“Honey, these prayer beads shouldn’t be in your car! They should be on your altar!” my friend Frances exclaimed the last time she drove around Brooklyn with me.

“Oh…yes. Well. I was hoping they’d enhance the car’s sacred energy,” I said distractedly. (I’d wrapped them around the emergency brake.) But in truth, I didn’t want the conversation to go much further. My altar, currently, is a window sill in the kitchen. Obviously, I’ve got to carve out more physical space for my meditation practice.

As I do that, you might check out this explanation of what prayer beads are for and how to use the various types. Mine are a short string from my Sufi teacher.

The site also provides links to sacred jewelry of all sorts; much of it skillfully made by HeartstoHeaven.com founder LoriAnn V. Paul herself.