Friday, May 8, 2009

Gathering cardboard

I am in the midst of collecting cardboard for the creation of some new teaching aids. Or rather the creation of some better teaching aids...I have used the technique before; I am just upgrading my props.

With the cardboard, it is a matter of beating my wife to it. Much of our cardboard goes towards supplying an elementary school art room (usable cardboard that is, the rest goes into the recycling bin).

I am particularly interested in the round cardboard pieces from the pizza boxes.

A few years ago, I used some pastels and paper to create a set of small sephiroth floor markers. The goal was to have the spots on the floor labeled as per the Tree of Life/Grade ritual diagrams.

At first, they were purely for my own personal use. When I started using them, I was working in less than ideal conditions (ritual in the living room of a very small apartment); anything that would help remind me that I was working in sacred space was a good thing.

Then when I ended up in Bast Temple as training officer, I brought the technique over into lodge.

I am not sure if any of the current members have seen me use them; but then again, the current membership has seen things that former members have not seen. Let's call it even.

Anyway, I am hoping to make a new set of sephiroth floor markers. I am kicking around using them at the June Open Full Moon ritual to illustrate something, and I definitely need them for an upcoming lodge session.

So here is hoping that I gather enough of them before my wife decides she needs them, for around here recycling occasionally means supplying material for elementary school art projects.

1 comment:

Theo Huffman said...

You touched off a fond memory! When I was in college (early 80s) I made a set of colored cardboard sephirah disks, about eight inches in diameter, to give a talk on tarot. It was so instructive, both to myself and to the people I lectured, to lay out the tree on the big conference table, and then to lay the major arcana cards on the paths.

Oh man! I'm going to have to make another set of those. Thanks for reminding me!