HOW THIS WINTER SOLSTICE WILL AFFECT YOU NEXT YEAR
The most recent New Moon a few days ago on December 12. In Daoist and Chinese lunar traditions, this moon cycle is considered the Winter Moon or 11th Moon of the lunar year. The Winter Solstice or Dongzhi is celebrated as a festival of observing Yin at her greatest, and it is this honouring of her height that the Yang can re-emerge. In Daoist thought, this acknowledgement and sitting with Yin is vital for Spring, in order for the gifts of the subsequent year, to arrive and come to fruition. This year's return to and observance of the Great Yin is crucially important on two main levels.
MAGICK, CREATIVITY + CONTINUOUS TRANSFORMATION
The more I delve into magickal studies (Daoist-centered in my case), the clearer it becomes that my essence is meant to continually transform. This constant state of flux should be evident in both my spiritual practice and the art I create; otherwise, I risk becoming generic and empty, merely a passing trend. I end up repeating formulas that promise external but shallow approval while compromising my values and authentic voice, a pattern I observe in others as well.
DOES THE I CHING MENTION TEA?
The I Ching (The Book of Changes), the oldest Chinese oracle, divination text and philosophical system is said to be birthed and used from ~1150 BCE, around the same time Tea was discovered as a plant medicine. The I Ching uses a system of hexagrams, or six-line figures, to represent and directly speak to different patterns of change within the Seen and Unseen Worlds.
WINTER: BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH
Winter - a season where just about everything is reduced and barren, bitten down to the bone. Belonging to the Crone, the season’s energy speaks with ruthless honesty; the once flattering light of Summer no longer seduces, the excuses we make due to being too comfortable no longer hold up. Much like Jupiter is Spring/Summer because we say “yes” freely, indiscriminately, Fall/Winter is Saturn embodied, as we learn the fruits of unchecked expenditures.
WAYS TO INVITE HARMONY WITH THE FORCES OF CHANGE
While I'll be sharing loads of wisdom on befriending Change, including hands-on practices with Tea on September 17 - Befriending Change (Part of the Magick of Tea series), here are a few doable practices to help get you started.
AN ANIMIST’S FORECAST: 2 KEY THEMES FOR THE REST OF 2022
August was a midpoint for the lunar new year, igniting a major portal for the remaining months chaperoned by the Water Tiger. In many ways, the first 6 months of this lunar year was like a washing machine, where energies, circumstances, intentions, and reference points are jumbled, chaotic, and unclear.
Màn màn zǒu (Slowly, slowly walk)
慢慢走 Màn màn zǒu, they say.
Slowly, slowly, walk, they say.
Walk slowly, unhurried, easefully.
An expression commonly uttered by the living and by ancestors, the Unseen living.
Slowly, as our feet touches the ground tenderly,
Unhurried, as a blessing to be carefree,
Easefully, as each step is protected and guided.
As even walking is a devotional act of heart-mind-body, an act so ordinary and mundane for me, yet holy for my ancestors to care about.
Voice is Yin and Breath is Yang
"But remember, as humans, the only reason why we could even call ourselves humans. The only reason why we can even call ourselves intelligent and sentient beings conscious beings is because we came from these, we came from consciousness.
BROKENNESS: AN ANCIENT PERSPECTIVE
A Yin line according to the I Ching is visually represented by two dashes. — — Oftentimes, it's referred to as a broken line or a yielding line.
To compare that to a Yang line that is visually represented. ___It's a solid line that does not have space as an interruption.
PLANTS AS PERSONS
They are not products.They are not plant extracts, essential oils, resins, compounds, or other human-made rendering.