Fall Equinox 2024: Get the Most Out of This Auspicious Event

As the sun passes South across the equator we will experience equal amounts of light and dark on the Fall Equinox 2024. This auspicious solar event is balance point in the year just as the Vernal Equinox was. Energies draw inward. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) calls this yin energy. Harvest time ends and plants wither and die but it's beautiful. We can tap into these energies and live better.

The Spring Equinox expressed dynamic yang energy outwardly with plants sprouting and greening in the sunlight. But with the Fall Equinox we see and feel energies begin to draw inward. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) call this yin energy. Harvest time ends and plants wither and die.

Full moons often happen around the Equinoxes. They bring energy that’s palpable and pivotal. For the ancient Chinese, the Autumnal Equinox full moon represented the beginning of the dark yin or female half of the year.

Our internal and external energy is noticeably winding down this time of year, moving out of the total yang of Summer and late Summer but not yet descending into the total yin of Winter. As such we call this season ‘yang within yin’ to reflect that last burst of yang energy before the complete yin immersion in Winter. Most people love this final burst as it reveals itself through the leaves changing color to the most beautiful bright reds and yellows. —Mindi Counts in Everyday Chinese Medicine

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Fall Equinox 2024 is September 22.

The Fall Equinox occurs during TCM’s energetic Fall and the Metal element on September 21, 22 or 23 each year. This year 2024, the Autumnal Equinox falls on the 22nd.

Depending on how close to the equator you live determines whether you’ll see a bit more or a bit less than 12 hours of daylight.

Once Fall Equinox 2024 arrives, daylight hours will start dwindling. And they’ll continue to dwindle up until the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and beginning of Winter. 

Fall Equinox 2024 will completely oppose the Spring Equinox of 2024.

Both Spring and Fall Equinoxes feature a feast of seasonal produce. During both occasions plants are responding to the shift in balance of light and dark. That shift reaches its pinnacle during the both Equinoxes.

The Vernal Equinox which occurs around Easter, Passover and Nowruz(1) presents:

… the first bitter greens of Spring, a newly-born lamb (perhaps), fresh eggs (plucked from the nest of amorous birds who mated on Valentine’s Day) and often items made from the fresh butter and cream available as the cows, goats and sheep produce milk for their young. — Waverly Fitzgerald in Celebrating Autumn Equinox

The full moon that occurs closest to the Equinox often coincides with the harvest.

Contrary to the fresh green sprouts of Spring earlier this year, Fall Equinox 2024 will yield, as always, its abundance of produce on the edge of dying. Says Fitzgerald:

ripe pumpkins and squashes, elegant jams and jellies, bread made from the freshly reaped and ground grain, wine and beer made from the harvested grapes and hops, and poultry (either game birds shot out of the air or culled from the domestic flock).

The energy of Fall Equinox 2024 you can conveniently tap into to shift your lifestyle.

For most people the Fall Equinox marks the official start of Autumn. And Autumn is an important time of year to cleanse the body.

Lung and large intestine, the organs of TCM’s Metal element, require cleansing at this time.

You need to keep them strong and healthy as we march into eventual Winter. And you can do this by first cleansing the body, then enriching your diet with the more heat producing foods of Fall. These actions will help carry you through Winter.

Notice the changes in light and movement in the heavens on the Fall Equinox 2024.

All of nature responds to these changes that happen on and around Fall Equinox 2024.

And plants aren’t the only living beings responding to changes in light on that day.

You’ll respond to them too whether you’re consciously aware of it or not. The Fall Equinox signals to both human body and mind that now is the time to slow down, gather your energies and go within.

The Fall Equinox of any year will occur when the sun moves into Libra—the sign of balance. And the sun moves into Libra on September 22 explaining the precise date and time of Fall Equinox 2024.

Learn from the balance of light and dark this Fall Equinox 2024.

Equinoxes always strike a perfect balance of light and dark and you can take important cues from this solar event.

Fall Equinox 2024 is the most perfect day to stop and contemplate how much balance you have in your life.

• Do you have balance in body, mind and spirit?

• Where are you out of balance in your life?

• What can you do to regain balance? 

Several months ago, nature turned on the ignition key for the year in the Vernal Equinox. And it ushered in a great revving up of life, growth and activity. You too got more physically active and dynamic.

