Samhain - yeah, right!

Did you?

Celebrate the end of the harvest season that is.

Manage to get all those loo rolls stashed in the garage and chuck the insides of the mass produced pumpkins in the food waste (inedible, I heard recently!)

According to the Gaels after celebrating the graft of the growing and harvesting season we enter the "darker half of the year."

And it's looking pretty bloody dark to me. I mean I don't suppose they (the Gaels) knew much about Black Friday - Or, perhaps that was the time they sold off all the crappy misshapen veg and last years dried up salted cows anuses left over from this year for HUGE DISCOUNTS.

And what would they think of being told that they couldn't leave their authentic stone huts with 'living' roofs for a few meads with their mates because they were in lockdown. I mean would you stop a bunch of randy Gaels with nothing better to do than pillage someone else's turnip store and party like its five hundred and ninety four because they were not wearing their sealskin face masks. (come to think of it a sealskin face mask was probably very de-rigeur then)

They knew all about pandemics, of course. The Plague of Justinian, one of the deadliest plagues in human history happened around 550AD. It killed countless millions of people, lasted for 200 years. It was spread by the rat flea, and possibly every 7th human being - pure speculation of course - and, get this, it originated in Qinghai in China!

This time of year we (well most of us) fully appreciate that the barriers between the spirit world and physical world are lowered. For you sceptics, watch Hughs nightly death reports by the BBC. We know precisely how many poor souls have crossed that particular barrier. Though it does seem to be a one way street; unless you subscribe to the possibility that Elon Musk is from another dimension.

To enable us to cope with spirits - both varieties, pumpkin induced flatulence, forced isolation, permanent murk, and a succession of storms with ridiculous names we can turn to the practices of our Scandinavian neighbours. I'm not suggesting we erect Billy bookcases all winter, no, we should embrace winter, snuggle up in Fair Isle socks, wrap ourselves in sustainably butchered reindeer fur and escape to our log-fire heated winter huts. (Oops, sorry, carried away, we cannot move from the living room just at the moment).

The Finns, seem to get everything just about right (lower covid infection rates, young dynamic forward thinking politicians, 10/10 on the global happiness scale(?) Universal Basic Income, stunning unpopulated countryside the Aurora Borealis blah, blah.....) They judge their (frankly) perfect Winters to have not one but three distinct phases. Each is more enjoyable than the other for the combination of coldness, dryness darkness, snowiness and general gorgeousness. They have in addition developed the the ultimate coping mechanism - requiring said Finn to get drunk whilst sitting alone, on the sofa in only shorts - they have a 'word' for this practice but its unpronounceable by non-fins and probably by actual Finns who practice frequent 'coping'.

Back to the Chinese.....

China is getting some pretty poor press currently - possibly an understament I know but I want to crack on with my Acupuncture revision, so need to paraphrase a bit.

Yes Acupuncture.

You see I decided last year to risk all and become a financially stretched mature student. I chose to study Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Bad timing perhaps (more understatement).

The events of the last 9 months have, I confess caused me to wonder if I had unwittingly crossed the physical/spirit barrier into some kind of shit version of my previously imagined blissful healers dream. In this shit version, firstly, nobody trusts the Chinese, nor what they say - especially about disease and how to treat it! - Secondly, it's illegal to get within 6ft of another human so sticking them practicing with acupuncture needles is - challenging; and finally, my residual income has been decimated by the economic crash!

Great!

The good news is that, according to some unbelievably ancient Chinese guy (no women 'invented' medicine in China by the way) in the "cycle of life" we are entering the time of utmost Yin (opposite to yang by the way). Yin is more 'substantial, heavier, darker,. Its rhythm is slower. Our bodies, like the nature that surrounds us, (if we ever get to go out again) are resting, building reserves, rejuvenating and making ready for Yins essential partner Yang to rise once more in spring and burst forth, warm, dynamic growing and sprouting.

Spring will happen, and when it does we'd all do well to make sure we are ready for it.

Nature is unfathomable and untameable, amazing and, we should know this by now, uncontrollable by smidgy little humans.

Happy Samhain - or whatever floats your boat! Just try look after yourselves.

Nurture that Yin!

Chris.