Ride A Wooden Horse

If you don't follow Chinese astrology, then you may not be aware that this is the Yang Wood Horse year.  If you are a Westerner, you probably have visions of carousels and those little nickel rides in front of the drugstore.  Of course, that assumes you are an old fart Westerner, I suppose, since visions like that don't exist any more.

It's not quite that simple.

The horse is a fire sign and wood obviously feeds fire.  Yang light casts a positive spin on things and enhances them, but things can get out of control.

This year is liable to see extreme weather (continuing) and lots of health problems, especially with the stomach and gut.  Look for outbreaks of stomach flu in general populations and bouts of indigestion on an individual basis.

The wood part implies strong and fast growth, which can be good for some things, like spiritual awakenings, but can be bad in socio-political situations (read Ukraine, etc.).  Explosive growth can also mean weak foundations and poor construction.  Trees that grow very fast tend to have shallow roots and fall over easily in storms.

And we are in for some storms.  Yang Wood Horse years are known for wars.  The last one in 1954, saw the defeat of France in Vietnam, which ultimately led to the US Vietnam War and the socio-political upheaval in the US commonly called the 60s. On the positive side, the 60s were known for bursts of creativity, but as we have seen, many of the movements that began in that era were shallow and have withered over time.

In this year of the Yang Wood Horse, efforts to expand one's spiritual life will see the return of immediate and rapid results.  The nobility of the Horse will tend to make these efforts positive and beneficial, but one should take care to ensure that things don't get out of hand and "lose the name of action".

What we can likely expect this year is:

• late cold blasts in the northern hemisphere;
• soggy, cool cummer in many places;
• wars and conflicts;
• a protracted and severe outbreak of intestinal flu;
• a rapid spiritual awakening of large numbers of people;
• greater efforts to live more harmoniously on a personal level.

 It's not going to be an easy year, but if folks are aware of the esoteric forces affecting the world around us, we can control and focus those forces in positive ways.  If not, then we are in for some nasty conflicts.

All in all, we can sum up the year as being one of having an energetic horse by the tail.  We can either learn to control and marshal the horse's strengths into positive focus, with the aid of a positive bias on our side, or we can let it get out of hand and end up with a stampede of events that will surely run us over.

Or it's all superstitious bullshit and we shouldn't pay it any mind.

I subscribe to the notion that astrology has some foundation in fact and science, though it's been covered over with hocus-pocus for a long time.  I tend to take the themes more seriously than the particulars, so I'm ready for some upheavals and health issues going forward.

Happy happy!

Equatorial Monotony

It's June and we should be well into Dry Season by now. But we ain't. It's been raining nearly every afternoon and today I had to slog, yet again, through flooded streets in cataclysmic downpours on the back of an ojek (motorcycle taxi). It's strange to say the least. Folks are talking about it because the typical Rain Season is around October to April. By mid-June, it should be blazing hot and dry as a bone here in the Ciliwang river basin.

Rain is not unusual here. In the mountains, it rains nearly every day of the year, but in the plains, the Rain Season is normally about six months, followed by the Dry Season. Rain Season equates to summer in the temperate latitudes. The trees blossom and fruit appears and rice grows like crazy (we're having a bumper crop this year). The Dry Season is like winter: everything dies, the leaves drop and by October, things look pretty bleak. The late rains are enough to get the old folks jawbonin' about weather, which is normally not a topic of great debate, since it hardly changes year 'round, save for the ralative increase and decrease in precipitation.

Life on the equator is maddeningly regular. If you are a freak about routine and you don't live on the equator, then you are out of your element. The length of the day varies little more than half an hour the entire year. The sun comes up roughly 6am and goes down roughly 6pm every day, 365 days a year. The temperature rarely ventures outside 25-33C, or 75-90F. About the only thing that varies at all is the amount of precipitation. People just don't discuss the weather here. Under normal circumstances, that topic would only be surpassed in dullness by the weather itself. When things change, even a little, it makes for quite a stir.

It causes me to reflect on a few things, like a cool, crisp fall morning. I miss those days when the air is clean, dry and cool. You feel compelled to throw open the doors and windows and air out the house. The very light seems to have a shimmering quality and a silvery cast to it. The light breeze stirs the leaves around and it feels as if the world is holding its collective breath, waiting for the Big Blow of winter. I miss those weekend afternoons on a day like that, where you lie in the cool, freshly mowed grass and stare up at the infinite blue, not a single cloud in sight.

I miss a crackling fire on a cold winter's morning: the smell of the burning wood and the occasional pops and snaps. I miss the cozy feeling of walking into a warm house from the bleak outdoors and shedding the layers of clothes that kept you alive. I miss having a hot cup of coffee or cocoa to warm your core, not to keep you from sweating. I actually miss those times of the year when the night is longer than the day.

I miss the long summer days, when the sun rises early and sets well after 8pm. The days seems to last forever. You fight your way home and still have a couple of hours of daylight left for playing with the kids in the yard.

To be sure, there is a certain advantage to living on the equator. The growing season is year-round, so food is cheap and plentiful. You don't need two separate wardrobes. Your toes and fingers are never numb, nor do your face and lips get chapped and wind-burnt. But the lack of variety can be as much a curse as a blessing, like the sound of rain on a tin roof; at first it's pleasing and refreshing, but after several hours, it can drive you to the brink.

Perhaps there is a correlation between weather and food. It seems that the more monotonous the weather, the spicier the food. The correlation does seem to have some validity. Indonesian and Mexican food are spicy, while German and British food are bland beyond tolerance. In my experience, and granted this is only anecdotal, the farther you move from the equator, the less spice appears in the native cuisine. Maybe I'll apply for a grant and travel the world sampling food to see if my theory is valid.

I've seen less worthy topics...

The most bothersome part of an extended rainy season is that I have to carry dry clothes and shoes all the time. I'm beginning to feel like a turtle, both for the amphibious context and for the fact that I carry my net worth on my back all the time.

I am happy that the old folks have more to talk about than just my whereabouts and doin's though. For that, let us give thanks.