It's Time: the Passing of Gough Whitlam

 

‘Dying will happen sometime. As you know, I plan for the ages, not just for this life’ – Gough Whitlam, 11 July 1916 to 21 October 2014

The passing of Edward Gough Whitlam, on 21 October 2014 at the age of ninety-eight, has divided the nation into Gough enthusiasts and detractors while generating a tumult of emotions from both camps - an almost spooky re-enactment of the 1975 Dismissal. Whatever the triumphs or shortfalls of his government were, it’s difficult to dispute Whitlam’s role in our country’s development. 

In its three short years (1972 to 1975), the Labor government under Whitlam activated the policies that engineered social change, dragging Australia into the modern era. Those who remember a pre-Whitlam Australia can recall a dreary and insular period of social conservatism engineered by the Menzies government in the 1950s. Australia bypassed the 1960s altogether. While hippies experienced free love and wore flowers in their hair in San Francisco and other parts of the world, Australia was comfortably slumbering in a social and cultural coma.

To give a clearer picture, 1960s Australia went something like this:

• Left wing political movements were under routine surveillance
• James Joyce’s novel Ulysses and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov were banned
• Australian film and music industries didn't exist as such
• Creatives such as Germaine Greer, Clive James, Barry Humphries, Brett Whitley, Olivia Newtown John, the Bee Gees, and the Easybeats left the country to gain recognition elsewhere
• Contraceptive pill was only available to married women
• Abortion was illegal
• Single mothers, homosexuals and lesbians were ostracised from mainstream society
• Women and children abused in toxic nuclear families were invisible and lived lives of quiet desperation
• Women in general were treated as second class citizens and were denied the social and financial opportunities gifted to men
• Indigenous and new Australians (Italians, Greeks, Lebanese) were low on the social and political rung (Aboriginal land rights were not recognised and indigenous people did not have the vote)

Need I go on?

By the early 1970s, social change was inevitable. The Labor party's 1972 campaign’s catchphrase It’s Time adds up to 32/5, which signals a shift in consciousness. Whitlam was extolled as an Agent of Change (Uranus bi-quintile the Ascendant/Uranus quintile Jupiter on the Midheaven/Moon semi-square Pluto). A psychically loaded birthdate – 11 July – expresses Messiah-like qualities. Such was his persona that he was applauded for introducing reforms that were already in place, such as no-fault divorce and the removal of troops from Vietnam. 

A mythological figure with a penchant for cherishing ideals that weren’t always practical, Whitlam reached for a higher ground (first house Neptune square Jupiter on the Midheaven). An influential 26/8 life path denotes a visionary leader of Roman God proportions with the ability to direct the Australian Labor Party out of the wilderness of twenty-three years of conservative rule.

A Stellium of planets in Cancer (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Pluto) indicates a strong humanitarian streak. Whitlam was genuinely interested in and concerned about people. He cared deeply and intensely about his country, and had the ability to regenerate it (Scorpio Moon as chart ruler in the fourth house). A fourth house Scorpio Moon can dramatically end certain life phases, as illustrated by the dismissal of Whitlam’s government on 11 November 1975 (transiting Sun eclipsed his natal Moon). Altruism is expressed via the Jupiter conjunct Midheaven quintile Uranus aspect:

‘In spite of repeated disappointments, he never lost that faith in humanity. This, above all, made him such an attractive human being’ – Mungo MacCallum, political journalist

A highly physical Taurus in Jupiter sits on the Midheaven. Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull states that what people remember most about Whitlam is ‘a bigness, a generosity, an enormous optimism’. Indeed, at 194 centremetres, he was an inescapable human tower of power and fortitude. Smugness is often associated with this aspect. Modesty was never Gough Whitlam’s strong point:

‘He was someone who, whether in a small room … or at a public event, everyone else seemed to fade to black and white, while this giant of a man – physically, intellectually – appeared in full colour and dominated wherever he was’ – Anthony Albanese, Labor politician.

To list and elaborate on the changes brought about by the Whitlam government would require a sizeable amount of blog space. But I do want to mention Whitlam’s commitment to culture (Stellium in Cancer/Venus conjunct Pluto/Venus sextile Jupiter-Midheaven) because it’s one of those formative things that shaped me as a young person, especially the birth of one of his more exciting ventures, that of a youth radio station in 1975 - Double J (now Triple J). 

