Astrology of Girolamo Savonarola with horoscope chart, quotes, biography, and images

Savonarola was a fanatic upon the sixth ray. Extremism is indicated throughout his chart. Fiery Aries rises and the exoterically ruling planet, sixth ray Mars, opposes disciplinary Saturn on the Descendant. Savonarola was both a religious incendiary (Mars rising in Aries) and a stern judge of moral rectitude (stern Saturn, the planet of discipline, conjunct Mercury, the planet of thought, exalted in Libra, the sign of judgment—in this case, harsh judgment. The moralistic Moon in Capricorn is elevated and conjunct the asteroid of focussed commitment, Vesta. Mars is square that Moon and Vesta. The Moon, therefore, is the short leg of a close T-Squares also involving Saturn in Libra. There is a burning fire here, and a rigid standard which demands that others conform. The question arises for any reformer—is he leading people forwards (Aries and Mars) or backwards into established tradition ( Moon in Capricorn)?

With the exoteric ruler of the Libran Sun, Venus, in troubled Scorpio, one is only too aware of temptations, which one suppressed in oneself and others (Saturn conjunct the DSC).

The preeminent ray is clearly the sixth—the ray of the soul. The chart offers expression for this sixth ray soul through the rising sixth ray Mars in Aries, and through sixth ray Neptune conjunct the Libran Sun. The North Node is in sixth ray Sagittarius in the ninth house, which field resonates to matters of religion and world understanding. The Sagittarius North Node is also closely parallel to the MC; to change perspective was, indeed, a central focus.

The chart also offers abundant first ray potentials, with Aries, rising, being the strongest distributor of the first ray and first ray Pluto and Uranus conjuncted in first ray Leo. Seventh ray energies could be expressed through both Aries and the Capricorn Moon.

Girolamo Savonarola meant well, as do so many religious reformers, and was popular at first, but became carried away with his initial success (an intense sixth ray), fell from power (Uranus closely contraparallel the Moon—reversal of popularity) and was finally put to death by the very persons he sought to change. The judge was judged (Saturn in Libra at the DSC, and the fire (Mars in Aries as ruler of the eighth house of death) was applied.

	GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA Copyright Michael D. Robbins 2005
	Astro-Rayological Interpretation & Charts Quotes Biography Iimages and Physiognomic Interpretations to Volume 3 Table of Contents
	(Ascendant, probably Aries {with Pisces a remote possibility); Mars, retrograde, in first hour and closely conjunct the Ascendant for the 6:00 PM chart; MC, Capricorn; Sun conjunct Neptune and the Vertex in Libra with Mercury and Saturn also in Libra; Saturn in H7 or exactly conjuncting the DSC in the 6:00 Pm chart; Moon and Vesta in Capricorn conjuncted; Venus in Scorpio; Jupiter in late Aquarius; Uranus and Pluto widely conjunct in Leo; NN in Sagittarius) Savonarola was a fanatic upon the sixth ray. Extremism is indicated throughout his chart. Fiery Aries rises and the exoterically ruling planet, sixth ray Mars, opposes disciplinary Saturn on the Descendant. Savonarola was both a religious incendiary (Mars rising in Aries) and a stern judge of moral rectitude (stern Saturn, the planet of discipline, conjunct Mercury, the planet of thought, exalted in Libra, the sign of judgment—in this case, harsh judgment. The moralistic Moon in Capricorn is elevated and conjunct the asteroid of focussed commitment, Vesta. Mars is square that Moon and Vesta. The Moon, therefore, is the short leg of a close T-Squares also involving Saturn in Libra. There is a burning fire here, and a rigid standard which demands that others conform. The question arises for any reformer—is he leading people forwards (Aries and Mars) or backwards into established tradition ( Moon in Capricorn)? With the exoteric ruler of the Libran Sun, Venus, in troubled Scorpio, one is only too aware of temptations, which one suppressed in oneself and others (Saturn conjunct the DSC). The preeminent ray is clearly the sixth—the ray of the soul. The chart offers expression for this sixth ray soul through the rising sixth ray Mars in Aries, and through sixth ray Neptune conjunct the Libran Sun. The North Node is in sixth ray Sagittarius in the ninth house, which field resonates to matters of religion and world understanding. The Sagittarius North Node is also closely parallel to the MC; to change perspective was, indeed, a central focus. The chart also offers abundant first ray potentials, with Aries, rising, being the strongest distributor of the first ray and first ray Pluto and Uranus conjuncted in first ray Leo. Seventh ray energies could be expressed through both Aries and the Capricorn Moon. Girolamo Savonarola meant well, as do so many religious reformers, and was popular at first, but became carried away with his initial success (an intense sixth ray), fell from power (Uranus closely contraparallel the Moon—reversal of popularity) and was finally put to death by the very persons he sought to change. The judge was judged (Saturn in Libra at the DSC, and the fire (Mars in Aries as ruler of the eighth house of death) was applied.
