices have relatively, comparatively, small group minds. Which, to my mind, means that the prayers or rituals to be used with them must be exceptional. I did not find the author's writing style -- as far as the prayers and ritual scripts go -- to be to my taste.Some were too abstract in nature. A comparison. I can imagine a Catholic undergoing a period of distress turning his mind to his Rosary practice and finding comfort in the prayer Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy or the Memorare of St. Bernard. If I, as a Qabalist, were undergoing a period of distress, I am almost certain that I would find little comfort in the chanting of abstract Words of Power, like the 40 Divine Names, the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, the Names of the Archangels, or the Hierarchies. Even where there is fuller text as part of a ritual practice, it is rather boring and declarative. For instance, the prayers for Ascent through the Angelic Choirs all include the statement: "May the manifestation of your presence inflame all the levels of my being, helping me to" do A, B, C, or D. Subjunctive affirmation is the very method of the intellectual mind but, so far as I have observed, it doesn't work very well in producing the Divine Inflammation. I could say the same for the Hermetic prayers/rituals in the book. The abstract or declarative nature of the prayers would not be a problem if this were meant to be something like repetitive mantra. But the prayer texts are too varied for that.Intellectuals writing on spiritual matters are notorious in being blind to their own weaknesses. The work probably would have benefited from not having Donald Michael Kraig as an editor; the book is too close to Kraig's own mental bent. A somewhat kooky or artsy priestess, whose mind and tongue the Goddess had touched, would have been a better literary partner, I think. It would have breathed some color, some life, into the book.With respect to the Wiccan tradition, the prayers for the Ritual of the Goddess were written in the context and symbolism of Hekate, Artemis, and Selene, using orphic hymns. The Ritual of the God in the Wiccan tradition uses the context and symbolism of Amun-Ra, Khepera, Heru, etc. I cannot think of a single Wiccan amongst my acquaintance who would use them. Any traditional Witch that read them would respect the ancient traditions from which they were derived, but would turn her back on them as utterly foreign to her thinking. It would have been so easy to write an inspiring, instructive prayer set for the Witch Goddess, using more general symbolism and concepts.White as milk or chalk or bone,Red as blood, where life is sown,Black as night, your lofty throne,The changing Moon is yours alone.Your sacred titles I intone:Maiden, Mother, ancient Crone.I declare the Mystery of the Maiden: Her power is to open. What is budding, She will grow. Hear Her counsel: GIVE IT ROOM.Flowering Maiden, ever-joyous, may you fill my days with wonder.I declare the Mystery of the Mother: Her power is to hold. What is fruiting, She will sustain. Hear Her counsel: ENJOY IT NOW.Bountiful Mother, ever-loving, may your dominion rise full in my heart.I declare the Mystery of the Crone: Her power is to close. What is withering, She will destroy. Hear Her counsel: LET IT GO.Powerful Crone, ever-watchful, may you turn my mind from transient things.*Boom* Easy. The bones of a nice Moon rosary. Take it. Use it. Have a rosary made for it. 9 white beads for the Maiden, 9 red beads for the Mother, 9 black beads for the Crone. Some separator beads. Use your imagination. It's better than anything you will find in the Wiccan section here.There is the Druidic section of this book, too. I had pretty much lost all steam and interest when I reached it. The opening prayers invoke Belenus, Teutates, Taranis, Esus. A couple of the prayers here were ok (O divine Sun, I invoke thee!), and of course, he made use of the old Druid prayer O God, grant me your support; With your support, strength, etc.The ritual practices given here are for individual, couple, or group performance. Per force, then, the book is repetitive.A final irritation: The book is subtitled Secret Meditations and Rituals For Your Qabalistic, Hermetic, Wiccan, or Druid Practice. Nothing in this book justifies the adjective "Secret." Secret from where? Secret from whom? And what about the oxymoron: If one is publishing a secret, can it still justly be called a secret?All in all, not for me, personally. Personal taste will dictate whether you will like this book. As I say, I found it too declarative in tone and uninspiring. You may think otherwise. I bought a Kindle copy, and I will be returning it. I advise you, if you are able, to evaluate a Kindle copy first, too, before committing yourself to permanent ownership.

Very disappointed

I want to leave a very simple and objective comment: this book presents us with simple yet highly effective tools for our understanding of the occult. The excellent work of the beloved Brother Biasi is very enriching in this work. I recommend it to those who seek to go deeper and feel the power of the cosmic. Strong book for every occultist library and true initiates.

Com abordagem objetiva apresenta diversos rituais para a utilização das contas, alem de uma explicação sobre o processo da oração.

I was hoping for more information specific to japa meditation but the content seemed more fluffy than specific. Not in love with it, but it's OK.