Mid Autumn and Mid Spring

Mid Autumn and Mid Spring

This time of the year the northern hemisphere is celebrating the period of mid autumn. The Chinese celebrates it on the 15th day of the 8th traditional farming calendar month (A bit like the lunar calendar too). The west will be welcoming the mid autumn roughly on late September. And I suppose many parts of the world where farming is still of importance will happily welcome the mid autumn in different ways and similar time. After all, everyone enjoys harvest during autumn time.

Seasonal change takes place roughly the same time everywhere. And seasonal change is such an important part of traditional farming.

Down at the southern hemisphere, few weeks down the road is the mid spring time. Not sure if there are many people celebrating it. It's more like a forgotten role yet most people are busy pruning and planting seeds ahead of this time to take advantage of the season's great potential growth.

Autumn is the harvesting time; spring is the cultivating time. The mood, of course, will be very different. Comparing to one's life span, it's like seeing someone appreciating harvest at the age of 55 and some others adventuring into adulthood at the age of 15.

So it takes turn. The teenager eventually will grow into 50s and 60s. And the elderly uncle will shred his piece of old body and move on to some other realms? And coming back as new born creature? That is, if you believe in reborn or reincarnation...

Spring, then summer, then autumn, then winter. Then what's next? Spring again... summer again, and the cycle goes on and on. It's been like this probably as long as lives existed. So it seems living creatures do come and go...

And we celebrate all things seasonal every year too.

Hmm...

What am I trying to say? I guess what I'm trying to bring across is: Things come and things go in a pattern of cycles. We human beings need to recognize them and live according to the law of nature. Ha.

Oh, before I really truly forget, some people believe the ultimate goal is to break free from the cycle of lives; to be free from seasonal change, for example. Ha.

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PS: Many times I myself don't know what and why I'm writing on something. This piece is most likely one of those. Thank you so much for your time.

Moon phase and menstrual cycle

Moon phase and menstrual cycle

Menstrual cycle in Chinese language is ‘moon period 月经’. As you can easily understand from the individual word, it means periodic cycle inline with the moon phase. Another name for menstruation is ‘letter from the moon 月信’. The moon periodically sends letters to ladies for them to perceive the signal (When to ovulate and menstruate). And yet another name for it is ‘moon water 月水’. Somehow it seems to connect menstruation with tides. Moon phase is about 28 days. So it’s believed that every extremely healthy woman should have their menstrual cycle that is close to 28 days. Well, nobody is perfect these days. Therefore the modern view is that as long as the cycle is from 25 to 35 days, it is normal and healthy.

Oh, by the way, “The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine《黄帝内经》” described menstrual period as ‘the story of the moon 月事’. This book dates back some more than 2,000 years old. And it’s considered the bible of TCM. Story of the moon? What story you may ask. Story of the yin (阴) fluid of moon with that of feminine side of women.

There’s a research done by German team on the effect of moon phase and menstruation that revealed the amount of menses is double when the menstruation takes place during full moon compared with that during the new moon.

Well, you may ask moon phase comes with full moon and new moon, then what’s the ‘full moon’ and ‘new moon’ for our ladies’ menstrual cycle? Well, the answer is simple. Full moon is the time when we’re ovulating; and new moon is the time menses come. It’s pretty much like those werewolves who change themselves during full moon. These werewolves’ inner hormones are in perfect tune with the yin (female side) of the nature. I’ve seen quite a number of women who have their menstrual cycle just like the moon phase. Their menses come when it hits new moon. And it’s time for ovulation when the beautiful full moon is up there nurturing the mother earth. Yes. I know. I do keep track of moon phase simply because I practice Chinese lunar calendar everyday besides the modern calendar (The 1^st and 15^th day of Chinese lunar calendar correspond exactly to new moon and full moon respectively every month).

Amazing, isn’t it? There is so much more to learn from the Mother Nature. The relationship between the moon and the health of human beings will always be the topic of investigation.