About Me: Morgan Beard

When I was a girl, I saw an article in the newspaper about chado, the way of tea, a term that is often translated "Japanese tea ceremony." Fascinated by the idea of a ceremony that’s all about tea, I cut the article out and hung it on my wall. Eventually, I took it down again and forgot about it—until I went to college at La Salle University, which, by coincidence, happened to have a course in chado. I fell in love with tea, and after the course was over, I continued studying with Brother Joseph Keenan, one of the professors at La Salle and also a tea practitioner, who taught alongside senseis Taeko Shervin and Mariko La Fleur. Working with them, I received life-changing instruction in the Urasenke tradition of tea. 

I began apprentice teaching in 2005 and then received my tea name (chamei) from Taeko Shervin in 2010. A tea name signifies that you’ve completed your initial studies in tea, and are qualified to become a full-fledged teacher. But the name also signifies that in a symbolic sense, you’ve become part of the Urasenke family. The first syllable of a person’s tea name is always So (宗), which is the first syllable in Soshitsu, the hereditary tea name of the grand masters (O-Iemotos) of Urasenke. My full tea name is Somon (宗紋), which is where the name of this site comes from. In 2016, I received my jun-kyoju license, which means that I can also apply for tea names on behalf of my students. 

Along the way I’ve encountered so many wonderful tea people, and had more sublime gatherings than I can count. I’m so grateful to all the people I know in the way of tea and the generosity of spirit they’ve displayed. If I can pass even a fraction of that on to others, I’ll be grateful for that as well.