I am not a religious person nor therefore one who believes in holy days of any kind but I also respect and adhere to the universal messages that we should live and let live and do no harm to others. (The masculine bias in the traditional 'Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all Men' message does not fit comfortably with me hence the adaptation illustrated in the accompanying image). I call this the silly season of festive folly and dubious jolly as roughly one third of the global population celebrate what has become a means for the corporations to fill their coffers whilst placing financial pressures on those who partake and give generously. For two thirds of the world it's just another day yet still one that is universally recognised as a holiday and a highly commercialised one at that - as the sun stood still four days earlier and is now starting it's return journey to the northern hemisphere the true celebration is the return of the light which we can all look forward to without any expe

With less than three weeks to go before 3i/Atlas reaches its closest point to Earth (December 19 and 170m miles distant) there's a great deal of conjecture about what this object truly is including the possibility that it is artificial in nature and therefore potentially it may even be a an Imminent Interstellar Invader - at least that's the inference from the announcement two days ago by the European Space Agency of the activation of the world's first ever 'planetary defence drill' which is now in place and specifically monitoring 3i~Atlas until January 27, 2026. My news feed has featured many articles about two other interesting objects - 3361 Orpheus (an asteroid that passed closest to us ten days ago) and CWise J1249 (travelling at over 1 milion mph) - and another on which part of Earth is most likely to be impacted by an interstellar object. This composite image of the sky above us today shows the re-emergence of C/2025 R2 Swan - a comet which is approaching the Earth from the opp

If AI has one advantage it is to translate my weird ideas into brilliant images that reduce the need for words. I don't know about you but I have lately felt a sense of optimism about a future which ostensibly could be quite bleak given the increasing likelihood of a major financial crisis and warnings of global catastrophe triggered by solar flares. The seams of our reality are beginning to fall apart as AI is almost indistinguishable from the nonsense and fear-mongering of the global control mechanisms, their use of the hegelian dialect and their increasingly evident desperation to fulfil their agenda in the little time remaining. Personally, like many people I feel, I am hoping that by this time next month 3i/Atlas will prove to be the catalyst for some long overdue change on this beautiful planet we are fortunate to call our home. In the meantime I have launched a free activity open to all residents and visitors to Hebden Bridge - click on image for more information

My drive to Baitings Dam to watch the blood moon rise wasn't completely wasted as I encountered a pair of llamas, without their pyjamas, and a gaggle of noisy inquisitive geese joking about the government's test of the emergency broadcast system earlier in the day. As a further humourous aside, the topical issue of immigrANTS crossing the channel in boats made me think about the illegal occupants of my narrowboat - immigrARACHNIDS I call them.

Last Saturday, September 6, I took myself off to the Todmorden Astronomy Centre where I enjoyed a fascinating presentation on the subject of the many options for observing the celestial skies by a wonderful guy named Andy. It concluded with the opening of the observatory doors so that we could view the waxing moon through one of the fixed telescopes. (I would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone as these free talks take place every Saturday evening. Their website is currently unavailable but information can be found here.) The following day I took advantage of my membership of the local car-sharing scheme (POD) to drive up to Baitings Dam in the hope of witnessing the blood moon that was set to rise half an hour or so after the lunar eclipse which wasn't visible as it happened below the horizon. Unfortunately the clouded skies prevented any view whatsoever but back at my boat, two hours later, I was rewarded with a lovely view of the full moon rising over the canal between the

What a fabulously productive and thoroughly enjoyable day which started with a lie in and a thought during the night as to how I could equate the ecliptic with the equator and, surprise, surprise, I discovered that just as there are thirteen constellations on the ecliptic there are also thirteen countries straddling the equator! (Two of those are island groups). As I write this post the midheaven is in Ophiuchus and we've entered a new Mayan trecena (thirteen day period) associated with truth and healing. The week is ruled by the 10 of diamonds (a double Jupiter card), my personal card for the day was the 7 of clubs (the card of spiritual knowledge) and tomorrow we are all blessed to experience the influence of the King of spades - the most powerful card in the deck (Kings are the 13th card in each suit): The king of Kings. You can accomplish anything today. The 8 of Diamonds creates an infinite loop of material abundance today. You may look for solutions today that help a group of peo