Altar update... again.

1. Wine box from France

2. blank CD

3. white taper candle, from the drawer in the kitchen

4. tiny trunk from the Tibetan store on Bedford. Containing:

a. white glove from Dana's grandparents (right)

b. balls of black and white yarn from old projects

c. tiny skeleton dog from Mexico

5. Night Circus inspired art. Made of:

a. olive jar

b. rocks from fish tank

c. black and white papers

d. scrap of black fabric

6. white glove from Dana's grandparents (left)

7. Crow chocolate box from Boston

8. matchbox from the previous tenants

9. lava rocks from Iceland

10. tiny mortar and pestle

11. dried rose petals

12. international coins.

Altar update... again

So I just had two play readings, and now they're over, and I don't exactly know what's next, and that's called 'the end of a cycle'. So, here's the new version of my altar. It's very green. I should probably look up what that means.

Elements (top to bottom, left to right):

1. Wine box, gift from my mom, brought back from France.

2. Upside down drying pink rose, gift from Jannifer for my play reading Tuesday 2/21.

3. Tiny trunk, gift from Dana from Tibetan shop on Bedford. Full of spare change and fabric scraps.

4. Edward Gorey's Fantod deck (a nonsense oracle deck published in Esquire Magazine in the sixties and reissued in 1995 and again in 2007), gift from Amanda.

5. Handmade crow box from chocolate shop in Boston, gift from Barbara M.

6. Multi strand button necklace, gift from my mom, bought in Spain.

7. Lava rocks, gift from Danam brought back from Iceland.

8. Matchbook, left by previous tenants.

9. Ruffle foot for sewing machine, bought in garment district New York, NY.

10. Earthenware tile with abstract flower, made in college at pottery studio in Port Chester NY.

11. Candle stub, bought in Lennox MA

12. Fantod cards: The Tunnel, The Child, The Bottle

13. Square of green silk brocade, bought off ebay in high school, mailed from Antioch, CA.

14. Black and white striped cotton shirting, left over from unfinished dress, bought in garment district New York, NY.

Altar update.

The truth is I've actually made a bunch of stuff at work in the past month, and by the end of the week I'll get you pictures. But this is what I did today... well, mostly today: I altered the altar.

Can you spot the differences?

A: Of course you can't, that would be insane. So here they are:

1. Subtract the white glove from the tiny chest (I think that's the only subtraction)

2. Add the Chinese Lantern necklace, (gift from grandfather to grandmother from WWII when he was stationed in Japan)

3. Add the new oracle cards. I'm trying to learn about this stuff (I guess that's the point of the altar too) because I think it's interesting and I like the objects ascetically and the ritual aspect kind of appeals to me, but of course those are the wrong motivations. Look at the cards. I was supposed to get a simple, positive, easy to read deck.

4. Add tiny altar. After reading about all the cleansing and beam-of-light imagining I was supposed to do in connection with the oracle cards I had a little freak out about my nialism and the life of detachment and misery ahead of me. I dealt with that by making this tiny altar on my altar.

4. Add tiny altar continued. You might remember from the previous post that my strategy for altar construction is visual and intuitive (I just find stuff I like and move it around until it stops making me uncomfortable). That's what I did with this one. Elements are listed from the bottom up.

a. Ceramic tile I made in college. Abstract flower painted in colored slip with a sumi brush onto unfired stoneware slab, matte glaze.

b. scrap torn from problem scene of play in progress.

c. coins moved from the other side of the altar.

d. candle stub.

e. scene from Waiting for Godot drawn with thin tipped Sharpie on card stock given to me by Gina's dad.

I also made some banana bread.

Altar

I don't think of myself as New Age-y. A dabbler. Not a believer. Anyway, I've been a bit shaky lately, stretched a little too thin, and I was talking to Dana about her New Age-y online course and I became convinced that I needed an altar. So with almost no research, on almost entirely aesthetic impulses I made this one:

Components (listed more or less from the top down and left to right):

1. Wine box from France, formerly full of spices (gift from Mom)

2. Hand-made crow box from chocolate shop in Boston (gift from

Barbara M)

3. Matchbook (left by previous tenants)

4. Tiny chest from Tibetan shop on Bedford Ave (gift from Dana)

a. Balls of white, yellow and light blue yarn left over from

Wonder Woman sweater. (bought in Fort Greene, NY)

b. Ball of green tweed yarn left over from various projects. (bought in

Albany, NY)

c. Ball of dark blue yarn left over from aviator hat (bought in Lee,

MA)

d. Vintage white knit glove (origin unknown/not remembered)

5. Piece of modular menorah from Chicago museum of Contemporary Art (gift from Mom)

6. Flawed Hanukkah candles from Lennox, MA (gift from Mom)

7. Slinky (bought in Mamaroneck, NY)

8. Tea lights (gift from Dana to help me with my altar)

9. Lava rocks from Iceland (gift from Dana)

10. Awesome clock (bought from vender with folding table at SUNY Purchase, NY)

11. Spare change, including Bahamas quarter and Canadian penny

(grabbed at random from bowl on top of toaster oven Greenpoint, NY)

12. Silk brocade square with fish (bought on ebay in high school and

mailed from Antioch, CA 5/6/2005)

13. Printed cotton scrap left over from unfinished quilt (bought at

Fabrics Garden 39th st between 7th and 8th New York, NY)

The formatting of this post makes me weep. I've edited it maybe a dozen times trying to get the indents right on the list.