Idealistic young Australians in the late 1970s and 1980s enjoyed the opportunity to form bands and develop their craft free from exorbitant financial constraints. Punk rock, with its anti-establishment philosophy, gained momentum in the mid-1970s as both a musical genre and a lifestyle choice. This newly found DIY culture influenced kids from the suburbs to create some of Australia’s most innovative and experimental music. Double J was instrumental in giving this underground scene a voice. In retrospect, it’s difficult to believe that the following bands – some of them considered unlistenable – were given air time:

 

~ Severed Heads ~ Tactics ~ Boys Next Door ~ The Birthday Party ~ Radio Birdman ~ The Scientists ~ The Saints ~ SPK ~ The Riptides ~ Machinations ~ Laughing Clowns ~ The Triffids ~ Go Betweens ~ David Virgin ~ Primitive Calculators ~ The Stems ~ Died Pretty ~ Sekret Sekret ~ Sardine ~ Do Re Mi ~ X ~ Eastern Dark ~ Wet Taxis ~ Celibate Rifles ~ The Sunnyboys ~ Cosmic Pyschos ~ The Hard-Ons ~ The Plunderers ~ Pel Mel ~ Mark of Cain ~ La Femme ~ The Riptides ~ Makers of the Dead Travel Fast ~ The Numbers ~ Toys Went Berserk ~ The Moodists ~ Box of Fish ~ Scared Cowboys ~ XL Capris ~ TISM ~ Whirlywirld ~ The Whitlams (of course) …

Love or hate him, it’s almost impossible to feel indifferent about Gough Whitlam. His government certainly had its flaws but it always pushed the boundaries of stifling conservatism. He envisioned Australia as a progressive, exciting and benevolent society where equality of opportunity belonged to everyone.

Vale, Gough.

The Return of Kate Bush

 

‘Kate Bush is that old-fashioned thing: an artist’ – Mark Radcliffe, BBC broadcaster

Kate Bush’s return to the stage with her Before the Dawn concerts in London feels like the second coming. Not surprising, considering that her first and last performance was in 1979. Apart from brief spikes in commercial success over three decades, Kate has avoided the entertainment industry machine. 

She is an anathema in the music business because a) she is serious about her craft, b) she loathes celebrity culture, and c) she plays by her rules. You don’t get a lot of a), b) or c) in these market-driven times.

I remember seeing Kate’s celebrated video for Wuthering Heights on the Saturday morning music show Sounds, in 1979. I was mesmerised by its entirety - her impressive vocal range, her beauty, her gypsy-inspired outfit, those witchy dance moves, Dave Gilmour’s whiny guitar riff … 

Since that encounter, she remained in my consciousness despite her obvious media absence. Kate's comeback is timely, thanks to the current Jupiter transit which touched her natal Leo Sun-Uranus conjunction in mid-August, prior to her concert series. 

Jupiter entered Leo on 16 July 2014 for a thirteen-month residency. The giant planet rules personal experiences, optimism, joy and abundance. In Leo, we are given opportunities to blossom through creative self-expression. Kate said that her decision to return to live performance was based on a ‘real desire to have contact with the audience that still like my work’. Radio2 broadcaster Michael Ball attended the final concert in early October. He described it as ‘sublime towering artistry’.

Jupiter in Leo tends to focus on image. The subject of Kate’s physical beauty as a young woman is unavoidable (natal Jupiter in Libra conjunct her North Node). Fortunately, her Aquarius Moon accentuates originality (and possibly eccentricity) and counterbalances any egocentricity her Leo Sun might hold. Her Sun, Uranus and Moon combine with Mars in Taurus and Neptune in Scorpio to form a Grand Cross in Fixed signs. The Sun-Uranus link is indicative of ingenuity. Uranus in Leo on the point of a T-square makes Kate a trailblazer with a tendency for obstinacy - she split from her first record company, EMI, because she wanted more control. She needs to work toward her Libra Jupiter-North Node conjunction and learn to compromise a little. Mental intensity comes courtesy of a Virgo Mercury-Pluto conjunction. Taboo subjects are explored with intelligence and weaved through ephemeral vocal and instrumental arrangements that draw on folklore, esotericism and sensuality (Mars-Neptune opposition). Her 1982 song The Dreaming is a good example.

Due to an overwhelming response to her long-awaited comeback, she has been nominated for two Q Awards - Best Act in the World Today and Best Live Act. She became the first female artist to have eight albums in the UK charts at the same time. Her songs have been covered by a diverse range of musicians, from Futureheads and Placebo to Coldplay and Tina Arena.

Spiritual Conversations with Punks

I was invited by the lovely writer Tamara Lazaroff (Prisoner of Macedonia fame) to be part of this panel titled Spiritual Conversations with Punks at the Zine and Independent Comics Symposium (ZICS) in Brisbane, in August 2014.

