As I write Sky and Aljazeera are reporting up to 20,000 Pakistani troops moving from the Afghan border to the Indian border, and Israel has just bombed Gaza big time.  It is new Moon, one lunar cycle from Mumbai.  Awful as it sounds, I see these events as release valves, expelling poison that would otherwise get worse, letting off steam thus averting bigger trauma.  It is time and event management that is being collectively asked of us now, keeping things in perspective and not buying into the death throes of religion and consumerism.  People in the west flock to the cathedrals of the shopping centres, and in the east religious intolerance and inflexibility will have its way.  Just hang in there, hold a still point within yourself and start dreaming in the blueprints of the new world culture. my guesstimate now is that by mid February much will be different and a new energy evident.  So at this time think good things, smile at people and empower a future based on community, empathy and tolerance, because if these things are not a vital part of our future, what kind of future will it be?

And some of you are ...

Until the 28th is it as far as planetary intensity goes, it's like groupings of atoms or DNA strands slotting in gearcogs or key notches.  It's a planetary wide genetic timebomb when abilities and skills dormant for millennia re-awaken, a  consciousness upgrade of the highest order.  The world changes and endings are followed by new beginnings.  For decades I've imagined a world where empathy and integrity were currency instead of profit and exploitation and now the seeds of creativity are evolving from that dream, I sense a dawning through the pain, it's the end of the Correction part one.  By January we mop up and assess whether or not we collectively are fit to continue.  Here's hoping.

OK, Glastonbury radio is now live, will perform links to my site in the coming week.  On radio here TODAY at 18.00 UK time.  I don't do religion, but am taking two/three days off to watch TV and drink mead.  Back Saturday.  In lieu of festive greetings and as a present to you all, go here and then here and hit play and although I've featured this twice before, it's the happiest influence on me in the whole of 2008, and if ...

I've said to a few friends recently that the period of the last two weeks of December summarises not only all of 2008, but also the time since 1995 when Pluto moved into Sagittarius, and that I expected specific developments, some of which I've written about in this column, before 2009.  Everyone I speak with seems stretched, drawn, tired etc. etc., and it's hard to stay upbeat and positive at times like these even though that is specifically what is asked of us.  And now it changes.  Now, the incessant struggle and head banging of recent months reaches a still place, a null point, a moment of utter and perfect balance and poise ' it is the Solstice (Latin ' Sun still).  The Earth has reached maximum range on its yearly wobble, and now strives to return to balance.  I understand why the plains Indians still dance every day, because the Sun needs to rise.  If they didn't dance, there would just be a neutral ball of gas on the horizon.  At this time, honour the planet you live on and watch the sunrise from a point of prominence or even of cultural significance, and dance the New Year in.  ...

Time to up the ante a little, it feels as if there's nothing left to do but just go for it because I'm so electrically numb.... Because I deal with people from all walks of life, I get an osmotic taste of what's hot and not in the consciousness network, with certain issues suddenly arising for a time.  Recently there's been a lot of sudden forced separations and endings and I suspect this will continue and even escalate until the end of the month.  No words can compensate for loss, but sometimes the lessons of the 12th house, Pisces and Neptune help.  Every month, sit by the sea for an hour.  Every day, get ten minutes alone.   Every hour, drink a little bit of water.  Unless you've become toxic and completely insensitive, human nature is to adjust and recover, growing all the time.   And time is ephemeral and a healer.

We're in the middle of a tidal wave of forced change symbolised by a number of factors, loosely determined as 'the correction'.  Pluto moving into Capricorn for the first time in 248 years at the same time as Saturn opposes Uranus for the first time since the mid sixties is a decidedly unpredictable and bumpy combination, where you grab the cork and the balsa and hope for the best.  And now that wave of change is at its peak, with the new Moon of three weeks ago on Mars bringing the horror and last week's full Moon grand crossing with Saturn/Uranus bringing the shoehorning and a growing emphasis on the fragility and instability of the old.  This must be how the establishment felt in the early-mid sixties.  The next new Moon has every planet in the heavens strongly aspecting something else, four strong conjunctions and a major opposition, and I think actually is the trigger and/or turning point.  The full Moon in three weeks works well with Saturn and Uranus, suggesting an element or restructure.  And the new Moon in five weeks (in the middle of a Mercury retrograde) is conjunct Jupiter, truly representative of new beginnings.  Then we'll start ...