Remembering Joanne Rixon
December 22 2018
On 22 December 2018, just as the Moon was coming up to her natal Gemini sun our beloved Sydney Astrology School (SAS) teacher, colleague and friend, Joanne (Jo) Rixon passed away peacefully at her home.
I first met Jo in 2011 at SAS classes held by the principal (and gifted teacher) Marc Laurenson. Jo immediately impressed me not only due to her warmth and humour, but also by her keen intellect, her extraordinary astrological knowledge and her incisive ability to interpret charts. When discussing charts in class, she also could be relied upon to provide pertinent historical facts and snippets of information about current news and the entertainment industry.
Jo later became a teacher for SAS and imparted her profound astrological talents and insights with many of the School’s students. She also wrote “SkyVibe” articles for SAS in which she meticulously analysed the upcoming aspects for the month. In these beautifully crafted pieces, she displayed her love of the Sabian Symbols, weaving them seamlessly into her forecast.
In order to expand her knowledge of evolutionary astrology, Jo was an avid reader and frequently attended the annual conferences to further her knowledge. It was there that she formed many other enduring astrological friendships.
Jo was always kind, caring and imparted sound wisdom and advice. She demonstrated incredible grace and dignity, even in the face of her debilitating illness.
As a testament to her beautiful soul, following her passing, the astrological community came from far and wide to commemorate her. I consider myself incredibly blessed to have known Jo, and for her friendship.
She is greatly missed by all who knew her.
Rita Giurastante
Remembering Joanne Rixon
Jo came to Sydney Astrology School in 2010 as a student, though she had many years of Astrology training already under her belt. It seems funny how in the beginning I was her teacher but I feel I actually learned as much from her as she did from me. Jo was incredibly knowledgeable, and in good Gemini fashion knew a great deal about a lot of things. There was very little Jo didn’t know something about and I would often have to defer to her to fill in any data or details that eluded me. She would always have the answers I needed. She was an incredibly gifted writer. This was obvious in the way she imparted her Astrological knowledge with such candor and flair in her SkyVibes and we were blessed to have her write for us.
Yet this was a relatively small part to who Jo really was. Joanne was a truly beautiful soul. She exemplified the higher parts of human nature that very few people really do well. She was the epitome of integrity, honesty and kindness. She was very cerebral in many ways yet connected very deeply to soul with a profound understanding of empathy and compassion. I felt I could really connect with Joanne, like we were on a journey together. Jo was what you would call a ‘true friend’. She was loyal, dependable, thoughtful and an incredible listener. You could always count on her. She had quite a variety of friends, from all areas of life who loved her and will miss her greatly.
What I found so admirable was that she never complained or whined. Even as she was experiencing some of her darkest moments with her illness she didn’t indulge in the ‘why me’s’ or played the victim at all, even saying once ‘I bought into this’ as if she was tapping into some higher form of ‘knowing’. She was amazingly strong and dealt with it all with such grace and dignity.
Joanne was a born teacher not only with sharing knowledge but also with ‘how to be’. She taught me about the higher aspects of being human by just being my friend and I am eternally grateful for having her in my life and forever changed by knowing her.
Marc Laurenson
I felt the loss of Jo Rixon hugely. I used to see Jo twice a week as part of the Sydney Astrology School webinars where she taught. Jo’s teaching was much anticipated and loved by all the students, as were her cleverly crafted ‘SkyVibe’ monthly forecasts. Such a mind, Jo’s level headedness and sound judgment, her wealth of astrological and esoteric knowledge, her political and social perspective, her wonderful stories, and most of all her kindness, humour & funny quips. Such a loss for the world and to astrology.
We miss you Jo Rixon
Ingrid Anderson