Since she had been a drama and English major at the University of Washington and intimately involved in theater immediately after, Gina Ceaglio had a way of holding a group in her hands as she applied her brilliant Socratic method of teaching in her classes. She drew knowledge out of her students rather than feeding it in. It came from the premise that all knowledge already resides within us.

In the fifties, after her theater experience, Gina moved into the business world and had several careers as an executive in sales motivation and management. In 1949 her interest in astrology surfaced and she studied, practiced and trained herself in the discipline. Her school, The Academy of Astrological Studies in San Diego (originally called On the Way Astrology Center), formed in early 1970 with its five-level curriculum, was a first in the astrological community, and one of her unfulfilled dreams was to franchise it.

Gina was dedicated to giving the student the very best training she could. The advanced class each week would work on the chart of an anonymous famous person and have to identify who it was. Usually, we finished in the allotted three hours. I'll never forget one night, though, while analyzing William Randolph Hearst, we sat for five hours until we identified him! She would never tell us; we had to do it. Additionally, she invited, as guest speakers, professionals in related fields that would be helpful in our future practices, such as psychologists, handwriting and body language experts. Rarely does one get such training. Even with all this, she did not believe the certificate of graduation from her school was enough and strongly encouraged all students to pass one of the exams offered by AFA, NCGR or ISAR.

Her taste was impeccable. In October 1973 San Diego hosted an ISAR conference. Gina was in charge, and her students were her troops. Everything had to be done with grace and refinement down to the last detail. An example of this was the packaging of color co-coordinated materials in printed matter and other accouterments including vests (which seamstresses in the classes sewed) for monitors to wear so that attendees could find people for information.

Despite the theater training and experience, Gina did not have a big ego. She could have spent her career writing books and becoming outrageously famous, but she didn't. She used to tell us how important it was to suppress ego and work to elevate astrology to the level it deserved for the good of all humankind. She walked her talk. Over the years she worked hard and well to make this so. She served on the AFAN Steering Committee and as Advisor, was a professional member of AFA, past Vice President and Director of ISAR, member of NCGR, involved with Aquarius Workshops, past UAC Co-ordinator and Regulus Awards chair. She supported exceptional ability. When Richard Idemon was ill, she took him into her home to care for him until he died, and then formed Pegasus Tapes to promote his and other talented astrologers' work.

In her personal life, she was married three times and had two children. If you count her love of Shih Tzus, maybe she had many more "children". I cannot recall a time, other than at conferences, when she didn't have a little long-haired dog on a leash, in her arms or having the run of the school.

After semi-retirement in 2000, Gina kept a low profile but was busy operating the website and distribution for Pegasus Tapes, a company which she owned and which was devoted to the preservation of rare tapes by astrologers like Richard Idemon and Howard Sasportas. She also managed her daughter and son-in-law's self-storage business in the mountains outside of San Diego. A couple of times a year she would spend a week or so in Mexico at her children's home overlooking the sea. Gina was diagnosed with lung cancer in early September 2002 and died on March 29, 2003 at 5:35 a.m. in San Diego, CA.

Most of us can identify a moment when a relationship is most authentic. The most poignant vignette I remember in this regard was when we were sitting side-by-side in an airport in Newark, NJ after an emergency ISAR board meeting at Edie Custer's home and were awaiting our flight back to San Diego. It was February, 1974. There wasn't much conversation, but suddenly she turned to me and said, "You know, Carole, we have done this before." I nodded in bewildered agreement, but I now understand. Yes, we had, and I'm sure in some distant future, we will again until we get it right. Thank you, Gina, for my entire career. You were the foundation.

The biography supplied by Lois Rodden states that Gina Ceaglio was an American professional astrologer since 1960, writer, teacher, lecturer and counselor. Gina established The Academy of Astrological Studies in 1970, opening up San Diego, California to astrology. She served on AFAN Steering Committee and as Advisor, Professional Member of AFA, past Vice President and Director of ISAR, member of NCGR, past UAC Coordinator and Regulus Awards chair.

BIRTH DATA: Lois Rodden provided the following information, quoting her as of 11/85. Gina was born January 21, 1919, 7:52:00 AM, Kemmerer, WY, 110 W 32; 41 N 48, MST+7:0 Data Source: rectified from her folk's recall (rated A). Gina died March 29, 2003, at 5:35 AM in San Diego.

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CREDITS: This memorial was created by Donna Cunningham.