	God’s Word is not given to us to tickle our fancy. It is to convict us of sin and to point the way of salvation... You reproach me for my lack of style. But what stuff it all is! What has style to do with it? Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of preaching... (Mercury in Libra on Descendant?? Interesting. But conjunct Saturn and opposition Mars.) "What I saw in spirit and announced, was to me much more certain than the first principles of the philosophers." (Venus in Scorpio?) You lack the spirit of justice; there is also need sometimes of the hard and the cruel part... I say to you again -- punish rigorously and severely, for too much kindness is not pleasing to God." (Mars in Aries conjunct Ascendant, opposition Saturn.) ...humility is the foundation... Therefore the faithful should abase themselves... ...the soul must feel it profoundly. ...[man must] use all his endeavors to crush pride... Let him humble himself even before his inferiors. But if on reaching this stage he considers that he has accomplished much, then outward humility will have increased at the expense of his soul; he will lose all merit. (Moon in Capricorn.) ...the faithful dog does not stop barking in his master’s defense after someone throws him a bone. (Mercury opposition Mars in Aries.) "The word of the Lord has been within me as a consuming fire, shut up within my bones and my heart, and I have not been able to restrain it, because I have felt myself all on fire with the Spirit of the Lord." (Aries Ascendant. Sun conjunct Neptune in 6th house.) I entered the cloister to suffer, and when sufferings visited me, I made a study of them... (Chiron in Cancer in 3rd house.) Would you see true beauty? Look at the pious man or woman in whom spirit dominates matter; watch him when he prays, when a ray of the divine beauty glows upon him when his prayer is ended; you will see the beauty of God shining in his face.” (Sun conjunct Neptune.) ...I do not understand my own heart, but I will show thee what I feel... God’s Word is not given to us to tickle our fancy. It is to convict us of sin and to point the way of salvation... You reproach me for my lack of style. But what stuff it all is! What has style to do with it? Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of preaching... (Mercury in Libra on Descendant? Interesting. But conjunct Saturn and opposition Mars.) "What I saw in spirit and announced, was to me much more certain than the first principles of the philosophers." (Venus in Scorpio?) You lack the spirit of justice; there is also need sometimes of the hard and the cruel part... I say to you again -- punish rigorously and severely, for too much kindness is not pleasing to God." (Mars in Aries conjunct Ascendant, opposition Saturn.) Never regard yourselves as better than others, even the most sinful. Think ill of no one, well of every one." ...humility is the foundation... Therefore the faithful should abase themselves... ...the soul must feel it profoundly. ...[man must] use all his endeavors to crush pride... Let him humble himself even before his inferiors. But if on reaching this stage he considers that he has accomplished much, then outward humility will have increased at the expense of his soul; he will lose all merit. (Moon in Capricorn.) "...the faithful dog does not stop barking in his master’s defense after someone throws him a bone.". (Mercury opposition Mars in Aries.) The word of the Lord has been within me as a consuming fire, shut up within my bones and my heart, and I have not been able to restrain it, because I have felt myself all on fire with the Spirit of the Lord. (Aries Ascendant. Sun conjunct Neptune in 6th house.) "I entered the cloister to suffer, and when sufferings visited me, I made a study of them..." (Chiron in Cancer in 3rd house.) "O Lord, I ask of Thee a life of adversity," “Would you see true beauty? Look at the pious man or woman in whom spirit dominates matter; watch him when he prays, when a ray of the divine beauty glows upon him when his prayer is ended; you will see the beauty of God shining in his face.” (Sun conjunct Neptune.)
	Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola (Ferrara, then Duchy of Ferrara, September 21, 1452 – Florence, May 23, 1498), also translated as Jerome Savonarola or Hieronymus Savonarola, was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for religious reformation, anti-Renaissance preaching, book burning, and destruction of art. He vehemently preached against what he saw as the moral corruption of the clergy, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI. He is sometimes seen as a precursor of Martin Luther, though he remained a devout and pious Roman Catholic his whole life. Savonarola became a Dominican friar in 1475, during the Italian Renaissance, and entered the convent of San Domenico in Bologna. He immersed himself in theological study, and in 1479 transferred to the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Finally in 1482 the Order dispatched him to Florence, the 'city of his destiny'. Savonarola was lambasted for being ungainly, as well as being a poor orator. He made no impression on Florence in the 1480s, and his departure in 1487 went unnoticed. He returned to Bologna where he became 'master of studies'. Savonarola returned to Florence in 1490 at the behest of Count Pico della Mirandola. (More about his return to Florence can be found in Fire in the City.) At this time the Roman Catholic Church's clergy was increasingly corrupting morality and leading a corrupt life themselves. The Papacy was filled with abuses and personal immorality; and friars, in almost every district, were sometimes traveling peddlers of indulgences.[citation needed] Savonarola's grief over these sins caused him to withdraw more from his secular studies. Instead he concentrated closely on the Bible and Church Fathers, which became his constant companion and guide. In Florence his Church of St. Mark was always crowded to excess. His impassioned discourses brought about a social reform which has never been duplicated in history. Savonarola was not a theologian. He did not proclaim doctrines. Instead, he preached that Christian life involved being good rather than carrying out displays of excessive pomp and ceremonies. He did not seek to make war on the Church of Rome. Rather he wanted to correct its transgressions. Oddly, Lorenzo de Medici, the previous ruler of Florence and patron of many Renaissance artists, was also a former patron of Savonarola. It has been said Lorenzo called for Savonarola on his death bed in 1492, and the Friar did attend. Eventually, Lorenzo and his son Piero de Medici became the target of Savonarola's preaching. After Charles VIII of France had invaded Florence in 1494, the ruling Medici were overthrown and Savonarola emerged as the leader of the city. He set up a rather modern democratic republic in Florence. Characterizing it as a "Christian and religious Republic," one of its first acts was to make sodomy, previously punishable by fine, into a capital offence. His chief enemies were the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI, who issued numerous restraints against him, all of which were ignored. It is said that Savonarola predicted several key events such as the invasion of Italy by a foreign king, the death of Lorenzo de Medici and of Pope Innocent VIII. In 1497 he and his followers carried out the Bonfire of the Vanities. They sent boys from door to door collecting items associated with moral laxity: mirrors, cosmetics, lewd pictures, pagan books, sculptures, gaming tables, chess pieces, lutes and other musical instruments, fine dresses, women's hats, and the works of immoral poets, and burnt them all in a large pile in the Piazza della Signoria of Florence. [1] Fine Florentine Renaissance artwork was lost in Savonarola's notorious bonfires, including paintings by Sandro Botticelli and Buonarroti Michelangelo were thrown on the pyres by the artist themselves. Florence soon became tired of Savonarola's hectoring. During his Ascension Day sermon on May 4, 1497, bands of youths rioted, and the riot became a revolt: taverns reopened, and men gambled publicly. Painting of his execution in the Piazza della Signoria.On May 13, 1497 he was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, and in 1498, Alexander demanded his arrest and execution. On April 8, a crowd attacked the convent of San Marco; a bloody struggle ensued, during which several of Savonarola's supporters were killed: he surrendered along with Fra Domenico da Pescia and Fra Silvestro, his two closest associates. Savonarola was charged with heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and religious error. During the next several weeks all three were tortured on the rack. All three signed confessions; the torturers spared only Savonarola's right arm, in order that he might be able to sign his confession, which he did sometime prior to May 8. On that day he completed a written meditation on the Miserere, Psalm 51, entitled Infelix ego, in which he pleaded with God for mercy for his physical weakness in confessing to crimes he believed he did not commit. On the day of his execution, May 23, 1498, he was still working on another meditation, this one on Psalm 31, entitled Tristitia obsedit me.