Tommaso Palamidessi: Pioneer of Medical Astrology and Yoga in Italy

and thoroughly studied Astrology in its relationships with Medicine, and at about 25 years old, that is in 1940, his first books on the subject were published (always related to Medical Astrology, in line with what was admitted by the Council of Trent). In this period, three fundamental books on Astrology were published that constituted for Italy the interruption of a rather long editorial silence: •The Course of the Stars and Diseases in Man (1940), •Medicine and Sidereal Influences (1940), •World Astrology (1941). These treatises by the then twenty-five-year-old Palamidessi were published by Fratelli Bocca, which was a fairly well-known publishing house at the time for its innovative editorial program, and they had enormous circulation, so much so that in 1940 a torpedo and projectile manufacturer interested in his astrology books proposed that he move to CastelFranco Veneto where he was building a hospital based on his treatment guidelines. Here, protected by two chief physicians, he had the opportunity to study and perfect the study of Medical Astrology and to come into contact with the noted neurologist Giuseppe Calligaris of Udine and the herbalist William Lademann. "This opportunity upset my life, but made it possible to study a remarkable quantity of medicinal herbs to find those that would serve to alleviate, cure or heal cancer. For the occasion I searched all the corners of those places. I looked for herbs in the woods, near the shores of lakes and on the suggestive heights of mountains. On the heights of Luino I installed a laboratory for extracting active principles and took advantage of the interesting conversations of a German expert, the phytotherapist William Lademann who directed a house of naturist cures [...]. In Udine I met Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Calligaris, neuropathologist and exceptional clairvoyant with whom I became friends [...] and from whom I learned to use colors for therapeutic purposes. Calligaris used glasses with colored lenses that, depending on the diseases, he had used at certain hours of the day. He too was for medicinal plants and indicated some plants to me, among which was the Peony that I could not find." Then with the war the hospital had to close and so did this phase of Palamidessi's life, who returned to Turin. "Soon came September 8, 1943, the wolves of Aesculapius fled, the sick returned to their homes with relatives still assisted by my care, by my herbs that I collected and prepared for them. But soon the raids, the presence of the Germans made it impossible to continue the anti-cancer fight. I was left with the ancient passion of Dr. Gerolamo Cardano: the study and experimentation of medicinal plants on Lake Maggiore, then in Piedmont in Turin, concluding the adventure with economic hardship, the bitterness of disappointment, realizing that the kingdom of Christians is not of this world." So this first adventure in the world of Medical Astrology did not end very well for Palamidessi. However, all this movement set in motion by Palamidessi awakened in Italy an interest in Astrology that at the moment was quite dormant. In 1946, in fact, there were only 6 known Astrologers in Italy, of whom 5 were forgotten within twenty years. Palamidessi's writings gave rise to a certain movement. Various people contacted him, particularly the then very young Federico Capone who would later become the founder of C.I.D.A. or Italian Center of Astrology, who became his disciple. According to Capone himself: "A bad disciple since he preferred dance halls, and to his great regret never took advantage of his great knowledge." The two always remained on good terms, so much so that Palamidessi would be the witness at Capone's wedding and would be part of the Astrological Center he founded in 1975, beginning with an intervention precisely on Ascetic Astrology that we will see in detail (but we are still far from shore! more than thirty years will have to pass!). However, as Federico Capone notes, the situation remained at a level of confidence and friendship that nevertheless did not allow him to take advantage of the great culture and great ascetic results and spiritual realization that Palamidessi was experiencing in those moments. So Tommaso Palamidessi was, let's say, the main proponent of the Italian astrological revival, however his interests were not limited to Astrology. In 1937, that is at 22 years old, he began to take an interest in Yoga. Now we have said that in the '30s the astrological panorama was practically null. That of Yoga you can imagine. There was no Yoga teacher or Yoga gym, there were only texts of a literary character more or less theoretical, some accounts of Giuseppe Tucci's explorations in Kashmir and little else. In this context Tommaso Palamidessi began in 1937 the first violent and imprudent experiments. "It was in Turin in 1937 that, without any guidance other than books, I gave myself to violent and imprudent yoga exercises to achieve the splitting of subtle bodies from my organism." After ten years, having exhausted the hospital adventure in CastelFranco Veneto, he decided to open the first Yoga Institute in Italy. Here this is an important point: we today see many Yoga institutes for wellness, Yoga philosophies, but at that time there was no one. He was the first to open a Yoga institute in Italy and the then very young Carlo Patrian went to him, who later in the '50s and '60s would be one of the greatest proponents of Italian Yoga. Why does this topic interest us? Because in this period Tommaso Palamidessi had the opportunity to study Eastern philosophies, which would play a certain importance in the development of Ascetic Astrology. Meanwhile, Tommaso Palamidessi first of all noted and admired in Yoga the marked attention to the ascetic aspect and transmutation techniques. He was particularly struck by the Indian doctrine of centers of force or chakras, which today we hear so much about but which at that time obviously was not so widespread. The doctrine of Chakras in the Eastern tradition basically maintains that to each point of the human body corresponds a particular metaphysical state of consciousness that can be awakened with particular techniques.