Time

"Time waits for no man," goes the old saying. Yet when we think of time, we set ourselves in motion, that is to say, we set time into motion; it could be fragmented, nevertheless, it is moving. This is why we often have the impression that time is moving very fast. The more we think about it, the faster it seems to move. This article was begun several minutes ago, which is now the past, you will read it in my future, yet right now, in the present, these words are being written. It is said that there is no real past or future, that time is really a continuous present, always moving forwards with the past turning into manifestations of memory.

Time is relative; it is related to what each one of us believe it to be, and to each individual this right is true and sacred. Time is seasonal, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn (Fall).Time is a clock, with numbers relating to the hours of the day: twelve hours, two times a day, equals a total of 24 hours or one even day, from one midnight hour to the next and the unending cycle continues. Time is also a calendar, with twelve months of 28, 29 or 30 to 31 days, 265(6) days, totalling 52 weeks and finalizing into one year. Time is also very personal; it is our gauge in measuring the cycles in the life of a human being: infancy; adolescense, adulthood, old age. History is measured in time periods; scientific knowledge is also dependant upon time. When we take pictures or look at old photos we have an explicit idea of time. Taking pictures allows us to "fix" the objective, whatever it is, into a certain time limit. Looking at old pictures gives us an excellent opportunity to enter into a "fixed" time period and feel the unique sensations of that time. One shoud try to feel the emotions of the subjects in the pictures, or if it's a landscape, feel the emotions of the photographer when he/she took the photo. Putting ourselves in the context of the photo helps us to feel the emotions and sensations that have been made an essential part of that image. Whatever the scenery: a marriage, a funeral, a family picnic, the scene of a battle, even photos of animals, they all offer us an opportunity to learn a little about the photographer, the time in which the photo was made and, in the end, a little about ourselves.

Time is not only limited to the seasons, to numbers or human ages, it also has important spiritual ramifications. Time is clearly connected with the cardinal directions. In the North, it is associated with Autumn (Fall) and with Mother Earth. Here time speaks of the twilight hour, that magic time when day turns into night; it is associated with passivity and slow-motion. To the ancients, it represented abundance and prosperity, silence and wisdom. In the East, where is is associated with the season of Spring, time speaks of air, the dawn, the wind, all that is in motion, visible and invisible. The ancients related it with learning and knowledge. In the South, time has a direct association with Summer, with heat and fire, the midday; it is related to purification, illumination and power. The ancients connected it with energy and Spirit. Finally, in the West, time is connected with the season of Winter, and is associated with the midnight hour, that bordreline state between reality (the here and now) and fantasy (dreams, wishing). It speaks of emotions and the unconscious. Time in the West is associated with healing and the watery world of nurturing and motherhood. To the ancients it represented rest, receptivity and inner growth. When we consider time in this manner, we are able to, with a little reflection on our part, grasp the lessons of the where and the why we are and how we came to be. These are ultimate universal lessons that every human being must eventually face somtime in his life, and know that they are found in the ebbing and flowing waves of time.

©Joanne Pons, revised November 2008