When I tell my story, I often say that my mum taught me origami when I was five years old.
My mum taught how to make origami to our blind aunts as well.
Aunt Vittoria, who lost her sight because of a bomb during world war 2, taught her blind students too, she used to make beautiful bouquets of paper flowers.
I used to fold animals, flowers, and modules to make bigger objects or boxes.
I discovered that there was trauma in my early years, so the habit of folding origami during my childhood, and the rest of my life, helped me to regulate my emotions, to calm me down.
Ten years ago I had my first child, and I decorated his bedroom with ninja stars and cubes on the wall. I would hold him near the wall and let him touch the stars.
I made a mobile too, with flowers of many colours. I would lie down with him under the mobile and sing all the names of the colours.
I remember my mum’s mobiles too, she made some for friends, to hang on top of their babies’ cots, she would use origami birds: cranes or seagulls.
The ninja star was one of the first modules in the Modular Origami book we had. It was written by Tomoko Fuse and published in 1983. I still have it :)
The ninja star is a traditional origami, formed of 2 modules that mirror each others.
To find out more about how I use it and the meaning I associate to it, you can read my blog 4Love, changing the purpose of the ninja star.
Do you enjoy folding origami?
Una Marzorati
unamarz Creations