Eastern religions use one hand to move the beads while trying to suspend thinking and attain a state of oneness with their surroundings.
Catholics generally use two hands to manipulate the beads while pursuing forgiveness.
Buddhist monks always carry a strand of prayer beads, or rosary, usually consisting of 108 beads, which corresponds to the number of mental conditions or earthly desires that the devotee must overcome in order to reach Nirvana.
In Islam the prayer bead tradition became a 99-bead strand divided into 3 sections by marker beads and a 100th bead (the leader bead) to signify the completion of one cycle of devotion. Each of the 99 names of Allah and his attributes are represented by a bead, and "Allah" is uttered on the leader bead. It is believed that evil spirits do not like dangling objects, making the tassel effective in warding off the "evil eye."
Worry beads were favored in Greece, Turkey, and Armenia, usually contained 33 beads (Christ's age at death) and were fidgeted with to relieve the day's tension.
Early Christians used rosaries for talismanic purposes. For example, coral has long been thought to purify blood and prevent illness in children. Later, the Church decided rosaries were better suited as a counting device to finger while praying assigned memorized prayers. A full rosary consists of 150 beads, corresponding to the number of Psalms, and is called a chaplet or Psalter.