Book Review: Pans Daughter

 Pans Daughter

The Magical World of Rosaleen Norton

 Revised and Expanded

 

Author:                             Nevill Drury

Publisher:                         Mandrake of oxford

Type:                                 Hard Cover

Pages:                                305

Genre:                               non-fiction

Published:                         2013

ISBN:                                9781906958503

 The book does not have a dust cover but has a lovely colored printed hardcover. Its dimensions are about  156 x 232 x 28mm and it has black and white photos, copy's of Rosaleen Norton's art thorough and there is even a few sigils.
 The book is very well made and printed well. I did notice only two minor errors, the word to where it was superfluous (P83) and the word "was" instead of "as" (p87), so noting major at all.

 The book is an overview of the life of Rosaleen Norton and her associates and contemporary's. Today she would probably be referred to as a Pagan artist. Although mention is made of her magical journals very little of her occult information is included within this book.

 I had heard about Rosaleen occasionally growing up, she has a reputation as "the witch of Kings Cross" and i had always wondered if she was legit. The poem written by her in 1962 and reproduced in this book was enough to confirm for me that she had esoteric knowledge. Indeed it is explained that some of her influences included; psychology, general occultism, ceremonial magic, voodoo, the golden dawn, pantheism, Greek mythology, hypnosis, medium-ship, and a welsh tradition of witchcraft said to have arrived in Australia during the colonial era.
 Her description of the Werplon seemed to have an almost lovecraftian flair to it.
 

It seems much like Alister Crowley (who is detailed within the book) she had a public persona so it is difficult to separate that from whom she really was. For instance she claimed to practice in black magic but there seems to be no examples of her doing any such thing. This may instead be to her upbringing, anything non-christian may have been seen as "black magic" by people in Australia before the 1970s.

Her interview with the psychologist Dr. LJ Murphy is interesting as it outlines Rosaleen's methods in developing her natural ability's. It is quite fascinating to hear her attempt to explain the nature of reality in 1960's mundane world speak. While the words she chose differed than those i would have, it is reminiscent of many conversations i have had with many an occultist and laymen over the years.

Rosaleen Norton's assertion that she preferred sex with homosexual men is a little odd. Not that there is anything wrong with having sex with gay men, i myself prefer gay men over straight men, because while straight men are always enthusiastic they don't always want to cuddle after, but i am a guy. 
 Perhaps she had a different understanding of "homosexual back then, maybe she simply meant submissive, effeminate or or even bisexual men. She might have considered the every man who had ever had sex with another man to be homosexual, hell if that were true today we would no longer be a minority.

 The book uses the proper BCE and CE terminology which is always refreshing. It has numbered notes at the end of each chapter and a detailed bibliography and index is included.

  All in all i  really enjoyed this book. Pick it up if your interested in Australian History, feminism, sex magic, Paganism, astral travel, witchcraft, NDE (or PDE), occultism, law, ceremonial magic, art or Australian culture.

Review Hung Like An Argentine Duck

Hung Like An Argentine Duck

A journey  back in time to the origins of sexual intimacy.

Author:                             Dr John Long

Publisher:                         Fourth Estate

Type:                                 Soft Cover

Pages:                                249

Genre:                               non-fiction

Published:                         2011

ISBN:                                9780732292737

 This is a neat book, its novel sized coming in at, a little over eight inches tall, more than five inches wide and about an inch thick. It was a perfect holiday purchase. I noticed absolutely no editing errors within the books pages. There are a few black and white diagrams thorough that help demonstrate the subject being covered, and there are eight full colour pages in the center of the book. 

 The book beings with an interesting forward and continues on with an interesting preface. The preface begins with a loving poem, somehow ends up at auto erotic asphyxiation before eventually explaining what the book is and what it sets out to do.

  Chapters one through seven detail the authors fossil discovery. In chapter one we look at the penis of ducks, whales and the largest human penis, we examine the genital sizes of the other great apes and are taken to an Australian desert on a fossil hunt. We examine those fossils in chapter two. Chapter three is shark sex 101. In chapter four we see the procedure in writing and releasing a scientific paper.

 In chapter eight we explore the origin of sex. Chapter nine deals with the sometimes horrific sex lives of insects, spiders and crustaceans. From there we move on to chapter tens examination of the first sex on land with amphibians and lizards. Chapter eleven details the difficulties of dinosaur sex. We finally arrive at mammalian sex in chapter twelve. Chapter thirteen has a detailed look at sperm. And finally chapter fourteen ties it all together showing us how we humans are indeed related to that first fossil fish from chapter one.

