Why is the Australian bush experiencing these crises and heartbreaks? Is climate change to blame or not?

This article offers a very unique point of view you may never have heard about before. From a certain point of view, natural climatic cycles are indeed at play. However, they are not what you would expect, and certain conditions can make them much worse. Some things can be surprisingly probable and predictable… to a degree.

Why write this article? Because the collective is in a transition phase, or a no-man’s-land, where we cannot really see what is ahead. We are required to trust the process of change and growth, without really knowing what will happen. There is a great mystery that weaves the web of life, that is not fully ours to understand, that will reveal new life in divine timing.

When there is little respect for nature, it will show its power. Both industry and politicians have little regard for nature, and have taken the stance that they are bigger than nature, and continue to dominate for economic prosperity. The lesson of the bushfires are that only when man stops thinking that he can dominate nature, and that he can continue to mine and pollute a force that in truth really dominates him, will there be a long term balance, and a reduction in man having to be shown the error of arrogance. When farmers are allowed to produce food according to real consumer preference, that will be the start of a turnaround. Remove both the subtle and heavy-handed bureaucratic obstacles which disempower and disregard small-scale farmers.

Australian Bushfires and A Royal Commission?

Parts of New South Wales and Victoria is going through unprecedented fire disasters. This fire season has been described as the worst ever. On new years eve, a reported 100 fires burnt in NSW and 300 in Victoria. According to a BBC article, the 2019 Amazon fires burned an estimated 900,000 hectares, the 2018 California fires consumed 1.8m hectares, but at least 3 million hectares have burned in NSW since 1 July. An estimated 5.5 million hectares have burnt Australia wide this bushfire season, with an estimated 500 million animals killed by bushfires since September.

Record low rainfall, extreme temperatures, strong winds and dry bushland have contributed. Many also blame the halting of hazard reduction burning (burn-offs), green tape, and other illogical regulations for adding fuel to the fires. Political systems and leadership are under severe pressure act. The push to deliver on so-called ‘climate change’ has never been greater. The Greens called for a royal commission into the bushfires to tackle the root cause, and Labor said they are open to it. In the media disaster reports have been abundant. We have been warned that southeast Australia’s fire season may last all summer long, and it may get much worse soon. Watch this ABC 7.30 special report or the video below:

More articles have surfaced about people’s hopes and fears for the next ten years, as they see extremes in nature. Farmers are also frightened for the viability of their businesses. This in depth article shows the constellation of problems and shenanigans that led to the dairy crisis. It states that one in three Australian dairy farms have disappeared in the last 10 years, and about 60% of Australia’s milk is produced in Victoria. Some of these farms’ feed have been obliterated.

According to this article, the more forests burn, the more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, and the more heat it traps on the planet. To make matters worse, when natural carbon sinks like the Amazon rainforests and Australian woodlands burn down, that reduces the natural avenues by which CO2 can get absorbed. In 2019, wildfires across the globe released approximately 6.38 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the satellite observation program, Copernicus.

Climate scientist Michael Mann is visiting Australia

““Once you make things dry enough and warm enough you see a dramatic escalation of these sorts of wildfires, or bushfires.””

— Climate scientist Michael Mann

American climate scientist, Professor Michael Mann is currently on holiday in the Blue Mountains, and spoke to ABC presenter Joe O’Brien in this interview. When asked how strong the link is between climate change and this bush fire emergency, he said that unprecedented heat, combined with unprecedented drought, and abundant fuel are going to lead to unprecedented bush fires.“We’re already seeing catastrophic impacts. Can you can imagine how much worse it will be if we allow the planet to continue to warm… if we continue to allow the continent of Australia to continue to dry out. This is just a taste of what is to come if we don’t act,” he said.

Michael said that the heat and drought are the primary factors.

A unique perspective: What is behind the heat and drought?

The author of this article is a long time student of astrology, and is usually happy not to mix astrology with advocating for raw drinking milk. It is not something that interests everyone. Yet in March last year an article was published around the bright new opportunities for farming and the food system, heralded by the ingress of Uranus into Taurus.

