The Solstice is today, so I would like to offer my positive thoughts to all of us at this point in the Earths cycle.
The Solstice is when the distance of the Sun from the equator is at its greatest, the sun appears to stand still and then turns about - In my culture we say that the Sun has two wives - a Summer Wife and a Winter wife and on the day of the Solstice he ends his journey with one wife and returns to the other.
Even without any religious trappings the shortest or longest day are significant points in the year. For those of you in the North it is the shortest day, but we should celebrate the fact that the Earths orbit is returning you back to the days of spring and summer. For those of us in the South we ought to be celebrating the warmth of midsummer, when energy is at its highest, crops are ripening before the langid days of January and February come and carry us into the Harvest season.
Do you believe that Seasons affect human emotions? Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real condition refering to depression that arises during Winter, equally though people tend to be more agitated during spring and summer, which can be good but could also lead to manic and extreme behavior.
Apparently the pineal gland is sensitive to the movement of the Sun. As the daylight hours shorten, the pineal gland releases the chemical 'Melatonin', this in turn controls the amount of 'Seritonin' in the brain. The pineal gland also reacts to the amount of light working in conjunction with the 'Endocrine System'. The body experiences changes in energy levels and in the emotional balance, so being affected by the environment. Hence many people experience an increase in energy as the sun moves through the Spring and Summer pathways, but find that the energy drops with the decrease in sunlight/daylight hours during the autumn and winter.
Should we be more attentive to seasonal changes, from the perspectives of seaonal food cycles or psychological effects?
