Magic in the Margins
“Take a breath. Steep yourself in The Leafy Echos™ of the story.” ~ Tina ‘Tin” Long
The Ode to the Camellia
A plant so fragrant, from the southern land,
With leaves of emerald, by the breezes fanned.
It thrives in mist, where mountains spirits dwell,
And guard the secret that no tongue can tell.
Not for the many, but the seeking few,
It offers wisdom in a drop of drew.
From bitter roots, a sweetness finds its way,
To clear the shadows and to light the day.
~ Kup P’u (Jin Dynasty, China)
The Linden Tree Woman
(Old European Folklore)
In parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, villagers told stories about a woman who appeared beneath the linden tree at dusk.
A great linden tree once stood at the center of the village. People gathered stories beneath the tree to share news, tell stories, settle disagreements. Travelers rested there, lovers met there, healers gathered blossoms for tea, and Tilia herbal tea was the fragrance in the air.
But some evenings, when the moon was rising, a soft-spoken woman dressed in natural colors would be seen standing under the tree.
No one knew where she came from.
Some believed she was a forest spirit, a healer, a traveler who understood plants, or the guardian of the linden tree.
The Linden tree (Tilia) remembered every story spoken beneath its branches. The Tilia Liminal Collection honors these quiet evenings, when the moon rose slowly and the fragrance of the tree drifted through the air. ~ Tin
The Royals & Rulers
“I as a King cannot live without tea in a day. It is a precious drink which drives away the five causes of sorrow.”
~The Qianlong Emperor (Qing Dynasty)
“If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.”
~William Ewart Gladstone (4-time Brish Prime Minister)
“Ethics and inner values are like water, something we need for survival. Ethics based in a spiritual context are like tea - the tea is mostly water, but it’s the extra ingredients that make it special.”
~The Dalai Lama
poem my own poem
The Birthday
The cups and saucers, in a shining row,
Await the influx of the fragrant flood;
The teapot, like a silver castle, stands
Amidst its subjects…
And then the tea- the ‘cups that cheer but not inebriate’ -
Wit all their warm and aromatic breath,
That lulls the senses to a holy calm,
And makes the spirit feel its kinship high
With all things pure and beautiful and good.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Victorian Era, 1806-1861)
The Modern Icons
“I don’t drink coffee, I take tea, my dear.” ~ Sting (from the song Englishman in New York)
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” ~ J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“Say it was the bedroom-it makes a better story!” Mea West (Tea in the Bedroom)
“Make Tea, Not war.” Monty Python
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Seven Bowls of Tea
The First bowl moistens my lips and throat;
The second bowl breaks my loneliness;
The third bowl searches my barren entrails but to find therein some five thousand volumes of odd ideographs.
The fourth bowl raises a slight perspiration-all the wrong of life passes out through my pores.
At the fifth bowl I am purified;
The sixth bowl calls me to the realms of the immortals.
The Seventh bowl ~ ah, but I could take no more!
I only feel the breath of cool wind that rises in my sleeves.
Where is Horaisan (Mount Penglai)? Let me ride on this white breeze and waft away thither.
~Lu Tong (Tang Dynasty, China, (790-835 AD)
“Tea is a work of Art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities.” ~ Okakura Kakuzo, The Book of Tea