But now Fall Equinox 2024 begins to pull those active energies in to rest. And you right along with it.

Days shorten and darkness increases. And just like the energy of the Metal element prevailing at this same time, you can shift from outward dynamism to more resting time, even the start of incubation.

Earth is giving up her copious bounty in her last breath and display. And she’s showing that you need to make shortening days, and the need for rest and contemplation the focal point of your life.

While you’ll recognize and celebrate Earth’s spectacular abundance, Fall Equinox 2024 will remind you Earth’s beginning to go into incubation and so should you.

Mirror this phenomenon in your spiritual and lifestyle practices. Resolve to dive deeper into your spiritual essence and foster an intimate connection with it.

These spiritual practices will make your Fall Equinox 2024 meaningful.

Known in various philosophies and traditions by many names—Mabon, Feast of Avalon, Cornucopia, Harvest Home, Festival of the Vine—the Fall Equinox has a mystique all its own.

Tap into this mystique help and get the most out of your Fall Equinox 2024 and the time immediately before and after.

Here are some ideas for celebrating your Fall Equinox 2024:

• Gather with friends around a bonfire in the spirit of your yin energy Fall Equinox 2024 as Summer’s yang outward energies come to a close.

• Find an outdoor place of special beauty and atmosphere. Meditate there or make affirmations to attract your desires into your life.

• Make an altar in your home that pays homage to Earth’s bounty.

• Bake bread from scratch and make rustic sandwiches using grilled harvest type vegetables.

• Make a hearty Fall Equinox 2024 stew appreciating the bountiful produce of the Earth. Serve it to family or friends with rustic decorations all around.

• Decorate your living space with apple garlands, wreaths, candles, homemade centerpieces and sheaves of grain. Light your candles at night and be mindful of the balance of energy.

• Create a bowl of nuts and seeds and share with the birds and animals who are already so tuned in to this auspicious Equinox.

• Give thanks on Fall Equinox 2024. Focus on gratitude for the natural life-giving world all around us.

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Endnotes:

(1) Nowruz is the first day of the Iranian new year, occurring on the Vernal Equinox (usually March 20 or 21).

(2) Fitzgerald, Waverly. Celebrating Autumn Equinox: Customs and Crafts, Recipes and Rituals for Harvest, Sukkot, Mid-Autumn Moon, Michaelmas, Eleusinian Mysteries and Other Autumn Holidays. United States, Genesta Press, 2019.

…

Sources:

Shipway, Jilly. Yoga Through the Year: A Seasonal Approach to Your Practice. United States, Llewellyn Worldwide, Limited, 2019.

Forest, Danu. The Magic of the Autumn Equinox: Seasonal Celebrations to Honour Nature's Ever-turning Wheel. United Kingdom, Watkins Media Limited, 2015.

Counts, Mindi K.. Everyday Chinese Medicine: Healing Remedies for Immunity, Vitality, and Optimal Health. United States, Shambhala, 2020.

Lane, Mary. Divine Nourishment: A Woman's Sacred Journey with Food. United States, Dog Ear Publishing, 2010.

L'Esperance, Carrie. The Seasonal Detox Diet: Remedies from the Ancient Cookfire. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 2002.

Fitzgerald, Waverly. Celebrating Autumn Equinox: Customs and Crafts, Recipes and Rituals for Harvest, Sukkot, Mid-Autumn Moon, Michaelmas, Eleusinian Mysteries and Other Autumn Holidays. United States, Genesta Press, 2019.

Photo courtesy of Karolina Grabowska at pexels

Simple Effective Preventives for Fall Colds and Viruses: Wear A Scarf, Get Cupped, and Seek Out a Good Acupuncture Physici

The connection between weather, especially Wind, and human health has been very seriously explored in many of the world’s most scholarly traditional medical systems such as traditional Chinese medicine.(1) There exists today a growing number of progressive medical doctors, especially in Europe who, convinced that the weather is much more important to our health than mere thermal comfort, have named an emerging discipline dedicated to this study. It’s called biometeorology. Whether you follow formal or folk medicine, many practitioners of both will readily tell you this: When it's windy, especially during energetic Fall and Winter, if you want to prevent the dreaded colds and flu of the seasons, cover your nose, mouth, neck and shoulders before going outside. But how is the simple habit of wrapping yourself up in a scarf able to keep you healthier during the cold weather seasons? Traditional Chinese medicine, for one, explains how.

