My Grandfather, the Orange Trees, and a Lesson I Never Forgot
When I was a little boy, my world was filled with the rhythms of nature. My grandfather ran a family business centered around orange groves, and I used to spend a lot of time with him out in the fields. My favorite time of year, without a doubt, was spring.
I can still close my eyes and remember it. Imagine standing in a field surrounded by hundreds of orange trees, all bursting with the most beautiful, fragrant white flowers you’ve ever seen—we call them azahar. For a kid who was 5 or 6 years old, it was pure paradise. The sight, the incredible smell… it was magical, an experience that captured all your senses.
But then came the part I couldn’t understand. A few weeks later, all those perfect, beautiful flowers would die. They’d just fall away. It was heartbreaking for me. I’d look at my grandfather, who was always so calm and peaceful, and ask him, “Grandpa, why do the flowers have to die? Why can’t we just have these beautiful flowers all the time?”
He would look at me, not even raising an eyebrow, completely at peace, and say something so simple yet so profound: “Pablito, the flower has to die for the orange to come in October.”
Wow. For the orange to come—the fruit, the goal, the very purpose of the tree—the beautiful flower had to die. It wasn’t a tragedy; it was just part of the process. In that moment, a seed was planted in my mind, though it would take many, many years for me to fully understand it: death is not an end. It’s a necessary part of a much larger cycle. It’s a part of life.
Why Do We Get Stuck? The Modern World’s Missing Piece
That lesson from the orange grove is a beautiful metaphor for our own lives. We all have “orange trees,” don’t we? Maybe it’s a project you want to launch, a relationship you want to build, or a personal transformation you want to achieve. We all have goals, dreams, and things we want to manifest.
But here’s where we run into trouble. We start a new venture, full of excitement and beautiful “flowers,” but then something happens. A challenge appears, an initial plan fails, or a relationship ends. We experience a small death, a dissolution. And what do we do? We panic. We think, “Oh no, I’ve done something wrong. This isn’t working. This is a failure.”
Imagine if you didn’t know how an orange tree worked and you saw all its beautiful flowers falling off. You’d probably think the tree was sick or dying. You might even try to “fix” it by spraying it with chemicals, only to end up harming the tree and preventing the fruit from ever growing.
That’s exactly what we do in our own lives. Our modern world has lost touch with the wisdom of cycles. We live in a culture of instant gratification. We want the perfect outcome, and we want it now. We don’t respect the process. We resist the natural endings and deaths that are necessary for new life and growth. By fighting the cycle, we get stuck. We end up stagnant, drained of energy, and wondering why we never get to the fruit.
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Problems: The Shamanic Cycle of the Four Suns
So, how do we get back in sync with this natural flow? Luckily, we have two powerful guides that can teach us everything we need to know.
The first, as my grandfather showed me, is nature itself. The seasons, the cycle of day and night, the life of a plant—they all reflect this constant rhythm of birth, growth, death, and renewal. It’s a wisdom that is always available to us if we just pay attention.
The second guide is ancient traditions. Shamanic cultures, Druids, and other indigenous peoples lived in deep connection with the earth. They understood these cycles intimately because their survival depended on it. They didn’t see life as a straight line but as a spiral, a sacred dance.
One of the most profound maps for this journey comes from the shamanic traditions of Altai, Siberia. It’s called The Cycle of the Four Suns. This beautiful teaching breaks down the adventure of life into four distinct phases, giving us a clear and practical framework for understanding our own journey of manifestation and growth.
The First Sun (Spring & Sunrise): Answering the Call of Your Soul
What is the First Sun?
The first phase of the cycle corresponds to spring and sunrise. It’s that magical moment when a new idea sparks, a new passion ignites, or a new path calls to you. It’s the feeling of pure enthusiasm for something new and brilliant. It could be the desire to take a trip, start a creative project, get to know someone better, or finally free yourself from a fear that has held you back.
