This is an old revision of the document!
Used in February exclusively at
今日庵, invented by
玄々斎 for a 6-mat room that just so happens to be 逆勝手.
However, if you look at the
手前, it is very suited to do it in 逆勝手…
Basically: Because the
釜 sits closer to the 手前座, everything focuses around that corner. So the
炭斗 lives near that corner, the
釜 goes out there; and all the purification is also focused around it. Becuase you don't have a
炭斗, the
手前 is actually quite simple and beautiful!
In 池庵, I am building what a call a
誇大炉: It still fits the outer dimensions of a normal
炉 (that is, 42.5 ⨉ 42.5 cm), but the 炉壇 and 炉縁 are
much thinner. Together with using
風炉 五徳・釜・炭, it gives the impression of a true 大炉.
本勝手 手前
It's a bit of a conjecture, mixing normal 逆勝手 and 大炉, but it works quite smoothly, I think. The only odd think is that I need to use the
羽 with L, otherwise the purification gets quite awkward.
Preparation: The
釜 is in the corner closest to where you'll do
点前; and the
炭斗 is packed for 逆勝手 (
香合 to the L,
羽 and
火箸 to the R). In 大炉, the 灰匙 and the moist ash are already in the
炉! The 釜敷 goes into the 着物 as it would in 本勝手 winter.
Entering: You come in with the
炭斗, and because you need no
灰器, you close the door with it 🤯. In my room, the steps are a bit odd. Remember to take small steps once on the 手前座!
Put the
炭斗 down, remembering to leave enough room for the 鐶.
Shift in front of the
釜, and unpack the
炭斗 as you would normally in 逆勝手 with the L (still 羽・鐶・箸・香合). Place the
羽 and
火箸 close to the
畳 border, because you need the space above them for the
香合.
For the
香合, though, you take it with the R. In my case, that means that I have to shift ever so slightly to make it look comfortable. Place it above the
羽.
Open:
Close
釜 lid, attach 鐶, take out 釜敷 (place to your L), shift forward, take
釜, shift to 45°, place
釜 in the middle of the 畳 and the 鐶 on the ¼ line. Shift back to end up in a comfortable distance.
With the
羽, unfortunately, you need to pick it up with L and then also do the purification with L. It's 10 strokes for the first feather (and then 6 and 6). The feather then lives diagonally between the
炭斗 and the
釜 to your L.
Take
火箸 L, R (undergrip), adjust grip in front of your R knee, and move starter coal.
灰:
Because there's no
灰器, leave the
炭斗 where it is.
Just take the 灰匙 with R and scoop the ash. You start close to the 雪輪, from bottom to top and make a diamond shape as you would normally (just rotated by 90° CW). Even the re-holding for step 4 is quite easy.
The middle feather is 6 strokes. It only cleans the 炉壇, because the 灰 never goes over the 炉縁!
-
Take
火箸 with L, take the handle with R and turn their tip towards the
炭斗, then keep them in L to take the 同炭 with R.
Adjust the grip in front of your R knee, then take the
炭 from the R side of the
炭斗 and fill it in on the side closer to the 雪輪. The 枝炭 end up closer to the
炭斗 with their bottom ends.
When putting the 火箸 back (with L), make sure you make them peek out enough so you can easily take them with an underhand grip later when handling the 香合!
Final feather is again 6 strokes. It goes onto the
炭斗 afterwards as always.
香:
The lid squats relative to the middle of the
炭斗. From there, directly take the
火箸 with R with an underhand grip, rehold and put the 香 into the hot ashes. Place them back again with that underhand grip.
After the
拝見 request, you place it again where it was before (only turned).
Close:
Shift to 45°, get the
釜, put it in, get the 釜敷, adjust, put the 鐶 into the
炭斗.
Shift so that the 炉縁 line is in your middle to pick up the
炭斗.
座箒:
Because I don't have the dust hole, I come in with the 座箒 in R and the dust bin in L. Place the bin at the end of the line marking the 手前座, then step in with 5 steps.
Keep sitting on your heels. Hold your R knee with L, and shift towards the exit as you sweep.
10 strokes (6 is re-held), stand up, take the dust bin and 建水まわり.
Place 座箒 onto the bin and close the door.
-
Come in and sit in front of the
釜. Clean the 炉縁, clean the lid and open it.
Then shift to discuss the
香合. If they're nice guests, they put it on the
点前 side of the
釜.