THE MEDICINE OF CHANGE
As we discussed in a previous article medicine is anything that promotes healing and nourishment of body, mind, spirit, and community - and is not just found in a bottle of pills (though that is medicine too).
I think many of us in the Western world are really feeling into the unsustainability and harm that always being “go, go, go” causes. I think of it as a kind of hamster wheel- running fast and not really getting anywhere much. Our capitalist society encourages us to always be doing more to try and “get ahead”, “succeed”, “kick ass”, etc. And of course the needle on the gauge is always moving further away. There is never enough. There is nothing wrong with “succeeding”. In traditional Chinese Medicine and philosophy this is yang energy. In yogic or south-east Asian philosophy, it is pitta energy. Firey, active, and often described as masculine in energy; penetrating, doing. This is spring and summer, where things are growing, flowering, reproducing, lots of daylight to be out doing things, warm weather to be outside being active. What happens if summer goes on too long? Inevitably things burn up, get crispy, go to seed, literally catch fire. The same thing can happen to us if we are in this energy for too long. We need balance, harmony.
We need rest, quiet, darkness, coolness, autumn/fall and winter. This is yin. These qualities are considered feminine in nature; receptive, being. Since we live in a patriarchy, these qualities and indeed anything feminine is seen as weak, less than, lazy, wasting time, etc. Insulting people by calling them feminine words like “pussy” or “sissy”. (Have you ever seen a birth?!) We are, as a society, realising that we are off base with this and do increasingly see the need for yin, but much of the time it is still being addressed in a capitalist and non-nourishing way. This is a criticism, yes, but I do realise this is the very air we breathe. For example, I need to rest more so I am going to buy that meditation app, that eye pillow, that organic mattress, CBD oil, the blue-blocking glasses (I have all of those things except the mattress- but open to receiving one!). No, you don’t need any of that. You just literally need to sit or lie still and do nothing, soften your gaze, pull away from the screens. You know this. But it’s so hard with a big to-do list, devices wanting our attention, various beings we need to care for. Honestly, I think those things to buy are a nice bridge to embracing the yin, but are not available for all people who need them due to cost or access. And, for some folks like those living in the US whose ancestors were stolen from their homes and enslaved by the British colonisers, rest feels extremely dangerous and life threatening. It’s now encoded in their DNA. For folks with trauma or PTSD, rest can also feel very dangerous.
We need to come back to ourselves as part of nature.
WE ARE NATURE
Wherever you live, there are cycles of nature. There are seasons: winter, spring, summer, autumn/fall; or dry season and wet season. This is how we are meant to live, too. Times of activity and growth, times of harvest and rest. For many of us, colonisation has blotted this out (even those with European ancestors may have been colonised). What if we came back to the medicine of the wheel of the year?
The wheel of the year is a fairly new term describing the cycles of the year which have been observed for time immemorial. Every culture has a different way of looking at it, and a different time for marking the new year and the start of the new cycle. A cycle is a circle. We orbit the Sun in 365-ish days, differing in the amount of sunlight we receive each day. Our position on Earth relative to the polar tilt provides us with seasons. This is our blueprint. Many cultures mark the summer and winter solstice. The summer solstice is the first day of summer and the longest day (sunlight) of the year when the Sun is at its zenith. From here on, the daylight hours get shorter. The winter solstice is the first day of winter and the shortest day (sunlight) of the year, and the longest night. From here on, the daylight hours get shorter. Many cultures built structures including megaliths like Stonehenge to track the path of the Sun across the sky. Half way between the summer and winter solstices is the autumn equinox, and between winter and summer solstices, the spring equinox. These are the days of equal day and night, which mark the first day of each season respectively. Traditional cultures also built structures to mark the equinoxes. Some traditional cultures celebrate these times, and others just mark through observances.
The winter solstice is the return of the Sun as the days get longer. In the Northern Hemisphere it is usually between December 20th and 23rd, and in the Southern Hemisphere between June 20th and 23rd. In Celtic and some European traditions this time is known as Yule. This is Christmas time, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, celebrating the light. Peoples who originated in the Northern Hemisphere and now live in the Southern Hemisphere often will keep these celebrations despite the seasons being different.
The summer solstice is the leaving of the Sun as the days get shorter. In the Northern Hemisphere it is usually between June 20th and 23rd, and Southern Hemisphere December 20th to 23rd (opposite to winter solstice). In some European cultures this is celebrated as Midsummer or Litha.
The spring equinox is halfway between the solstices, equal day and night length. In the Northern Hemisphere it is usually between March 20th and 23rd, and in the Southern Hemisphere between September 20th and 23rd. A time for celebrating fertility. The first day of spring. In the North this is Ostara, Easter time, Passover. The resurrection or renewal of life following winter.
