Rosary weaving: the purpose of the rosary, the technique of execution, the necessary materials and tools, step-by-step instructions for work and expert advice

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Quite often in everyday life there is such a thing as "rosary". Many people do not even have a clue about what purpose this attribute has. This article discusses the history and purpose of the rosary, and also describes how to properly weave the rosary.

What is a rosary?

Rosary - closed in a circle ribbons or dense threads with knots tied to them, various beads or decorated with other decorative or church elements. Used in various religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. The name itself comes from the word "count" ("honor"), that is, to make some kind of calculation. Most often they are a dense cord, on which beads are strung and a cross is attached.

Origin story

The oldest mention of the rosary goes back to the 2nd millennium. India is considered the birthplace of origin. In Christianity, the specific date of theirappearance is very difficult to recognize. Not a single church book of early times, especially in the Bible, contains any words about the rosary. Not about what they are, nor about what they were used for at the time. From this we can speculatively conclude that there was no such attribute at all in early Christianity.

The appearance of the rosary in Christianity is associated with Anthony of Egypt and Pachomius the Great. Their students were not always educated, many even did not know how to write and read properly. But they were trained in church work. In order for the students of Pachomius to remember the prayer (Appeal to Jesus), he made the students repeat these lines a certain number of times every day. But since his students thought badly, they were given a rope. After each time the prayer was said, the disciples tied one knot on their rope.

Besides this version, there are also thoughts that the appearance of the rosary is connected with Basil the Great, who lived in Kesari. Before his death, he left a will in which he mentioned the sacred string, the meaning and significance of which must be respected.

Purpose of the rosary

The main purpose is connected with the church, as the rosary is a church attribute. This meaning lies in the fact that they serve to count the prayers read. In order not to go astray during the service or ordinary everyday prayer, the rosary was and is still being used. The number of beads or knots on them is the required number of prayers to read. Basil the Great also pointed out that the rosary serves to address prayer to God himself. The monks have an unusual name -"spiritual sword" The main prayer is the Jesus Prayer.

Features

The rosary has many interesting and important features that reflect some parts of the historical and religious part of this church attribute. Among the main features are:

1. The object that will be located at the very end of the rosary. This item will reflect the canons of religion. In Orthodoxy, a tassel and a small cross will be attached to the end. In Catholicism, it will only be a cross. In Buddhism, these are also tassels, alternating in a certain order with beads. In Islam, a pebble is placed at the end of the rosary. And among the Old Believers, you can see a triangle on the rosary, which denotes the Holy Trinity.
2. Symbols. If you know the purpose of each symbol, you can better understand the essence of religion. In Christianity, this is the mystical garden of the Virgin, in Buddhism - the wheel of Samsara, in Hinduism - the cyclical nature of time.
3. Number of beads. In Buddhism, this number will reach 108, since there were 108 Brahmins. In Christianity, beads will be from 10 to 160 pieces. In Hinduism, 32, 64 or 108. In Islam, the number of beads will be 99: they are divided into links, only 3 links of 33 beads each.

Design

You need to know the design in order to learn how to weave the rosary correctly. There are three main components to this issue.

1. Thread, knot or cord serves as the basis for the entire product. Beads and other attributes are strung on the thread, and knots are also tied. Those whoadheres to Tantric Buddhism, in general they create a thread from 5 different colors at once (blue, white, red, green, yellow), these colors represent five different elements (fire, water, space, air and earth).
2. Different separating elements. Most often this is used to separate a certain number of beads from each other.
3. Pendants. They are religious crosses, pebbles and tassels. You can also use larger beads as pendants. Or beads that differ in color from the rest.

Required Materials

In order to weave a rosary with your own hands, you need to prepare all the materials necessary for this.

1. Thread. It is best to use a dense thread or cord that will not break. Sometimes even elastic bands are used, thanks to which the product can be stretched.
2. Beads. It is worth dwelling on them in more detail, because they can be from a wide variety of materials. Rosaries are made from the following types of beads: grain, glass, ebonite, polymer clay, wood. If weaving a rosary is new to you, then it is better to use the most ordinary beads. Be sure to select a color and size.
3. Attributes: crosses, pebbles, tassels.
4. Pins - these will help when stringing beads onto your base.
5. Scissors.

Step by step instructions

How is the weaving of the Orthodox rosary? For manufacturing you will need:

• stone beads;
• beads frommetal;
• chain;
• cross;
• dense thread;
• separators (they are bead caps);
• pins;
• water;
• scissors.

