Join the Club: What’s the Deal with Rock Stars Dying at Age 27?

It’s fitting that I should revisit moments of the first issue of my zine, Astrobabble, in the light of Amy Winehouse’s death on 23 July 2011.

For those of you lucky enough to score yourselves that ripper first issue, you will recall that I banged on about the Progressed Lunar Return at age 27, coupled with Neptune completing one third of its orbit around the horoscope. There is an emotional and spiritual preamble during this time that prepares us for the work of the Saturn Return at approximately age 29. How we handle this lead-in depends on our development in the world up to this point. Young luminaries such as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse rarely had the opportunity to develop spiritually and emotionally, having morphed into archetypes and losing their individuality to the collective in a blatantly open manner.

The Progressed Lunar Return phase can expose us in a way that can be painful since it necessitates brutal honesty of who we are as emotional and spiritual beings. In the case of Winehouse, transiting Chiron squaring her natal Chiron would have exacerbated this issue, reopening old wounds. Winehouse had a Virgo Sun. Those born with either a Virgo or a Pisces signature struggle with the polarity of addiction (Pisces) versus recovery (Virgo), an issue that needs addressing and rebalancing in this incarnation. There is rarely equilibrium for these souls.

Both Kurt Cobain (Pisces Sun) and Amy Winehouse (Virgo Sun) were casualties of the dying Age of Pisces. They publically displayed symptoms of collective disease: drug abuse, depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic illness. Their Progressed Lunar Returns intensified their susceptibility to environmental disorders in the current, unstable transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.

Having said all this, there is great potential for growth and transformation if we manage the Progressed Lunar Return adequately, but we must be willing to open ourselves to new possibilities of awareness. It’s unfortunate that the lesson arrived too late for some. May they Rest In Pieces.

Astrobabble Cover Art

My first blog entry for Astrobabylon commends my creative partner, Cate Riley, and her execution of cult leader, Charles Manson, for the latest cover of Astrobabble. Cate designed the cover below for issue three, incorporating the issue’s number five theme and main article concerning American actor and artist, Dennis Hopper.

Cate sent me the image electronically via Facebook. When I first opened it, I experienced one of those rare moments of gratitude; of truly realising how lucky I am to have a talented somebody contributing to my baby. It’s not something I take for granted.

Check out Cate's striking website at http://www.fadstudios.com.au/ to see what her and husband, Rob, are doing for Canberra (and the rest of Oz) design-wise. It's worth a sticky beak.

The Prophet

The Prophet is a book of poetic essays by the Lebanese artist, philosopher, and writer Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931). In conception it was to be the first of a trilogy: The Prophet addresses the realities of the human experience such as birth, children, marriage, love, work, pain and death; the second book, The Garden of the Prophet, was to address humankind's relationship to nature; and the third, The Death of the Prophet, would focus on divine union. Gibran was working on The Garden of the Prophet at the time of his death in 1931.

Possibly the original 'self-help' guide, The Prophet is a book I refer to whenever I need solace. Each passage is a jewel of self-contained poetry laced with wisdom. It is as comforting as a well brewed pot of Twinings. Despite the growth of the New Age movement and the barrage of self-improvement books that has accompanied it, nothing quite resembles The Prophet in terms of foresight and philosophy. Many esoteric practitioners have based their psychobabble on Gibran's principles, but most are mediocre imitations of the real deal. The Prophet was written in an era before selfish individualism became an acceptable part of the human condition (was it ever?). The rare quality of selflessness that is virtually non-existent in the new millennium is what streams through the pages of Gibran's words.

For those of you who live in Sydney, The State Library of New South Wales is holding an exhibition of Gibran's artwork and manuscripts until 20 February 2011. The sixty items on display are on loan from The Gibran Museum in Bsharri, North Lebanon (Gibran's birth place). It was euphoric to see the original watercolours and charcoal sketches that compliment the pages of this notable book. Gibran's charcoal drawings in particular are mesmerising - the eyes of his subjects are piercing, particularly those of Almustafa (frontispiece for The Prophet) as seen below on the copy I bought in an op shop in Portland, Oregon about ten years ago:



Welcome to Astrobabylon

Welcome and Happy New Year!

Today's New Moon and partial Solar Eclipse is the perfect opportunity for me to launch Astrobabylon. Hopefully this moon, situated in the practical sign of Capricorn, will support my plans for making this blog work.

The purpose of Astrobabylon is to compliment my zine Astrobabble: the Zine for Astrology Nerds which I have been creating for two years with the help of my creative partner, Cate Riley. I am a Sydney-based astrologer and Cate is a Canberra-based artist.

My aim with each issue of Astrobabble is to stick to an astrological theme of some sort, hoping that the articles and information on each page connect to each other in some way. I see this zine as a manifestation of my two passions - astrology and pop culture.

As I straddle two opposing Universes - the zine world and astrology - I am ambivalent as to how Astrobabylon should function. I guess the blog will morph organically and take on a life of its own. Initially I was going to back track two years worth of zine work, but that seems unrealistic and exhausting. Instead I will pay credence to Cate, who generously takes time out of her busy schedule to create Astrobabble cover art.

Below is art created by Cate of cult leader Charles Manson for the latest issue. Check out her website fadstudios for more shit-hot art at http://www.fadstudios.com.au/. For copies of Astrobabble (I have created four issues so far), contact me here at Astrobabylon.