This author (and other astrologers) have known about the potential for heat, dustbowls and drought conditions to reach extremes at this time, prior to the start of this 7 - 8 year cycle. The time has now come to talk about astrology again… out of necessity. Even a very unique point of view is worthy for the collective to learn about…

American dustbowls, heat and dust storms:

Kevin Z. Sweeney wrote a book that was published in late 2016 titled Prelude to the Dustbowl. The book raises from obscurity, and describes several cycles and events, around drought, heat, dustbowls and dust storms on the U.S. southern plains. Some of these dust storms were so intense they were called ‘black blizzards’ because they darkened the skies for days. Crops failed to grow. The following is a list of the years that stand out in history, also showing the astrological climate, or transits of the time:

1822 - both Uranus and Neptune conjunct in Capricorn

1852 - Uranus and Pluto in Taurus

1881 - Uranus in Virgo, and Neptune, Pluto and Chiron in Taurus

1890 - Jupiter in Capricorn and Saturn in Virgo

1930 - 1931 As much as 50% of all crops in Arkansas failed, Saturn in Capricorn, Chiron in Taurus

1935 ‘Black Sunday’ Dust storm April 14, Uranus in Taurus, North Node in Capricorn

1936 In July, 12 states break their temperature records, the heatwave killed 1,693 - Uranus in Taurus, Neptune in Virgo, North Node in Capricorn

1939 - 1940 Louisiana experiences 115 consecutive days of 90’F (32’C) temperatures - Uranus in Taurus

Australian bush fire events worth mentioning:

The “Black Saturday” disaster of February 2009 was Australia’s deadliest, with 173 deaths and 2029 houses destroyed. Here is the astrological weather for certain prominent events:

1939 ‘Black Friday’ in Victoria, 71 deaths - Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Virgo, Ceres conjunct Uranus in Australia’s inauguration chart

1967 ‘Black Tuesday’ in Tasmania, 62 deaths - Uranus conjunct Pluto in Virgo, North Node in Taurus

2009 ‘Black Saturday’, in Victoria, 173 deaths - Pluto in Capricorn

2019 - Uranus in Taurus, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and South Node in Capricorn

Making sense of this information

Image: highlighting the three Earth signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Click to enlarge. — ***Image:*** highlighting the three Earth signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Click to enlarge.

This is not meant to be an astrological lesson, but those who have a real desire to understand the trends described, may be able to follow the following breadcrumbs provided. When looking at long-term cycles, astrologers look at the so-called outer transpersonal planets; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The placement of planets Uranus and Pluto, in particular, can be indicative of significant shocks, upheavals, revolutions and transformations when they are in the astrological Earth signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Activation in these Earth signs (particularly in Taurus) can pertain to issues related to our physical experience, farming, food security and the earth etc.

The outer planets, like Uranus and Pluto move in cycles. Uranus completes a cycle around the zodiac every 84 years, and Pluto every 248 years. Uranus can stay in one astrological sign for around 7 years, and Pluto changes signs every 10 to 20 years depending.

Astrology is not an exact science, however, when cycles over hundreds of years are studied, patterns and probabilities do emerge, as the data reveals.

The Current Climate: A Climate of Change

Uranus first moved into Taurus in May 2018, and leaves Taurus for the final time in 2026. The drought may break before then, or not… Either way, the Uranus in Taurus era is generally seven years of seismic change for the collective. Uranus rules revolution, disruption and reform, and Taurus rules farming, food security and local economies.

There will be a Lunar Eclipse on the 11th of January. Western astrologers have been talking about the time period around this event for many years. There is a large lineup of planets in Capricorn with the South Node, Ceres and Chariklo in the mix as well. Uranus is in Taurus. These are potent times of change and transformation for the collective. It is time for the Prime Minister and Australian leaders as a whole to take responsibility, and answer some tough questions.

Prelude to the Dust Bowl

This book discusses several American dry times and dust bowl events that is worth studying, because of their parallels to our disasters. Prelude to the Dust Bowl stands as a timely reminder that drought, as part of a natural climatic cycle, will continue to be part of the unfolding history of the great grassland plains.

