once pristine:
060707;158 |
| the shinto tori is traditionally made in three pieces, similar to two posts and one lintel, three being a sacred number. the tea garden also has a gateway entrance, often two, the first to gain admittance to the waiting area and the second to enter the garden proper and begin down the 'dewy path'. the two posts and one lintel streaked with blood are a reminder of the first passover when God spared the faithful during his judgement on the Egyptians. in Christian art, closed gates can represent exclusion, as when adam and eve are expelled, so within the gate is the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. free-standing gates, such as the tori, represent a non-literal passage, a passage of mind rather than physical |
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