Jewish Home - Ecumenical faith pushes the boundaries in a virtual world

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Just for a moment, forget the prims. Forget the distance between your keyboard and the virtual space you inhabit.

Via particle guru and scripter Darek Deluca, we learned of one of the sweetest places yet geared to faith in Second Life®. While Brazilian Jew Maarz Aya has called her creation Jewish Home, it is inclusive and welcoming to all faiths.

Featuring Pandora Wrigglesworth's very Not Possible IRL door (touch to enter), which leads to the inside of a moon just above it, this special place is accentuated with Aminom Marvin, Baron Grayson and vitrail Illois' trees, gentle particle effects and little lights by Yuki Aabye, Fallingwater Cellardoor's flowers and a spooky fallen tree by Aki Shichiroji.



Why do I like Jewish Home so much? This little island in the sky may be stretching the boundaries of what is possible, but I'm attracted because it is more welcoming and conducive to meditation, prayer and conversation than the vast majority of places of faith that I have been to in Real Life. Teleport directly from here.

Five Tips: How to visit the Garden of NPIRL Delights

The most frequent comment I hear from visitors to the Garden of NPIRL Delights is that they are "overwhelmed." I understand this. Four sims filled with the works of over 110 content creators - many of them quite complex - can have that effect. I worked alongside the artists for weeks, and I am still discovering new things. The good news is that there are several fantastic tools to make this easier for you.

If I were to take you by the hand and show you the Garden myself, here is how I would do it:

1) Arrival and Preparation: Take the HUD and Info
Teleport to the Garden from here. Beatrix Newt created a tranquil path at the entrance to the Garden with signage that invites you to "take" the HUD and info offered there. Please do!



2) Take the Tour
Just to your right as you exit the pathway, you will see the Tour area. Hop on the gorgeous Fleur de Lys-shaped vehicle, especially created for the Garden by famed vehicle maker (and founder/owner of the Ivory Tower of Prims), Lumiere Noir. The Fleur de Lys was scripted by Darek Deluca, the creator of XIDD Particles and Gadgets and the fabulous Particle Theatre, as well as a four layer installation at 3000m above the Garden that spans all four sims.



And off you go!



The ride is surprisingly smooth and pleasant, especially considering that you are crossing four sims.



You'll fly over many installations you might not have known about, otherwise.



There are many wonders in the sky. Having seen them, you will be able to plan your visits with a better idea of what is in store for you.



3) Wear the HUD
They said it couldn't be done. Really! Many expert coders warned me that we were going down the path of disaster, but Master Scripter Miki Gymnast pulled it off.

Look in your inventory for a folder called "Garden of NPIRL Delights Info" and inside it for the NPIRL Garden Tour HUD. "Wear" it. It will look like this but only fill a tiny spot on the lower left-hand corner of your screen.



"Touch" it with your mouse, and it will pull up a Second Life® teleport map. Choose "teleport," and you will find yourself at one of the installations at the Garden. And get this... the HUD will remember where you have been and take you to new places each time. Once you are wearing the HUD, you will be able to teleport to all these places directly from any spot on the grid, too.



4) Nifty Landmark-Ready Notecards
Loved the work of a particular artist and want to go back? Easy! Thanks to my SL brother, Corporate Jay, and in the same folder where you Garden HUD resides, you have four notecards, one for each sim. Open them... and voila!


Click to see large

Obviously, the notecards don't have to be stretched so large on your screen, but thought you might like to see their content.

5) Walk down the green glowy paths
That King of Glow, Spiral Walcher, spent many hours arranging his official Garden path throughout the four sims to ensure that you had ready access to every single installation on the ground.


Here we are, in the wee hours of the morning, welcoming our first guests to the Garden. That green glowy path will lead you to many adventures and surprises.

Along the paths, you will find local teleporters to the sky builds, too.

As you can see, many people contributed countless hours of their time, and industrial quantities of their knowledge and good ideas to make your visit to the Garden a happy one. I can't even begin to thank each one of them enough.

Contrasts in color

A few weeks ago, Darek Deluca, owner and creator of XIDD Particles and Gadgets, was contacted by Plasma Raymaker, a relative newbie. Seems Plasma wanted some help incorporating particles into a monochromatic build.



Soon after, Plasma's real life began to demand his attention enough that he gave up on the idea of having a whole sim to himself. Darek purchased the sim from him and moved his store there last week.



While Plasma intends to expand on the monochromatic theme, the stark nature of this huge installation already invites photography.



This clean white canvas with black strokes evokes memories of Juria Yoshikawa's White Room.



Once you've seen enough of this white and black palette, teleport to the Gravity level on the same sim.



While Darek hasn't completed it yet, Gravity is a hyper-colorful shooting gallery of sorts, and a sharp contrast to the experience at Monochrome. Hop on the enormous cannon to dispatch huge balls at the multi-colored targets.

Teleport directly from here to the store and while there, don't miss the Particle Theatre. I do so like particles! ^.^

Stop thinking! Enough thinking!

Let this build by Sabine Stonebender - Zero Point - invade your senses. (Optional) take your camera
Zero Point

*Recommended by NPIRL member, Darek Deluca, the creator of the XIDD Particle Theatre

Notice issued to the NPIRL group on July 26, 2007

Darek Deluca's Particle Theatre

Our own Darek Deluca's Particle Theatre is a luscious, colorful and immersive experience. It is also one of my favorite hiding places... Darek has many particles and gadgets for sale. I believe Ray Bradbury would have to write another book or at least a short story on the spot if he visited this place. We'll have to tell him...

Particle Theatre

Notice originally issued to NPIRL group on July 16, 2007