The Full Earth Ox Moon
Here we are, the last full moon of the year! This final phase is often called the "Little New Year." For most holidays, you get to enjoy yourself - but for this holiday, you get to work! Dumplings don't stuff themselves and those fancy red envelopes aren't made with money inside. All these things take time, effort, and energy - this is your two week window to lock it all in.
As for the poetry of the moment, let's get ready to rumble! The Fire Horse is only a short phase away, and it may very well come bucking. If you want to have peace, prosperity, health, love, and abundance for yourself and for those you care about, don't just wish for it - make space for it. Seriously, if your dreams were to come true and knock at your door... would you invite them in? Would they feel welcome to stay? Would they even want to?
To make this make sense, make space for new life to bloom. Open all the windows to bring in new light and change out the air. Clear out your clutter, burp all your storage, and sort your horde. You can't expect blessings and abundance if you don't even have the room to receive it!
⧠Functional Feng Shui â§
Clean Out the Kitchen: It's the Heart of the home.
Clean the Bathroom: You're only as clean as your comode.
Clear your Closet: You're never going to wear that dress again.
Sort your Paperwork: You can even feng shui your budget!
Make it Sacred: Light a candle. Ring a bell.
Empty your Cup
Contents
ă»Shifu Says: A brief word from our head teacher, Shifu David Wei.
ă»Flavor of the Month: A new month means we get a new tea flavor!
ă»The Daoist Calendar: Special holidays and how to observe them.
ă»Learning Courtesy: Hijinks and harmony with Gretchen and Grace.
ă»Deep Steeps: Shifu sits with his Kung Fu aunty, Marilyn Cooper.
ă»Final Fortune Cookie: Big wit and wisdom from a tiny little idiom.
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⧠Shifu Says â§
It almost feels like yesterday... It was the Spring of 2004. I just graduated from college in Hawaii and I moved back to Richmond to live with my mom. I got around by bus and BART, I taught special-ed part-time in Alameda, and I trained Shaolin Kung Fu at Wen Wu. On the weekends, I'd take acupressure classes in Berkeley, but I hated it because all the foundations were based in a super soft style called Jin Shin - it was the worst. đ
I was literally on my way up to the office to drop out of the program when I saw Brian O'Dea teaching Tui Na class. It must have been fate, because that was the instant that sealed my destiny.
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Brian's massage style looked like Kung Fu choreography. It was obviously martial, but it was clearly therapeutic too. I was awestruck. I didn't know the two could be one. I immediately enrolled in every class he offered and made myself teacher's pet. I soaked up everything he had to share. He was a true master. He sang entire lesson plans and translated every technique to cute Tai Chi moves. He was the total package.
I remember one time he invited me to push hands during a brief bathroom break. I pushed him with all of my might - and I could NOT budge him! Then, with a little twinkle in his eye, he said "Hold on," before turning his wrist just enough to let all my force fly forward. He then effortlessly painted the room with my adult body - up, under, over, and around all the massage tables in the classroom! When he was finished, he twirled me back up to my feet like the whipped cream top to an ice cream sundae. He was incredible!
I share this story because last Sunday, on the seventh day of the twelfth moon, Brian transitioned peacefully in his sleep surrounded by the ones he loved most. In many ways I'm sad, but more-so I'm grateful to have been so close to him. May his light carry on through his many stories and songs.
Martial, Medicinal, Mystical
Flavor of the Month
Just in time for the Fire Horse year, we chose a tea with real heat, history, and backbone: Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong - the original smoked red tea from the towering Tong Mu Summit of the mystical Wuyi Mountain scape. This is the original birthplace of red tea - where tragedy turned in to a triumph of taste. There is something deeply appropriate about bringing in a Fire Horse year with a tea born of smoke, resilience, and transformation.
Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong came into being through adversity. When ancient Ming dynasty farmers fled advancing Qing militia, their tea leaves were left behind, oxidizing under the weight of worn military arsenal. To salvage the harvest, the farmers dried their desecrated leaves over tiny pinewood fires, unintentionally creating an entirely new style of production. Now, over 600 years later, that method lives on to produce Red Tea - what would later be known as Black Tea here in the West (but that's a whole nother story).
This Smoked Xiao Zhong is still produced traditionally in Tong Mu - now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is slow-cured inside a three-story wooden smokehouse under the watch of Chen Shui Man, a generational master of a timeless family heritage. The result - an uncanny brew that's smoky, clean, malty and rich, with a gentle hint of pine that can last through a dozen plus satisfying steepings. It's pure magic.
This tasty tea is perfect for the coming Fire Horse celebrations. It warms the body, steadies the mind, and invites you to sit upright and stay alert. If youâd like to explore premium teas like this chosen with intention and care, we invite you to join our monthly Tea Club. No funny tiers and no gimmicks - just our favorite teas, month to month, delivered right to your door.
⧠Just the Tea Club â§
- Just Get the Tea - Nothing Else
- Try it Out, One Month at a Time
Join Our Tea Club Here!**
Use Coupon Code: FOREVER20 for 20% Off Membership - FOREVER!
(for new members only)
**No Contracts, No Hidden Fees, Cancel Anytime
Daoist Holidays
Twelfth/Ice Moon: Yin Earth Ox
Qi Node: Great Cold
Holiday: Tu Di Gong (Soil Protector) Festival
Turn the Earth, Pull the Weeds, Till the Land, Compost
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