I admit it, my quest for organization and simplicity has even touched my spiritual life. I like to consolidate all of my "prayers", "healing energies", "well-wishes"... whatever you want to call them...into one daily moment of meditation. Each evening, I place any new thoughts into my prayer bowl, light the candle and send my thoughts into the beyond to work their magic (or to be worked upon-however you view it). In my mind, this is similar to uploading all of my files at once instead of one at a time .

The concept of a prayer bowl came to me through a friend who received it from another friend and I'm sure she came upon the knowledge the same way. I believe transference of knowledge in this way adds a special layer of love energy with each person who passed it on...so if you like this project, please...pass it on!

Practically speaking, you can make this project for under $10 (and maybe under $5!) and in under 10 minutes. A prayer bowl is a wonderful gift, too, by the way, regardless of your faith.

Now on to the nitty-gritty details:

Materials:

1. A large, flat, glass bowl. Usually available at craft stores (and very inexpensive at Wal-Mart). I used one with a stem (see below), but that's not necessary.

2. A small, glass votive holder, preferably one that's about 2" or slightly taller (see pic above). These are usually less than $1.

3. Several river rocks of various sizes. I saw these yesterday at the dollar store for $1/bag! I believe I bought mine at Target for $2.00. But if you really want to add some powerful energy to your prayer bowl...go and collect some river rocks yourself (they're free!).

4. A small tealight candle. (I know you're using a votive holder, but I feel that a shorter candle is a safer bet to prevent accidents).

5. A long-handled lighter or long matches.

Tools:

1. Your heart!

2. Imagination.