Dec. 6, 2024 - Great Snow

Today is the start of a Seasonal Node. Each of the four seasons can be broken down into six smaller segments, called "Seasonal Nodes" (or "Solar Terms"), which come with specific instructions about what to do (and what not to do) to stay healthy and happy and harmonized with the natural world (which is really the same thing).

Today is the start of the final Node before Winter Solstice, called "Great Snow." If the year is a pendulum swing from the hiding/hibernation of winter to the expansion/exuberance of summer and back again, the next 15 days are the most hidden-away time of year. Increasingly dark, increasingly cold, increasingly lifeless at the surface.

This is the time to keep your internal fire, your life force, shut away. Don't bother it with too much activity, emotion, or... celebration. Let it rest! Allow it to be restored! If not, your fire will be weak later in the year and later in life...

The main instruction for this 15-day period is to avoid cold and seek warmth. This includes eating choices - rely on the warming and neutral food lists. Foods that historically would have kept well in cold storage, such as yams and turnips, are preferred. Since it is dry and cold, use soups and stews as a base.

Caveat: Be careful not to go overboard with warming, heavy, rich foods! And include small amounts of bitter-flavor foods (like dandelion leaves, radicchio, mizuna, and escarole) in some meals to help keep the digestive tract clear and moving downward.

Thank you Henry McCann for curating some of this info.