An interview with Linda Furiate and Astrologer Chris Turner, Conference Coordinator for Breaking Down the Borders. If there is a “first” when it comes to astrology, renowned Australian astrologer Chris Turner can usually be found involved in it somewhere.
Linda Furiate – You have been dubbed (by me) “the Queen of Firsts” when it comes to your accomplishments with Astrology. You were the first to start an astrology school in Australia, the first to write a Sun sign column for a major publication, the first to create an exam Board in Australia plus a few other major firsts. Tell us a little about some of your accomplishments and what drives you to push astrology into the fore front?
Chris Turner – Queen of Firsts huh? Sounds good!!!
What drives me I guess is the gut instinct that astrology is an ever evolving thing. It needs to grow and evolve as society grows and evolves. When I first developed an academic interest in it back in either the late 60’s or early 70’s – I can’t remember any more – here in Australia, and I suspect the rest of the western world too, astrology was a rather seedy subject. It was relegated to back lanes and people who wore long flowing robes and looked into crystal balls. I’m not knocking crystal ball readers by any means (I have one sitting on my mantelpiece) but astrology doesn’t belong in the same club. There is a reason that occultists called it the “Golden Key” and in my mind that’s because it is the link between the exoteric and esoteric worlds. It is a beautiful language of poetry, myth, art and symbolism and yet it has its roots in pure science and academic observation. It is at once a combination of earthly and cosmic knowledge.
I come from a scientific background and my first foray into astrology was for the same reason as any other skeptic. To prove it didn’t work. But I came from the opposite end than most skeptics, I had no desire to show that it DID work, I had read and observed enough to see that there was certainly a core in there somewhere that seemed to work; rather I wanted to show that it didn’t work. That led to my astrological studies on a chimpanzee community. I figured that there was no way you could influence a chimp into becoming the zodiacal character they were supposed to be, or into self fulfilling prophecy, so if it worked on a chimp, it worked! And indeed it did, to a significant extent.
I was also aware in those early days, that because astrology was relegated to being the realm of “Fortune Tellers”, that astrologers themselves were very fragmented. This was very obvious when I tried to find someone to teach it to me. Those that taught it taught it in a very haphazard manner and many really had no idea what they were talking about in the first place. I became friends with a like minded astrology student, John Clarke, who felt the same way I did, so we set up the first structured school of astrology in Australia here in Sydney, back in 1975 I think it was.
Around the same time I had joined a couple of the local astrology associations, small groups usually run by Little Old Women who were very into theosophy. I felt that astrology was in danger of being stuck somewhere in the early 20th Century, and that unless we became a more cohesive group we would never catch up to society let alone keep abreast of it; nor would we ever get rid of the stigma and delusions that surrounded it. As so often happens when there is change of an Aquarian nature, it is not just a single individual involved, and it wasn’t in this case either. Across the country there were others who shared my “visions” of a cohesive astrology and over the next 15 years or so, we came together and did indeed create not only a means of bringing a sense of unity to Australian astrology, but also raised and consolidated a high academic standard through the creation of an independent national Exam Board, qualifications and ultimately a Professional Organisation. In the process we managed to remove a great deal of that stigma I mentioned earlier, and at this point in time, although we are not strictly “legal” we are treated with a modicum of respect by the media, the public and academia generally. There are clashes of course, there always will be, but they don’t happen very often. As long as an astrologer pays his or her taxes and abides by a code of ethics, we are free to make a living in Australia, without any harassment or problems. To visit an astrologer here may cause a raised eyebrow in a few circles, but nothing more than that.
LF – The BDTB cyber conference is yet another first for you, what was your inspiration in creating a live online astrology conference?
CT – There were a few threads that came together at the right time. I think every astrology teacher dreams of holding a conference. Unfortunately you need resources to do that which most teachers don’t have. It falls to the astrology associations to hold them, and they draw upon their members very heavily to do the necessary work. Ena (Stanley) and I, both teachers of many years, have both had the dream, and over the years we would sometimes talk about it in our personal conversations. That was the first thread.
Secondly, the IAA had been using web conferencing rooms for a year or so, learning about their capabilities, getting used to them, and most importantly coming to a recognition that through them there was the potential for being able to teach students from anywhere in the world from the North Pole to the Congo and everywhere in-between using the best teachers from everywhere. In Australia, if you lived outside one of our major cities – and we only have about a dozen – you could really only teach yourself astrology from books, or more recently the internet, or by correspondence. We, and me in particular being an Aussie, really loved the idea that now someone in Broken Hill could learn from a good teacher in a live virtually face to face situation from Sydney, New York or London.
