Origins of the Prayer Flag Tradition
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The Tibetan prayer flag tradition probably has its roots in the ancient shamanistic traditions of the Zhang-Zhung region of Western Tibet. This indigenous religion, dating back to Central Asia, came to be known by the name Bön. Many aspects of the Tibetan culture originated with the Bönpos, including Tibetan Sang (incense) offerings, prayer flags, Tibetan medicine and healing practices, and many of the traditional rituals used today by Tibetan Buddhist lineages.
According to their ancient medical system, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the 5 primary elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. These are the fundamental building blocks of both our physical bodies and of our environment. Bonpo priests used primary colored cloth flags in healing ceremonies. Each color corresponded to a different primary element. Properly arranging colored flags around a sick patient harmonized the elements in his body, helping to produce a state of physical and mental health. Colored flags were also used to help appease the local gods and spirits of the mountains, valleys, lakes and streams. These elemental beings, when provoked were thought to cause natural disasters and disease. Balancing the outer elements and propitiating the elemental spirits with rituals and offerings was a way of pacifying nature and invoking the blessings of the elemental nature spirits.
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Prayer flags on rope come in five-colored sets of 5, 10 and 25 flags. |
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BLUE - Space WHITE - Air RED - Fire GREEN - Water YELLOW - Earth |
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Vertical Prayer Flags on poles come in many heights, in individual colors, or in five colored sets. Some pole flags have all 5 colors in one flag.
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It is not known whether or not the Bonpos ever wrote words on their flags.
Even if no writing was added to the plain strips of cloth, it is likely that they painted sacred symbols on them. Some symbols seen on Buddhist prayer flags today undoubtedly have Bonpo origins; their meanings now enhanced with the deep significance of Vajrayana Buddhist philosophy. From the 7th Century CE Buddhism gradually assimilated into the Tibetan way of life. Buddhist began printing their prayers and sutras on the flags. In the ninth century the religious King of Tibet invited the powerful Indian meditation master, Guru Padmasambhava, to come control the forces then impeding the spread of Buddhism. Guru Rinpoche, as he is popularly known, bound the local Tibetan spirits by oath and transformed them into
forces compatible with the
spread of Buddhism.
Some to the prayers seen on flags today were composed by Guru Rinpoche to pacify the spirits that cause disease and natural disasters.
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Originally the writing and images on prayer flags were painted by hand, one at a time. Woodblocks, carefully carved in mirror image relief, were introduced from China in the 15th century. This invention made it possible to reproduce identical prints of the same design. Traditional designs could then be easily passed down from generation to generation. Most of our prayer flags are printed using the traditional woodblock methods, but a few years ago we started printing some of our designs using the silk screen method. Whereas woodblock printing only allows for black ink, in screen printing, colored inks are available. White and other light colored inks can be printed on darker color cloth. |
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There are dozens of traditional prayer flag designs and any of them can be printed on any of the five colors of fabric. Many of our prayer flag sets, (Medicine Buddha, Prayer for World Peace, Prayer to Avert Nuclear War, etc,) have one one design printed on all five colors. We also carry "Mixed Sets," where each color has a different design. Many of our prayer flags sets are printed this way. Have fun exploring Prayerflags.com.
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During this month, the Nagas are gathering together in great meetings. If you make offerings to them during teb days, they will perceive your offerings as ambrosia. The result of this will bring much benefit to the
surrounding environment, and all your wishes and aspirations will come true.
On the other hand, if you make offerings during the dok days, they will thing your offerings as garbage and refuse and they will run
away from you.
There are four especially good days to make offerings - May 5, 22, 23, 25. The worst day to make offerings is the 16th (full moon).
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One simple remedy for Mac Desktops and Laptop that worked for me is to update the setting in the Mail program to show images/download attachments via this path:
-Mail-Mailbox-Preferences-Accounts-[Google or other email provider] IMAP-Account Information-Download Attachments-select ALL
-Clear the cache. Sometimes caching can prevent the images from displaying on Mac devices.
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We appreciate feedback from our customers; encouragement ,suggestions and constructive criticism. We also enjoy getting photos of prayer flags on display, especially ones you got from us.
Email us at: prayerflags1@gmail.com
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