ホモテナシ

• CQ82 argues that 灰型 is one of the few areas in 茶の湯 where the host can express his creativity, when the rest of movements is fixed and 道具 made by someone else.
• Larry explained in 22 that even though in Japan you can pay people to do it for you; the 灰型 (and cleaning of the toilet) are the minimum things that the host should do himself during a 茶事.
• Also, it gives away easily the degree of his accomplishment.
• 利休 came up with this idea when he was riding on the beach with 織部
• There are no rules which to use for which situation; so it's up to your aesthetic considerations.

There are 9 ash forms in 裏千家 today:

1. 二文字　押し切り（おしきり）
2. 二文字　書き上げ（かきあげ）
3. 丸灰　押し切り
4. 丸灰　書き上げ
5. 向　一文字　前谷　（むこ　まえたに）
6. 遠山（とおやま）一山（ひとつ）(generally useful for larger 風炉)
7. 遠山　二山
8. 向山（むこう）
9. 鱗灰（うろこ）(only for highest 点前)

• Start by setting the height: 五徳 should be high enough to give room to the charcoal.
• Continue by brushing the surface into the right shape. Doing it with a brush makes sure it is already even, making it easier to flatten.
• You may form the ash the night before the 茶事, but writing the trigram and adding the フジ灰 should wait until the last minute

• The tile should be in one line with the two posts of the 五徳! Use a chopstick or so to make sure they are aligned!

• In ほんがって, the mountain is on the right side (closer to the guest). The bent front line is created by starting with the straight ridge, and then chopping with the rounded spoon rather than with the straight one.
• 向山（むく）in 中置

• For 鱗灰（うろこ）, which you use for 真の行, you make a 二文字　押し切り, then take some more ash into a mortar and pestle with some water, spread it out and lay each 'scale' individually.

• Flat one is ひらば or こばん
• Pointy one is ささば (like bamboo)
• Round one is まるば. This you can bend more to your liking with a towel, if it's made from copper. If it's lacquered, the lacquer would crack.

☝️ Copper is the best

• To make a complete set, you should also add a brush, some フジ灰 and a chopstick for writing the trigram. Thierry also has a board and a water scale, which is quite 🥹.

• tutorial
• 割稽古 for 灰型!

Palmer explains that the trigram ☵ is written because it not only represents water, but also north, thus establishing the host facing north.

🔥 Add this just before you add the started coal; to give more air.

• Set the trivet so that it is equidistant from all walls.
• Then, according to some old text described in CQ82, the trivet is pulled forward half a centimetre. This is because the 釜 should be tilted forward slightly, and like this it is still equidistant from all the 風炉 walls.
• Then, move the trivet a bit to the left, and the brazier a bit to the right.
• Other texts go even further in arguing for seven flexions (風炉の七歪, ひずみ) — the one in CQ82 is a bit confused, so I jumbled this list together with what I could find on the internets. However, this is not a topic that many people write about; so maybe it was just some 先生 who wanted to correct something, at all; or, something for the different schools to differentiate themselves.

1. Trivet half a centimetre to the front
2. Kettle a bit tilted to the front (so far, so good)
3. Kettle twisted towards the host
4. Brazier twisted towards the guest
5. Fireguard twisted a bit towards the guest (at least one person does that the opposite way)
6. Ashes go slightly down from left to right, and front to back
7. 柄杓 slightly towards the host