The Devil's Adversary

Here we go, finally. Let’s dive into the chart and the life of the most famous exorcist of our times, Father Gabriele Amorth.

He was born in Modena, Italy, in May the 1st, 1925, at 4:10 PM.

From a deeply Catholic Family, after the war (during which he joined the anti-fascist Brigata Italiana) he was ordained a priest. It happened a couple of months before his 29th birthday.

Some years later, he started fighting in another war. In 1986, Father Gabriele was appointed exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, under the supervision of Father Candido Amantini, another famous exorcist.

His first book — An Exorcist Tells His Story (Un Esorcista Racconta) — was published in 1999 (he wrote more than 30).

He founded the International Association of Exorcists, was interviewed and consulted serveral times by the media, was the inspiration for at least two movies (The Devil and Father Amorth and The Pope’s Exorcist).

Father Gabriele died in 2016, at the age of 91.

Here’s his birth chart.

Well, his temperament is…

Stratch that. I can always do it later, let’s talk about the thing that really matters.

There’s a very obvious Sun/Venus conjunction in Taurus.

Venus is strong, in its own house and triplicity, but conjunct the starts Almach (the foot of Andromeda) and Menkar (the mouth of Cetus). This odd couple is associated with being trapped in things that are not our fault, with dealing with difficult situations that we haven’t created.

The conjunction is close, but wide enough to be opposed by a Saturn right in the middle of them.

In fact, this Saturn — peregrine in the nasty fixed waters of Scorpio — is retrograde. “Going” from an opposition with Venus to one with the Sun.

So, a very strong Venus finds herself in a difficult situation that she hasn’t created, and has to deal with, while an evil Saturn goes from opposing her to opposing a Sun that loves her. As if she was asking for help from the Light.

To make things more obvious, this Saturn that opposes Venus and then goes to oppose the Light from Above is the ruler of the fourth house, the house below.

Yep. That’s a very graphic description of an exorcism.

We didn’t need anything else, of course, but we have.

Venus rules the first house, she is Father Gabriele in the chart.

The Sun rules the eleventh house of the gifts from Above… and if you’re not paying attention, the North Node is up there, marking the cusp of the house.

Not satisfied yet? OK, then. The ruler of the tenth house — which means things like the Authority from Above and the native’s career — is conjunct Venus and the Sun by antiscion, casting its shadow over it.

Since you asked, yes, Mars in the airy sign of Gemini, by antiscion, is conjunct the Midheaven. He is not just any Mars in Gemini, though — he is on Al Hecka, the violent martial star of the Southern horn of Taurus, the pointy and unpleasant part of that giant symbol of the abundance of Creation.

Mars can be both the symbol of what Father Amorth is battling — that peregrine malefic which combines malicious discourse and the temptation of the earthly good — and how he does it, he fights by talking — by praying the Devil away.

And there’s no shyness in this talking. The ruler of the tenth (the Moon, as I have just said) is on Alterf, a star in the mouth of the Lion.

Another Leo star is on the twelfth cusp, Zosma, on the back of the beast, a cosmic symbol of unruliness and disobedience. Itss ruler is also on it by Antiscion, although a bit far. But, there or not, it’s the other planet more commonly associated with the devil, Mercury — on Venus’s detriment. It also rules the ninth, which makes sense. The devil is a fallen angel (a ninth house affair) who is the secret enemy (a twelfth house thing) both of an exorcist and of humankind.

Facies, a nebula associated with blindness, with — such as happened to certain angels before time — not seing things clearly, is conjunct the fourth house — and there’s even a fallen angel there: Jupiter, the planet of expansion and elevation, conjunct Deneb Okab, the tail of the Eagle, the consequences of elevation, is inside the fourth — and, of course, it’s in its earthly fall, Capricorn.

Yes, every single planet in this chart seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet, as it were.

If you’re still interested, his temperament seems to be sanguine, although not very pronounced (there are four moist testimonies out of five, but all of them are weak, for example).

If we turn to the Moon and Mercury as descriptors of his wits, they point out to a extremely active mind — the Moon in a hot and dry phase in a fixed fire sign, Mercury on the cardinal and fiery Aries.

Mercury is conjunct Acarnar, the “old mouth of the River”, the last star before Achernar in Eridanus, the river: the sadness just before the wisdom and the blessing.

Ruling his ninth, it also points out to an active relation to his own faith.

An active sanguine with a fiery mind is not exactly surprising if you remember that I said, in the beginning of this text, that he wrote more than 30 books.

What about the Seven Arabian Parts?

Well, the Part of Courage (the Part of Mars) is in 22 Aries; of course, conjunct Mercury. The part of Victory (of Jupiter) is… yes, you guessed, conjunct the Midheaven, in 5 35 Cancer.

… and, yes, ok. I usually say there’s no significance on Arabian Parts conjunct or opposed fixed stars and those weird hybrids that lurk beyond Saturn, but it’s very hard to ignore the exact opposition between Pluto, the king of the Underworld, and the Part of Fortune (which is the part of the Moon, which rules the tenth house).

I sincerely think we’re done here.

He could do whatever he chose for a living, of course, and even as a priest, he could have been many things besides being an exorcist. But this specific kind of activity must have felt like his true calling. And boy was he fit for the job!

If you want me to write on anything else regarding this chart, please tell me. My plan is to investigate his ordination and then his first exorcism.

See you soon, God bless you!