The panel consisted of: Bianca Valentino, creator of the zine Spiritual Conversations with Punx; Andy Paine who has a radio show on Brisbane's 4ZZZ and who creates a truckload of spiritual DIY material; and the wandering seer of Brisbane, Sarah Muller, who writes and publishes eloquent poetry about her adopted city. Discussions covered the often overlooked topic of spiritual content in zine making. The talk was well-received by a supportive and interested audience.

Astrobabble goes to Repressed Records

Issues #9 and #10 of Astrobabble are available at Repressed Records in Newtown, Sydney. If you're in the area, pop in and browse their curated collection of DIY material, vinyl, CDs and music memorabilia. The staff are a delight and believe Astrobabble is worth stocking. Yay!

Repressed Records is located at 413 King Street, Newtown. It's owned and run by the irrepressible Nic Warnock, who I hear is a bit of a legend in the Sydney music scene. Oh, these young people and their rock 'n' roll ...

Tarot Magic

My recent trip to Melbourne for the Festival of the Photocopier included a visit to Sticky, located in the Flinders Street tunnel under Degraves Street. Visiting the shop in person (as opposed to online) is a far more valuable way of keeping up with new titles and zine news. The amiable Fulsome Prism, who staffs the shop, introduced me to some choice material, one of which was Bastian Fox Phelan’s latest offering, Tarot Magic.

I was excited to discover the existence of an esoteric zine that wasn’t mine! I’m unaware of other DIY titles that cover arcane subjects, so discovering Tarot Magic was a revelation. The zine is a tarot reading in itself. It documents Bastian’s adventures with a deck designed and printed by The Collective Tarot, a creative/esoteric co-op based in Portland, Oregon.

The Collective Tarot uses images loosely based on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Interestingly, it contains the Suit of Bones, which I feel represents the Earth element and our questions concerning structure, support and finding ground in an uncertain world.

Tarot is Bastian’s preferred method of engaging in healthy dialogue with herself. It’s a self-care ritual where she can safely process negative emotions and experience the ‘thing’ that has many guises – magic, intuition, instinct, gut feeling, insight, sensitivity, sixth sense, divine guidance, Universal consciousness … call it what you will.

Like astrology and other divinatory tools, tarot is a creative way to check in with yourself and reconnect with suppressed feelings. It’s an opportunity to pause and ask, ‘What am I feeling right now? Why am I feeling this?’

It’s refreshing to see another esoteric zine floating in the sea of perzines and artist books that define DIY culture. It requires a certain amount of bravery to produce a zine like this and I commend Bastian for its existence. Tarot Magic is an enchanting read. The fact that one of our finest zine makers has created it is reason enough to go there.

Likeable Bon

Astrobabble (#10), has hit the streets of Sydney and Melbourne. It’s available at Red Eye Records and The Sticky Institute respectively. I have also placed a few free copies at Beyond The Ordinary in Balmain, Phoenix Rising Bookshop in Glebe, and The Buddha Bar in Newtown.

This issue completes the cycle of the twelve astrological signs in zine format; a project I started five years ago with the intention of snaring a zine maker with whom I was fixated. Ironically, but not surprisingly, it had the opposite effect. Still, what I gained from creating Astrobabble more than made up for my disappointment in love. Or so I keep telling myself.

Anyway, as you can see from the image above, this issue delves into the life of renowned AC/DC front man, Bon Scott, with whom I share the Sun sign, Cancer. Bon was a thoroughly enjoyable subject to research. He is mythologised in a way that contradicts his sign but as is usually the case with high profile people, he had a vulnerable side that was often overlooked for his more appealing rock ‘n’ roll persona. There's clear evidence that he was polite, sensitive and considerate in nature. In many ways, Bon Scott was a textbook Cancerian, a pipe 'n' slippers man who loved his family and close friends and abhorred the pretensions of the music industry.

The most surprising discovery, however, was his so called ‘toilet poetry’ that masked a talent for writing (Mercury sextile Jupiter). For years, I failed to recognise Bon’s words as anything other than mediocre. I ignored lyrics to Long Way to The Top, Jailbreak, Ride On and Highway to Hell simply because the point of AC/DC is to mindlessly rock out to the music. Thanks to a Mercury conjunct Pluto aspect, Bon took lyric writing seriously, with a wit and deviousness sorely missing in song writing today.

A prolific letter writer and sender of postcards, his correspondence reveals an intuitive feel for language, in which anecdotes are told with enthusiasm and humour. Rarely did he forget to mail Christmas and birthday cards while on the road. Constantly carrying a notebook and pen, he'd scribble ideas for songs as they came to him, regardless of where he was, what he was doing or who he was with.