16 9 11 Pluto in Capricorn Direct

     Dark Lord, my tipple of choice today!    It was in the spring of 2009 that the first whiffs of sulphur indicated that Pluto, my chart ruler was about to perform some dirty moves from his newly aquired residence in Capricorn,  squaring my fourth house Sun back and forth for a very long time. I have some spectacularly unpleasant memories of this era; we had fears, phobias and insomnia, damp and dry rot, vicious neighbours, dentists from hell (when Saturn made up the T square from Libra in December 2009) and more recently, swine flu, a plague of rats, no hot water for 4 months, impending homelessness (all at once) and associated financial doom! What with the all pervasive general global dissolution -  this year has been harsh !    A transit of Jupiter to said 4th house Sun fortunately allowed us to find another place to live in the nick of time but Uranus' ingress to my poor battered 4th has presented us with 'Quirky House' which may in time engender some affection but is presently reflectively symptomatic of its heavenly counterparts - ie cold, unfriendly and hard work - Oh Noooo! That's me...
  Today Pluto goes direct, leaving forever from a position 30 secs ahead of the square to my Sun, Mars will end its miserable tenancy of Cancer and move into Leo on Sunday so I'm daring to hope for somewhat better times.  A toast then my friends - "To Pluto and Security Regenerated!"     

 Pluto PS:    As I write, the body of a third miner has been found at the Gleision Colliery. Living as I do in a former mining area and as the grand-daughter of a man who died from the effects of a mining accident in the Welsh Valleys, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and community of the lost. 

cloud tinkering

Here it is folks!     Cloud tinkering -  the new seratonin!

(CLICK TO SEE LARGER VERSION )

Down to Earth

' Black August' as it is becoming known has finally departed and with it go the problematic skies we've been enduring. September looks a bit more stable and though the Grand Cross energies are never far away, Autumn promises to be a little more comfortable than 'Summer' was.
   Certainly the stormy skies and damp drizzle are giving way to autumnal gold and if it does rain, we're likely to have a proper soaking which our thirsty gardens really need rather than uncomfortable damp which does nobody any good. Now the fruit can ripen, the swallows can fly away south and we can begin to tidy and feed the gardens up ready for their wintersleep.
                                  

   It's easy to forget a sense of horticultural urgency at this time of year - there's still so much to do but there seems to be time enough to go walking on the moors instead, feeling the sun on your shoulders and smelling that particular autumn smell that goes with a deep buzzing of contented bees.
   Out towards the north coast then and up into the hills. The winding single track road climbs up and up, past gates and ponds, stiles and lanes going nowhere till all of a sudden we arrive in a ramshackle farmyard and finish the climb to Chun Castle on foot through the heather.

        It was an Iron Age fortress, a great circular granite castle with outer walls and inner hut circles, a huge well and smelting pits for tin. Tin slag was found here, dating the Cornish tin trade to at least 2000 years.  It was rebuilt for occupation again in the 6th century and retained its grandeur until the 18th century when the stone was robbed - reputedly to build Madron workhouse and pave the streets of Penzance.   

It's a grand place to sit and survey the moors and coasts of Penwith, the views are breathtaking and there's a sense of importance about the place which contrasts strangely with the quietness of today.

   Out across the heather and short Cornish Gorse, a path leads westward, with the sea below, to Chun Quoit,  a Bronze Age dolmen, several thousands of years older than the castle.

It's the best preserved of the Penwith Quoits, surrounded by round barrows and small piles of stone, it is clearly a Place of the Dead with a special connection to the sea. The little village nestling below is called Morvah which has the Cornish meaning 'sea graves'.

It's a very special place among so much that is special. The views are just too spectacular to attempt with my little camera - or any camera most likely. The experience is multi-sensory, expansive and a touch spiritual.

As usual, our cloud guardians are watching as we leave for home:

 Some kind of Stone-Age Superman looms up over Carn Kenidjack - the place is stiff with Giants and some of them can fly!             Have a good weekend   M x