Seasonal Ritual: Make a Grounding Talisman Bracelet for Fall
A beading ritual in collaboration with MINKA Brooklyn, a community-centered and spiritually-driven space for wellness and harmonious living.
When I was living in New York and still experienced all four seasons, I remember how much of a retreat fall felt like for me. I wasn’t necessarily trying to hide from anyone, but instead of leaving work to catch an event, meet a friend, or make plans for the weekend, I often found myself looking forward to going home, putting on some music, cooking a meal, and getting cozy. I would light lots of candles and incense, maybe run a hot bath with some epsom salt and lavender, and spend more time reading, meditating, journaling, and reflecting. And I did it all within the sanctuary I had built inside my Bed-Stuy studio apartment.
As I’ve shared previously, there’s a sensuality to the season for me in the ways we warm ourselves, layer our clothes, eat comforting and nourishing foods, and get cozy with ourselves and the people we love. All of that can bring about a sense of safety, and I think many people also use that feeling to slow down and reset before the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the eventual entry into the new year.
For some people, though, autumn may feel like the opposite. The shift in weather, shorter days, and changing light can leave you feeling ungrounded, anxious, or depressed. If your family is fragmented, maybe this time of year—when togetherness seems to be advertised everywhere while you’re grieving, missing loved ones, or navigating a complicated relationship with home—is actually really hard for you. The busyness and expectations of the season can make it easier to become disconnected from ourselves as well.
In those moments, it can be helpful to have something that brings us back to our center, whether we’re moving through sadness, swept up in the pace of the season, or simply wanting to remain connected to an intention. If you’re like me, you may already have a spiritual practice and use this time of year to take stock of where you are. Maybe you just need a physical reminder to pause, feel your feet beneath you, and breathe. That’s where the idea of creating a grounding talisman for this season came from.
I’ll never forget attending a mindfulness craft hour at my therapist’s office one evening after work. We made grounding bracelets using beads in whatever colors, shapes, and materials resonated with us. Afterward, we scented them with essential oils so we could use them as grounding objects. The texture of the beads gave our hands something to focus on, while the scent was meant to call us back to the present moment. We sat in one another’s company, talked, and focused on making. The whole experience was deeply relaxing.
That’s why I love this activity for fall. The process of making can be grounding in itself, but when you’re finished, you also have something tangible to wear or hold onto when you need to pause, breathe, and reconnect with what matters most to you during this time of year. And if you create it around a specific intention, mantra, prayer, or feeling, the bracelet can become a reminder of whatever you choose to speak into it.
A talisman is an object given meaning through intention, belief, ritual, or relationship. Traditionally, talismans have often been carried with the hope of attracting protection, good fortune, wisdom, strength, courage, or another quality we want more of in our lives. Talisman came into English through French, Spanish, and Italian, with roots that trace back through Arabic and Greek to ideas of consecration, completion, and initiation into mysteries.
People have been wearing jewelry as amulets and talismans for thousands of years. In ancient Egypt, for example, amulets were worn or placed on the body and were believed to offer benefits such as protection, well-being, healing, and regeneration. Their meaning could come from a combination of their material, color, shape, inscription, and even the words spoken over them. These objects were not limited to the wealthy, either; many Egyptian amulets were likely inexpensive and accessible to ordinary people. And this wasn't just in Egypt. Protective jewelry and sacred objects have taken many other forms across cultures and time, from evil-eye beads to religious medals and objects made from shells, stones, plants, and other natural elements.
In this tutorial, I’m going to guide you through a grounding ritual and help you create a beaded talisman bracelet for fall. We’ll be making a stretch bracelet because it’s one of the most accessible types of jewelry to make. But if you’re an experienced maker and would rather use jewelry wire, crimp beads, or a clasp, definitely feel free to make the project your own.
