Hello Friends of Flying Needle!
Happy White Dew!
- fifth autumnal solar node -
Hope this finds you well during these interesting times!
There is a steady rain this morning as I write. I am appreciating the soft sound of rain on pine needles and fallen leaves — an idyllic October morning, as we enter Cold Dew. Though here in Chapel Hill it is 70°F at 0800. We have had some cooler mornings and evenings, yet even as we move towards the end of Autumn (Winter begins on November 6th) the warmer temperatures persist. Typically, this time of year crickets and grasshoppers are diminishing. They are still singing vigorously in my neighborhood. Do you hear them where you are?
Purple mistflower and goldenrod are in bloom. Have you seen Monarchs munching as they migrate?
Last night the Harvest, or Hunter's moon, filled the sky. If you were out at moonrise, perhaps you saw the Pleiades rising from the Earth.
The living world is wondrous and beautiful. It's ceaseless rhythms are the breath of life – the full inhale of Summer's fire, the complete exhale of Winter's cold. Day and night, yang and yin, relative opposites transforming one into the other. The boundary limits of the 10000 processes, apparently separate yet always contained within each other.
Form dissolving into formlessness. Formlessness giving rise to form. Movement and stillness hand in hand in every moment, each breath.
The rain just stopped. The clouds parted, and the sun is coming in through the windows.
These observations and experiences of the living world are the heart of Chinese medicine. And in troubled times, which these certainly are, contemplating – feeling into – them is medicine that I need to connect with daily. I am grateful for the practices, the friends, that guide and support that connection: sitting, standing, breathing, and movement.
Who are the practice friends that guide and support you?
As always, please remember that if you need support, don't hesitate to reach out. If material constraints are preventing you from doing so, reach out anyhow and we will figure something out.
We are all in this together, and the only way out is through.
May your Autumn days be filled with beauty, mystery, and friendship!
May you and your kin feel both rooted and free!
May we walk in gratitude with our Ancestors!
May all being and becoming receive nourishment!
It is my sincere hope that you have found something of use in these words.
If you know folks who you feel would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it their way! Thank you!
Wishing you and all your relations wellbeing and good medicine!
With gratitude,
Taran
