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This prayer wheel comes from Tibet and reminds me of its awe inspiring landscape, people and above all its religion. The wheel, which is made of bone and wood with tiny pieces of turquise and coral inlay, contains a scroll with a prayer written on it. When it is spun - as with all prayer wheels - this incantation is sent flying out to all parts of the world. I can't read the characters but I suspect it will be a message of peace and goodwill. Though not a Buddhist I do believe in reincarnation and this wheel has a particular meaning to me because I was born just at the time the Chinese invaded Tibet and began the process of crushing this ancient culture. Hundreds of monasteries were destroyed and this peace-loving country which, so far as I can tell, had never harmed another has been replaced by a rather brutal and materialistic regime which is extremely intolerant of the profound religious feelings of the Tibetans. The result was that the Dalai Lama fled to India, beginning a diaspora which continues to this day. So, like the prayer which is contained in this wheel and which flies to all parts of the world, the culture of Tibet is becoming disseminated to all people