2023 Nourishing Porridge for the Season of Beginning of Summer

癸卯年立夏節氣養生粥

Sorry I didn’t post the porridge recipe for the last season. I made a trip to Japan and China and all non-Chinese websites are blocked there so I couldn’t post anything. It is the first day of summer today. Wishing you a great season!

For the year of Yin Water Rabbit, Fire Qi is deficient in general. Yangming Dry Metal Qi governs first half of the year, while Shaoyin Imperial Fire governs the second half of the year. From May 6 on to May 20, we will be in the eighth season node, Beginning of Summer 立夏 (Li Xia). We are now entering the last quarter of the second Qi phase. Currently, the Host Qi is Shaoyin Imperial Fire, and the Host Qi is Shaoyang Ministerial Fire. Keep in mind that within each Qi phase, the Host Qi is the Upright Qi, while the Guest Qi is the pathogenic Qi. Their transmission and transformation depend on the Fire Qi, which is deficient this year. The two Fire forces are compatible with each other until May 21, and there will be diseases associated with the Fire forces. The Heart functions tend to be compromised this month, and the Tripple Burner network tends to be obstructed. This means Internal Wind tends to be generated in the body, which manifest as twitching, restlessness, tremors, convulsion, high-pitched tinnitus, hypertension, swelling face and eyes, lethargy, drowsiness, nosebleed, sneezing, yawning, nausea, painful and unsmooth urination. This is a time to be patient with our ambitions and allow our Heart to be nourished.

Treating the two pivots — Shaoyin and Shaoyang, would be the appropriate approach. The staple grain should be yellow in color (millet), and supplemented with food in red color, such as hawthorn berry, red sorghum, goji berry, jujube, etc.

According to 「月令」 “The Monthly Orders,” 物候 the seasonal material manifestations of 立夏 Beginning of Summer are:

1st Qi Phase: Mole Crickets Croon 螻蟈鳴；

2nd Qi Phase: Earthworms Emerge 蚯蚓出；

3rd Qi Phase: Snake Gourds Grow 王瓜生。

Mole crickets, earthworms and snake gourds respond to excess heat and damp in nature. They can be used to remove phlegm nodules and damp-heat pathogens in the body.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and benefit from it. Thank you so much for your support!