This is the stage where your soul opens up. It’s a connection to the future, to potential, to the promise of a bright new day. You feel something pulling you forward, something that seduces and excites you. This is your inner child saying, “Yes! This! I want to experience this!”
How We Get Trapped in the First Sun
Many of us get stuck right at the beginning. The first major obstacle is losing the connection with our inner child. When we are disconnected, we can no longer see what excites us. Life becomes a mechanical routine, and even though a new sunrise happens every morning, we feel nothing. We become incapable of even starting the adventure.
The second obstacle is when we do see what calls us, but we immediately judge and reject it. We don’t have the faith or the guts to follow it. Our minds jump in with a thousand excuses: “That’s just a fantasy,” “I don’t have the time/money/energy for that,” “Maybe next year,” “I’m too old for this.” By doing this, we reject the existential journey before it even begins, settling for a life of mere survival and comfort that eventually leads to burnout, depression, and a deep sense of being stuck.
What You Need to Move Through This Stage
To successfully navigate the First Sun, you need to cultivate a strong connection with your inner child. It’s about giving yourself permission to dream, to feel excitement, and to listen to your soul’s desires without judgment. It requires the courage to say “YES” to that inner calling, even when you don’t have a perfect plan. This is the essential first step to entering the sacred cycle of growth.
The Second Sun (Summer & Midday): Turning Your Vision into Reality
What is the Second Sun?
Once you’ve answered the call of the First Sun, you enter the second phase, which corresponds to summer and midday. This is the stage of action. It’s a yang, masculine energy phase where you take that inspiring idea and bring it down to earth. It’s about creating a plan, taking concrete steps, and committing to the project. This is when you’re full of vitality and energy, moving and making things happen in the world.
Think about the peak of summer—it’s a time of high activity, travel, and experiences. You are actively working to manifest the dream that gave you butterflies in your stomach during the First Sun.
How We Get Trapped in the Second Sun
The biggest obstacle here is confronting resistance and non-ideality. In the First Sun, your dream was a perfect, ideal potential. But when you try to make it real, you encounter the messy reality of the material world. The train is late, the hotel smells weird, your business plan hits a snag, people around you react negatively to your changes. Things are not perfect.
This is where many people give up. They think, “This is too hard. It shouldn’t be like this. If it were truly spiritual and aligned, it would be easy.” They retreat back to the safety of the First Sun, preferring to daydream about the perfect vision rather than face the challenges of reality. They get stuck in a loop of planning and dreaming, but never truly manifesting.
What You Need to Move Through This Stage
To navigate the Second Sun, you need personal power. In shamanism, we call this kut—your inner fire, determination, and the capacity to handle intensity. It’s about developing resilience, self-love, and the strength to overcome obstacles without giving up. You must accept that resistance is a natural part of creation. Manifesting anything meaningful in the physical world requires effort, confidence, and the courage to face imperfection head-on.
The Third Sun (Autumn & Sunset): The Crucial Inner Journey of Integration
What is the Third Sun?
After the action-packed phase of the Second Sun, we enter the period of the Third Sun, which corresponds to autumn and sunset. This is a yin, feminine energy phase where the focus shifts from the outer world to the inner world. All the actions you took and experiences you had in the previous stage have stirred something inside you—emotions, memories, fears, and attachments. The Third Sun is the time for the inner journey.
For example, you missed the train on your trip (Second Sun action). You managed the situation and found a solution, but now you feel insecure and out of control. That feeling is the beginning of your Third Sun journey. The cycle isn’t just about building things externally; it’s about discovering yourself. This is the crucial stage of emotional and energetic integration.
How We Get Trapped in the Third Sun
The main obstacle here is an inability to feel and take responsibility for our inner world. We live in a society that encourages constant doing, not feeling. So, when uncomfortable emotions surface, instead of looking inward, we project them outward. We blame the train company, our friend who was ten minutes late, or our partner for our feelings of insecurity. We see our inner state as someone else’s fault.
