from Verse One Hundred SixteenThe twelve months go through their cycle and then begin again. The powers of the elements overcome each other, but their courses depend on each other. Therefore extreme cold injures beings, but there cannot be no cold; extreme heat injures beings, but there cannot be no heat. Therefore the acceptable and the unacceptable are both acceptable; for this reason there is nothing unacceptable to the Great Way.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
Ancient humankind held the cycle of the seasons in greater reverence than we do today. Many of their religions and rituals were tied to the seasons or the transformation of one to the other. In many ways, it seems they were more advanced than we are!If any person wants better to understand the necessary ebbs and flows of life -- the yin and the yang -- there is no better example than the four seasons. They represent a perpetual cycle; one leading into another. Each stands alone while also containing a fragment of its predecessor and what follows.
Human life is the same way. Today stands alone but contains a fragment of yesterday and what is to come. This moment -- this very moment -- is part of an endless dance of moments that cycle through and within our lives.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
People who first come to Hawaii to live (from the temperate Mainland) often complain that there are no distinctive seasons. But after a few years, you begin to perceive them (it's cold here now --relatively). Hawaiian native rituals were always more about volcanoes, thunder, stars, harvest, rains, the actions of nature, if not so seasonal. Still there is an annual ebb and flow.
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