The air smells different. A Brugmansia (man tuo luo 曼陀羅) with pendulous yellow flowers lives around our corner, radiating perfume at dusk each evening, seducing moth-pollinators. With the changing seasons, her flowers shrivel brown and descend, revealing long green pods filled with seeds of potential, and a new scent. As we gather into autumn, what changes are you noticing in the landscape— of both the lands that you inhabit, as well as the landscape of your inner wilderness?
We celebrate Autumn Equinox on Sept. 22, and the Moon Festival (zhong qiu jie 中秋節) on Sept. 10. The Moon Festival is a traditional Chinese harvest festival on the autumnal full moon. Families gather to celebrate the year’s abundance with food, stories, and music. My most poignant memories growing up involve eating too much deliciousness with the adults, then running off to play on the hill with other kids after singing and dancing in performances. As an adult, I played music under the fat autumn full moon on a different hilltop nestled into the Yang Ming Shan Mountains (陽明山) above Taipei, sipping tea, singing, and laughing until just before sunrise. How are you celebrating the changing seasons and autumn harvest? Who are you celebrating with?
The Earth Element governs the "long summer" (chang xia 長夏) season between summer and autumn, when shadows start lengthening, plants are at their greatest height, and we celebrate, relax, then start drawing our energies inward. We gather our communities to feast on the fruits of summer’s harvest. Dust to dust, Earth to Earth, our bodies are made of this very Earth, and further Earthing with each bite of Earth-given food. Governing the Stomach and Spleen meridians, Earth relates to digestion and nourishment. As you welcome this time of changing seasons, smells, and colors, consider:
- How do I nourish my body, mind, and Spirit?
- How do I nourish others? How am I nourished by others?
- What is fruiting beauty in my life?
NOURISH
- Upcoming Event: Five Elements, Esalen 10/10-10/14
- New Podcast: Reclaiming Indigenous Medicines, Dr. Gary Ferguson
- Article Archives: Restoring the Spleen Decoction (gui pi tang 歸脾湯）
May you slowly savor autumn’s bittersweet transitions,
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