How to make Prayer Ties

Prayer ties are made as offerings of prayers, intentions and gratitude. For Vision Quest prayer ties are made to hold the prayers and intentions of the person sitting and also for the lodge and the brothers and sisters sitting or holding space.

Tobacco is a medicine, just like sage, sweetgrass or cedar and for the Cherokee, Lakota or Cree, tobacco is considered one of the most sacred medicines. It is a most cherished medicine and therefore, it is not to be abused or sold for profit - it is to be used within ceremonies. The native way of doing things is simple - if you receive something you also give something – in this way we give or offer tobacco to carry our prayers to Creator.

At the start of the Vision Quest ceremony the prayer ties made for you are hung around your neck and the prayer ties for the lodge are strung around the lodge itself to create a sacred space for journeying. At the end of the Vision Quest ceremony we offer the prayer ties to spirit by burning them in the fire and releasing their energies.

There are many different teachings on prayer ties but the key is intention – what is it that you are praying for?

For Vision Quest we make prayer ties to the four sacred directions – East (Yellow), South (Red), West (Black), North (White), Mother Earth (Green), Father Sky (Blue), within – Moon (Indigo) without - Sun – creator (Purple). For each element we do 13 prayer ties to represent the 13 moons to come. For Vision Quest those sitting make 104 prayer ties for self and 104 prayer ties for the lodge – those supporting make 104 prayer ties for the lodge. So, on your string you will have yellow, red, black, white, green, blue, indigo, purple then back to yellow and so on.

When complete it’s easiest to wrap the prayer ties around piece of cardboard so they don’t get tangled.

To begin first you need

• Small squares of fabric (about 5cm square)

• String or twine

• Natural tobacco

• Sage (to smudge yourself and all your supplies)

Start by smudging everything and setting your Intention to create your prayer ties.

Say your prayer then place a small pinch of tobacco in the centre of a square of fabric. Fold the fabric over … Fold it a second time and then a third time. Now pinch the bundle together making what looks like a little ghost.

Tying your prayers onto a continuous string

First - Loop the string

Then - Bring the end back through the loop

Closer look at bringing the loop through

Insert your tie into loop and pull string tight.

Do the process of looping the string again and insert another prayer tie making a continuous length of prayer ties.

In peace and love always.