An astrologer and a transmitter of an astrology of consciousness, Germaine Holley was Samuel’s first teacher. From 1978 onward she initiated him into an astrology turned toward inner evolution.
My first approach to astrology was, above all, a bibliographic one. Knowing nothing of the astrological world, I scoured the bookshops of Paris in search of the work that would truly set me on the path — that is, that would confirm the direction I had taken. For me, astrology could only illuminate our path toward that Consciousness which the various teachings I was exploring allowed me to glimpse. Yet, being a novice, I did not trust my intuitions and waited for them to be confirmed by beings who had themselves walked the Path, Elders who would know how to light my way because “they knew”. In the 1970s I went regularly to the Librairie des Quatre-Vents, on the aptly named rue des Quatre-Vents, run by Monsieur Vidal. Later this bookshop moved, if my memory is right, to the rue Gît-le-Cœur — also aptly named. Like so many others, I had countless conversations with Monsieur Vidal, an affable man, always ready to enlighten whoever entered his den. He introduced me to a multitude of books that fed my reflection, foundational works on everything to do with astrology as well as esotericism in general. Yet it was at the FNAC on the rue de Rennes, which had just opened, that I discovered the first books of Germaine Holley and Charles Vouga.
First of all, in January 1977, I was struck by l’Astrologie Expérimentale (Experimental Astrology — on the meaning of the major aspects and their power), published by Éditions Traditionnelles, familiar to every seeker in esotericism, located on the Quai Saint-Michel, right next to Notre-Dame. Later, Madame Holley told us how Vouga came to write that little booklet of such great richness.Charles Vouga (1889-1980), of whom Germaine Holley was the faithful continuator.Charles Vouga was an absolutely brilliant and inspired lecturer — one need only listen to the transcriptions of the magnetic tapes onto cassette to realise it. His deep, melodious voice carried his audience toward heights of thought and vision they could not have imagined before hearing him. I never had the chance to meet him, for he had already left this world when I came to know Germaine Holley. But I had the good fortune to listen, with her, to those famous magnetic tapes that had so happily recorded his lectures. Some of these tapes were transferred onto cassette (through Fanchon Pradalier-Roy and her husband Hubert, who were my fellow students with Germaine Holley); others were transcribed and published in book form by Éditions du Rocher.
That is how Une Astrologie pour l’Ère du Verseau (An Astrology for the Age of Aquarius) came into being, and I can say, with a certain pride, that I took part, with others, in bringing it about.Before all this came to pass, I had discovered, at the FNAC on the rue de Rennes, two mimeographed booklets written by Germaine Holley: Neptune-Pluton and Analyse expérimentale du Signe des Poissons (An Experimental Analysis of the Sign of Pisces, followed by extracts from lectures by Ch. E. Vouga), self-published. Then I was able to acquire Rythmes Cosmiques et Destinée Humaine (Cosmic Rhythms and Human Destiny), published by Éditions Traditionnelles in 1975. These writings made a strong impression on me, for they truly went in the direction of the astrology of evolution I was seeking. I awaited with great impatience the release of Comment comprendre votre Horoscope (How to Understand Your Horoscope), announced by Éditions du Rocher.At the beginning of 1978, I came across an extract from a lecture by Charles Vouga published in the “Éphémérides Charconac”, now sadly gone. I read this text with growing enthusiasm. At last, someone expressed — and in what a way! — all that I felt, all that I sensed, about the meaning of astrology. For practising astrology had a meaning: to give meaning to our life! And if we are in some way “determined”, we can also be free. For that, Vouga tells us, we must rise from the horizontal of the cross to its vertical:“In the astrological chart, something is written definitively for a part of our being, but not for its totality.
For our being is not inscribed in its totality on the horizontal plane of reality; the totality of our being also embraces the vertical plane of reality. And from year to year, we pass from one horizontal plane to another, but the vertical always remains the inner mystery of souls. In this verticality of the cross, in this inner ascent, lies the degree of liberation from the horizontal; the horizontal is fate, and the vertical is resurrection.”This text truly resonated in me like a prayer, like a light, and at last I knew that my desire to link astrology to the quest for evolution was not in vain. I understood why I could not confine myself to a purely technical knowledge that did not engage our whole life in change and transformation toward greater Consciousness.“It would serve no purpose to know Astrology only to know the walls of our cage, and the order of our cage, however gilded it may be…”At the end of the text was this: “For all enquiries, contact Mme Germaine Holley, 127, rue du Ranelagh, Paris-XVIe. Jas. 90-37“.
