Who do you like to have tea with? Your friends, your child, your parent or maybe just yourself? Or better, your pet?  Tea is about relaxing and reveling about life. A time to drift and dream, converse and create. Tea is a ritual that we create that suits our live and gives us joy and health.  Tea is many things; a medicinal tool, a treat, a door to spirituality and creativity. Drinking tea starts with heat and water.  Two basics intrinsic to human survival and sustainability.  Next comes the gear we choose,  teapot, teacup or mug. Then the tea itself and then the chosen setting.  Last and most importantly, the choice to have company or not. I find the company that we keep while taking tea is fascinating.  

Sometimes there’s no one around.  This happens a lot for me since I work and have a pretty busy schedule. So, when I sit for tea, it’s usually with myself.  Recently, while exploring ideas for tea sets, I came across a new idea for sharing tea that has originated in China.   I had happened on some lovely clay teas sets from China and noticed cute little clay figures placed strategically on tea trays next to the teapots and cups and mixing utensils. The figures were of dragons, frogs, buddhas and different animals.  Most of them were smiling and had round  smooth surfaces giving them soft appearance.  I decided to research these cute little guys and was even more enchanted after reading about them.   These cute little figures are an integral part of the art of taking tea-known as Cha in China.  Their lucky owners embue their clay companions with spiritual meaning and find them good company for taking tea.    They are quite the rage among tea drinkers and there are shops that have showrooms stuffed with teapets in a range of sizes, materials and colors. The teapet is supposed to bring luck to it’s owner. 

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

I love dogs and I found this really cute tea pet that looks like a sweet, chubby pug. I call him a Zen Bully Dog Teapet, because he looks incredibly relaxed, without a care and appears to be  watching in quiet earnest the goings on in his surroundings. To raise your teapet you pour hot tea over your pet and give it a good drink. This conditions the teapet and your pet will  develop characteristics that are unique to your method of raising your tea pet and the tea he absorbs over several sessions of tea with you. 

My tea pet is a Zen Bully Dog because once I fell in love with a little pug and this Zen Bully Dog looks so much like a pug.  The bully dog is a clever and spiritual companion that forms a close spiritual relationship with it’s master or mistress The Bully Dog always stays near and offers companionship and understanding. When joy is in the air, bully dogs whirl and play.  When sadness falls from the sky, the bully dog will snuggle close and offer his soft body for stroking and releasing emotional pain.  The bully dog is truly Zen because he is always in the moment and completely in love with life and world.  He’s at peace with the now and offers compassion and kindness to all. It’s a known fact that owners bond with their tea pets.  Spending significant alone time  and sharing tea consistently will create a lasting friendship with the little clay canine that represents love, companionship and undying friendship.  

I sat down to tea.  My beautiful carved, wooden tea tray lay before me with all the essentials. On the tray lay a clay teapot, a steaming carafe of spring water filled with minerals from a spring in the mountains near my home.  There were two teacups, a tea filter, a jar of tea,  scooping utensils and a mixing tool. There was my tea pet. The sleeping bully dog reposed with a smile upon his clay lips.  He rested peacefully. I wondered when he had his tea, would he leap up and play? Of course, he slept peacefully-a symbol of rest and contentment. 

Photo by Oriento on Unsplash

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