What you’ll need
Beads (and charms or pendants, if you’d like)
Stretch jewelry cord, such as Stretch Magic, in a size that fits through the holes in your beads
Scissors
A journal
Something to write with
A small tray, bowl, or cloth to keep your beads from rolling away
A quiet place to sit and create
Helpful but optional:
A ruler or measuring tape
Flexible jewelry glue, like E6000
Essential oil
Music
For glue, I like E6000 for gluing my finishing knots because it dries with a flexible, rubber-like consistency, but you can use another adhesive made specifically for jewelry and stretch cord. If you use glue (which I honestly recommend), follow the directions on its packaging and give the bracelet plenty of time to cure before wearing it. E6000 can take between 24 and 72 hours to cure fully.
Also, if you plan to scent your bracelet, choose one or two porous beads that can hold fragrance, such as unfinished wood, unglazed clay, or lava stone. Oils may discolor or damage certain stones, pearls, elastic, finishes, or coated beads, so test a small area first. Essential oils can also irritate the skin when used undiluted, so avoid saturating the bracelet or applying the oil directly to your wrist. Be sure to check the instructions for the particular oil you’re using and skip this step entirely if you have sensitivities.
Before you begin
You don’t need to know the traditional meaning assigned to every color or stone before choosing your beads. You’re welcome to learn about those associations if they’re meaningful to you, but you can also trust your own response.
What feels grounding to you?
Maybe it’s the weight of a larger bead, the roughness of stone, the warmth of wood, or the coolness of glass. Maybe deep brown makes you think of soil, red reminds you of vitality, or blue helps you feel calm. Trust your own associations and intuition. This is your talisman.
Step 1: Arrive in your body
Set aside five to ten minutes to meditate before you begin.
Put on some soothing music if you’d like, then sit in a comfortable position and notice the places where your body is being supported. Feel your feet on the floor, your body against the chair, or your legs resting beneath you. You don’t have to force yourself to relax. Just notice that you are here.
Follow your breath for a few moments. You might place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly, or keep both hands resting wherever they feel most comfortable.
As you sit, consider what you want to invite into your life this fall. You might ask yourself:
“How do I want to feel this season?”
“What do I want to stay connected to?”
“What helps me feel safe, steady, and present?”
“Is there anything I’m ready to release?”
“What might I need to remember when the season becomes busy or emotionally heavy?”
Step 2: Write down what came up
Open your journal and write down anything that came up during your meditation. This can be a few sentences, a list of words, a prayer, a mantra, or even a feeling. If nothing came up, you can begin with a simple phrase like:
“This fall, I want to remember…”
And just aim to be honest. The goal isn’t to write to impress anyone, because no one else has to read this.
Step 3: Choose your colors and textures
Think about the colors, shapes, materials, and textures that reflect what you wrote, or what you’re aspiring to embody. If your intention is to feel rooted, you may be drawn to earth tones, wood, stone, or beads with a little weight. If you’re calling in softness, maybe you want rounded shapes, muted colors, or smooth glass. If you want to remember your own strength, you might choose something bold, irregular, metallic, or substantial.
You can also include one focal bead or charm that represents your central intention. It might be larger than the others, a different color, inherited from someone you love, or simply the bead that caught your attention first.
Lay out your beads and move them around until the arrangement feels right to you. You can create a repeating pattern, work intuitively without a pattern, or allow the bracelet to be irregular.
Step 4: Gather or source your materials
You can buy beads from a craft or hobby store, but you don’t need to spend a lot of money to make something meaningful. Look through jewelry you already own but no longer wear. Visit a thrift store and find an old beaded necklace or bracelet to deconstruct. Ask a family member whether they have a broken or unworn piece they would be willing to pass along. I really enjoy taking something that has been forgotten and giving it a new life.
If you repurpose older jewelry, check the beads for sharp edges that could cut the cord. Clean them gently in a way that is safe for the particular material (you could even do an energetic cleanse with something like palo santo or by resting your beads near selenite), and make sure the holes are large enough for your stretch cord.
