Spells, Prayers and Wishes

Here are several ideas for for small sealed tubes containing spells, prayers, or other meaningful messages. These are meant to be carried in an amulet bag. Carrying a thought, prayer or wish in a closed tube is a good idea for several reasons. They are self-contained, so you can transfer them from one bag to another. Also, there is something about encasing things in beads that is very powerful. For example, Robin Atkins sometimes encloses original poetry in her work. You can't see it, but knowing it is there enhances the work immeasurably in my mind. For many people, it is more powerful because it is concealed.

A Peyote stitched tube 8 beads around is the perfect size to allow a small rolled up message to fit inside and for the tube itself to fit comfortably in an amulet bag. That's 8 size 11 Czech seeds, for Delicas use 10. As for the height, it all depends on the bag. Make it a few rows shorter than the average height of most of your bags. You can either make them with tubular brick or flat peyote which you can then zip up. The flat peyote method is usually much faster and easier than making such a small tube in another stitch. Instructions for both Even Count Peyote Stitch and Odd Count Flat Peyote Stitch are available. Check the Odd COunt Peyote Stitch instructions for how to connect the two sides to form a tube. If you do use Brick Stitch, pay close attention to the direction you are going in, if you switch mid tube it will cause your tube to have an icky kink in the middle of it.

Here are a few designs to get you started and a graph for making your own.

Once you finish your tube, you need something to go inside of it. Cut a piece of paper slightly shorter than your tube and several inches wide. Roll it up tightly and test it to make sure it will fit. Now, what to write?

That's up to you of course. A prayer, a goal, a heart-felt wish, a poem, a spell, a quote, something that means something to you.

After you have finished writing whatever you choose to write, roll the paper up tightly and insert it into the tube. Plug the ends of the tube with a larger bead. To do this, first make sure your thread is coming out of one of the end beads. Pick up a bead that fits inside (a 4mm semi-precious bead would be a nice choice) and go through a bead on the other side. Come back up through the bead next to the bead you went down through. Go back through the plug bead and down through the bead next to the bead you originally left, as shown in the illustration at right.

Need some inspiration? Check out these links:<BR><BR> Bible Gateway
Search five different versions of the Bible for a word, verse, or concept.

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
Selections from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

The Koran
Search the Koran.

Metta Sutta
The Buddha's words on kindness.

A Wiccan Blessing for a Newborn
Rather a nice blessing for anyone I should think.

Catholic Prayers
Catholic prayers organized by subject.

And be sure to check reader's answers to the question: What do you keep in your amulet bag?