Lineage
Samuel’s masters
Samuel’s path was nourished by decisive encounters and readings — masters met in person and figures who, through their work, lastingly shaped his thinking.
The first masters
Transpersonal astrology is founded on the teaching I received from several masters. In my early days in astrology, the books of André Barbault initiated me during my self-taught period (1972-1976), in which I also worked through most of the books of traditional astrology — almost the only approach to astrology in France at the time, with the exception of André Barbault precisely, and perhaps the conditionalist astrology of Jean-Pierre Nicola, which I came across at the MAU congresses but which did not hold me much, for all its richness: that was not where my path lay.
I attended the classes of Jacques Berthon at the ESAP (École Supérieure d’Astrologie de Paris, 1976-78), which allowed me to structure the knowledge I had gathered from all the books I had read. It was not without exhilaration that I made my way to Levallois-Perret, home of the ESAP, métro Louise Michel (!), sometimes after a hard day’s work as a proofreader in a small linotype firm in Maisons-Alfort. With the impatience of an Aries Ascendant I awaited those two evenings a week when I would go and listen to Berthon’s lessons, rich in culture and teaching. That was my first initiation.
My second great astrological initiation was my meeting with Germaine Holley, who passed on to me the thought of Charles Vouga (1978). This wonderful lady was the balm that allowed me to heal the karmic sorrows that had seemed to weigh on me forever. I studied and worked with her; it was a true joy. The fulfilment of my astrological quest came when I discovered Dane Rudhyar — also in 1978, at Germaine Holley’s prompting — and when I went to study with him in California (1981-82). That was my third great initiation. But transpersonal astrology is not an end in itself; it is only a tool in the service of evolution. This is why, beyond technique as such, it draws on many fields that constantly enrich it and form its foundations. It is the fruit of my personal search and of my uninterrupted journey toward greater consciousness. For this reason, the teaching of Kriya Yoga of Paramahansa Yogananda, which I have followed since 1978, is an essential aspect of it, even if it does not appear as such in my work. It underpins it, as do other spiritual teachings (India with Arnaud Desjardins among others, or the Tibetan Buddhism of the Dalai Lama, but also of Chögyam Trungpa), as well as psychology — notably the depth psychology of Carl G. Jung, which I studied following a Jungian analysis (1976-1978) with a psychoanalyst, Claude-Marc Perrot, now departed, who was a forerunner and an initiator of great value.
Another important contribution to the dynamics of transpersonal astrology is that of Psychosynthesis, by Roberto Assagioli (with whom Rudhyar was in contact, and whose chart he studies in the book I translated: Astrology and the Modern Psyche). I discovered Psychosynthesis during my first stay at the Findhorn community in Scotland (1983). The work I did a little later with Robert Stambouliev, on “Voice Dialogue” in the lineage of Hal and Sidra Stone, allowed me to integrate into the field of astrology the dynamics of sub-personalities initiated by Jung and Assagioli. Of course, transpersonal astrology has an affinity with transpersonal psychology. As Rudhyar explained, it was because of this affinity that he called it, precisely, transpersonal astrology.
The fathers of transpersonal psychology are therefore also present in the background of this astrological approach: Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof. Gradually, I also integrated into my approach the teachings of other corollary disciplines: the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) of Marshall Rosenberg, the reflection on myths — notably the hero’s journey defined by Joseph Campbell — positive psychology… Finally, literary works — such as that of Henry Miller, through whom I came to astrology, or of Hermann Hesse — “counter-cultural” ones (Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Carlos Castaneda, Aldous Huxley…), poetic (surrealism with André Breton, Robert Desnos or Aragon sung by Jean Ferrat), philosophical (Jean-Paul Sartre but also Albert Camus), cinematic (Woody Allen, why not! Jeanne Moreau, an elder Aquarian sister who knows astrology and is also, consciously, on the Path, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson…), sociological (Edgar Morin…), political (Karl Marx… or François Mitterrand, whom I drove in my old student 2CV one snowy afternoon in Ensheim; he was then president of the FGDS and I knew that one day he would be President of the Republic — or again Daniel Cohn-Bendit), musical (Gustav Mahler or Brahms for the classics, but also Pink Floyd or Leonard Cohen, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Remember Shakti, Indian music, Jimi Hendrix whom I saw in concert in Strasbourg as a student, a few months before his death), Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel and Léo (Ferré) who saved my life, or even Mouloudji and Francis Lemarque, not forgetting my friend Michel Jonasz — computing (Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? I who work so happily on both “platforms” and am drawn to Linux), sporting (and chiefly footballing) and many others such as Pierre Dac and Francis Blanche, Louis Jouvet and Raimu for the Sunday-evening film on the ORTF, Zappy Max and the Famille Duraton, who have punctuated my journey — all find their place in this approach!
Over time, in these various fields, I will build up a gallery of portraits as well as a bibliography, a discography and a filmography which, I hope, will be a source of inspiration for other seekers on the Path. In fact, transpersonal astrology takes part in the reflection on the evolution of our society and on the place of the individual within the collective… and of the collective within the individual. Some may see in it a kind of “syncretism”, a sort of New Age mixture. Others, an attempt at synthesis between different currents that encourage that “planetarization of consciousness” of which Rudhyar speaks in the book bearing that title. This connects with the whole debate on the globalization of Davos and the globalization of Porto Alegre, so well analysed by Edgar Morin (also an important point of reference) in an interview published in the newspaper Libération. And transpersonal astrology has drawn from the wellspring of the encounters of my life, each one having its place in my evolution — until, in 1994, “my” retrograde Mars, ruler of “my” Aries Ascendant and of “my” Scorpio South Node, turned direct again. It was from that moment that I could truly begin to accomplish the “work” of my life…
And now, to begin, here are the founding fathers (and mother!) of this astrology. Note: At first, when I set out on this undertaking, I thought I would devote only a brief presentation to those at the origin of my astrology and my personal research. When I began to write, the tap opened and it gave what you will read in each of these pages.
