Sacred Wood

Sacred Wood is jewelry made from wood, seed and root: green sandalwood, Kalimantan and Vietnamese agarwood, Hainan huanghuali, high-oil Ya Bai cypress, dragon-vein bodhi seed and bodhi root. The forms are bracelets, hand-held prayer beads and malas, including a mala of 108 weathered bodhi root beads of 6 × 9mm. Several pieces carry a hand-carved boxwood lotus; the lotus is a traditional symbol of calm and purity. Green sandalwood and cypress are naturally fragrant. These materials have long been used in spiritual practice, and that use is described here as tradition. The pieces in this collection are made mainly of wood, bodhi seed or bodhi root, and each product page carries this line: This piece does not ship to the United Kingdom or the European Union.

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Material

Sacred wood, bodhi seed and bodhi root

Green sandalwood, agarwood from Kalimantan and Vietnam, Hainan huanghuali, high-oil Ya Bai cypress, boxwood, dragon-vein bodhi seed and bodhi root. Agarwood is resinous heartwood; bodhi seed and bodhi root are seeds and roots, carved and polished, long used for prayer beads. Diana has confirmed the species names used on these pages.

How to judge quality

For agarwood, by resin content: the darker, denser and more fragrant the wood, the more resin it holds. For sandalwood and huanghuali, by the grain and the depth of the natural colour. For bodhi seed, by the evenness of the pattern, whether the five-star mark is clear, and how well the beads are matched. Any of them should feel smooth at the drill hole and have no filler in the grain.

Care

Keep wood beads dry: take them off before washing, swimming or a hot shower, and away from perfume and lotion. Wipe with a dry cloth, never a wet one. Do not store them in direct sun or beside a radiator, which dries and cracks the wood. No oil or other treatment is needed. Handling is what polishes wood, bodhi seed and bodhi root beads: the more they are worn and handled, the shinier they become. They darken slowly with years of wear, and that is the intended patina.

Tradition

These materials have long been used in spiritual practice, for counting recitations and for their scent. The lotus is a traditional symbol of purity and calm, the gourd of blessing, the Pixiu of protection and wealth. Described as tradition.

Questions

Do these pieces ship everywhere?

No. This piece does not ship to the United Kingdom or the European Union. That line is on every product page it applies to: pieces made mainly of wood, bodhi seed or bodhi root.

Why not?

Because of the rules that apply to wooden and seed articles entering those markets. Pieces in which wood is only one component among stones or metal, and framed art, ship to every country we serve.

Do the beads smell?

Green sandalwood, agarwood and huanghuali carry a natural scent that rises with the warmth of the wrist. It is faint and it fades if the piece is not worn.

Will the colour change?

Yes, slowly. Wood and bodhi beads darken and take a polish from being handled. This is expected, not damage.

What is a mala?

A strand used for counting recitations, traditionally 108 beads. The Dunhuang-inspired mala here has 108 bodhi root beads of 6×9mm with a carved guru bead.

Can they get wet?

Better not. Water raises the grain and can crack a bead as it dries.