For thousands of years, China has not divided the year into four seasons but into twenty four.
Twenty four small seasons, each about a fortnight long, each marking a real turn in the light and the land. Start of Spring. Rain Water. Awakening of Insects. White Dew. Frost’s Descent. Names that ask you to notice what nature is actually doing, rather than lumping three whole months under one word.
It struck me that we have nothing quite like it down here. So I made one.
On the right is my own approximate wheel for the south west: twenty four small seasons for our corner of the world, turning opposite to China’s, because their winter is our summer. First Heat. The Doctor Arrives, when the afternoon sea breeze finally breaks the heat. Red Banksias. The Green Returns. Kangaroo Paw. Everlasting Fields.
And framing it, the six seasons of the Noongar people, the custodians of this country, who have read this land far longer and far better than I ever could.
Birak (December to January), the season of the young, or first summer. The colour is red, for heat and fire. Traditionally the season of controlled mosaic burning, when the dry heat and easterly winds give way to cooling afternoon sea breezes. The young birds and reptiles are leaving their nests and dens.
Bunuru (February to March), the season of adolescence, and the hottest stretch of the year. The colour is orange. Little to no rain, hot easterly winds by day, cooling sea breezes late. A coastal and riverside time for fishing, with white flowers heavy in the bush.
Djeran (April to May), the season of adulthood. The colour is green. The heat finally breaks: cool nights, dewy mornings, gentle winds turning to the south west. The red flowers of the seasonal banksias appear, and it becomes a time to settle and prepare.
Makuru (June to July), the season of fertility, and the coldest and wettest part of the year. The colour is dark blue. The first real rains and storms arrive, people moved inland away from the coast, and it is the pairing season when many animals couple ahead of breeding.
Djilba (August to September), the season of conception. The colours are pink and yellow. A mix of cold, clear days and the first warm stretches, the very start of the wildflower bloom, and the season when the newborn animals appear. The transition out of the deep cold.
Kambarang (October to November), the season of birth, or second spring. The colour is yellow. The wildflower explosion, longer dry spells, far fewer cold fronts, and the land bursting into colour before the heat of Birak returns and the wheel turns over again.
So read as a whole, the six seasons trace a life: the young (Birak), adolescence (Bunuru), adulthood (Djeran), fertility (Makuru), conception (Djilba) and birth (Kambarang), folding the human cycle and the land’s cycle into the same turning year. Right now we are in Makuru, the cold and the wet, the season of the longest nights.
Two cultures, two hemispheres, the same instinct. Stop. Look. Notice the small turn the year is making right now.
Which season are you in today, on whichever wheel speaks to you?