Monday 4 January 2010

A Ceremony of Harmony

In my last post I mentioned the European ikebana school Kaden Ryu that was founded in Germany by mr. Kikuto Sakagawa in 1987. Today I found a video that shows a Kaden Otemae, the old traditional flower ceremony that is an important component in the teaching of Sakagawa. In the video you'll meet Véronique Masurel, a master of the Kaden Ryu living in France. When practicing Kaden Otemae the focus is on the state of consciousness when arranging the flowers. The ceremony is ment to be an expression of peace, trust and friendship, through formal and codified gestures. When watching the video I can't help thinking that you will get much of the same peace through just working silently with an ikebana arrangement. The obvious difference is that during a flower ceremony you are sitting on your knees on the floor. Unfortunately the codified gestures are not very easy to spot in the video. Anyhow, you'll get an idea.


If you read German or French you can probably find out more about the Flower Ceremony in the books of Kikuto Sakagawa. Since I don't I'll have to wait for an English edition. If anyone have information in English to share about Kaden Otemae I would be greatful.

1 comment:

nordic lotus said...

Message from Véronique Masurel at www.lagaleriegamma.com:
Thank you for your interest in my Ikebana Ceremony. This video of only 3', is an extract of the whole ceremony which lasts in total around 20'.
I'm preparing this video that you will be able to see later this month on my website, which will allow one to observe the codified gestures in more details. In February, the texts on the website will also be available in German and English.

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