Book of Seasons (Tea-Forever Calendar)

Book of Seasons

A book of seasons is about being at home in time. The simple act of noting where you are in the season, and which tea you are sharing it with, creates a grounded sense of time and being coming together.

24 Seasons

When you open this book, you see a seasonal approach to time reflected in the pages. Each two-page spread is one season in the traditional 24 season farming calendar from Northern China. Each of the roughly 15-day seasons has a colorful name that reflects the agricultural origin of the calendar.

The first season begins on February 4, with Coming of Spring. It is a forever calendar—omitting days of the week. So, you could also begin in Autumn, and finish the first half of the journal the following year. 

Tea Journal

Using this as a tea journal, you could note which teas you’re drinking on a given day. You can note the circumstance, the tea, and your impression. Some people may wish to draw their teacup (for example) every season or every day, making a ritual by means of repetition.

Festival Calendar

I encourage using this calendar to mark holidays for your own celebration of the season, times for rest, inoperativity, merriment, an connection to the natural world. 

Keepsake

Throughout the book are 8 keepsake pages that mark the thresholds of the major seasonal shifts. Each has seasonal prompts to play with, and space for your marks and musings.

History

This calendar was created in 2022 as a compliment to the Seasonal Tea Journey, but has gained its own place in people's lives—some of whom don't even drink tea—as a way to practice a different relationship with time.