Samuel
My second great astrological initiation was my meeting with Germaine Holley, who passed on to me the thought of Charles Vouga (1978). This wonderful lady was the balm that allowed me to heal the karmic sorrows that had seemed to weigh on me forever. I studied and worked with her; it was a true joy. The fulfilment of my astrological quest came when I discovered Dane Rudhyar — also in 1978, at Germaine Holley’s prompting — and when I went to study with him in California (1981-82). That was my third great initiation. But transpersonal astrology is not an end in itself; it is only a tool in the service of evolution. This is why, beyond technique as such, it draws on many fields that constantly enrich it and form its foundations. It is the fruit of my personal search and of my uninterrupted journey toward greater consciousness. For this reason, the teaching of Kriya Yoga of Paramahansa Yogananda, which I have followed since 1978, is an essential aspect of it, even if it does not appear as such in my work. It underpins it, as do other spiritual teachings (India with Arnaud Desjardins among others, or the Tibetan Buddhism of the Dalai Lama, but also of Chögyam Trungpa), as well as psychology — notably the depth psychology of Carl G. Jung, which I studied following a Jungian analysis (1976-1978) with a psychoanalyst, Claude-Marc Perrot, now departed, who was a forerunner and an initiator of great value.
Another important contribution to the dynamics of transpersonal astrology is that of Psychosynthesis, by Roberto Assagioli (with whom Rudhyar was in contact, and whose chart he studies in the book I translated: Astrology and the Modern Psyche). I discovered Psychosynthesis during my first stay at the Findhorn community in Scotland (1983). The work I did a little later with Robert Stambouliev, on “Voice Dialogue” in the lineage of Hal and Sidra Stone, allowed me to integrate into the field of astrology the dynamics of sub-personalities initiated by Jung and Assagioli. Of course, transpersonal astrology has an affinity with transpersonal psychology. As Rudhyar explained, it was because of this affinity that he called it, precisely, transpersonal astrology.
The fathers of transpersonal psychology are therefore also present in the background of this astrological approach: Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof. Gradually, I also integrated into my approach the teachings of other corollary disciplines: the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) of Marshall Rosenberg, the reflection on myths — notably the hero’s journey defined by Joseph Campbell — positive psychology… Finally, literary works — such as that of Henry Miller, through whom I came to astrology, or of Hermann Hesse — “counter-cultural” ones (Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Carlos Castaneda, Aldous Huxley…), poetic (surrealism with André Breton, Robert Desnos or Aragon sung by Jean Ferrat), philosophical (Jean-Paul Sartre but also Albert Camus), cinematic (Woody Allen, why not! Jeanne Moreau, an elder Aquarian sister who knows astrology and is also, consciously, on the Path, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson…), sociological (Edgar Morin…), political (Karl Marx… or François Mitterrand, whom I drove in my old student 2CV one snowy afternoon in Ensheim; he was then president of the FGDS and I knew that one day he would be President of the Republic — or again Daniel Cohn-Bendit), musical (Gustav Mahler or Brahms for the classics, but also Pink Floyd or Leonard Cohen, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Remember Shakti, Indian music, Jimi Hendrix whom I saw in concert in Strasbourg as a student, a few months before his death), Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel and Léo (Ferré) who saved my life, or even Mouloudji and Francis Lemarque, not forgetting my friend Michel Jonasz — computing (Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? I who work so happily on both “platforms” and am drawn to Linux), sporting (and chiefly footballing) and many others such as Pierre Dac and Francis Blanche, Louis Jouvet and Raimu for the Sunday-evening film on the ORTF, Zappy Max and the Famille Duraton, who have punctuated my journey — all find their place in this approach!
Over time, in these various fields, I will build up a gallery of portraits as well as a bibliography, a discography and a filmography which, I hope, will be a source of inspiration for other seekers on the Path. In fact, transpersonal astrology takes part in the reflection on the evolution of our society and on the place of the individual within the collective… and of the collective within the individual. Some may see in it a kind of “syncretism”, a sort of New Age mixture. Others, an attempt at synthesis between different currents that encourage that “planetarization of consciousness” of which Rudhyar speaks in the book bearing that title. This connects with the whole debate on the globalization of Davos and the globalization of Porto Alegre, so well analysed by Edgar Morin (also an important point of reference) in an interview published in the newspaper Libération. And transpersonal astrology has drawn from the wellspring of the encounters of my life, each one having its place in my evolution — until, in 1994, “my” retrograde Mars, ruler of “my” Aries Ascendant and of “my” Scorpio South Node, turned direct again. It was from that moment that I could truly begin to accomplish the “work” of my life…
And now, to begin, here are the founding fathers (and mother!) of this astrology. Note: At first, when I set out on this undertaking, I thought I would devote only a brief presentation to those at the origin of my astrology and my personal research. When I began to write, the tap opened and it gave what you will read in each of these pages.
Samuel
