This palm leaf book featuring a poem by Rumi is my first book made with some of the gorgeous hand-made paper Audrey Hollinger sent me from The Papertrail in New Dundee, Ont, Canada. Isn't it pretty?
I've been thinking about this book for awhile and as soon as I saw the paper, I knew that's what I would use. I've been wanting to do anothr palm leaf book and I wanted to do more Rumi poetry. Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic. His poetry is magical to me and this in one of my favorites. It reads:
How does a part of the world leave the world?
How does wetness leave water?
Don't try to put out fire by throwing more fire!
Don't wash a wound with blood.
No matter how fast you run, your shadow keeps up.
Sometimes it's in front!
Only full overhead sun diminishes your shadow.
But that shadow has been serving you.
What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.
Your boundaries are your quest.
I could explain this, but it will break the glass cover on your heart,
and there's no fixing that.
You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.
When from that tree feathesr and wings sprout on you,
be quieter than a dove.
Don't even open your mouth
even for a coo.
I printed the poem out in sections on the computer, tore the sections into individual pages. I also tore the hand-made paper into pages, then glued the poetry sections onto them. The paper for the pages looks gray in he pix, but it has a perlescence to it that makes it almost silver. So pretty.
For the covers, I used some purple hand-made paper, lined it with the silver gray paper, and put a piece of lightweight board in between, to give it some rigidity. I punched holes in the center of each cover and each page and threaded through a cotton cord with some glass beads tied to the ends. The cords hold the pages together and wrap around to hold the book closed. To open it, you untie the cord and pull the pages apart enough to turn them and read each page.
This is a really ancient book structure, first used for Buddhist sutras. I like the structure and want to do more palm leaf books. This one feels not quite finished somehow. I do know it needs a few hours under heavy weights, but there's something else missing too, some finishing detail. I may have to spend a day or two with it to figure out what it is. When I do, I'll likely re-photograph it and post the new pix here.
I've been thinking about this book for awhile and as soon as I saw the paper, I knew that's what I would use. I've been wanting to do anothr palm leaf book and I wanted to do more Rumi poetry. Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic. His poetry is magical to me and this in one of my favorites. It reads:
How does a part of the world leave the world?
How does wetness leave water?
Don't try to put out fire by throwing more fire!
Don't wash a wound with blood.
No matter how fast you run, your shadow keeps up.
Sometimes it's in front!
Only full overhead sun diminishes your shadow.
But that shadow has been serving you.
What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.
Your boundaries are your quest.
I could explain this, but it will break the glass cover on your heart,
and there's no fixing that.
You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.
When from that tree feathesr and wings sprout on you,
be quieter than a dove.
Don't even open your mouth
even for a coo.
I printed the poem out in sections on the computer, tore the sections into individual pages. I also tore the hand-made paper into pages, then glued the poetry sections onto them. The paper for the pages looks gray in he pix, but it has a perlescence to it that makes it almost silver. So pretty.
For the covers, I used some purple hand-made paper, lined it with the silver gray paper, and put a piece of lightweight board in between, to give it some rigidity. I punched holes in the center of each cover and each page and threaded through a cotton cord with some glass beads tied to the ends. The cords hold the pages together and wrap around to hold the book closed. To open it, you untie the cord and pull the pages apart enough to turn them and read each page.
This is a really ancient book structure, first used for Buddhist sutras. I like the structure and want to do more palm leaf books. This one feels not quite finished somehow. I do know it needs a few hours under heavy weights, but there's something else missing too, some finishing detail. I may have to spend a day or two with it to figure out what it is. When I do, I'll likely re-photograph it and post the new pix here.
OMGoodness! That poem and these papers and the form...all blend together perfectly. I don't know what is missing, but I trust your judgment. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can see why you love this man's thoughts.
Love Rumi. That is a perfect little book for the poem.
ReplyDelete