Great Snow began on December 7th, and is the last Seasonal Node before Winter Solstice, and it represents the most Yin time of year. There is a finality to almost everything and a time to turn inward and slow down.
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Sunday November 22nd, starts the Small Snow seasonal node. The three smaller segments of Small Snow allow us the gradual unfolding of the new, Yin, Winter season. In other words we may feel literally divided, as our material body begins to register the damp and cold.
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Despite the rather drastic differences in temperatures we have experienced in the past week, November 7th is the Classic Seasonal Node - the Beginning of Winter. We in the Western World think of Winter Solstice as the beginning of Winter, however in Asia the seasons are calculated by the balance of Yin and Yang in the natural environment.
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Adapting to the seasons, being in harmony with their rhythms is a vital part of how we stay healthy. September 22nd marked the beginning of a two week long seasonal node called the Autumn Equinox. This is a time when the Yin contraction of nature is in preparation for Winter’s Sleep.
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Friday, June 5th, was the beginning of the Bearded Grain or Mang Zhong, seasonal node, the ninth of the year. Bearded Grain is the last node just before Summer Solstice, the most expansive and Yang time of the year. The name, ‘Bearded Grain,’ is a reference to the crops, and is the beginning of the long harvest. The image of death, transition and renewal is characteristic of the period of the solstice that soon approaches.
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February 4th marked the Beginning of Spring. The solar beginning of Spring happens every year February 4th or 5th, and this year it started last Tuesday (February 4th). The other beginning of Spring is the lunar, also known as Chun Jie, the Spring Festival. This day is the Chinese Lunar New Year, and it falls on the second new moon following the Winter Solstice.
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January 20th is the start of the Major Cold Seasonal Node. The days are slowly getting longer, and in the morning the birds are singing more than they were even just a few weeks ago. The bird songs were a reminder that Major Cold is the last node of the traditional Chinese year, and we are now only days away from the Lunar New Year, and about two weeks away from the solar New Year and the Beginning of the Spring seasonal node.
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After Winter Solstice there are only two more Seasonal Nodes in the Chinese calendar before the Chinese Solar New Year and the beginning of Spring - Minor Cold and Major Cold. What is more important is that now is the time of year when the potential for sustained cold is very real as, even though we are moving into Spring, January and February are usually the coldest months of the year.
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2019 is the year of the Earth Pig, the fortunate golden Pig, a time to make peace and enjoy life. Pig is a year for harmony and fellowship, when kind actions are rewarded. People can work together with good will and enjoy community.
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As we are fully embracing Summer, we can look at the nodes of Summer, which are smaller, mini-seasons that can tell us a lot about the natural rhythms of Summer and what we can expect. Each node is roughly 15 days in length with names symbolic of what is happening at that time of year.
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