The autumn/fall equinox is on the other side of the cycle halfway between the solstices, equal day and night length. In the Northern Hemisphere it is usually between September 20th and 23rd, in the Southern Hemisphere between March 20th and 23rd. A time for harvesting. The first day of autumn. In the North this is sometimes known as Mabon.
In the Celtic/Neopagan traditions there are also celebration of days falling at the midpoint of these quarterly “holy days”, known as the cross-quarter holidays. These were traditionally festivals of celebration, usually centred around bonfires. They are: Beltane, Lughnasadh or Lammas, Samhain, and Imbolc. Beltane is around May Day (May 1st), Samhain is Halloween (October 31st) and the following day is Dia de los Muertos, honouring the living and the dead respectively. Your own culture likely has holy days of its own. These days mark turning points in the wheel, to stop and notice the changing energies, and guide cultures to acknowledge and respect all parts of life. Activities such as farming or nomading were tied to the shifts of the year, hence why the tracking was so important. Our ancestors needed to plants seeds, harvest, preserve, and travel at the right times of years to survive.
And of course not only does the Sun mark transitions, but so does the path of the Moon. Typically each month there is one new Moon and full Moon (or sometimes 2, or 3!). Moonlight is reflected sunlight. The full Moon is when the Moon is opposite the Sun in the sky, so we see the side facing us as receiving the full illumination from the Sun. We see the whole face of the Moon. The new Moon is when the Moon is in the same place in the sky as the Sun, so the Sun is only lighting up the far side of the Moon, which we can’t see (and never do- the same face follows us as she orbits us, and as we orbit the Sun). When this alignment is precise, it is a solar eclipse. One Moon (lunar) cycle is around 28 days- about the length of a month (moonth). The Moon affects the tides- high tides are higher and low tides are lower during both the full and new Moons. In general, as the Moon waxes and becomes full there is more energy for doing things, and then as she wanes and becomes dark and new, more energy for clearing, integrating and resting. Different people do experience Moon cycles differently, especially menstruating people who may find their own menstrual cycle follows the Moon cycle. Seeds grow better when planted at the new or waxing Moon. Hair does, too, if cut at this time!
Gazing at the Moon through a telescope
The seasons and the Moon phases affect nature, and we are nature, so it affects us too. I made this chart to track the things going on in my life throughout the year which I have made downloadable for you.
Click on the image to download a PDF version you can print and fill in yourself
RE-ATTUNEMENT
A great way to begin re-attuning to nature is just to start noticing. It can be your own garden, a local park, even a roadside verge which you see regularly or ideally, daily. Spend a couple of minutes just noticing which plants are present and what are they doing- seeding, flowering, drying off. Are there insects or animals present? Where is the Sun? What does the air feel like, smell like? If possible, remove your shoes and have bare feet on the earth (maybe not the verge though- its often sprayed with herbicides). Yes this sounds like hippy dippy stuff, but it’s important.
In an ideal world, we all could follow the energies of the seasons with cleaning and building and growing in spring, being active and busy in summer, organising, decluttering, clearing and simplifying and finishing tasks in the autumn, resting and dreaming in winter. And then there’s a mini cycle within a month where waxing Moon energy is like spring, full Moon is like summer, waning moon is like autumn, and new Moon is like winter. Maybe you could build these things into your schedule? Even sleeping longer in winter will help.
We can also expand out and think of these cycles as akin to our lifecycle. Spring is our youth and adolescence, for growing, learning, trying. Summer is our younger adulthood for being active and building our lives, communities, having children if we choose and are able to. Autumn is our maturation of mentoring and supporting others, providing leadership and strength, holding the community together. Winter is our elderhood, where we share wisdom and come back to our own lives when we have clarity of what matters most.
Let this be a nudge to connect with an important elder in your life.
In our Western world we no longer have ceremonies to honour the transitions, though we do celebrate in kind. We can think of a baby shower or christening to honour the birth and beginning of youth. Bar or bat mitzvahs, quinceaneras, 18th or 21st birthday parties, a driver’s license, to honour transition to adulthood. Finishing trade school, apprenticeship, university, having children, starting a business, as markers of adulthood. Financial stability, children leaving home, promotions to senior positions, or the midlife crisis(!), for maturity. And then retirement and turning back to one’s hobbies and joys for elderhood. We celebrate these points, but don’t really prepare each other for what is to come in a community-supported way.
CONCLUSION
Normalising the quieter times as actually being crucial to our health (and sanity!) is something we need to work towards. And I think we are getting there slowly. Yes, holidays and vacations are important, but incorporating these cycles into our everyday lives is most crucial. Especially if you are a caretaker of younger people, a mentor, or a boss or leader, encourage this and lead by example. That is medicine.