The first shrine

When I started this tiny construction project, I thought I was building a tea house. That's all.

But, in my inimitable fashion, learning all about tiny construction while building tiny shrines has become a bit of a passion. My world of tiny construction opened up with a video of a contractor building a scale model of his home in 1/12 scale. The "Duh!" light bulb flashed above my head. Double wall construction.

After building a scale model box (see previous posts about Double Wall Construction) I was ready to begin my first piece. The first little tea house was built out of popcicle sticks and coffee stirrers. Also, I put it together with completely inadequate tools (Xacto knife, scissors) before the appearance of the tiny Xacto miter box and saw.

So, the project has evolved like this:

I found the fabrics in a stash, a year after my first thoughts about curtains in a miniature tea house (see previous posts about the Japanese Tea House). At that time, I was concentrating on the Faerie Project, which did not included a Japanese Faerie Tea House.

This time around, those fabrics jumped right into my hands and said, "Now!"

After exploring, and exactly following, the YouTube video about building a Japanese Tea House, I started to think about other tiny structures: shrines, temples, replicas of the tools and paraphernalia of the Divine. Which lead to the to the various divinities, temples, shrines and teaching which have influenced my life.

I chose three such influences to start the project. Why three, Ginna? Can't you just do one at a time?

Consider all that drying time.

The three choices: a Zen Shrine, a Shaman's Tipi and a Rose Window. You'll hear plenty about the Shaman's Tipi and the Rose Window later, but here first is a series of photos about building the altar for the Zen Shrine. I chose to do the Zen shrine first to continue to hone my skills in tiny double wall construction.  And, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Susuki Roshi of Tassajara Zen Center in Carmel Valley was one of the first spiritual books I ever read other than the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. So, here is where I'll begin my series honoring higher consciousness and the divine.