Step 5: Measure your bracelet
Measure around your wrist where you want the bracelet to sit. Then decide whether you prefer a closer or looser fit.
You can also wrap the uncut stretch cord around your wrist to get a feel for the size. Keep in mind that larger beads take up more room on the inside of a bracelet, so you may need more length than you expect.
Cut a piece of cord several inches longer than your finished measurement. The extra length will make it much easier to hold and knot. Gently stretch the cord a few times before stringing so that the finished bracelet is less likely to loosen after you begin wearing it.
If you’re worried about beads slipping off the other end while you work, secure that end with a bead stopper, binder clip, or a small piece of tape. Since I make jewelry regularly, I have a large professional bead design board that I work with, but you can also find small ones online and in craft stores. It’s not necessary that you buy one, but it’s one way to help you keep your beads contained and organized while you work.
Step 6: String your bracelet
Begin adding your beads.
Try not to rush this part. Feel the beads between your fingers. Notice their temperatures, weights, textures, and shapes. Listen to the small sounds they make as they touch one another. The idea is to let the act of stringing become its own meditation.
You might quietly repeat the word, mantra, or prayer you wrote down as you add each bead. You could also imagine infusing something into each bead as you work: steadiness, protection, rest, courage, softness, trust.
Pause occasionally and check the length by carefully wrapping the bracelet around your wrist. Add or remove beads until it fits comfortably and the two ends meet without having to pull the cord too tightly.
Step 7: Tie and finish the bracelet
Once you’re happy with the fit, bring the two ends of the cord together.
Tie them securely, keeping enough tension in the bracelet that there aren’t obvious gaps between the beads. You can use a surgeon’s knot: cross the two ends as if beginning to tie your shoes, but loop one end through twice before pulling it snug. Then cross the ends again in the opposite direction and pull firmly.
Before trimming the excess cord, check the bracelet once more to make sure the knot holds. If you’re using glue, place a very small dab directly on the knot. More glue is not necessarily better here because you don’t want it spreading across the surrounding beads and fusing them together. If one of your beads has a hole large enough to hold the knot, gently slide that bead over it. If not, it’s perfectly fine to leave the knot resting between two beads.
Let the glue cure fully according to the manufacturer’s directions before trimming the excess cord closely or wearing the bracelet.
Step 8: Scent it, if desired
Once the bracelet and glue are completely dry, you can add scent if you included a porous bead.
Rather than soaking the bracelet, use the smallest amount possible. You might place one drop of properly diluted oil on a cotton swab and lightly touch it to an unfinished wood, unglazed clay, or lava bead. Allow it to absorb and dry fully before putting the bracelet on.
You can also skip applying oil to the jewelry and simply keep a scented cloth or diffuser nearby while you use the bracelet for grounding. The talisman doesn’t have to hold the scent itself unless you want to be able to access it on the go.
Step 9: Give your talisman a purpose
Hold the finished bracelet between your palms or place it in front of you.
Return to the intention you wrote in your journal. Say it out loud, whisper it, pray over the bracelet, or simply sit with it quietly. There is no single correct way to do this. The meaning comes from the relationship you create with the object.
You might say something like:
“May this bracelet remind me that I am supported.”
“I can return to myself.”
“I am allowed to move slowly.”
“Even in seasons of change, I can come back to myself.”
Then put the bracelet somewhere safe while the glue finishes curing.
Returning to your talisman
Wear your bracelet throughout the season or keep it somewhere easily accessible like beside your bed, on your altar, at your desk, or in a small pouch inside your bag.
When you feel overwhelmed, touch the beads one at a time. Notice their texture against your fingertips. Take one slow breath for each bead, repeat your intention, or name what you can see, hear, and feel around you.
The bracelet isn’t meant to make difficult feelings disappear, but sometimes grounding objects can help us locate ourselves within any given moment. As you move through fall, may your talisman remind you that you can always pause and return to yourself whenever you need to.
Happy equinox, and happy making!