“Before the drought of the early twenty-first century, the dry benchmark in the American plains was the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. But in this eye-opening work, Kevin Z. Sweeney reveals that the Dust Bowl was only one cycle in a series of droughts on the U.S. southern plains. Reinterpreting our nation’s nineteenth-century history through paleoclimatological data and firsthand accounts of four dry periods in the 1800, Prelude to the Dust Bowl demonstrates the dramatic and little-known role drought played in settlement, migration, and war on the plains.”

“Stephen H. Long’s famed military expedition coincided with the drought of the 1820s, which prompted Long to label the southern plains a “Great American Desert”—a destination many Anglo-Americans thought ideal for removing Southeastern Indian tribes to in the 1830s. The second dry trend, from 1854 to 1865, drove bison herds northeastward, fomenting tribal warfare, and deprived Civil War armies in Indian Territory of vital commissary. In the late 1880s and mid-1890s, two more periods of drought triggered massive outmigration from the southern plains as well as appeals from farmers and congressmen for federal famine relief, pleas quickly denied by President Grover Cleveland. Sweeney’s interpretation of familiar events through the lens of drought lays the groundwork for understanding why the U.S. government’s reaction to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s was such a radical departure from previous federal responses.”

Kevin Sweeney established a pattern of disaster and response that predates the 1930s, and then utilised them as lenses by which to examine the interaction between human populations, the environment and politics more broadly. The dust bowl drought of the 1930s was one of the worst environmental disasters of the twentieth century. According to this source, three million people left their farms on the great plains during the drought, and half a million migrated interstate. A google search about ‘dustbowls of the 1930s’ also reveals many free and in depth resources on the topic.

David R. Montgomery also wrote a great book titled Dirt: The Erosion of Civilisations. It’s about the earth’s soil that is eroding faster than it is being replaced due to greater farm mechanisation, and soil being treated like a cheap commodity. As farmers started to plow and shift away from diversified and small-scale production, soil erosion began to exceed soil production, he explained on pages 54-55. Also see this ARMM article on David’s work and other books.

What can make periodic heat, drought and dust bowls worse in severity?

Those who understand astrological cycles are privy to great deal of insight and may enjoy the ability to consciously create the reality they prefer more easily. With this knowledge, they may able to take precaution, act on and alter outcomes before certain cycles, like recommending stopping the practices that harm the prairies and grasslands of the world, or by recommending replanting of diverse species forests well before a potential ‘big dry’. They may have the foresight - for the benefit of all - to transform food and farming systems to be more sustainable, regenerative and economically viable for farmers. Disaster can be averted… to a degree. Severity can be mitigated in advance. Knowledge of astrology can be used in risk reduction and the good stewardship of resources.

This knowledge can also be used to gain an advantage over others economically. Those who understand astrological cycles in big business may choose to assume influence over politicians or control of policy, and may for example implement regulations that make small-scale, artisan, pasture-based and more sustainable farming unviable. They may push for the ‘get

big or get out’ practices - to feed the world as justification - which may also lead to multiple on-farm sustainability crises. They may also promote industrial agriculture that till the soil - harming soil microbiology - and promote the growing of vast monocultures of corn, soy and other seed oils, to feed to animals and humans instead. Government allow mining astonishing amounts of water in drought-stricken Qld, and the water of the Murray-Darling basin is sold off to the highest bidder. In allowing this, system architects may create not only financial opportunities for corporations or even banks, but gradually work towards the monopolisation of farms and the food supply.

An Australian professor in sociology explained the details of what she calls ‘omnicide’ well in this article. It’s not only about the killing of ecosystems for some kind of benefit, but the killing of everything, as a crime. She said that we need to understand that the responsibility for omnicide is various and layered, and the role that those responsible play is almost always less direct, but its effects no less devastating. We are reaching a new understanding of culpability.

