Bo / 剝 ䷖ Hexagram 23, mountain over earth
Entry Z’ev seasonal almanac 9/30/26 just after autumn equinox 2026
This has been a very extreme seasonal weather cycle. The seasons are completely out of sync as I described in the quote from a local farmer who said that the (seasonal) clock is broken. We’ve seen a very late start to summer here in San Diego, mid July, but quickly the weather became very hot and humid with little relief through the end of September. This is what is known as an El Niño year, local (and Eastern Pacific) ocean temperatures are very high and multiple typhoons hurricanes have devastated the Hawaiian Islands three times in the last few months, and presently unseasonal torrential rains hitting the desert Southwest (as hurricanes spin off to the north), after months of dangerous drought where major rivers and water sources have dried up completely for the first time in memory. Here in San Diego, high humidity and temperatures, especially at night time, has led to an explosion of insects. In terms of five phases and seasonal qi, we’ve seen the fire phase of summer as a guest qi overwhelming, both the earth phase (fire births earth) governing qi of late summer and now the metal qi of autumn. So fire is replete, so much so that it has overwhelmed the following two phases (earth and metal), and the seasons late summer and early autumn. Weatherwise, it is going to be in the 90s for the next 10 to 14 days. Fire melts metal when metal loses its ability to control itself then it doesn’t check wood and wood can catch fire leading to fires. It also consumes Yin qi of the Earth which dries out. The extreme dryness/lack of rain in California, Arizona and New Mexico for several months even with high humidity, hardens the surface soil layer increasing the risk of flooding, runoff and swollen rivers.
Meteorologists are forecasting a winter of torrential rainstorms here in California beginning sometime later in November… (we will see if this comes to pass) and also consistent high tides a foot above normal. Already many local beaches have been washed away of their sand all the way up to Malibu, and coastal bluffs become more unstable, making sliding soils a danger both to those living on the bluffs and those on the beaches below. It’s interesting times ahead and I believe we should be recording these events as they occur and and interpreting them according to the wu yun liu qi/five movements six qi theory of the Su Wen. In terms of health,
the extreme fire nature of the year (Fire Horse), season and predominance of fire guest qi can deplete jing/essence and yin resources of the body, so it is essential to protect essence with moistening, nourishing foods such as steamed pears, miso soup, seaweeds, bean sprouts and leafy greens. Heart qi is depleted through excessive sweating, so herbal formulas to protect the heart such as ding zhi wan or tian wang bu xin dan are recommended, plus astringent medicinals to reduce sweating, such as wu wei zi. Staying out of heat and direct sun at the peak of the daytime, even though it is now autumn is also essential.