Pope Urban VIII's "Endor" Moment

Then said Saul unto his servants,

Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her.

 And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

1 Samuel 28:7

 

"In 1628, Pope Urban VIII was staying at the Quirinal Palace near the Vatican with one main concern on his mind: His imminent death.

The pope was neither sick nor old, yet rumors of his demise were spreading among his enemies.

Astrologers had predicted that the pontiff would weaken and die as a consequence of the two solar eclipses of that year. Urban VIII even had his very own large team of astrologers double-check the prediction, but they agreed with the verdict and declared that the pope would meet sudden death on December 25, during the solar eclipse.

When all hope seemed lost, the Barberini pope got word of a well-known astrologer who had been kept in an Inquisition prison for 27 years in the Italian city of Naples.

His name was Tommaso Campanella, and, beyond being a Dominican priest, he had also successfully dabbled in philosophy, poetry, heresy and magic. He began learning the complex arts of astrology during his confinement, and became well known for predicting the fortunes of the other inmates. He had also written several books, where he sustained that he had knowledge of magical powers that could eliminate malicious omens caused by the alignment of celestial bodies.

Urban ordered that Campanella be brought to the papal palace and dressed as a peasant, so as not to raise suspicions that the pope was meeting with a known heretic.

According to historical documents, the unlikely couple then

*sealed themselves in a dark room, dressed in white robes.

*They sprinkled rose vinegar and burned scented incense to eliminate the evil elements in the air.

*Campanella used gemstones and torches to recreate the vault of the sky within the room,

*and gave Urban a liquor distilled under the influence of his ruling planets

*while soft music played outside.

Whatever Campanella did, it worked.

The December solar eclipse in Rome that year happened when the sun was low in the western sky, therefore the moon obscured only a small part of the sun. Urban lived to see another day. To thank him for his powerful magic, Urban released Campanella from his decade-long imprisonment, and the Dominican order in Rome awarded him the title of Magister Theologiae (meaning “Master of Theology,” which is no small recognition for a heretic, and from Dominicans to boot!)." CRUX