July 3: Dog Days of Summer, Yin and Yang, Rock Stars Die in Water.

We've all grown up hearing the words, "The Dog days of summer."  Well, they begin on July 3rd in Northern Tradition.  You see, the Pagans of old, long before they were forced to convert to a single god theory or lose their family, looked up at the sky and saw Sirius, the brightest star in the sky alongside the sun in the Northern hemisphere and knew this was no coinkidink, but a sign from the gods.

Nonetheless, here is where July 3 gets its Yin and Yang: 

In 1775, on a hot July 3, George Washington formally takes command of the Continental Army by drawing his sword; in 1957 on a July 3, Nikita Khrushchev takes control of the Soviet Union by orchestrating the ouster of his most serious opponents. 

In 1940, the legendary American comedy duo of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello debut with their radio show; in 1946 the comedy duo of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin meet for the first time in Atlantic City.

In 1969, the founder of the rock band, The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, dies.  The guy who played sitar on the song Paint It Black, and the recorder on Ruby Tuesday, is found dead in a swimming pool; in 1971 on this day, Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, a group whose name was a reference to breaking through the doors of perception, is found dead in a bathtub of water. 

According to the I Ching, "3" is defined as, "From difficulty there is a great development...." The Yin: "Weak people at the culmination of difficulty, in extreme danger, without any helpers...." The Yang: "If the leadership is correctly oriented, and has the assistance of wise people who are strong and clear minded, then it is possible to solve difficulties." 

As a Yin and Yang fresher: Yin and Yang is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang and formed into objects and lives.  In a nut shell, Yin and Yang is the Mystic Law esoteric and exoteric Buddhist obtain by chanting the words "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo."  

~~ Eso Terry