[2] On the day of his execution he was taken out to the Piazza della Signoria along with Fra Silvestro and Fra Domenico da Pescia. The three were ritually stripped of their vestments, degraded as heretics and schismatics, and given over to the secular authorities to be burned. The three were hanged in chains from a single cross; an enormous fire was lit beneath them; they were thereby executed in the same place where the Bonfire of the Vanities was lit, and in the same manner that he had condemned others. Jacopo Nardi, who recorded the incident in his Istorie della città di Firenze, wrote that his executioner lit the flame exclaiming, "The one who wanted to burn me is now himself put to the flames." Luca Landucci, who was present, wrote in his diary that the burning took several hours, and that the remains were several times broken apart and mixed with brushwood so that not the slightest piece could be later recovered, as the ecclesiastical authorities did not want Savonarola's followers to have any relics. The ashes of the three were afterwards thrown in the Arno beside the Ponte Vecchio. [3] Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince, also witnessed and wrote about the execution. The Medici subsequently regained control of Florence. A plaque commemorates the site of Savonarola's execution in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Character and influence Savonarola was supposedly intense, fervent, and electrical in personal appearance. He can be compared to Luther in his denunciation of sin but was unlike the German monk in following out divisive conclusions. It can be speculated that had he lived a generation later he might have achieved a revolution in the Church as great as that of Luther. However, Savonarola was convinced of the truth of Catholic doctrine, and unlike Luther, concentrated on purging the Church from immorality, not from supposedly unsound doctrine. In the twentieth century, a movement for the canonization of Savonarola began to develop within the Roman Catholic Church, particularly among Dominicans, with many judging his excommunication and execution to have been unjust. His potential beatification and canonization is opposed by Jesuits. Girolamo Savonarola Born at Ferrara, 21 September, 1452; died at Florence, 23 May, 1498. The Dominican reformer came from an old family of Ferrara. Intellectually very talented he devoted himself to his studies, and especially to philosophy and medicine. In 1474 while on a journey to Faenza he heard a powerful sermon on repentance by an Augustinian and resolved to renounce the world. He carried out this decision at once and entered the Dominican Order at Bologna without the knowledge of his parents. Feeling deeply the widespread depravity of the era of the Renaissance, as is evident from the poem "On the Decline of the Church", which he wrote in the first year of his monastic life, the young Dominican devoted himself with great zeal to prayer and ascetic practices. In the monastery at Bologna he was entrusted with the instruction of the novices. He here began to write philosophical treatises based on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. In 1481 or 1482 he was sent by his superior to preach in Florence. In this centre of the Renaissance he immediately opposed with great energy the pagan and often immoral life prevalent in many classes of society and especially at the court of Lorenzo de Medici. Savonarola's sermons made no impression, for his method and mode of speaking were repulsive to the Florentines; but this did not discourage his reforming zeal. He preached in the other cities of Italy during the years 1485-89. At Brescia, in 1486, he explained the Book of Revelation and from that time became more and more absorbed in Apocalyptic ideas concerning his own era, the judgment of God which threatened it, and the regeneration of the Church that was to follow. At the same time he was filled with an intense zeal for the salvation of souls, and was ready to risk all in order to combat wickedness and to spread holiness of life. In 1489 he returned to Florence which was to be the scene of his future labours and triumphs as well as of his fall. In August, 1490, Savonarola began his sermons in the pulpit of San Marco with the interpretation of the Apocalypse. His success was complete. All Florence thronged to hear him, so that from his sermons in the cathedral he acquired a constantly growing influence over the people. In 1491 he became prior of the monastery of San Marco. He made manifest his feelings towards the ruler of Florence by failing to visit Lorenzo de Medici, although the Medici had always shown themselves generous patrons of the monastery. Lorenzo took no notice of this but