 We end the book with an epilogue and extensive notes were all the books mentioned are referenced, we then find acknowledgements and an exhaustive index.

 The book does have a brief look at homosexuality but this isn't the books focus, homosexuality is covered as a natural part of animal, human and sexuality, which is as it should be.

 While the book does get a little 'sciencey' at times, everything is quickly explained in an easy to understand manner using common day terms. The author needs to be commended in his ability to do this so well.

  

 I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, sexuality, science, sex, animals, paleontology, evolution, or anyone just wanting a good read.

Review: Closets are for Clothes

Closets are for Clothes

A history of queer Australia 

 

Author:                               Rachel Cook

Publisher:                           Black Dog Books

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   147

Genre:                                  non-fiction

Published:                            2010

ISBN:                                   9781742031040

 The book itself is well made. I did notice a few (only two) errors however these were seen in extracts from letters and diary, so they may have been included to retain authenticity. As mentioned the book has many accounts of the history of Australia from those who lived it, sadly there are only a few black and white photos within the book.

 Pages from book

 This book is an exploration of LGBT life in Australia from "colonization" onward. It is a pity that there is no information within about LGBT life before invasion. Though i have a feeling that this is because such information is difficult to access if it even still exists at all, and not necessarily a whim of the author. Lets take a quick look thorough with some commentary on what i thought were some of the highlights.

 The book begins with some praise by notables including The Honorable Michael Kirby and nice introduction
 Chapter One deals with the first non-native Australians, the convicts. We see lesbian marriages taking place way back in 1792, now that's traditional. We learn that sodomy (oral or anal sex) was punishable by death or transportation (to Australia), though it is noted that only gay men were prosecuted for sodomy. This must mean that a considerable number of early white Australians were indeed gay, indeed there is much evidence of homosexual couples living as married in the colony's. The homosexuality was so prevalent (and distasteful to snobbish British eyes) that it brought about the first calls for an end to transportation.

 Chapter Two we learn that gay men also came to Australia as free settlers seeking a better life away from the prying eyes of family and harsh judgement of the law. We take a look at some gay bushrangers, as well as early works on the fact homosexuality was a natural part of human sexuality.

 Chapter Three We hear a lot of the 1950's fear of the other, and it is sad how much these sentiments mimic the hate spewed forth by racists and homophobes today. You may be forgiven if you think the author was in error and accidentally published pages from the One Nation website in the wrong section, but no 1950's bigots and 2016 bigots are just playing to the same darker aspects of humanity.

 Chapter Four looks at life after World War Two.

 Chapter Five examines the sham that is aversion therapy as well as the treatment of homosexuality as an illness and its failure. Because even then they knew the problem wasn't homosexuality it was homophobia.

 Chapter Six shines a light on a dark era of Australian history with the targeted harassment, and entrapment of Gay men by government forces. It is also incredible to think that we were once so barbaric as to have made it illegal to have been born a 
homosexual male. It is amazing how humans thought they were above the laws of nature.

 Chapter Seven deals with the 60's and 70's with topics ranging from the white Australia policy, the Kinsey report, the burgeoning gay rights movement, and the forming of what would become the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

 Chapter Eight takes a look at feminism, and AIDS. It is interesting to note that despite the vilification and hate of the disgusting Fred Niles (and his ilk) the LGBT community helped Australia become a world leader in dealing with the AIDS crisis.

 Chapter Nine shows us some gay people becoming famous and some LGBT characters appearing on television. It looks at inclusiveness, transgender issues, adoption, IVF, and the fight for equal rights. As well as the horrible act of John Howard changing the marriage act, in order to nullify existing LGBT marriages and prevent more, he did this disgusting thing without a plebiscite mind you. We also see that about 70% of homophobic bullying experienced by young Australians happens at school, which shows again how important initiatives like the Safe Schools anti-bullying program really are and how immoral it would be to oppose them.


The book ends with an extensive glossary, timeline, index and ample references. 

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Australian history, law, civil rights and LGBT issues. It is easy to read and should be in every school library history section. The book really needs an updated edition but is still a good reference from 2010 and back.

Also check out The Sex Lives of Australians for more on this topic.