“According to Chinese medical theory, cold and flu viruses are ever present in the air we breathe, and it is the Wind blowing into our faces that drives the virus into the body at the most common points of entry: the nose and the mouth. Protecting these portals is considered so important in China that instead of wrapping a scarf around the neck, people usually wear it across the face, covering the nose and mouth.”

— Ilkay Zihni Chirali in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Cupping Therapy.

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The five elements of traditional Chinese medicine are five aspects of the energy that regulates the material dimension of our lives, our bodies included. They are sometimes referred to as the “energy of earth” in contrast to the “energy of heaven” or cosmos.(2)

There are six components to this cosmic energy called the Six Excesses or Evils. Traditional Chinese medicine finds Wind to be one of the six environmentally related external causes (Excess or Evil) of imbalance which leads to diseases, conditions and disorders of the body. These six climatic excesses can attack the body, enter the body’s energy meridian pathways, and cause external diseases.

Wind is one of five climates that characterize the five seasons of traditional Chinese medicine and it is considered to be the backbone of many diseases by traditional Chinese medicine.

Wind is Yang Energy
Traditional Chinese medicine finds Wind to be a yang pathogenic factor that causes symptoms in the physical body that wander and change. Wind in the body resembles the Wind in nature. It generates not only movement but movement in parts of the body that would otherwise remain motionless.

This yang characteristic of Wind means it’s ‘elevated,’ mostly affecting the uppermost yang regions of the body—head and thorax. And it means it attacks the outermost levels of the body, too—skin pores, muscles and tendons, before penetrating the lungs, the most external and uppermost of all the internal organs. It is no coincidence that lung is the organ of the Fall season’s Metal element, the time of year when wind, colds and flu all ramp up in earnest.

Roots of this Knowledge In Ancient Chinese Medicine
In the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (the Nei Jing Suwen), the medical mentor and Taoist monk Qi Bo tells his student:

“Pathogenic Wind is the root of all evil.”

A digitized copy of a page of the Nei Jing Suwen

In Shigehisa Kuriyama’s Chapter, Wind and Self, in his book, The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine, he aptly writes that ancient people were completely convinced that Wind had a diabolical influence on their health. He also points out the fact that in today’s times we rarely link Wind with illness.

Common Conditions Exacerbated or Caused by Wind
Many who suffer from heightened rheumatic pain when the weather changes don’t often connect the dots when they’ve also experienced very recent exposure to cold or hot Wind.

Many people affected with Bell’s (facial) palsy have often been exposed to Windy conditions just days before onset of the palsy.

School teachers will often notice a negative change in behavior in their students on Windy days.

People who work in highly air-conditioned settings will often report headaches and tight or painful necks and shoulders.

Wind in the Body
Traditional Chinese medicine indicates that a case of Wind invasion in the body includes symptoms of sneezing, headache, and congestion.

Wind makes it easier for other illnesses to invade your body because if you are already feeling a little sick and your immune system is compromised, you are more likely to be vulnerable to other problems. In other words, the presence of nefarious Wind helps other influences to invade and wreak havoc on the body.

Traditional Chinese medicine indicates that colds and flu can enter the body through the skin. Cold Winds pushing against the skin force cold into the body. If you have ingested a virus carried by the Wind, this virus will remain just beneath the skin for a short time before advancing deeper into the body and entering the lungs.

In order to maintain stasis, the body is forced to work against the cold, the Wind, and the actual virus, but a person may not have enough energy to fight them off. When this occurs, symptoms of cold and flu take hold.

Traditional Chinese medicine also identifies acupuncture meridians that travel through the body from the most superficial layer of the body–the skin–to the deepest, most interior parts of the body.

Colds and flu originate at the superficial layers of the body but when we are unable to fight off a Wind attack, it moves deeper into the body causing more serious illness. This could explain, in part, why some people whose immune systems are compromised, die as a result of complications from the flu or a corona virus.

Among the more superficial channels of the body providing the most common routes of cold and Wind entering the body are:

1. the bladder channel which travels vertically passing through the neck and back, and;

2. the small intestine channel which travels horizontally across the neck and shoulder.