Ena and I were talking about this one day, and the subject of a conference came up yet again, but as always as wishful thinking. This time we did talk about the difficulties of doing live teaching and conferencing because the Earth is round and the world’s population is spread over 24 Time Zones.
When I got off the phone, I was still thinking about it and realised that years before I had set up a monthly lecture program for the Conjunction astrology group. That lecture is always at 10:00 pm GMT as I had worked out back then that that was the only time most of the Western World was awake. It was very early in the morning for some, and very late at night for others, but generally doable for everyone in the English speaking world including Europe and Eastern Asia. So out of curiosity I decided to start from that 10:00 pm GMT slot and see if I could work out a timetable that would enable most of the English speaking world to be able to come to a conference at reasonable times. Without running the conference for 24 hours, it is hard to get most of the people most of the time, but to my delight we could do it so that nearly everyone would be able to come for half the conference at least. I phoned Ena the next morning – which happened to be the 19th November 2009, exactly a year to the day from the date I had picked for the opening day – and said “You know? I think we could do this.” And, to be a touch melodramatic, with those words Pandora’s Box was open.
LF – Who should be attending this conference and when is it
CT – Not long now… It feels like the longest “pregnancy” in history, but it will start on 19 November and run for three full days to the 21 November if you live in western longitudes, or until the 22 November if you live in eastern longitudes. Or, in non astrological terms, if you live in the US or South America, it will be from 19 – 21 November, if you live in Europe or Africa it will be from 19 – 22 November and if you live in South East Asia, Australia or New Zealand it will be from 20 November to 22 November.
As for who should come, everyone of course!!! The conference is suitable for beginners to those who have been studying for years; for the hobbyist to the professional and for whatever “branch’ of astrology anyone may be interested in. There are even lectures on how to make use of social networking on the internet. What could be more appropriate for a cyber conference?
LF – What are the benefits of attending an online conference?
CT – Oh my goodness there are so many. The main advantage of course, is cost. For example, for me to attend a conference in the US or Europe, factoring in travel, accommodation, food, conference registration, having a house sitter for 10 days to mind my animals, and lost time from work it would cost me approximately $5000.00 not to mention lost much needed vacation time and inconvenience to my family who rely on me to pick up grandchildren from school etc.. Even to attend a conference in my own country, it would cost me a minimum of $1500. For Breaking Down the Borders you pay the conference registration fee of $450.00, and that’s it. And that’s only if you attend the full conference. Another advantage is that you don’t have to attend the full conference. It’s payable by the lecture so you can attend only one lecture if you want. So it is affordable for everyone, unlike most “physical” conferences.
Another huge advantage to a Cancer/Taurus like me is that I can hear the best speakers from around the world, sitting in my comfy office chair in my pyjamas! I will be able to get up and get a cup of tea when I feel like it. I can smoke during the lecture and not bother anyone. My dogs won’t miss me, I can still pick up the children from school, I lose no time from my work or my holiday time and best of all I get to sleep in my own bed. Heaven.
And then there are the speakers. Not only the famous ones like Rob Hand, but some who many will never have heard of, not because they aren’t excellent but because they are not American or European or even Australian they have not had the opportunity to speak at a major physical conference. They are the best their country has to offer and are as good as those we all know and love. So my advice to everyone is don’t automatically register for a speaker whose name you recognize, but take a chance on someone you have never heard of. You will be pleasantly surprised.
LF – From a global perspective how does an online conference help the astrology community or for those others who want to be involved with astrology on some level?
CT – I think the name says it all. An online conference knows no borders at all. It reinforces the fact that the astrology community is a global one that encompasses every country in the world. There is no need for a passport or a visa. This is the first conference of its kind on such a huge scale, and as such we have chosen to do the entire conference in English, but who knows, next time we may include lectures in Spanish or Russian or Chinese! The possibilities are endless. Another benefit is that it brings all the different astrology research and branches together in one place. In my travels to conferences around the world over the past 30 years I have found that each country has its own unique approach to astrology, and for that matter to lecturing. A cyber conference enables those unique approaches to come together. It enables professional astrologers to go further afield than they ever have before and get outside their comfort zone.
I would go on, but I suspect I have gone on quite enough!!!
LF – Chris, thank you for your wonderful input and insight. Big hugs!
Linda Furiate
elementaladvice.wordpress.com 