Ascetic Astrology and Palamidessi's Spiritual Journey

of Salvation", having as its mission to affirm the salvation of all those who trust in God. Tommaso Palamidessi then specifies that it is appropriate to consider Fomalhaut, Sodalmelik and Sirius. Mechanism of meditation The mechanism of functioning of these meditations is described by Agrippa, whom Palamidessi had the opportunity to study in depth in his hermetic studies. Agrippa explains how, thanks to the power of imagination and visualization, it is possible to assimilate the virtues corresponding to a particular star corresponding to a particular angelic spirit. It is therefore useful to receive the benefits of heaven in all sorts of operations, to place oneself in a state of concordance with it and to respond to its influences with our thoughts, with our passions, with our imaginations, with our deliberations, with our contemplations and other similar spiritual attitudes. [...] the mind, whether through imagination or by virtue of a special initiation, can so conform to a given star as to be so impregnated with its benefits as to become the receptacle of its influences. [...] [Quad. 21°] Then Agrippa continues explaining the modifications of the soul that occur: Whoever wishes to attract the influence of the solar, must contemplate the Sun not only through the exterior light, but also through the interior one and no one can do this without ascending to the spirit of the Sun itself and without becoming similar to it and without understanding and perceiving with the eye of understanding its intelligible light [...] This one will thus be filled with the splendor of that one and will receive its light in himself [...] and, clothed by it, having become similar [...] the soul will then approach perfection and will become similar to the solar spirits and will draw from the very sources of supernatural virtue. Christianity Let us now return to Palamidessi. This discourse on Ascetic Astrology is thus circulating in the air but meanwhile he is taken by a moment of great reflection and interior maturation. He indeed has a global rethinking of his philosophy and on the other hand becomes increasingly attracted to Christianity. In 1956 he indeed begins to dedicate himself to Christianity, planning a book of "Christian Ascetics" and decides to begin formative journeys to Mount Athos to evaluate his own results with those of others. Here he is welcomed by the monastic community of Mount Athos which at that time was truly very closed and important ascetic techniques are taught to him, so much so that Tommaso Palamidessi will remember those journeys as extremely formative. I visited all of Greece and its turquoise sea remained impressed upon me and then the pass of Thermopylae, Mount Olympus, Delphi, Mycenae, the island of Euboea which saw the birth of my ancestors many centuries ago and what to say of Mount Athos with its Orthodox monasteries and with the Meteors of Kalambaka, where I spent unforgettable hours conversing with Father Bissarion, a man of high spiritual culture, and from whom I learned the "prayer of the heart" the prodigious prayer of the heart. Here on Mount Athos he participates in particular prayer rites in a magic circle made of bronze, he is taught techniques for the awakening of force centers according to the doctrine of esoteric Christianity. Therefore from 1957 onwards Palamidessi will dedicate himself exclusively to Christianity. In all three of these periods however Palamidessi always remains immutably faithful to a principle of interest. Of all these disciplines indeed Palamidessi develops and presses radically on the ascetic aspect. Everything for him is finalized to that. Yoga is useful for mystical and ascetic techniques, Hermeticism and alchemy are useful from a practical and spiritual point of view and not from a doctrinal point of view. And he will maintain this spirit even after the Christian turn when he will conceive Archeosophy his doctrinal synthesis founded on Christianity and which collects all those practical and experimental techniques to obtain the transmutation of the individual. Journey to Palestine in 1966 At this point here occurs an extremely important event for Palamidessi and for our story, indeed at the moment this discourse on ascetic astrology is circulating in the air but has not yet been concretized. To catalyze the formation of ascetic astrology is a journey to Palestine. We are in 1966, as we have seen Tommaso Palamidessi has now been dedicating himself for years more than forty years to astrology and ascesis. Meanwhile he has shifted his attention from India and the Orient towards the Judeo-Christian tradition and is traveling to various places in the Middle East to collect testimonies, information, texts, experiences and whatever may be useful to him in the recovery of this archaic tradition. This journey is extremely formative for Palamidessi so much so that he will remember the experiences had during this journey forever and in numerous different contexts. For what concerns us however this journey is particularly important because in one of the various local libraries he manages to consult ancient manuscripts in particular a writing attributed to the prophet Daniel relating to Astrology in its spiritual aspect according to the Hebrew tradition. Hebrew astrological doctrines To give you a summary of the point of view of the Hebrew tradition regarding astrology, as we have seen the Hebrew doctrines relating to astrology take up much of the Babylonian doctrines, especially those of the prophet Daniel who was from the period of Israel's captivity in Babylon. The Hebrew doctrines therefore combine Babylonian astrology reforming the dynamic polytheism of these and inserting these doctrines in a rigid monotheism that we could thus summarize: God is Absolute and Transcendent, has no name and cannot be known, nor seen, however, says Psalm 19, the Heavens declare the Glory of God. The Glory of God is manifested through the action of his Entities of Light. Therefore since antiquity the stars were seen and catalogued in constellations that had the purpose of referring to the meaning or Action of the Entity of Light on the Human Soul. This let's say is what is commonly found. The manuscript of the prophet Daniel, the SEFER HA COCHABIM goes into more detail.: And God made known to Daniel to pray when Jupiter is conjunct with the crescent Moon in Sagittarius, free from planetary offenses, so that the angel of