If you wish, you can also take glue. It will take you one to two hours to create such a rosary. Next, follow the instructions provided:

1. Take exactly 33 beads. This number is used in Christianity, as it is associated with the duration of Christ's life on Earth. You can take another amount, but it must be a multiple of twelve or ten. You use 30 beads in the main circle, and the remaining three - to create the so-called "tail", on which you also place a cross.
2. Since the beads are made of such a difficult material as stone, you need to lower them into a bowl of water, and then use an awl to slightly expand the holes in them. Remove all sharp corners. It is desirable that these holes for all beads be equal in size.
3. Assembling the rosary. Take a dense thread, place one metal bead on it. Then, after the bead, place the chain with the cross on it.
4. Thick thread must be threaded into a metal bead. Thus, a loop should turn out, and the cross will be a separate element fixed on the rosary. Tie a strong knot. It can be poured with glue so that the product is stronger and does not fall apart. Cut off any excess.
5. Rosary weaving requires attention and concentration, so you need to carefully monitor the number of beads used. Next, you just need to string stone beads. Themcan be separated using separators of 11 beads, for example. Here the personal desire of each is more important. The end result can be secured with bead caps. Also secure everything with glue.
6. Beads should have space to move freely along the cord or thread. To do this, leave 1-2 cm between each wooden bead.
7. All threaded beads must be secured again by tying a knot, then put on another metal bead. An important point follows - the thread is threaded into the tube, after which the whole product is again fixed with a knot.
8. The rosary has already acquired its final form. You just need to tie a couple more strong knots. Your Orthodox rosary is ready. Weaving was not difficult, but it took time and attention.

Basic mistakes

The rosary, although it seems simple, is also accompanied by many mistakes. Especially for beginners.

1. Some wear a rosary bracelet on their arm. How to weave these correctly? Everything is simple. Weaving takes place, as with ordinary rosaries, only many do not take into account the fact that when putting on such a bracelet on a hand, difficulties may arise. If you use a regular thread, it will not stretch. For many, the mistake is precisely that when making a bracelet in the form of a rosary, beginners use an ordinary thread or cord. In this case, you need a tight rubber band. Thus, you will get a good rosary bracelet on your hand. How to weave? This question will no longer seem so scary.
2. Using too bright colors. Not necessaryforget that the rosary is a church and religious attribute. It is better to approach the production of the rosary in a meaningful way, without using too bright color combinations.
3. The cross and tassel must match the size of the future rosary. If you take them too large, then the rosary will be bulky and sloppy.
4. Many beginners buy raw stone beads. This is a mistake, as it will be quite difficult to bring them to the proper form on your own.

Crafting Tips

After you have learned about the main mistakes when weaving a rosary, it is worth reading important tips. Some of them are shown below.

1. If you decide to use 4-strand weaving, then you should choose small beads so that the final version does not look huge. The optimal size will be 5-6 millimeters.
2. Some people prefer to make a cross with their own hands. To do this, professionals advise using 4 silk ribbons 1 m long each. The type of weaving does not matter.
3. If you want to make a rosary from a material such as plexiglass, then craftsmen advise buying it in one piece in various construction markets. There, the material is cheaper, and it will be enough for several products at once.
4. Most often, beginners make Orthodox rosaries with their own hands. It is not so difficult to weave them from beads, since the amount of symbolism is much less than in the beads of other religions. Here, beginners are advised to follow the rule: the simpler the better. Making a rosaryfrom complex materials takes much more effort, time and material resources than weaving the most common Orthodox rosary, for example, from wooden beads.

Price

Making a rosary is a fairly cheap activity in material terms. Of course, it all depends on the materials chosen. If the price of ordinary wooden beads is from 50-100 rubles - depending on the quantity, the price of plexiglass beads will be much higher. Plexiglas itself in a hardware store will cost at least 500 rubles, not counting consumables such as tapes, threads and other paraphernalia.

Weaving a rosary from soutache will cost more than from ordinary wooden beads. The soutache is used instead of a thread, and its cost will be about 60 rubles per 20 meters. But that's not counting the beads, which you will also use.

Reviews of masters

To understand many of the nuances in the performance of any work can be very simple. You just need to carefully read the reviews of professional craftsmen or the same beginners. In this way, many errors can be bypassed. Judging by the reviews, weaving a rosary is a calming activity, and relatively little money is spent on it. After people try to weave rosaries from soutache, they subsequently use only it, since it is very durable and comfortable. Some people use wooden beads as their first experience in weaving a rosary. They say that it turns out beautifully, and it's easy to use.