Summer’s fire burns the Wheel
Of Seasons. Turning westward towards Autumn’s dry
Contained calm. Prepare to gather.

Hello Friends of Flying Needle!

Happy Lesser Heat!

– fifth summer solar node –

Hope this finds you well during these challenging times!

Seasonal Musings & Reflections

Here in Chapel Hill we are getting a respite from the recent extreme temperatures. It is a mild 80°F at 10am on July 7th. While we are still in D4 – Exceptional Drought conditions, we have had rains these past several days. Our plant kin are noticeably greener, and more vital. I feel a sense of softness in my body that seems to be in resonance with the rain’s return.

How does it feel to be where you are?

In the Chinese lunisolar calendar, Summer is almost at its end. Lesser, Minor, or Slight Heat, the fifth of six summer solar nodes, begins today. Generally, this is start of the hottest time of the year. Though after the recent heat dome induced temperatures, it feels like we got an early start.
Summer’s firey expansive heat gives rise to Autumn’s dryness and gathering in. You can observe this most easily in the the way the vibrant green leaves begin to lose their lustre and fluid flexibility. Yang and yin interacting and interdependently dancing their ceaseless transformations.

Attending to transormation and change, is the fundamental perceptual orientation and practice that is at the heart of the relationally centered processual worldview that gives rise to Chinese medicine.

Simply put – it is a way of sensing, feeling, and acting within the living world.

That practice is always good medicine. It helps us to flow with the changes irrespective of our preferences.

It is especially precious medicine during particularly challenging times.

The heat of late Summer can sometimes feel almost frantic in its intensity. 

Gregory Done from Tiger’s Play Astrology (one of the folks whose work informs my understanding of the shifting nature of the phasic associations of the annual calendar) has this practical advice on how to navigate this time of year:

Guard the heart and stay grounded, but express your emotions. Get out and socialize with loved ones. Move your body to let the qi and blood circulate.

I would add – lean into what you love. Find pleasure in the beauty of the ordinary. Share what lights you up.

I am minded of a playful riff on some ubiquitous bumper sticker ‘wisdom’ that you may remember from the 90’s – Practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.

The riff was:

Sense random beauty.
Act kindly.
Practice.

Still feels like sage counsel.

May your Summer 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!

Yin and yang ceaselessly dancing
Nature at play expressing its innate creativity
Let’s harmonize with this medicine

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