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The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 7:22:43 AM

OttersSwim

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My Lady and I had the privilege of attending the Cherry Blossom Festival at our local BDSM club, The Enclave, this past weekend. The weekend was really wonderful and was hosted by WiCK'D, and the guests were Midori and Madame Butterfly. If you are not familiar with them, Miss Midori is a nationally know rope artist and sex educator, and Madame Butterfly makes the most wonderful hand spun silk and bamboo Shibari ropes...and she knows and teaches the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony with a BDSM twist.

I and several other students were lucky to be able to spend five hours with Madame Butterfly learning the basics of the tea ceremony on Saturday and it was really quite fun! It is a wonderfully intricate ceremony and people study it for years and years. I am a total sucker for ritual and ceremony. In five hours though, I was able to learn enough to be able to conduct a reasonably accurate short version for my Lady and her friends. I am very excited about it! It seems a perfect fit with submission.

The really fun part of it is that the ceremony is typically conducted by people wearing kimonos. When you move in a kimono, you move differently - your steps are shorter, you have large sleeves, etc. We did not have kimonos, but Madame Butterfly did a wonderful shibari leg harness on each of the students that made you mimic the movements of actually wearing a kimono. So a traditional ceremony with a BDSM twist. Kneeling on a hard surface with restrictive ropes around your legs...YUM! We got to do a demo that evening on the main stage and I got to be the host and put in practice what I had learned that day. Much fun!

I have spent the last several days putting my notes into a detailed outline of the ceremony, and have commissioned a potter friend to make us several of the components - tea bowl, cold water pot, waste water pot. The other implements are had quite reasonably on ebay.

There are books that describe and teach the ceremony as well, and there are sites on the internet that give a reasonably accurate portrayal, plus youtube vids and other resources.

One of the best out there is wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony.
and
http://www.japanesegardening.org/reference/chaji.html

If you want to just see the ceremony done hollywood-style, there is a scene from one of the Karate Kid movies where his love interest conducts a ceremony for him.   Quite beautiful I thought - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzeGcl3BNJ4

I hope to use the ceremony as a way for my Lady and I to interact in ritual with new and established friends in the lifestyle. My Lady's playspace has enough room where we can do the whole thing!

I am all about this right now, so if anyone wants to discuss, or share experiences or information, I would love to have you share!

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 8:59:38 AM

allthatjaz

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Wow otter this is right up my street. Thanks for those great links too.
Sounds like you had lots of fun. I have done rope classes with Midori but I would love to meet this Madam Butterfly and learn what you did.

We have a full Japanese room in our home which we not only use for meditation but for bondage play. We combine bondage with Japanese swords and this room makes a big difference to my mood when I am all tied up.
A while back we went to a sushi party where a beautiful Chinese girl lay along the length of the low table. The sushi was served on the samarite swords that lay across her naked body.

< Message edited by allthatjaz -- 3/25/2009 9:00:33 AM >

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 10:19:39 AM

OttersSwim

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Wow Maria, your Japanese room sounds perfect for doing something like a tea ceremony! I don't know what the floor space is, but you can usually do it in a 9x9 foot area. Wonderfully enough, tatami mats are typically the exact size to do the layout with 6 mats. The sushi dinner sounds incredible!

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 12:57:03 PM

MasterFireMaam

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I've been collecting online bits and pieces as I come across them as this ceremony speaks to me. It's not about submission, to me, but about service, which is subtlety different. It's about beauty, ritual and honoring all.

Some things I found:
Japanese Tea Ceremony steps :: Furo
YouTube - Tea ceremony
Japanese Tea Ceremony Set -- includes tea bowl, whisk, tea box, and matcha

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 2:37:06 PM

OttersSwim

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Master Fire, I agree with you that the ceremony is not in and of itself submissive - in fact in its history is was quite a dominant activity as it was conducted in the Shogunate court in the Edo period and before. But it is one of service which resonates with me and I think it is a nice thing for a submissive to know how to do.

I enjoyed your links!

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/25/2009 9:23:24 PM

pixidustpet

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quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

Master Fire, I agree with you that the ceremony is not in and of itself submissive - in fact in its history is was quite a dominant activity as it was conducted in the Shogunate court in the Edo period and before. But it is one of service which resonates with me and I think it is a nice thing for a submissive to know how to do.

I enjoyed your links!

its a little bit of both, really. the idea was to have the dominant individual submit to the ritual of the ceremony itself, and become the (temporary) servant. the whole idea of the teahouse being built the way it is (with a small doorway) is to make everyone enter humbly, and show that no one is the master, all are equals.

for being fiction....the tea ceremony written in the book "shogun" by james clavell is an excellent example of how the pre-ritual is set up, from setting the stage to the making of the tea itself.

i was once able to participate (as a guest) in a public tea ceremony when i was in japan. it was truly amazing.

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/26/2009 3:17:41 AM

allthatjaz

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quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

Master Fire, I agree with you that the ceremony is not in and of itself submissive - in fact in its history is was quite a dominant activity as it was conducted in the Shogunate court in the Edo period and before. But it is one of service which resonates with me and I think it is a nice thing for a submissive to know how to do.

I enjoyed your links!

I agree because its so articulate. I am up for anything that is art form

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/26/2009 5:04:12 AM

sfdrew

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This all sounds so wonderful. I serve tea to my Lady from time to time out of a tea box we picked up, but I haven't had a chance to get any proper training. She has also done rope training with Miss Midori, but hasn't had a chance to meet Madam Butterfly. You wouldn't happen to know where Her locale is, or if She does regular training sessions? This has gotten us excited over tea again!

Thanks for the post :)

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RE: The Japanese Tea Ceremony - 3/26/2009 6:30:31 AM

OttersSwim

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Madame Butterfly is, I believe, in San Francisco. You can check out her website with her lovely ropes at: www.butterflyrope.com or at twisted monk, who reps her rope as well.

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