Will it be wintertime?
29 November 2019
Will it be wintertime, or will Europe opt for summertime? Or will it finally be the typical Dutch polder solution: move the clock half an hour forward and sit right in between winter and summer time, as a group of Dutch meteorologists suggested? Everything is makeable in our world. Even our time and our relationship with day and night and the seasons. Spring does not start on March 19, 20 or 21. Any more than the day starts at 6:00 AM. Spring begins when you come out one morning and smell the grass. When a blackbird from the corner of the rain gutter greets the rising sun with a clear sounding song. If you pay attention you will experience the hours of the day, the days of the seasons. In and around you. Time is reflected in the phenomena of nature and the traditions of our cultures.
Culinairy winter diary
Nigel Slater beautifully expresses this in his book “The Christmas Chronicles”: “As the season slowly slips into winter – you feel the heavy sweet air of autumn getting fresher and cleaner every new morning – chestnuts and sweet potatoes come back, brown almonds, parsnips with their creamy meat, thick leeks and Muscat grapes with their scent of sugar-sweet wine and honey.
Rhythms of nature
Many of our rituals, feasts and eating habits still refer to our relationship with nature’s rhythms. In Ireland and in Sweden, the winter begins on November 1. A remnant from the time before the introduction of the Christian calendar. Well, according to our solar calendar, the winter in Ireland begins nowadays on November 1st. The day after the Celtic old year’s feast of Samhain. But since the Celts used a lunar calendar, the original Celtic New Year could fall on a different day each year. Just like in the Chinese tradition where the new year starts with the beginning of spring. The first spring day, the Chinese new year, always starts on the day that it is the second, sometimes third, new moon after the winter solstice. In the Chinese tradition, the cycle starts with the Wood element, where the Yang motion is the most powerfully and makes its way up to heaven. In the Celtic tradition, the cycle begins with the deepest point of Yin. Where everything has returned to itself and there is no movement anymore. From here the Yang starts to grow again and the movement starts up and out. First there is Yin and this produces Yang, says the Yi Jing. The Celtic year ends with the feast of the deceased. This is the start of a series of light festivals that have found their place in the solar calendar in Christian times. Celebrations such as St. Martin, St. Nicholas, Santa Lucia, Advent. And the feast of the winter solstice made way for Christmas, so as to continue to spring with the feasts of the Epiphany and finally Mary Light Mass on February 2. This 2nd February is always close to the Chinese New Year or the Celtic spring or light festival. Until the Second World War, official contracts such as mortgages and the like ran from 2 February to 2 February. Referring to the old lunar calendars, which were still deeply anchored in our traditions.
Man in relation to the earth, sun, moon and all other celestial bodies
The ancient Chinese stories tell us about Fu Xi. Together with the “Divine Farmer”, Shen Nong, and the “Yellow Emperor”, Huang Di, he is part of the Three Exalted. These Three Exalted gradually taught the population the elements of Chinese civilization. The first of the Three Exalted to reign was Fu Xi. He taught his people to live according to the Rhythm of the Laws of the Qi. He did that by teaching them the Yi Jing and the Ba Gua (8 Trigrams). And the FengShui, the teachings of Wind and Water. And he taught them the MingShu. We would translate this with astrology, but it is more the description of man’s relationship to the earth, sun, moon and all other celestial bodies. Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, builds on this and talks about the harmony between man and the universe as a source of vitality and longevity. In the first chapter of the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen (the Book of the Yellow Emperor, the Simple Questions), Huang Di asks Qi Bo, his “health minister,” why people today are no longer as old as used to be and not that vital. The answer from Qi Bo to this is that man does not live according to the Rhythm of the Laws of the Qi. Man is no longer in harmony with the rhythm of nature.
Rituals and traditions often refer to the connection with these rhythms. With the relationship to the movement of the earth, sun, moon and stars. For all lunar calendar traditions, November, December and January are the winter months. And in all cultures around the world, we often find “light feasts” in the period of the shortest days of the year. The Qi moves inwards. It is the Yin time. The Qi of trees moves to the trunk and roots, the tubers of plants are filled and the branches and leaves wither. In our body, the Ren Mai and Chong Mai are optimally filled during these months and the body longs for Yin food that turns in and nourishes and warms our organs, closes the pores and helps our consciousness to focus within. It is the time of looking back, contemplation and self-reflection. Our feasts and rituals, from all times and places of this world, help us with this. Our food that we traditionally eat at these festivals is attuned to the movement of the Qi in us and around us. That is why I hope that in the coming weeks you can enjoy the warm tea and gingerbread. That the non-vegetarians and non-vegans looking forward to the delicious game with walnut and sausage filling and a good glass of wine. That you may enjoy the full taste of parsnip puree with mushrooms and hazelnut ragout. And the apricots and raisins marinated in brandy with a spoon of homemade custard pudding.
