Nobody really knows exactly why the leaves change colors when they do. That’s what my father in law told me the other day as we drove down the road to pick up a car from the shop.

He told me about the combination of factors that affect when the leaves in New England begin to shift from green to orange to red. The temparature, the elevation, the soil, etc. But what is that X factor, that determines the day the first color turns, or when the whole forest finally bursts red in full force?

The question reminds me of a lecture Terrance McKenna once gave, on the nature of time. He explored the idea that time itself, has a quality to it. We often talk about the quality of a place, and the effects it has on the environment within it. But what about the time, in which the environment is taking place?

Time changes, and with time, the environment changes, we change. When you really think about it, it’s a bit absurd that we don’t account for time as a relevant factor when conducting any sort of science experiment. Morning, evening, fall, summer — unless it has some obvious physical effect on the subject, due to temperature, or sunlight, or noise or something, then it’s not measured or taken into account. But perhaps there is a deeper element to time, that does have a meaningful influence on the event being observed.

The I Ching, the ancient Chinese book of changes, is based on this understanding. That there is a quality to time, an archetypal dimension to moment we are in, that is important to acknowledge and consider. That it has an impact on our minds and bodies, as well as the decisions and actions we take.

The practice is to pick up a handful of special sticks, and the way in which they drop determines the ‘hexagram’ which you are supposed to read, for insight into your life at that moment. Leaders of those times would consult the I Ching to make important political and business decisions, and perhaps they still do. It was held to be a powerful and reliable source of wisdom and guidance into the best way to navigate life and weather the changes.

It’s worth noting, that the number of hexagrams within the I Ching also corresponds to the number of codons in the genetic code – 64. More recent philosophies such as Human Design and The Gene Keys have noted and built upon this fact.

Is it possible that the qualities of time that the I Ching depicts, is not only influencing ourselves and our environment, but that it is actually inherently woven into who we are at our core? That these qualities of time are actually qualities of ourselves, and as the wheel of time spins the circle of life manifests itself, and nature expresses the colors, sounds and seasons encoded in the fabric of its being?

I like this explanation, of what is behind the beautiful kaleidoscope of change that we witness in the autumn, New England leaves. And yet as I write this, I also wonder if I’m simply trying in vain, to fill the void left by a question, that is ultimately best left unanswered.