Anyone know the proper technique to use when you’re handling worry beads? I have a set and have tried to get it down, but so far I’ve failed. I haven’t found anything useful on the net (Google failed me).
Any tips would be appreciated…
"Traditionally, the most common way to use the Worryknot is by allowing gravity to pull its weight down. The Worryknot should not be clumped into the palm of your hand, but rather left to dangle while using the middle finger as the fulcrum. The point on the Worryknot where the two ends of the chain/rope meet is where it should rest and hang down from your middle finger. While looking at your hand with the palm facing up, the Worryknot should be swaying down towards the ground.
From the start, you can immediately begin to enjoy its soothing ability. While applying only a minimal amount of energy, swing the Worryknot upward and over your index finger so that it hangs over the top of your hand, or the palm side of all four fingers. At this point you may use your thumb to individually guide each bead or item over the top. This act of flipping the beads continues until have all flipped over the top and the worryknot is then swung back again over the top and back into the position from where it started. This method of flipping is continued until it can be performed involuntarily. Once you find the method of relaxation that is the most suiting and comfortable for your needs, then you are at the beginning of relieving your mind and body from the stresses and bad habits of your daily life."
From Worryknot.com.
I believe the Greek word for them is Kobologia. I’ve seen a lot of different ways that people use them, and never seen or heard of anyone “correcting” anyone else on their usage. It would appear that the correct or at least generally accepted answer is therefore “Whatever works for you.”
Perhaps someone on this thread can comment on their possible origin in Islamic prayer beads? Is this in fact true?
As the link in the post above tells, they are called komboloi.
“The beads are called komboloi (pronounced come-bo-loy, with the accent on the last syllable) or worry beads. The word komboloi comes from the word kombos, meaning knot, specifically a large number of knots, and loi, meaning a group that sticks together.”
"The beads have no special religious significance, but are used to release tension and stress.
What are their origins? Here are a few of the theories:
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Worry beads started on Mount Athos in northern Greece, where strands of beads are made of woolen knots tied on a string at regular intervals. These knotted prayer strings are called komboskini. Komboloi or komboskini are still used to count prayers by the monks in the monasteries on Mount Athos. The monks make their worry beads out of handy, inexpensive materials such as wood, shells, hazelnuts and olive pits.
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Worry beads came across the Aegean Sea from Asia Minor. While the Turks occupied Greece after the fall of Constantinople, from 1453 to 1821, the rebellious Greeks used to mock the occupying Turks as they used strands of 40 beads for prayer. The beads then simply took a Greek form.
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According to Katerina Agrafioti in a article she wrote for Greece’s English monthly, The Athenian, “Komboloi arrived in Greece following the Asia Minor debacle, brought by a family seeking refuge here in the 1920s. Opening a shop in Kokkinia, a working-class neighborhood of Piraeus, the family began producing the first truly Greek worry beads.”
Are you worried that you aren’t working your worry beads correctly?