Spirit houses are mainly found in S.E. Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand. They are placed outside of homes and businesses as a place to provide shelter and honor the spirits.
I am fascinated by this tradition. To me, it makes life more mystical, more fantastic, a reminder to daydream about the forces at work in nature.
I look for opportunities to do workshops about Spirit Houses. I love referencing ideas of magic and the unknown into the creative process. Dealing with spirits and teaching, well... that's a little tricky. I will talk about the tradition of Spirit Houses, and then loosely use nature and nature spirits/fairy houses- things fanciful, as the intent for our project.
These large groups of houses were created by 60 first graders at Shepard Elementary. These houses were displayed outside the school for a week. This gave the students the opportunity to create a piece of a whole for an outdoor installation.
This house was one of my favorites, it has wings!
This smaller group of houses is in my yard. My daughter and I made these houses during a small workshop I hosted this summer.