I seized the telephone at once and dialled the number, my heart pounding. A voice answered; it was indeed Madame Holley. I explained to her the experience I had just lived and told her how important it was for me to meet her as soon as possible.– You know, she said to me, you are very lucky to catch me. I was about to leave when the telephone rang, and I am off for a fortnight to my daughter’s in Brussels. But come and see me on my return — let us say a fortnight on Monday, at 7 p.m.And for a fortnight I scarcely slept. The only thing that mattered, on the horizon, was that famous Monday when I could at last meet HER — meet “Germaine“, as I called her within myself. I was like a lover awaiting a romantic rendezvous, and I understood why we must use the language of love, even and especially for the things of the Spirit.
At last the great day arrived. It was a rainy, dark January evening, but I carried the sun within me. Germaine Holley received me in her small flat on the rue du Ranelagh. She asked me to tell her my story, and I noted the “coincidences” that united us: she had been born in Besançon, the town where I had spent my childhood and adolescence and which has remained dear to my heart; she had lived in Casablanca, in Morocco, the city where I was born… She asked for my date of birth and took up the ephemeris. To my astonishment, she began to speak to me about myself without having drawn up my chart, simply by reading the ephemeris! At the end she rose and said to me:“My dear friend, good link — I shall call you good link! — you have come at the right moment for me to teach you. From next week, you will come once a week, and we shall work on your chart; your soul has returned to drink at the source!“
Besançon and the famous loop of the Doubs
And so, for several months, Madame Holley revealed to me the mysteries of the astrology of evolution, starting from my own chart. And even though I had studied without interruption for six years, I could not have imagined what depths would be revealed to me there.When I went, the following week, for my first lesson, I was nonetheless somewhat anxious, for I did not know how I would be able to pay for it. I had only just set up as an astrologer (which, in hindsight, seems to me the height of irony, given all I would still learn afterwards, both from Germaine Holley and from Dane Rudhyar — but the circumstances of life had quite naturally led me to begin my career as an astrologer at that moment. From this point of view, the situation was “right“). I barely earned enough to pay the rent of my small flat on the rue Rambuteau and to eat frugally. But Madame Holley not only refused to let me pay her (“I am meant to teach you, good link!“), she also invited me to eat at a little restaurant on the rue du Ranelagh where she used to go with Vouga.
A table was reserved for her each time she came, “Charles’s table“.“It was on the paper tablecloths of this table that Charles spent mealtimes doing the Astrology of Aquarius“. I would sit down respectfully, trying to picture Charles, carried away by his extraordinary intuition, elaborating the principles of that astrology which we can recover today thanks to the unshakeable faithfulness that Germaine Holley devoted to him until the end of her life. Her book, Au-delà de la Rencontre (Beyond the Encounter), traces the indissoluble relationship of these two soul-mates.Thus, at each of those special evenings I spent with her, we had this ritual. First the little restaurant, then the lesson. And when I came out of her home, I was literally transported, walking on clouds, completely imbued with all that she had made me discover, my heart flooded with thanksgiving and gratitude.
It took me a good ten to fifteen days, until the next lesson, to integrate into the very depths of myself the Uranian light I had received.Many years later, an established, even recognised, astrologer, now following my own Aquarian path, I would sometimes call on her at the rue du Ranelagh. It was my turn to invite her to Charles’s table and to evoke with her the memory of the great man who had nourished the consciousness of so many people with his evocative power, and who was — and still is — for me one of the cornerstones not only of my astrology but of my deepest being.During my collaboration with Germaine Holley, and even afterwards, I never failed, on the 8th of October each year, the day of her birthday, to bring her a pot of violet Saintpaulia. It was Charles’s favourite plant.
Saintpaulia bouquet
Such was “the” encounter. To evoke the genesis of what I am today, and what I try to share with those who are interested in this approach, I would also have to speak of my years of discipleship and collaboration with Germaine Holley, of the summers spent at Varengeville, in Seine-Maritime — the very place where Georges Braque is buried — to attend the summer seminars and then to remain, once the participants had left, in the silence of that great house, deepening the teachings I had received…
The encounter on film
“À chacun son soleil” — An encounter with Germaine Holley (a film by Hubert Roy).
Besançon and the famous loop of the Doubs
Saintpaulia bouquet