The ‘seeds’ for dustbowls seem to be sown in the years before disaster strikes. This article describes how the seeds of the 1930s dust bowl, may have been sown in the early 1920s. A great recession led to the desire to try new mechanised farming techniques. Reportedly, between 1925 and 1930 more than 5 million acres of previously unfarmed land was plowed. Farmers produced bumper crops in 1931, however, the overproduction of wheat flooded the market, with multiple consequences. The Great Depression meant people were too poor to buy, and farmers could not get a fair price for the bumper crops anyway. According to the article, farmers then grew even more fields of wheat, replacing the prairie. The important part is this: farmers replaced the natural drought-resistant grasses, and left unused fields bare. Dry land farming on the great plains led to the systematic destruction of the prairie grasses. In ranching areas, overgrazing destroyed large areas laying the land bare. The combination of severe drought and poor soil conservation practices had set the stage.

In recent years there had been pressure for industries to intensify to feed the world, but this has also had an effect on the disappearing of the soil’s protection; permanent pastures of grass and forests.

Image: In nature ruminants are meant to graze pasture and move around to new areas of multi-species, tall grasses frequently. Cows are not meant to eat monocultures of ryegrass, or large amounts of grain, or stay in feedlots. — ***Image:*** In nature ruminants are meant to graze pasture and move around to new areas of multi-species, tall grasses frequently. Cows are not meant to eat monocultures of ryegrass, or large amounts of grain, or stay in feedlots.

Another article also describes the natural disasters that devastated the American Midwest in the 1930s, and what precluded it:

"Unsustainable farming practices worsened the drought’s effect, killing the crops that kept the soil in place. When winds blew, they raised enormous clouds of dust. It deposited mounds of dirt on everything, even covering houses."

Sounds familiar? The article describes how tall prairie grass once protected the topsoil of the Midwest, but once farmers settled, they plowed over 5.2 million acres of deep-rooted grass. Years of over-cultivation meant the topsoil dried out, lost its fertility, left the land vulnerable to drought, and inhospitable for growing crops. High winds blew away the remaining topsoil. By 1934 farmers had sold 10% of their farms. Many migrated away and were left broke and homeless. By the end of 1934, roughly 35 million acres of farmland were ruined, and the topsoil covering 100 million acres had blown away. Almost 80% of America recorded bone-dry conditions in 1934. After the Black Sunday event, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the Soil Conservation Act to help farmers learn how to plant in a more sustainable way. By 1936, 21% of all rural families in the Great Plains received federal emergency relief. In some counties, it was as high as 90%. Relief came only after the rain returned in 1939.

It is curious that in 2018 regenerative farming was one of the top ten most censored news stories.

The media, especially the Australian media, wouldn’t go near it initially, and when they eventually did, the articles were quite watered down. Today we also know that many agrochemicals used on farms can have antibiotic properties that may kill beneficial soil microbiology, and may even enable pathogens to flourish. Some synthetic fertilisers can also disrupt essential beneficial soil microbiology, which influences soil fertility. Today farmers are finding it challenging to adopt regenerative farming, because government regulations makes it challenging to be both sustainable and economically viable. Government regulations in Australia prevent the production of high value, pasture-raised products like raw drinking milk from cows.

A new ABARES study show that changes in Australian temperature and rainfall over the past 20 years have had a negative effect on average farm profits while also increasing risk. They estimate that changes in climate have cut annual broadacre farm profits by 22%. Cropping farms were most at risk. On the other side, a Soils for Life regenerative agriculture NSW case study shows 230% higher profits over 9 years and new dams filling in the drought.

Very Viable Solutions:

Image: diverse species pasture encourages soil microbes and more resilience. — ***Image:*** diverse species pasture encourages soil microbes and more resilience.

Regenerative farming:

Agriculture is the long-term solution. Pasture-raised ruminants are the answer to sustainable farming and nutrient-dense foods. With regenerative farming, animals are rotated in many different paddocks, both giving paddocks long resting periods, and opportunity for nutrient-cycling with soil microbes that provides more nutrients and helps store more soil carbon, when grazed. This website has many articles on the benefits of regenerative farming. We must reform agricultural practices to retain and regenerate soil fertility. We must prevent soil erosion before fossil fuels become scarce, or are exhausted. We must adopt a biological system rather than a chemical system. Studies show grassland is a more reliable carbon sink than some forests. Soils that are high in beneficial microbiology naturally become more hydrated, making the landscape less likely to burn or suffer during drought.

