Establishing Foundation Through Collaboration
The Reiki Box
A story of development, collaboration, and meditation
Reverend Jeremy Wood earlier this month, approached me to create some small wooden boxes. These small simple boxes are to contain items used in the practice of Reiki. Rev. Wood is an ordained holistic minister practitioner from Balanced By Oils Holistic Fellowship. Rev. Wood is a yogi, who enjoys teaching yoga to kids, adults, and seniors. As a Yogi, Rev. Wood holds advanced instruction for other yoga instructors in the various healing styles, and philosophies of yoga. You can read more about Rev. Jeremy Wood and Balanced By Oils here.
Rev. Wood eagerly shared with me plans of a class in development in the practice of Reiki. According to Rev Woods, Reiki is a meditative technique used for stress reduction, which promotes healing and wellness. Reiki is based on ancient idea, one similar to chi, that an unseen energy flows within your body. When this energy is low, the body is susceptible to sickness, stress, and depression. When this energy is high, the body has an increased capability of happiness and optimum health. Rev. Wood explained that the technique of Reiki, manipulates this energy throughout the body, to recharge and refocus it. For holistic practitioners, this technique has proven to be a powerful tool in the tool box. In the class Rev. Wood has created, students learn and practice the skills in the art of Reiki. Upon completion of this class, students are rewarded with a Reiki instruction book, a certificate of completion, and a tool kit used in the practice of Reiki.
The tool kit students earn after completing this class, contains a bundle of sage, various healing crystals, essential oils, and other goodies. These curious items are neatly housed in cedar compartments inside a small wooden box with a strange symbol burned on the top. More on this mystery symbol in a moment. This simple wooden box, is much more than a wooden rectangular prism. It is a symbol of development, collaboration, and momentum towards larger goals.
This wooden box is where our story begins.
...The Story Begins
With a simple wooden box
To be honest, how the items in the box would be used, and that strange word, Reiki, was a mystery to me. The idea of building boxes was certainly no riddle. Immediately the thought was made, that this would be a great time to sharpen the chisels, hone my joinery skills, and craft some awesome little boxes. Rev. Wood provided me with a curious picture of the symbol he wanted burned in the lid of the box. After playing around with some dimensions and lay out, a design arose. I eagerly agreed to construct these and a first order of 3 was placed.
Off I was to make it so!
The wood chosen to use, was the classic hardwood cherry. The palette of lighter tones, between swirling grain, make Cherry a favorite in the SugarTree WoodWerks WerkShop. The contrast between the pyrography and the wood, would bring out the essence of the piece. It was sure to be a great gift for Rev Wood to give to his students.
Lately joinery has been a focus of personal development in the WerkShop. Most joinery in the shop, has been glued miter joints with, or without, brad nails. Higher quality pieces, made with skill, always use joinery, with no nails or screws. Just look up the Sashimono woodworking tradition in Japan. There is an art to creating three dimensional puzzles, of form, function, and beauty from a tree. Although I am no master craftsman, the road to becoming one, begins with developing skills. Developing skills is all about practice and repetition. These Reiki boxes presented a wonderful opportunity for chisel and joinery practice. After thinking about how to join the corners of these boxes, it was decided that finger joints would be a reasonable choice, for this box. Slightly challenging, yet obtainable for my skill level, the intersecting corners of this method of joinery would be strong, add detail, and allow me to develop joinery skills.
When these Reiki boxes are constructed, a natural approach to a finish should be used. After all, Reiki is all about natural elements right? What better than tung oil, to make the grain pop. The Tung Tree, from China, produces a nut that is crushed to create this tung oil. The natural infusion of tung oil, hand rubbed into the grain, was sure to make Rev Wood's graduation gifts come alive. One of the joys promised during this project was the application of this oil as a finish. The oil rejuvenates the wood by soaking into the grain. It is like magic watching the wood become saturated with oil. You never know what will appear in the wood grain.
The last part of the design is the finish. Adding depth, dimension, and protection a high quality lacquer was selected to be carefully sprayed. The natural lacquer produces a hard, glossy surface that feels great to the touch. Lacquer is an all natural finish. The harvested wax from Lac bugs in Thailand, India, and Pakistan are dried into flakes. Alcohol is mixed with these flakes in the WoodWerks WerkShop to produce lacquer. This mixture once thinned with lacquer thinner, will become a beautiful sprayed lacquer finish. This finish will bring out the features of the grain and finger joints.
This design will complement Rev Wood's Reiki class. The cherry hardwood, tung oil, lacquer, and handmade care will be focused to create a great gift that is infused with the SugarTree WoodWerks spirit. I certainly hope that Rev Wood's and his students like it.
A Strange Symbol
The Root Chakra "Muladhara"
What was this strange symbol that reverend Wood requested? I inquired to rev. Wood as to what this was all about. These symbols, the words, and tools were all very foreign to me. Rev. Wood lit up as he said "ahhhh....yes the Muladhara.
Wait What?
The Muladhara, also known as the Root Chakra, is an energy point located at the base of the spine. It is associated with the color red, the element of earth, and feelings of grounding and safety. According to Rev. Wood this Chakra is responsible for foundation, stability, and security.
Much like a building requires a strong foundation, so does your life both spiritually and physically. It was decided then that I should take this concept and apply it to these boxes. A spirit infusion by SugarTree WoodWerks if you would. I explained to Rev. Wood, that these boxes would strengthen my foundation as a woodworker. A foundation of hand tool techniques, community, and my goal of moving toward a full time woodworker. Rev. Wood was happy to hear this. His mentorship has been very instrumental in my progress as a woodworker and a small business owner. He has found homes for some of my work in the past. To now be asked to create items for his practice was an honor. I reflected on all of this and stared at this symbol. Now understanding what it symbolized, I felt excitement grow, knowing that this was a step forward in my adventure into woodworking. A step forward building a foundation through partnership. This partnership I hope will continue grow. This growth would bring experience, fun, and funding towards my goals. It was exciting to me to be working with Rev. Wood, contributing to his own goals of being a full time yogi, healer, and spiritual teacher.
Perhaps my excitement was too obvious. The twinkle in my eye and the smile on my face most likely gave it away. He asked if this would be something to repeat in the future. "Of course" I exclaimed, it would be my honor. With a twinkle in his eye, he said "great, add 3 more to the list for a total order of 6. Certainly you can really search inside and start to develop your own foundation, security, and balance with your craft."
It feels great to have people believe in you.
Foundation
resides in the fundementals
Off I went to construct these boxes. I had some beautiful figured Curly Cherry in the shop that I promptly milled flat and square on all 6 sides. I split the board in half by re-sawing it on my tablesaw. Soon I hope to earn enough commissions to purchase a bandsaw for this task. But use what you have right? I went through the motions of rough cutting the pieces. The Rough cut pieces were then carefully cut to size. Now it was time to go through the experience of hand carving these finger joints for six boxes. 24 corners to join. The perfect amount to practice on.
Before it was time to get started, I had some tools to purchase. I needed to sharpen my chisels, and needed a way to accurately mark the areas for cutting. Online I purchased some whetstones, and a marking gauge.
Once received, I went to work carefully sharpening my chisels, hand planes, and also my kitchen knives. Why not right? With my nice scary sharp chisels it was time to get to work on these finger joints.
Using the new marking gauge, lines were scored at the thickness of the piece being brought together. A tail, is what I believe it is called. I then used the chisel itself to measure the fingers, and a razor blade to score the measurement in. This scoring breaks the grain of the wood allowing for reduced tear out and accurate sizing.
Not having a fancy bench with the proper clamping ability, improvision was a must. I used my homemade tablesaw fence. Using clamps, I secured it to the bench. The work piece was then able to be clamped to this setup.
The Japanese pull saw and super sharp chisels made quick work of the cherry. I carefully cut joints smaller than they needed to be. This way time could be spent "creeping" up to the scored line. This ensured a tight fit!
Success! After a good day and well into the evening, I was left staring at 6 small wooden boxes. Although Crude and rough in construction, it is at this stage that doubt attempts to creep in. Over time, the lesson has been learned that through sanding, oiling, and finishing, the rough material would give way to a product with beauty and essence teased out of it.
It is so satisfying using hand tools within woodworking. For thousands of years humans have been tapping, carving, and sawing trees to create functional items of beauty. It is gratifying to tap into that energy, realizing that this ancient tradition is something to still be participated in. Perhaps not at an expert level, but at my level nonetheless. I find myself now looking to master the box joint, so that I can move up to the next level. The next level being dovetail joinery.
With The End
arrives a new beginning
When these Reiki boxes were delivered to Rev. Wood, I was relieved to see his excitement. By developing my foundation, I was able to use ancient skills to bring out the essence of the tree. What better way to show respect to that tree that stood for many generations. Now this symbol of foundation, collaboration, and development is passed on to students learning ancient methods of healing. These parallels of the spiritual and physical natural world were brought together for good.
I can live with that.
Jumping forward to present day. These boxes were presented to the graduates of Rev. Wood's first 2 day Reiki class. There is something to be said about letting go of a project. Much like a mother and a child, I had developed a bond with these Reiki boxes. The time spent with them allowed me to not only learn, develop, and execute my finger joint skills, but to also learn about things that I had not known to exist. Reiki, natural healing, Chakras. I had no idea. Now I do and I can respect this and keep an open mind. To see these simple wooden Reiki boxes in the happy hands of their new owners, made me feel proud, motivated, and humbled.
it is my sincere wish that this collaboration between Balanced By Oils and SugarTree WoodWerks brings future yogis, a positive experience. This simple wooden box brought enrichment to my life. It is my goal that it brings enrichment to others as well!
I look forward to future collaborations with Rev. Wood and Balanced By Oils. Thank you very much for the opportunity Rev. Wood!
Rev. Wood
with his students in the background
If you are interested in learning Reiki, yoga, essential oils, or a natural healthy lifestyle, please look up Reverend Wood at www.balancedbyoils.com. He has proven to be a great friend, a great mentor, and motivating force in my life. I hope he will be in yours as well!
