White Copper Green Tara Three-hole Bead Set

In Tibet, when the heart is unsettled, people call her name. Green Tara sits on a lotus, right leg extended, left drawn in, right palm turned outward, a blue utpala flower in her left hand with the stem rising to her shoulder. Cast in white copper, the detail is pressed out in shallow relief: petals and fingers are all still there, not blurred into one mass. The lotus seat has two tiers, the upper and lower rings of petals offset, and even the knuckles of her fingers are articulated.

She is the first of the twenty-one Taras, green in colour. Her name is known in every Tibetan household, the old recite it and children pick it up. Tibetan devotees call on her when something happens, above all when the heart is frightened. Green here is not only a colour; it means action. Rescue has to be quick, and so her posture is that of a figure with one foot already stepping out. This is where she differs from the Guanyin familiar in Han China: Guanyin mostly sits still with lowered eyes, while Tara is always about to rise. Understand that and the feet begin to mean something. Her gaze is downcast, not meeting yours, and when you are in a hurry that face is the thing that quiets you.

The three-hole bead sits at the guru position: three holes, one bead joining the two ends of the string. This set comes with matching pieces, so there is no separate search for colour. The advantage of white copper is its cool tone. It runs smoothly with cool stones such as turquoise and lapis, and does not go flat with South Red agate or amber either; it does not compete, it only brings the colour forward. If you have several colours of bead in hand and cannot decide, white copper is the safest thing to bridge them.

Mind the hole when stringing. White copper holes are not large, so flatten the end of a thick cord before feeding it, and do not grip it with pliers and push. Give the finished bead a tug to test it: the three-hole bead takes all the load on its hole walls, and if it is loose you have to take the string apart and start again, and ten minutes lost at the start is cheaper than redoing it. Leave the cord a little long, tie a firm knot and tuck it into the hole. If the mouth of the hole is slightly rough, two passes with fine abrasive paper will smooth it.

Wipe with a soft cloth day to day, and brush dust out of the hollows with a soft brush. Do not use an ultrasonic cleaner: the little flower stems are delicate and will loosen with vibration. The set suits someone who already has a plain string and wants an ending for it, and equally someone building a first string from nothing. Keep copper away from perfume. Spray first, let it dry, then put the piece on.