continued his benefits, without however changing the opinion of the new prior. Savonarola began at once with the inner reform of the monastery itself. San Marco and other monasteries of Tuscany were separated from the Lombard Congregation of the Dominican Order and were formed in 1493 with papal approval into an independent congregation. Monastic life was reformed in this new congregation by rigid observance of the original Rule. Savonarola, who was the vicar-general of the new congregation, set the example of a strict life of self-mortification; his cell was small and poor, his clothing coarse, his food simple and scanty. The lay brothers were obliged to learn a trade and the clerics were kept constantly at their studies. Many new brethren entered the monastery; from 50 the number of the monks of San Marco rose to 238, among them being members of the first families of the city. Meanwhile Savonarola preached with burning zeal and rapidly won great influence. He was looked upon and venerated by his followers as a prophet. His sermons, however were not free from extravagance and vagaries. Without regard to consequences he lashed the immoral, vain-glorious, pleasure-seeking life of the Florentines, so that a very large part of the inhabitants became temporarily contrite and returned to the exercise of Christian virtue. Both his sermons and his whole personality made a deep impression. He bitterly attacked Lorenzo the Magnificent as the promoter of paganized art, of frivolous living, and as the tyrant of Florence. Nevertheless, when on his death bed, Lorenzo summoned the stern preacher of morals to administer spiritual consolation to him. It is said that Savonarola demanded as a condition of absolution that Lorenzo restore its liberties to Florence; which, however, the latter refused to do. This however cannot be proved with absolute historical certainty. From 1493 Savonarola spoke with increasing violence against the abuses in ecclesiastical life, against the immorality of a large part of the clergy, above all against the immoral life of many members of the Roman Curia, even of the wearer of the tiara, Alexander VI, and against the wickedness of princes and courtiers. In prophetic terms he announced the approaching judgment of God and the avenger from whom he hoped the reform of Church life. By the avenger he meant Charles VIII, King of France, who had entered Italy, and was advancing against Florence. Savonarola's denunciation of the Medici now produced its results. Lorenzo's son Pietro de Medici, who was hated both for his tyranny and his immoral life, was driven out of the city with his family. The French king, whom Savonarola at the head of an embassy of Florentines had visited at Pisa, now entered the city. After the king's departure a new and peculiar constitution, a kind of theocratic democracy, was established at Florence, based on the political and social doctrines the Dominican monk had proclaimed. Christ was considered the King of Florence and protector of its liberties. A great council, as the representative of all the citizens, became the governing body of the republic and the law of Christ was to be the basis of political and social life. Savonarola did not interfere directly in politics and affairs of State, but his teachings and his ideas were authoritative. The moral life of the citizens was regenerated. Many persons brought articles of luxury, playing-cards, ornaments, pictures of beautiful women, the writings of pagan and immoral poets, etc., to the monastery of San Marco; these articles were then publicly burned. A brotherhood founded by Savonarola for young people encouraged a pious, Christian life among its members. Sundays some of this brotherhood went about from house to house and along the streets to take away dice and cards from the citizens, to exhort luxuriously dressed married and single women to lay aside frivolous ornament. Thus there arose an actual police for regulating morality, which also carried on its work by the objectionable methods of spying and denunciation. The principles of the severe judge of morals were carried out in practical life in too extreme a manner. Success made Savonarola, whose speech in his sermons was often recklessly passionate, more and more daring. Florence was to be the starting point of the regeneration of Italy and the Church. In this respect he was constantly looking for the interposition of Charles VIII for the inner reform of the Church, although the loose life and vague extravagant ideas of this monarch in no way fitted him to undertake such a task. These efforts of Savonarola brought him into conflict with Alexander VI. The pope, like all Italian princes and cities, with the exception of Florence, was an opponent of the French policy. Moreover, Charles VIII had often threatened him with the calling of a reform council in opposition to him. This led Alexander VI to regard all the more dubiously the support that Florence under the influence