By projecting instead of integrating, we interrupt the cycle. We create conflicts, ruin relationships, and sabotage our own projects. We get stuck in a loop of blame and emotional reactivity, never getting to the root of our experience and never learning the lesson the cycle is trying to teach us.
What You Need to Move Through This Stage
To navigate the Third Sun, you need the capacity to stop, be still, and feel. It requires you to connect with your body, your emotions, and your sensations without judgment and without identifying with them. It’s about observation. You need the courage to sit with your inner discomfort and ask, “What is this experience trying to show me about myself?” This requires a gentle, receptive, and feminine energy—the willingness to simply be with what is, allowing for true integration to happen.
The Fourth Sun (Winter & Night): The Sacred Art of Letting Go
What is the Fourth Sun?
Finally, we arrive at the Fourth Sun, the phase corresponding to winter and the deep night. This is also a yin stage, but it goes deeper than the third. This is the moment of death, surrender, and rebirth. After integrating your emotions, you come face-to-face with the root of your inner journey: the beliefs, memories, and personalities you developed (often as a child) that are generating these experiences.
This is the most profound part of the cycle. It’s where you realize, “Oh, this pattern, this fear… this isn’t the real me. It’s just a construct.” The Fourth Sun is the sacred process of letting go of these false identities so your true self can emerge. This is where the old flower truly dies, making space for new life.
How We Get Trapped in the Fourth Sun
The biggest obstacle in this final stage is a lack of faith in a higher power. We try to fix ourselves with the same mind that created the problem. The ego cannot release itself. We resist surrendering control because we are afraid of the unknown. We cling to our old, painful identities because, at least, they are familiar.
This final, crucial step cannot be done alone. It requires help from what shamans call Spirit, or what others might call the Universe, God, or Higher Consciousness. Without the humility to ask for help, we block the miracle of transformation and remain stuck with our old baggage, unable to complete the cycle and be truly renewed.
What You Need to Move Through This Stage
To navigate the Fourth Sun, you need faith and humility. This is the stage of prayer and open-hearted surrender. It’s not about begging, but about opening a genuine dialogue with something greater than yourself. It’s the humble recognition that you don’t have all the answers and you need help.
In A Course in Miracles, this moment of release is called a “miracle”—a correction in the mind performed by a higher intelligence. By opening your heart and asking for this intervention, you allow your psyche to be healed. This act of surrender is what finally liberates your soul, completes the cycle, and prepares you to enter a new spring with renewed energy and wisdom.
Are You Ready to Let Your Own Cycle Flow?
From the enthusiasm of spring to the action of summer, the introspection of autumn, and the surrender of winter—this cycle is constantly happening within you and around you. It’s in your projects, your relationships, and your own body. The trees don’t cling to their leaves in autumn, and the flower doesn’t resist dying to become a fruit. Yet, we do. We interrupt these natural processes, and as a result, we get stuck, burnt out, and disconnected from our own vitality.
By ignoring this ancient wisdom, we accumulate old energies, unresolved conflicts, and fears from the past. We forget how to renew ourselves. But when you learn to understand and respect these four stages in your own life, everything changes. You stop fighting reality and start flowing with it. You regain your creativity, your joy, and a deep sense of purpose.
Your Invitation to Experience the Four Suns in La Gomera
Understanding these cycles intellectually is one thing. Embodying them is another. If you feel that these cycles are blocked in your life and you’re ready to get the engine running again, I want to invite you to something special.
From February 17th to 22nd, 2026, we are hosting a six-day retreat on the subtropical island of La Gomera. This isn’t just a trip; it’s a total immersion into nature and into the wisdom of the Four Suns. We will work with each cycle through shamanic practices, meditation, breathwork, hikes in magical forests, and even dolphin watching.
This is your chance to disconnect from the modern world’s frantic pace and reconnect with your own natural rhythm. You won’t just learn about the cycles; you will live them. You will leave feeling renewed, with the clarity and vitality you need to move toward your goals with ease and confidence.
If you’re ready to bring this forgotten wisdom back into your life, find out more and join us:
