Welcome Fall!
It seems too soon to be saying goodbye to summer, but as daylight wanes and nights come earlier, we are heading into a new season.
In the traditional Chinese Lunisolar calendar, on August 7, Autumn begins (Liu Qiu 立秋). Now we will leave behind the rising, heady energy of summer and settle into the downward-falling yin- growing autumnal numina that prepares us for the season of rest.
In the United States we think of the summer solstice (June 21) as the beginning of summer, whereas traditional agricultural societies see the solstice as its apex. We see the expansive heat of July and August as an indication that summer is still building, but we can also look at it as a backwash of summer’s powerful yang energy. Usually by August, we start noticing the heaviness of the days, the quiet lull in the evenings, and the hanging humidity which seems to deaden sound. This period is called Qiu Lao Hu 秋老虎, or The Old Tiger of Autumn.
The mandate of Fall is to harvest the fruits of our labor, i.e., finish projects started in the spring or summer, create stores of canned produce, bake zucchini bread, and stew fruits for jam. This is careful, painstaking work, very different in nature from the outward activities of sowing and planting. The activities are now balanced between outward and inward. The dance of summer nights gently transforms into meditative contemplation. You should stroll in the evenings after dinner, eat simply, and be gentle with yourself. Stretch to stay loose. Take up journaling again. The work of the fall is to cultivate clear thinking, openness to new ideas, and an ability to relax.
If fall is a season you dread, think of it as a special time to consume more umami-flavored foods: mushrooms, peppers and mustard leaves, leeks, and cruciferous ur-vegetables. Consider flavoring your rice with fish sauce. Eat sprouts, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, mung beans, and pears--juicy, fluid-generating foods that moisten and cool. Treat yourself to some autumn-inspired essential oils: vetiver and helichrysum. Buy some fall-inspired books: James Joyce’s The Dubliners; Edgar Allan Poe’s Complete Tales and Poems, and Autumn: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons, edited by Melissa Harrison.
Here are two western herbs you can drink as delicious seasonal tea: comfrey and burdock. Comfrey is a sweet, moistening herb that is great for lung strength and skin health. Burdock, too, is excellent for skin conditions; it is bitter, but the taste can be very satisfying. [Look for these teas online at Blue Monkey Tea and Celebration Herbals, unaffiliated links.]