 
 

Bigot Point: "Gay marriage leads to bestiality."

Bigot Point: 

"Gay marriage leads to bestiality."

 Some creepy people have tried to link homosexuality with bestiality, when there is in reality no link between the two. 

 With homosexuality being naturally exhibited in about 10% of humanity, we can extrapolate that the number of homosexuals who exhibit Zoophilia

would be far less then the number of heterosexuals that do. 

 So if those arguing against allowing marriage equality (due to a fear of animal-human marriage) were serious they would be arguing for same sex marriage and trying to outlaw heterosexual marriage as heterosexuals would be more likely to suffer from zoophilia.

 But they are not because its clear those saying this kind of hate speech are only interested in spreading homophobia.

Definitions:

Zoophilia: Sexual fixation on  animals. 

Bestiality: Sexual acts with animals.

For this post when i write animals i am referring to non-human animals.

 But this argument is even worse as none of the marriage equality legislation has even hinted at allowing human-animal marriage. Of course none of the bills have even mentioned decriminalizing bestiality. The reason for this is that allowing same sex couples equal rights is a completely different issue.  

 Again this point is made to simply vilify gay people, to try to associate their desire to have equal rights with something that is seen as wrong by our society. As those seeking to deny marriage equality have to stretch this far , it shows that there really are no valid arguments against marriage equality.

 I see nothing wrong with the legal definition of marriage being the union of two* consenting adults.  

 As soon as anyone tries to argue that we don't need the participants to be consenting (and adult) i (and i hope most Australians) would have a serious problem with that. 

  * The number of consenting adults allowed in any given marriage is a completely different point.

 If the government ever tries to make human-animal marriage legal i will oppose that, as the animal can not consent. But there is no reason why we should oppose equal rights to gay people, lets address one issue at a time, lets not try to muddy the waters with fear-mongering nonsense. 

 If someone is trying to use this argument against marriage equality, you would be better served finding someone who is more honest and actually knows what they are talking about.

 Remember hate speech and vilification of gays is homophobia and homophobia leads to hate crimes.

----

Bigot Points Debunked:
 

"Children need both a biological Mother and Father."

"Same sex marriage isn't biblical marriage."

"homosexuality is a choice."

"Same-Sex marriage isn't Traditional Marriage"

"Homosexuality is Unnatural"

 "Marriage Equality threatens religious freedom"

"Same-sex marriage isn't natural marriage."

 "Marriage equality will destroy free speech"

 "Same-sex marriage will be forced on everyone."

"Marriage is about procreation."

Bigot Point: Marriage Equality threatens religious freedom.

Marriage Equality threatens my 

religious freedom.

 If you are against marriage equality because you believe in freedom of religion then i have great news for you, you don't need to be bigoted anymore. Wait, read on and you will see how you can fight for religious liberties and LGBT (Lesbian Gay bisexual Transgender)  equality.

 So at the moment in Australia marriage is restricted to opposite sexes. This applies to all Australians whatever your religious beliefs.
 The Marriage act was changed by John Howard in 2004 specifically to prevent marriage equality.

 Now currently the marriage laws match the views of a small group of religious (some Christian and Islamic) people . But what about those who do not follow one of the homophobic religions. There are even denominations of  Abrahamic religious followers who are for equality. or those who do not adhere to any religion at all?

 At the moment under Australian law those peoples freedom of religion is being violated, as they are being forced to practice another religions doctrine, or being prevented from following their own religious doctrine. The current Marriage laws are clearly unconstitutional.

Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia reads:

The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

 And no, when the laws are changed back so that they allow marriage equality, it will not effect freedom of religion. Because no one will be forced into any marriage. Your church or mosque can still discriminate and ban homosexuals from their religion, marriage equality wont change that.
 

 Australian law must be free from all religions, i am sure you would not like living under the laws of another religion, as that would truly impede your own religious practices. So please don't fight for others to live under a religious dogma that is not their own.

 As you can see if a person is truly worried about religious freedoms they have to be on the side of marriage equality not the side that is fighting to prevent freedom of religion.

Bigot Points:

Children need both a biological Mother and Father.

"Same sex marriage isn't biblical marriage."

"homosexuality is a choice."

"Same-Sex marriage isn't Traditional Marriage"

"Homosexuality is Unnatural"

Further Reading:

The Australian Constitution

Diversity of religion and spiritual beliefs