When cold and Wind attack through these channels, we may experience a stiff neck, headaches especially at the back of the neck, an aversion to Wind, a lack of sweating, chills, listlessness, fatigue, and a stuffed up nose or head.

“Located on the neck and shoulders, the Wind points are considered both entry points for Wind and areas you can stimulate to expel the Wind and prevent further penetration of the body’s kingdom.”

— Ilkay Zihni Chirali

Author Chirali (whose quote is mentioned just above) writes how his teacher, a Vietnamese Buddhist wandering monk in the medical tradition, explained to him why a Wind attack to the body can be very painful:

“Wind allowed to pass through a narrow opening is ‘poisonous’ because it is compressed and pierces the flesh like a dagger. Its impact is funneled and focused, as if adjusting the nozzle of a hose to concentrate its intensity.”

Wind and Cancer Metastasis in Traditional Chinese Medicine
The scholarly article, The Concept of Wind in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Journal of Pharmacopuncture, December 2016, says this about how Wind may affect the metastasis of cancer in the body:

“Cancer metastasis is the spread of cancer cells to tissues and organs beyond where the tumor originated, resulting in the formation of new tumors. The formation of metastases is a major problem in clinical oncology because it is one of the main causes of death in most cancer patients. Classical Chinese medicine has no specific concept of cancer; however, experts in traditional Chinese medicine are studying the causes and treatments of metastasis. Traditional Chinese medicine doctors believe the causes of cancer are multiple, including toxins and other environmental factors, called ‘external causes,’ as well as ‘internal causes’ such as Blood and Qi stagnation, emotional stress, bad eating habits, wastes accumulated from food, and damaged organs. They also believe that Internal Wind of hepatic origin is not only one of the causes of malignant tumors but also the main cause for the formation of metastases. An analysis of the causes of internal Wind in patients with malignant tumors suggests that removing Wind is the fundamental method of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of patients with malignant tumors and metastases; thus, drugs that eliminate Wind are important prescriptions for treating patients with such tumors.”

Cupping as Therapy for Wind in the Body
The holistic healing modality of ‘cupping,’ known in traditional Chinese medicine as the ‘capturing of the Winds’ is believed to offer positive and healing actions.

Cupping is a Chinese therapy in which heated glass cups are applied to the skin along the meridians of the body, creating suction as a way of stimulating the flow of vital energy. (Skincare professionals reading this article may be interested to learn that the Biorhythmic Drainer, proprietary equipment offered by PHYTO5 and pictured just above, is a very safe, painless and effective way to easily and elegantly provide a state-of-the-art cupping therapy to clients.)

In Western and Eastern Europe and in Asia, cupping is considered a form of very effective folk medicine where mothers and healers improvise with glass cups, cotton cloth, olive oil, a bronze coin and a flame to create a system of induction efficient enough to remove Wind from the body.

Family lineages of skilled cuppers have been highly respected as healers for generations. Preferring to deal with the possibility rather than the outcome, they apply cupping either as a preventive or at the first sign of discomfort.

“Vietnamese people understand that getting a diagnosis of gio (Wind) means you are better off inside the home, otherwise to go outside means you are liable to be struck by Wind again and get far worse”

— The Buddhist Abbot the Venerable Thich Phuoch Tan

Famed canonized saint and eleventh century polymath, Hildegard von Bingen, also recommended cupping to relieve the effects of certain humoral (fluid) imbalances caused by Wind. She saw the body as microcosm permeable to the outside macrocosmic world. She understood how Wind is an elemental life force that normally circulated throughout the physiology of the body but she also was aware that Wind could be a exogenous pathological factor, too. She understood how Wind entered the body’s orifices right down to the body’s tiny skin pores thereby tipping the delicate balance of health with sickness the result.

“One of the chief reasons why cupping continues to remain popular as a folk practice and attracts modern day therapists is because it effectively withdraws climatic pathogenic factors from both the superficial and deeper layers of the body.”

— Ilkay Zihni Chirali

Wind In Another Form
• It should also be noted that  covering the neck and shoulders also applies to any type of Wind generation including cold breezes generated by air-conditioning and fans.
• Keep the air-conditioning in your home down to a minimum to maintain your healthful balance.
• If you sleep in cold weather with your Window open, open the window just a crack and be sure you’re bundled up in bed.
• Maintain a body that’s closed to Wind.

