Yak bone skull beads

Vintage, large beads in the shape of a human skull, handcarved from yak bone; a beautiful example of traditional, artisan Himalayan bonecraft. 

The skull as a symbol can be found in religions and spiritual traditions all over the world, but nowhere is it more prominent or has a more complex and deep symbolism than in the Himalayan regions influenced by Tibetan buddhism. 

On the one hand it can be said that the symbol of the skull (of course) refers to death; it is a powerful reminder of the fact that all our lives will simply end one day. The symbol of the skull is thus used in all kinds of meditative practices to contemplate on this inevitabilty and also on the other side of this medal; how important it is to live your life in the best possible and most compassionate of ways.

On a more metaphorical level, contemplating on the image of the skull also is a powerful practice in cutting through the bonds with one's own ego and the identification with the physical body. It takes us to the limits of human knowledge and helps to gain insight in the buddhist concept of 'Emptiness', which doesn't mean 'nothing-ness', but actually quite on the contrary refers to the true nature of the universe and reality; the endless, ultimate emptiness in which all possibilities exist.

Human skulls are also very prominent in the iconography around a lot of the 'wrathful' deities in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Wrathful deities are the fierce, forceful aspects or manifestations of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas or Devas. They are often portrait as terrifying, demonic looking beings adorned with human skulls or bone ornaments and ritual weapons. In this setting, the human skulls symbolize all the poisonous delusions and limiting mental beliefs that need to be overcome on the path to enlightenment.

The fact that these skulls are carved from real bone, re-emphasizes their symbolism; holding one of these, you quite literally hold a small piece of death in your hands. Until quite recent times in Tibetan Buddhism (and before that in its pre-decessor the Tibetan Bon tradition) it was quite common to use human bones for all kinds of ceremonial, ritual and symbolic purposes. Nowadays mostly animal bones or even synthetic variants such as resin are used for these purposes. These amazing beads here in our store are handcarved out of yak bone.

Being all handcarved items, and of course made from all natural material, each bead is unique in appearance and has its own distinct character. Size of each bead is approximately 2,5 centimeters high and 2 centimeters wide. With a weight varying between 9 and 11 grams per piece.

These beads have been taken from an old (approximately 1970's-1980's), broken-down mala necklace and are now sold per piece. Being quite large, they have the perfect size to serve as (for example) the guru-bead in a mala, but of course they can be used in all your personal crafting projects.