Love the Earth? Love trade beads, and looking for more ways to use them? Breathe a new spirit into your rosaries!
We found a great blog post by Anne of Atelier-Beads, about two sorts of multipurposed jewelry in one. She writes about “Rosaries that Care: Recycled Glass Beads from Africa.” (You’ve got to click through so you’ll see a great photo of one of these rosaries!)
Anne sums up well when she says, “Ghana recycled glass is a wonderful rosary application. Not only is it innovative and beautiful, but it also promotes good stewardship both in the re-use of manmade materials and in the provision of employment and income to the artisans who create the beads.”
She’s writing about traditional-style powdered-glass beads, made by recycling modern materials from medicine bottles to TV screens. Africans have been crushing old glass into powder for centuries, though, to make these beads (also called “sand beads” sometimes). You can buy a good selection of older powdered-glass beads in our online store; we don’t have information at this time to suggest any of these are more recent.
The great-looking rosary shown in Anne’s blog post makes use of an Ethiopian cross pendant. These reflect a unique, ancient Christian style that many North Americans are unfamiliar with (Legend has it that Christianity came to Ethiopia quite early, around AD 300, but the country was not in close contact with other Christian nations.) So these cross pendants add a fascinating bit of history, and a beautiful style, to any rosary that you make.
Did you know Rings & Things sells many other Ethiopian beads and pendants? We’re also known for our extensive line of African & trade beads in glass (some even have “cross” designs), metal and natural materials. And don’t miss out on our many other recycled-material beads!
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6 Comments
Love it! It’s always fun to learn something new. Thanks for sharing
Glad to share it — not only does it look good, but I bet the trade-bead rosary that Anne made also has a memorable tactile feel!
Here’s a couple more links about African rosaries:
A South African rosary
A photo of what looks like an an amber-bead rosary
I made my husband a rosary a few years ago he won’t travel w/o it. i love the bulk of these – and yes! the tactile feel of the beads between your fingers as you move thru the prayers. some rosary beads are small, so you may skip a bead – not so with these – they are truly beautiful –
AND! the art value – how beautiful would they be hanging on your wall.
Glorious!
It’s a win-win (did I leave out a “win”?) 🙂
What a lovely story Anne tells, thank you for linking. Got me pondering how to use those types of beads in my work and share the story, too.
Wow, what an amazing story. We’re also a big fan of African beads and love to blog about them 🙂