The recent January full moon was the precursor to a rare astrological conjunction between Saturn and Pluto that symbolised, like the full moon only far more so, aspects of finality and loss, challenge and accountability. 

While my heart grieves for the fiery suffering of the land and life of Australia, I see their sacrifice as hope for the future as the year of the Planet begins.  Every death and hurt and all destruction will not have been in vain.

It is strange to think that this is likely to be my last blog post of 2019, and that when I write again, in this way, the Solstice will have passed and it will be the approach of a new year and a new decade, as well as a major political shift, all with the potential to bring great change in many ways. 

The start of each December is a significant time for me, as I ponder a special month that includes the beginning of winter, the Solstice, Christmas and the Festival of Lights. 

It may be that you like me live in a Celtic land, as so many people increasingly are drawn to do.  Wherever you are now, it is probable that you have lived in Scotland, or Wales, or Brittany, or Cornwall, or Ireland or the Isle of Man at some point on your long soul journey.  The Celtic influence was strong too throughout much more of Europe in ancient times, and you may have been a part of it there also.

Fires burn in many lands as water falls on many others.  The ground that now is soaked will in its turn be iced and burned, just as the places that are ablaze will be wet and cold one day.  Fire and Ice, Ice and Fire, the way of the world since time began.

Autumn is lingering here in the Cambrian Mountains:  leaves are magnificent in their fire colours still, and the trees that carry them are bedecked with a multitude of berry jewels, so many that the flocks of fieldfares and redwings arriving for their winter sanctuary are unable to strip them bare.  The table of nature overflows and there is plenty for everybody.

Every full moon is a blessing of completion and learning, and always appropriate to the condition of man at that time.

Yesterday, the last of the House Martins visited their home, which is my home too. 

This is a special week astrologically and spiritually, as the September Equinox on Monday coincides with the movement of our Sun into Libra.