"The first cup moistens my lips and throat;
The second cup breaks my loneliness;
The third cup searches my barren entrail but to find therein some thousand volumes of odd ideographs;
The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration-all the wrongs of life pass out through my pores;
At the fifth cup I am purified;
The sixth cup calls me to the realms of the immortals.
The seventh cup-ah, but I could take no more! I only feel the breath of the cool wind that raises in my sleeves.
Where is Elysium? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and waft away thither."
Lu Tung (Chinese poet during T'ang Dynasty) "Tea-Drinking"
"I long for Americans to be converted to simpler lives, simpler structures, and preservation of open space. But how do deep, radical conversions come about? Not because some righteous neighbor scolds about herbicide, but because one feels the relentless gnawing of one's own soul. Because one is spoken to by a little house or a great blue heron, or by the offhand remark of a happy person at peace with herself.
Some deep bell in the self reverberates to a bell struck outside. Anyone who comes to any level of ecological understanding has done so after a long internal process."
The Barn at the End of the World:
The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd
By Mary Rose O'Reilley
"In religion the Future is behind us. In art the Present is the eternal. The tea-master held that real appreciation of art is only possible to those who make of it a living influence. Thus they sought to regulate their daily life by the high standard of refinement which was obtained in the tea-room. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be maintained, and conversation should be so conducted as never to mar the harmony of the surroundings. The cut and color of the dress, the poise of the body, and the manner of walking could all be made expressions of artistic personality. These were matters not to be lightly ignored, for until one has made himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty. Thus the tea master strove to be something more than the artist -- art itself. It was the Zen of aestheticism. Perfection is everywhere if we only choose to recognise it."
Kakuzo Okakura, The Book Of Tea
"Let us imagine a family table. Some of the people sitting at the table are blood relatives and some are family by choice. After all, what do we mean by family? We mean people who are deeply and lovingly connected to one another (for better and worse), people we can count on. In a pinch I can call my sister. I can also call on one of my close old pals who is related to me by bonds, and bonds can be every bit as strong as blood, just as blood can be much less consequential than a bond."
Laurie Colwin, More Home Cooking
"I believe we were all put here to discover our own truths and honor them to the fullest. I don't believe that man went through eons of evolutions to become lemmings or sheep. Each and every one of us has a unique spirit that is begging to be nurtured. Maybe nurturing that spirit would truly evolve our species."
Dan Price
Radical Simplicity: Creating an Authentic Life
"There is time for everything."
Thomas Edison
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Rachel Kolb
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Monte Vista, CO
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adventure or two along the way!
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"What is the most wonderful thing for people like myself who follow the Way of Tea? My answer: the oneness of host and guest created through 'meeting heart to heart' and sharing a bowl of tea...you feel one with nature, and there is peace... "
Soshitsu Sen XV, Tea Life, Tea Mind
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"I am sorry to tell you that I am getting very extravagant & spending all my Money; & what is worse for you, I have been spending yours too."
~ On Tea & Shopping
Letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra,
18 April 1811
from Tea With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson
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"Another fine thing for the soul,
after a meal in the evening, is
one of those herbals teas which
French people used to call
tisanes.
They are simply hot water poured
over a few dried leaves of mint
or verbena or lime flowers or
camomile. They can be drunk
with or without sugar, and a
twist of lemon may be added.
They smooth out wrinkles in
your mind miraculously, and
make you sleep, with sweet
dreams too."
M.F.K Fisher
"How To Comfort Sorrow"
"Like Japanese art and poetry, the Tea Ceremony is delicate and lovely. While it appears fragile and simple, it is strongly symbolic and profound. In Japan devotees spend a lifetime in the study of Teaism with its manifold implications in religion and philosophy, in art and architecture, flowers, nature and personal deportment. Those proficient in the art and serving ceremonial tea are equal to whatever adventures and misadventures life may bring, as Teaism develops insight into Nature and Man."
The Japanese Tea Ceremony
Julia V. Nakamura, 1965
"Imagine you were given the assignment of making a rather bland, nearly ripe, just picked apricot as assertive and flavorful as it could possibly be. If you cut the apricot in pieces, set it out in the sun to blacken, bring it inside and spray it with a fine mist of water, and repeat this procedure, then cut it up in smaller pieces, mash them, sliver them, and twist and roll them, and finally squish and pack them, you would produce some version of a dried apricot that has a lot more flavor than a fresh one. This, in the broadest of terms, is what turns a green tea leaf into a black tea.
"When freshly boiling water pours over these twisted, rolled-up leaves, all that stored up flavor is released. The swirling and writhing of the leaves mark the moment when this happens. This moment is called the agony of the leaves. The plantation owners and workers, packers, buyers, shippers, and tea people the world over wait for this crucial moment when tea comes back to life."
Helen Gustafson, The Agony Of The Leaves
The Cup Of Humanity From
THE BOOK OF TEA,
by Kakuzo Okakura
"Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, It entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism -- teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of social order. It is essentially the worship of the imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life."
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All contents copyright 2006
Maitri Libellule
... since January 1, 2006
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Sunday, December 03, 2006
A TEA TO LIFT THE SPIRITS...
A tea to lift the spirits: Hepsabaugh Berry Tisane ... From SBS Teas...
"Bring your favorite dolly and have a tea party! What better blend to have but our flavorful fruit melange with hibiscus blossoms, elderberries, grapes, bilberries, citrus peel and natural raspberry-cherry flavor. Deep berry flavor! Kids and adults both love this tasty brew! Wonderful hot, chilled or frozen as a sorbet. Gorgeous deep red color."
" I'll tell you how the sun rose a ribbon at a time."
Emily Dickinson
I made this ravishing tea as the sun rose, and the sky was the amazing unimaginable colors of early morning, pink, blues, the layover of one color into the next, and then I brewed this early morning tisane, needing something to bring me into this world and out of the place that a dream will sometimes take you, to a land you need most urgently to leave. But I wanted to be able to go back to sleep so I chose a lovely fruity tisane I had not tried yet, and I was nearly dumbstruck at the aroma, the color, a deep cherrry red, the color of red wine. And the fragrance of berries that filled the air brightened all of my senses and brought me back into the world of light. I held my oversized mug in both hands as I watched the kaleidoscopic changing of the sky's colors and a tiny chickadee feeding at the kitchen window feeder. I leaned back against the kitchen counter so as not to frighten the wee small bird away, and my whole body relaxed.
I have come late to the joy of tisanes. I had had black teas and flavored teas and herbal teas in my time, but never true tisanes, all fruit, and juicy as biting into the ripest berries, sweetened by the sun with a bit of tartness quickly swept away by layers and layers of flavor. This is a very complex tea, soothing, and if you like berry teas you should not miss this one.
I went back to sleep and rose again and as the day went along I decided, having brewed a large pot, to try it iced! Oh, what a heavenly treat iced. I was thinking it would make incredible popsicles! I did feel like a little girl at a tea party, and wished I could set up a tiny table with dishes and dolls and my dog and know, in that place of lost dreams, that the world was an innocent place where nothing would ever go wrong. The child's mind before it becomes cluttered with the world's doings and the sometimes harsh realities of life.
I am a dollmaker. I have a wee tiny teaset sent to me by one of my dearest friends. I think I shall have a dolly tea party and pour droplets of this tea into acorn top sized cups. Even if, as the tea disappears, it is I who have drunk it down with a giggle and full of delight, it shall be a wonderful way to turn a rainy, grey, cold Sunday into a day of delight. Tea does that. So do dolls, and knitting, and watching the sun rise, a ribbon at a time.
Maitri
Posted at 01:51 pm by maitri
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