White Copper Zhakila Three-hole Bead Spacer

The figure with a bottle of liquor on the altar is usually her. Zhaki Lamo's face is fierce: glaring eyes, mouth open, teeth showing, a jewelled crown, and a build that is short and stout. On a base of natural white copper the face is pressed deep, so from a distance it reads as a dark mass and only close up do the features come out. That unreadability is the effect. On a string she does not shout; only in the hand does she show. The patterns on the crown are densely set, and after the antique finish they are a series of dark lines.

She is a worldly protector with heavy offerings around Lhasa, and her image carries clear Han traces: said to have come from the interior and settled in Tibet. Devotees mostly offer her liquor, and what they ask for is practical, trade and a living and the household's income. Alcohol is indispensable among the offerings, and almost everyone in Tibet knows it. Worldly protectors do not deal in liberation, only in the days in front of you, which is why her altar is always busy. People arrive with their own specific trouble, bow, and leave, then come back the next day. The bustle is rather like a Chinese wealth hall; the requests are all concrete.

This comes in three forms: the full set of three-hole bead with spacers, the three-hole bead alone, and the spacers on their own. If your string is already made up, one spacer is enough. If you are restringing, the set saves trouble. White copper takes the antique finish deep enough to hold its colour: with dark wood, coconut shell or ebony it is steady, and against pale bodhi it does not look grubby. Dirt does not show, which is the advantage of a finish like this.

A spacer's job is to separate the main beads, keep them from grinding against each other and give the string a rhythm. There is no rule about where it goes. Some people place one every nine beads, others only one either side of the guru bead, according to feel. The holes of the three-hole bead have to line up; if a side hole is off, the cord runs at an angle and the whole string sits crooked. If a spacer hole is tight, run the cord back and forth through it a few times to smooth the channel rather than forcing it.

Copper dislikes sweat, so in summer wipe the piece after wearing and before putting it away. Do not scrub the antique hollows with toothpaste; once that dark layer is gone it cannot be put back. The subject is not a gentle one, so think before giving it: will the person receiving it be comfortable with it? Before buying, check the cord diameter on your own string. A hole that is too small will not take the cord, and posting it back and forth is a nuisance.