Freedigitalphotos.net Artist: Idea go
Summer is the season that runs [roughly] from June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere. It falls, according to astronomy, between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Why do so many of us look forward to this period of time? Well, we have contact with the sun and water [beaches]; there is the potential of vacation, camp, travel. Less clothing is needed, bringing us closer to the elements and one another…we are chummier with nature.
Lets talk about nature and sensuality for a moment, and let me define sensual as appealing to the five senses: touch, feel, taste, smell, sight. Would you agree that summer is the most sensual season? Let me define nature as ‘untouched, uninfluenced by civilization or artificiality…[possessing] essential characteristics…fundamental character…natural aspect of a person, place, or thing’ [American Heritage College Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. NY. 1997]
Recently [and I believe we know this intuitively], I have read that there are beneficial, restorative effects of spending time/walking outdoors; of interacting with those gifts… the elements of flora, fauna, light, earth, wind…which sustain and complement us. I like to get outside every day…to get a breath of fresh air. It revives me. I live near Prospect Park [in Brooklyn], which was designed by Olmstead and Vaux, the architects who planned Central Park [Manhattan]. We feel so lucky to have this oasis of beauty right in our backyard.
It occurs to me that we feel ‘whole’ when our senses are open to the warming effects of the sun [that huge star] together with the sustaining, grounding pull of the green earth. At this time, we are closer to the external environment, and when we are attuned, when we notice, we can take in the beauty of nature and its infinite variety. In warm weather, nature touches our bare skin so that we interact more with the gaze of the sun and the breath of the goddess [earth].
Somehow, [I’m not certain of the details], the synergy of the feminine and masculine energies are more at play in summer. We feel this co-mingling, which finds its partner energies in our being…[Remember that each man and woman has a masculine and feminine side, which is to be balanced for spiritual and psychological health, and unified in enlightenment]
Spring has emerged after a relentless winter. We are now getting a hint of the joy and fertility of summer to come. Let’s enjoy each moment…
Speak to you on May 25th.
Linda
