Daoist Altar

[七星門]

In the works. I'm using Brock Silvers' Taoist Manual ($5 on kindle, well worth it) to guide me as I'm constructing the altar. 

 

The altar itself is constructed of locally sourced cherry wood & made by a family of practicing Zen Buddhists finished with beeswax, the pedestal is teak sourced from a Thai family business. 

 

Brock suggests one to three deities, so I've invited these three. From our left to right, Guan Yu, Laojun, Zhong Kui. Impossible to find in the states, so they were all sourced from Chinese distributors, I hope they're ethically produced. 

 

Altar cloth was made by a lovely woman who is a practicing Buddhist that has a small side business sewing altar cloths & mala bags. She had pieces of a vintage Kimono from the 40s in red with Chrysanthemums &  connected the two pieces with a few inches of red silk. 

 

Various implements are all brass. Picked up the candlesticks from church surplus on the cheap, candles are beeswax. The brass bowls were all found on Amazon pretty cheaply. The larger bowl is intended for the lustral water. The censer has a pattern of cranes & is topped with a turtle, filled with white ash.  

 

Singing bowl was made in Tibet, or so I was told, of seven metals. Sounds lovely. Small Rosewood box has incense & candles, little notebook is a practice log. 

 

I am missing two components, foremost is a hardwood twig that is used an aspergillum which I intend to cut on the New Moon when I will "open" the altar. Second are a set of I Ching coins that will rest on our right. In its final resting place I will have it oriented toward the North as he suggests so that the deities are looking South. 

 

Once complete there are representations of all five phases, censer as metal, water, twig as wood, candles as fire, ash in the censer as earth.

 

It's been quite an endeavor that required some hunting, but I was able to acquire all the necessary components rather easily. 

 

Any suggestion or criticisms are welcome, particularly looking for recommendations for the type of tree to cut a branch from & any recommended manner to thank it for the sacrifice. 

[silent thunder]

Thank you for sharing.

[七星門]

1 hour ago, silent thunder said:

Thank you for sharing.

 

My pleasure, it's been fun! 

[steve]

My only comment is that the most important thing about a shrine is that it supports your practice.

It's beautiful, thank you for sharing.

[Limahong]

11 hours ago, 七星門 said:

It's been quite an endeavor that required some hunting

 

Hi 七星門 ,

 

Your hunting, photograph and commentary speak volumes per a personal endeavor. What is the feeling like to be with your altar?

 

- LimA

[七星門]

5 hours ago, Limahong said:

 

Hi 七星門 ,

 

Your hunting, photograph and commentary speak volumes per a personal endeavor. What is the feeling like to be with your altar?

 

- LimA

 

I'm hesitant to acknowledge it as a "personal" endeavor because the gathering of these items was itself an act of devotion. & to a certain extent I feel there were a number of synchronicities that permitted me to gather these things & assemble the shrine. 

 

The vintage kimono pieces were acquired by the seamstress on a trip to China for the New Year, two days before I checked with her to have something made. 

 

I've been hosting Zhong Kui for nearly a year & I serendipitously found Guan Yu in the same style that provides balance to the Altar. 

 

I inadvertently ordered the little candles without realizing their dimensions, so they didnt fit the candlesticks I acquired for the altar. When going through my implement cupboard I found some tiny candlesticks I bought some years ago without realizing how little they were & just put in storage, they were a perfect fit for the candles, so I incorporated them. Felt like it was meant to be. 

 

The list goes on, but I only had to endure some austerities & everything kind of came to me so long as I made sacrifices. 

 

To your question, how do I feel to be with the altar? I hope it is pleasing, but primarily feel that it does not belong to me. 

 

We'll see what happens when it's properly opened. 

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Cool, altars are quite the tricky business, but really lovely to fuss about with.

 

It looks great and you went through a lot of work to make it happen!

I remember going about from shop to shop to find The Perfect cups to offer libations, turns out i already had three matching ones at home that were wrapped and unused and just right.

Sifu helped me adjust a few details using the most unspecial scraps of stuff, converting their use and purpose completely and fixing it just right.

 

I can understand the feeling of it not belonging to you, especially if it hasn’t been opened. I felt pretty weird around my altar and the illustrious one having a furnitured living space in my house, even though it was opened and everything. We started getting along in a week roundabout.

 

The most important rule i’ve found is honesty of heart and respectful openness to the connection such a tool can help you establish. If done right and proper any material can be perfect, if done wrong or for the wrong reasons you could make it out of gemstones only and it would be uninhabitable if you know what i mean?

 

Offerings, asking for help or guidance, sitting in quiet coexistance.

Imho, the altar is yours as a belonging. An extension of your house, your inner space, a place of meeting.

Whom you invite there are permanent guests in your home and will always behave impeccably as long as you treat them with the earnest kindness and respect like you would treat a long lost friend or grandparent, someone that is impossible to harbor secrets or misgivings from and whose judgement and knowledge you trust completely. I know that i am know to them better than i do myself, their vision of me is far less judgemental but far more demanding.

 

Sometimes my venerable cohabitant is away on business, sometimes i can only offer a thought although i’d like to talk for hours, but the light is never off and i would never refuse him anything, so he shows understanding towards my occasional forgetfulness or lack of quiet mind.

 

You have many good things in store for you, don’t be shy!

[thelerner]

Looking good.  Just finished the book myself.  Great insights into the religious aspect of Taoism.  Lots there I never knew. 

[七星門]

On 3/26/2018 at 3:32 PM, Rocky Lionmouth said:

Offerings, asking for help or guidance, sitting in quiet coexistance.

Imho, the altar is yours as a belonging. An extension of your house, your inner space, a place of meeting.

 

I agree that devotional altars are a special breed, very much feel that the installation is not personal property, it is more as a caretaker than an owner that I keep their house.

 

Offerings abound, though! I burned a pile of aloeswood when opening, but now give three lakawood incense sticks morning & evening as well as two candles. I'm keeping fresh flowers & fruit there as well. Tangelos are the perfect size for the offering dishes. 

 

I'm still feeling my way through it, but I'm inclined to feel that it's somewhat like digging a well. The water's there, but if you seek it out & make space for it then it nourishes life, makes an oasis. 

 

[Limahong]

On 3/16/2018 at 8:13 PM, 七星門 said:

We'll see what happens when it's properly opened

 

Hi 七星門 ,

 

Perhaps 'properly opened' is a misnomer. Why?

To me it pertains to a journey, not a destination.

 

- LimA

 

 

[Starjumper]

What good is an altar if you don't have a picture of your master on it?