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Keep Your Pores Small and Protected
Additionally, if your skin pores are more open, they should have no contact with the cold and Wind. The pores’ natural capacity is to protect against any invasive climatic influences.

If you normally have enlarged pores, you may want to use PHYTO5’s Earth element Yogi Body Gel for the body and the Earth line of facial products. These are formulated to help reduce enlarged pores.

Conclusion
Reduce your chance of catching the common cold or contracting a flu virus simply by covering your neck, shoulders, nose and mouth in windy and/or cold conditions. 

You may also want to seek out an integrity holistic cupping therapist for prevention and especially if you feel the onset signs of a cold or flu.

Understanding the meticulous observations of the effect of Wind on health in ancient Chinese medicine is actually applicable for today’s public health specialists, traditional and complementary medicine practitioners. In addition to the practices of wearing a scarf or receiving cupping therapy, herbs and acupuncture are also commonly administered by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine to eliminate Wind in order to treat various diseases.

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Endnotes:

(1)This connection has also been studied in Ayurvedic(a), Unani,(b) Gaelic/Celtic(c) and Islamic(d) medicines.

(a) In Ayurvedic medicine, various changes in our natural environment such as Wind direction can create numerous issues connected with aggravating our dosha, one of three bodily “bio-elements” that make up one's constitution and govern physiological activity.

(b) Unani is a system of medicine practiced in parts of India, thought to be derived via medieval Muslim physicians from Byzantine Greece. It is sometimes contrasted with the Ayurvedic system.

(c) Today it is challenging to objectively evaluate Celtic medical lore since its records are faded and fragmented. These include Farquhar Leech, the healer, the Druids and St. Columba among many others. Many believe the 12 Celtic directional Winds tend to correspond with those of American Indian medicine wheels.

(d) Islamic medicine is the science of medicine developed in the Islamic Golden Age (eighth to 14th century). Islamic medicine preserved, systematized and developed the medical knowledge of classical antiquity, including the major traditions of Hippocrates, Galen* and Dioscorides.**

*Hippocrates (c. 460–377 bc), was a Greek physician and is traditionally regarded as the father of medicine. His name is associated with the medical profession's Hippocratic oath because of his attachment to a body of ancient Greek medical writings widely believed to not even having been written by him.

**Galen was a Greek physician (129–199), who while attempting to systematize medicine, made important discoveries in anatomy and physiology.

***Pedanius Dioscorides, c. 40–90 AD, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De materia medica (On Medical Material)—a five-volume Greek pharmacopeia of herbal medicine and related medicinal substances that was widely read for more than 1,500 years.

(2) This explains why traditional Chinese medicine tells us we live “between heaven and earth.”

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Sources:

Photo of lady in blue scarf courtesy of Omid Bonyadian at pexels.

Photo of Chinese apothecary courtesy of freestocks.org via pexels

Photo of man being cupped courtesy of Antoni Shkraba at pexels

Image of the Nei Jing Suwen File:The Su Wen of the Huangdi Neijing.djvu courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Elias, Jason, and Katherine Ketcham. Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity: Understanding the Five Elemental Types for Health and Well-being. New York: Three Rivers, 1998. Print.

Chirali, Ilkay Zihni. Traditional Chinese Medicine: Cupping Therapy. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1999. Print.

Sage Journals: Your Gateway to World-Class Research Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/.

Joiner, Thomas Richard. Chinese Herbal Medicine Made Easy: Natural and Effective Remedies for Common Illnesses. United States, Hunter House, 2001.

Kuriyama, Shigehisa. The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. Zone Books, 2011.

Dashtdar M, Dashtdar MR, Dashtdar B, Kardi K, Shirazi MK. The Concept of Wind in Traditional Chinese Medicine. J Pharmacopuncture. 2016 Dec;19(4):293-302. doi: 10.3831/KPI.2016.19.030. PMID: 28097039; PMCID: PMC5234349.

This blog was originally published on October 10, 2016 and is extensively updated here for freshness and comprehensiveness.

Energetic Fall Begins August 7 According to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Why So Soon?

Every August 7 we enter the energetic season of the Metal element or energetic Fall according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The timing of the start of energetic Fall seems off since we’re still experiencing hot Summer days, at least for a few more weeks in most of Northern U.S. Hot weather continues well beyond the end of August for the South.

