aisha north June 20, 2013

As you are perhaps aware of, tomorrow (June 21) is another pivotal day for your planet. For once again the sun will make another announcement in her perpetual journey around your globe. Or rather, it is not the sun, but your planet who will reach an apex of her yearly travels around your shining sister, and as such, you will reach what is referred to as the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. And then, you will all be able to savour the longest day of the year, before the balance starts to tip the other way, and the days will once again start to shorten. Of course, for those of you living on the opposite end of this beautiful planet, you will be able to savour the thought that it is your turn to look forward to the lengthening of the days from then on.

Earthsky.org, By: Deborah Byrd,06/17/2013

The Chinese were (and perhaps still are) great students of nature. There is a deep understanding in Chinese tradition of nature’s predictable cycle. The understanding of nature’s cycle could be applied to many things: not just the seasons or the growth of plants, but also, for example, relationships, one’s work, the development of a child, emotions, the progress of a disease, a life in its totality.

For the western mind, the passage of the seasons is a good illustration of the orderliness of this natural cycle. As we all know, things sprout and begin to grow (spring). They reach their fullness (summer). They begin to dry and wither (autumn). They rest (winter). The Chinese also include a fifth “season” or “phase” in their thinking, sometimes described as “late summer.” In ancient Chinese thought, these five “elements” or five “phases” include an inherent understanding that the cycle continues, over and over, with each period of rest or winter followed by new growth, or spring.