So we have reached the Autumn equinox. I always wonder whether this is the beginning or the middle of Autumn since it still seems like the end of Summer. In Chinese medicine, there are 5 seasons: spring, summer, late summer, autumn, and winter. Spring is associated with the element or phase of wood, summer with fire, late summer with earth, autumn with metal and winter with water. This is the theory of correspondences – that all things resonate in a certain way, and that there is an attraction between things that resonate similarly.

Thus the earth element resonates with late summer, and this resonance describes the fullness of the harvest, and the golden light on the haystacks. Other things that resonate with the earth element include the ability to digest and transform food into useful bodily substances. So the bodily organs of digestion themselves (stomach and spleen/pancreas) are associated with the earth element.

The earth resonance also extends to the ability to listen to others – kind of a digesting and transforming of their problems I suppose. Earth too, is to do with stability, thus the need for stability and the importance of home, as well as the ability to lend stability and support to others, and perhaps the need to lean on others if earth is out of balance.

Thus late summer is a time to digest what has happened during the year and to make the space to let go of what is no longer needed. It is a time to make sure we have the nourishment needed to help us to stand strong, and to make sure our immune systems can deal with the coming change of season as we go into autumn and winter. Of course, this is especially important at this time of covid – we need to trust that our bodies can protect us, and for me, to have that trust I feel the need to nourish myself properly.

So in terms of food, the sweet taste belongs to earth, and the sweet taste is very nourishing for our body fluids. This we need, but it does not mean sugar! The excessive sweetness of sugar is destructive to the spleen-pancreas and causes disease. Instead, we need the natural sweet grains of a late summer harvest such as wheat, barley, corn, millet or sweet potatoes, as well as autumn squashes and pumpkins such as butternut squash.

One key herb that nourishes body fluids in the stomach with sweetness is dang shen or codonopsis root, and this can be found in Chinese supermarkets, and added to soups, stews and stocks.

Take a look at my autumn stock recipes.