How do the five energetic seasons relate to the traditional four-season pattern?

Clearly the 365 days of the year cannot be divided into four traditional seasons and at the same time correspond to the energetic calendar which divides the same period into five energetic seasons.

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First, let’s remember that the traditional four seasons are defined by the apparent movement of the sun. At its apex we have maximum sun exposure with maximum amount of heat and light. At its nadir,* we have the minimum amount of heat and of light. And, of course, what the apex is to the northern hemisphere, the nadir is to the southern hemisphere. When it is Summer in the U.S., it’s Winter in Australia. And in similar fashion when the apparent movement of the sun crosses the equator, we experience the start of Spring in March and Fall in September, respectively. The reverse is true for the Southern hemisphere.

The TCM calendar is also regulated by the effect of the apparent movement of the sun by way of the cyclical movement of yin/yang: The sun at its apex corresponds to the maximum yang energy/minimum yin energy (peak of Fire season) and at its nadir, maximum yin/minimum yang energy (peak of Winter).

The Spring is the emerging of yang out of the yin of Winter and the Fall is the diminishing yang energy of Summer allowing for the emergence of the yin energy.

The big difference between the two calendars springs from the TCM consideration that seasonal energy cannot suddenly disappear to make room for the sudden emergence of the energy of the next season. The rule of nature calls for a transition from one energy to the next. This calls for four transitional periods which altogether amount to the fifth season named Earth—the four periods of the year when yin and yang energies are in balance. Each of the five seasons last approximately 72 days and the Earth season is four times 18 days between:

• Winter/Water and Spring/Wood

• Spring and Summer/Fire

• Summer and Metal/Fall

• Fall and Winter/Water. 

Think of each season resulting from a surge and a slowdown of complementary yin and yang energies involved in a constant energetic dance. Each seasonal pattern becomes the cause of the climatic changes brought about by each season. Let’s call them the effects or symptoms of each season in order to differentiate them from the energetic cause of each season. 

The initial energetic surge does not produce a visible effect right away. There is a lag in time. As the new energy pattern is at work, with one energy ascending while the other descends, there is an acceleration in force reflected by the appearance of the typical effects and characteristics of each season. We could call them symptoms such as heat/cold, dryness/humidity, wind/precipitation as opposed to the seasonal energetic cause resulting from the yin/yang yearly cycle. 

There is also a lag in time on the way out of an energetic season. What we continue to feel and experience as we enter energetic Fall on August 7 is the momentum of the energy causing a continuation of the effects or symptoms of the ending Summer season although the energy of the new Fall energetic season is already at work but has not yet materialized its own seasonal symptoms or effects.

As the yang energy of Summer and the Fire element ebbs bringing about an increase in yin energy, there is a moment when both  yin and yang are in balance, yet the effects of the Summer/yang energy has such momentum that the effects of Summer continue to be felt although the Summer energetic pattern has already vanished to transform into the Fall energy that will be showing its effects progressively during energetic Fall. 

Here is an analogy that might help.

Imagine a jogger pushing a baby carriage on a flat and smooth surface. Now imagine that the jogger suddenly stops running as he or she releases the carriage. Because of momentum the carriage will continue to roll forward for some distance although no one is pushing it. The same is true with the ending seasonal effect of each energetic season. It overlaps into the next season.

Our clients in various parts of the U.S. or internationally frequently remark:

Your explanation of the five seasons might be realistic in the northern regions but in the South we only have two seasons such as “hot and hotter” or “rain and dryness.”

Yet energetically speaking everyone experiences the same energetic pattern though with differences in intensity of the effects/symptoms. This is because all parts of the globe are under the influence of the sun and its apparent movement. No region of the world is immune.

This massive energy drives climate differences with degrees of intensity and duration mitigated by secondary causes such as mountains and oceans.  

“I and my family lived in Hawaii for several years having come from New England. We arrived there just before Christmas and my children were delighted to go to the beach every day after school year-round for the first couple of years. By the third year we started to feel the effects of Winter and would joke that the surfers without a wetsuit in February or March were either from Canada or Chicago! We were slowly adapting to the local climate and our bodies were reckoning with the effect of Winter energy even in Hawaii.”

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* the point on the celestial sphere directly below an observer; the opposite of zenith.