of Savonarola gave the French king. Furthermore the Dominican preacher spoke with increasing violence against the pope and the Curia. On 25 July, 1495, a papal Brief commanded Savonarola in virtue of holy obedience to come to Rome and defend himself on the score of the prophecies attributed to him. Savonarola excused himself on the plea of impaired health and of the dangers threatening him. By a further Brief of 8 September the Dominican was forbidden to preach, and the monastery of San Marco was restored to the Lombard Congregation. In his reply of 29 September, Savonarola sought to justify himself, and declared that, as regards his teaching, he had always submitted to the judgment of the Church. In a new papal Brief of 16 October written with great moderation the union of the monastery of San Marco with the Lombard Congregation was withdrawn, Savanarola's conduct was judged mildly, but the prohibition to preach, until his vindication at Rome, was maintained. In the meantime Savonarola had again entered the pulpit on 11 October in order to rouse the Florentines against Pietro de Medici and on 11 February the Signoria of Florence actually commanded the Dominican to preach again. Savonarola now resumed his sermons on 17 February and was thus unjustifiably disobedient to ecclesiastical authority. In these Lenten sermons he violently lashed the crimes of Rome thereby increasing the passionate excitement at Florence. A schism threatened and the pope was again forced to interpose. On 7 November, 1496, the Dominican monasteries of Rome and Tuscany were formed into a new congregation, the first vicar of which was Cardinal Caraffa. Even then Savonarola refused obedience and again during the Lenten season of 1497 preached with uncontrolled violence against the Church in Rome. On 12 May, 1497, he was excommunicated. Under the date of 19 June he published a letter "against the excommunication" as being fraudulently obtained and sought to show that the judgment against him was null and void. The Florentine ambassadors at Rome probably hoped to prevent any further measures on the part of the pope, but their hopes were unfounded, especially as Savonarola became more defiant. Notwithstanding his excommunication he celebrated Mass on Christmas Day and distributed Holy Communion. Moreover, disregarding an archiepiscopal edict, he began again on 11 February, 1498, to preach at the Cathedral and to demonstrate that the sentences against him were void. Even at this juncture the pope desired to act with gentleness, if the obstinate monk would submit, but the latter remained defiant and with his adherents set about calling a council in opposition to the pope. He drew up letters to the rulers of Christendom urging them to carry out this scheme which, on account of the alliance of the Florentines with Charles VIII, was not altogether beyond possibility. In Florence itself the opposition to Savonarola grew more powerful, and an adversary from the Franciscan Order offered to undergo the ordeal by fire in order to prove him in error. Savonarola himself did not want to take up the challenge, but some of his ardent adherents among the Dominicans declared themselves ready for it. The ordeal for both sides was to take place on 7 April, 1498, before a large public gathering. Everything was ready for the test, but it did not take place. The people now turned against Savonarola. There were outbreaks and the monastery of San Marco was attacked; Savonarola and a fellow-member of the order, Domenico da Pescia, were taken prisoners. The papal delegates, the general of the Dominicans and the Bishop of Ilerda were sent to Florence to attend the trial. The official proceedings, which were, however, falsified by the notary, still exist. The captured monks were tortured; Savonarola's following in the city fell away. On 22 May, 1498, Savonarola and two other members of the order were condemned to death "on account of the enormous crimes of which they had been convicted". They were hanged on 23 May and their bodies burned. In the beginning Savonarola was filled with zeal, piety, and self-sacrifice for the regeneration of religious life. He was led to offend against these virtues by his fanaticism, obstinacy, and disobedience. He was not a heretic in matters of faith. The erection of his statue at the foot of Luther's monument at Worms as a reputed "forerunner of the Reformation" is entirely unwarranted. Among his writings mention should be made of: "Triumphus Crucis de fidei veritate" (Florence, 1497), his chief work, an apology for Christianity; "Compendium revelationum" (Florence, 1495); "Scelta di prediche e scritti", ed. Villari Casanova (Florence, 1898); "Trattato circa il Reggimento di Firenze", ed. Rians (Florence, 1848); further letters edited by Marchese in the "Archivio. storico italiano", App. XIII (1850); poems edited by Rians (Florence, 1847). The "Dialogo della verita" (1497) and fifteen sermons were placed later on the Index.