Direct farm-to-consumer food sales:

Australia has reportedly been getting warmer, but at the same time, it’s evident that Australia is losing its green, growing soil cover at an alarming rate. This is what really needs restoration quick-smart. By allowing farmers to sell their pasture-raised animal products directly to consumers, more food producers can learn new pasture-based practices. This will enable grass to regenerate, protect soil microbiology, and soil fertility - rather than feeding grains often grown in degenerative systems.

Recognition of soil microbiology:

Also part of the solution is the public recognition that soil microbiology have to be conserved under wise stewardship. Articles like this one shows that conversations about biodiversity and carbon sequestration are of little consequence, when leaders in the farming community and ministers fail to talk about soil microbiology. Until people start talking about a diverse set of beneficial soil microbiology, they may continue to see little commercial sense, profitability or value, and fail at installing viable new systems. Learn in this article from Australian soil microbiologist Walter Jehne how soil fungi fights forest fire and builds the global carbon soil sponge.

Raw Milk Revolution:

Raw dairy farmers are mostly pasture-based, and some 100%. They are the people who will find the sustainable solutions to keep green growing grass in times of drought. These farmers will be recognised in the future for their very worthy contribution to combating climate change. Allowing raw milk will also help farmers to manage pasture better and not overgraze killing plants.

Biodiversity, and healthy ecosystem services on farms

By allowing farming systems where the farmer can get a fair price for their product, and the consumer get the high-value, in demand products they desire, it can become viable to farm more in harmony with nature. Farmers can, for example, set aside wildlife areas and forests, allowing different kinds of habitats for a variety of species’ return.

These are the viable solutions the Morrison government fail to enable. The political agenda of Scott Morrison’s government seems to be all about business as usual, maintaining the status quo, and failing to change the system in a way that matters. Their vision for this country seems: keep the coal industry and others like the synthetic fertiliser industry in business, and keep industrial agriculture in place no matter how much it cripples local economies or dries out the soil.

Image: an image circulating on social media. Reportedly it is a map from 1926 showing Australian vegetation areas. Clearly much has changed and agriculture is at the forefront of these changes. — ***Image:*** an image circulating on social media. Reportedly it is a map from 1926 showing Australian vegetation areas. Clearly much has changed and agriculture is at the forefront of these changes.

Fit for a better world - a new vision for the NZ farming sector

New Zealand seems to be taking leadership on the issues important to its citizens. In December 2019 New Zealand’s Primary Sector Council unveiled a new vision for the farming sector. Their advertising explains: “We can do better, putting the climate, land, water and living systems first is our nature.” It did not give a lot of details, but it did mention New Zealand’s agriculture, food and fibres sector to be a world-leader in modern regenerative production system that are Fit for a Better World. Read the press release here. Also watch the advertisement below:

Last words…

It is possible that there are a number of things that potentially contribute to the severity of the Australian bushfires, that is not mentioned in this article. As the historical events show, Uranus in Taurus seems to be a significant time during which there is the potential for extreme heat and drought, and because of this other related disasters also occur. Respected British astrologer Pam Gregory explains in this video that Taurus is most associated with the earth, and our practical survival needs. Uranus in Taurus is associated with extreme weather, earthquakes and has a drying effect in general. At the 5 minute time marker, she also mentions the dust bowls of the

1930s and the poor agricultural practices, that uprooting of the native moisture retaining plants, which aided in the creation of deserts of dust where nothing could grow. Uranus is the planet of surprise, so we can never fully anticipate what will happen, she said.

Please note that this author does not share in the doom and gloom of the time. This author recognises that we are in a time of profound breakdown of old systems and transformation as Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter meet in Capricorn, but there is also much to look forward to. The solutions are surprisingly easy.

The presence of green plants is one of the most important factors for climatic stability, and also for soil health, says Australian soil scientist Dr Christine Jones. She says the heat-creates-more-heat effect is happening in Australia, because we have large areas of bare soil. Learn more about the Heat Dome Effect in this video.

Aboriginal people throughout Australia intelligently used carefully planned fire for thousands of years to regenerate the plants and soil, and keep the land and water clear. The emerging advice from this crisis is that one of the best ways to make bushfires less powerful is to take out the stuff that burns. Watch this video, or the one below: