Remembering Gillian Barnsley (nee Greaves)

Gillian was born in Melbourne to parents Max and Doris Greaves. She was the eldest of three girls. I met Gillian through my work with her mother Doris, when learning the art of Cosmobiology. However, I knew all about her long before we met, as Doris was very proud of her daughters, Gillian, Janet and Rosemary and sometimes spoke of their charts in class as examples.

Cosmobiology is an astrological system that uses the quadriplicities, the cardinal, fixed and mutable signs, on a 90 degree dial, rather than the traditional 360 degree house system. This system gives an amazing view through a finely tuned lens on our lives and our personalities that is very clear and focused. It can best be described like the “Melway,” a book of roadmaps that makes it easier to negotiate the highway of life.

Through astrological enlightenment Doris Greaves was able to give her children the best opportunities that their horoscopes provided. As well as learning the skill of Cosmobiology through her mother, Gill received a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1967 and a Masters in Education in England in 1981. For many years she worked in the Education Faculty at Deacon University, helping and encouraging the best from her students.

When Gillian retired from the University I got to know her personally as she took over the helm of the Regulus Ebertin Study Group from me, running Ingress meeting
and getting students through to their diploma in Cosmobiology. Gillian was an active member of the Victorian Astrologers Association Inc., working on the committee for several years and also lecturing at the monthly meetings from time to time.

Gillian was true to her Aquarian Sun and Libra Moon. She was socially minded, tolerant and sympathetic to the foibles of human nature. With her university training and her astrological knowledge, she was able to have the best of both worlds, succeeding in her chosen profession where her idealism and creative expression had ample scope. She had just completed and received her Certificate in Flower Therapy from Findhorn in Scotland and was recently admitted to the APA as a practitioner.

Gillian passed away on December 10, 2005 in Melbourne after receiving treatment for cancer. She will be sadly missed by her friends and colleagues, not only for her astrological knowledge but also her contribution as an intellectual.

Glorija Lawrence