May 5, 2025 - Beginning of Summer

Today is the start of a new 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, happy, and harmonized with the natural world.

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Summer starts today.

Whereas spring was the season of restrained growth (germination), summer is the season of unrestrained growth.

Its symbol is Fire - that which is hot and flares upward.

I expect there will be invigorating talk ahead about letting creativity and expression flow uninhibited, but here, at the start, are a few basic summer instructions:

These are related to not over-stoking the internal fire, which like the plant world, is exploding with growth.

"Let the mind have no anger" a 2000+ year-old Chinese medical text tells us.

Our anger is easily triggered and especially dangerous this time of year, while energies everywhere are moving up and out.

The ideal is to have no anger, not even a spark.

But... should anger arise, let it out early and safely. Go into the bedroom alone, grab a pillow, and hit the bed a few times. Or go out into the woods and shake. Make sound.

Be like a goose, who shakes its wings vigorously after an altercation and then floats calmly on its way like nothing happened.

Looking at my notes about summer diet, I see "Avoid intemperance in food and drink this time of year."

This recommendation always makes me roll my eyes... If you're wondering if there's a season where it's ok to practice dietary intemperance, there isn't.

It's never a good time to overeat or indulge in heavy, sweet, and greasy foods. In the summer, these generate internal heat, which is already in excess.

Always start with a baseline diet that is moderate in volume and balances all flavors and temperatures. Then, for summer, gently emphasize sour, bitter, and cooling foods.

Sour generates fluids and blood, which can easily dry out in the summer heat.

Bitter drains internal fire.

And cooling foods... well... cool.

[Thank you Henry McCann for curating some of this info.]