Tools and Supplies (pt 1)

A lot of different practices call for a lot of different tools (necessary or not for practice). For instance, Christians don't need a church, or pews, or a crucifix to pray or be Christian - but a good number of them go to churches anyway, partially for the fellowship, partially to feel closer to God, whatever reasons. Smaller, more personal physical items are sometimes carried - things like Rosaries, or a more open term, Prayer Beads.

A few months back, I made a Buddhist prayer mala. 108 beads with 4 markers splitting it into sections of 27, with a 'guru' bead at the bottom, and a tassel. I also added 3 removable counters that attach to the mala - two strands with counters (10 ea) and a little bead on a silver clasp that sits between beads on the ma la.

(The pictures aren't mine)
Holding the mala in either one or both hands, I say a mantra (Om Mani Pedme hum) and for every mantra I pass a bead. For every full round (108) mantras, I slide up a bead on the counter on the left. Every time all 10 beads on the left get slid up, a counter on the right goes up. For every 10 counters on the right, the little clasp moves over one bead.

When the clasp has gone all the way around, that's 1 million mantras. "But wait!" You say. "That math is all wrong!" Well, not quite. Every time I do a round, it only counts as 100. Why?

Every time I say a mantra, it's supposed to give me good karma, or spiritual merit. The last 8, however, are donated to the world, to everyone around me. When the 1 million mantras have been said, I dedicate the practice - once again - to everyone. As of this post, I've reached 31,500 mantras for myself. It'll be sometime before I reach my goal. You might wonder how much time I devote to this, or what the point of it is, but it's not something I do constantly - it's for moments of quiet, meditation - something for when my hands are bored at the movies, or when I'm just relaxing. In other words, for moments of peace... like a physical prayer.

In any case, the point of today's post (before I started rambling on about beads) was that I'm still looking for my tools. Since I'm looking into Wicca right now, I'm looking for the tools I'd use on my altar (Cauldron, Chalice, etc). I'll be heading out to a local gift shop, and some thrift stores in a bit - pictures if I find anything good.


UPDATE

A fruitful hunt! The gift shop uptown was closed today for whatever reason, but a trip to the local Salvation Army and The Goodwill resulted in a small incense burner, and a metal mixing bowl. Not for a cauldron, mind you, but a singing bowl!

I'll post another vid as soon as I find a better striker. As for the burner -

The picture makes it look huge, but it's only about 3" tall. Still, this size is normally around $11 at a store. Oh, and the bowl? A genuine singing bowl of the same size is normally over $100. Both the bowl and the burner ran me about $3. I love thrift shops.