Gastone Ventura (29 October 1907 - 28 July 1981), also known with his Initiatic name ''Aldebaran,'' was the Grand Master of the Italian ''Ordine Martinista'' (1967 – 1981) and Sovereign Grand Hierophant General of the Rites of Misraïm and Memphis – zenith of Venice. He was also member of the Supreme Council of the French '' Ordre Martiniste'' and Regent of the Grand Priory of Italy of the ''Supernus Ordo Equester Templi'' (Templar Order).

Biography

Born in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, Italy, on the 29 October 1907 at 5:30am,

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Gastone Ventura descended from an aristocratic family of

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, which during Napoleonic times took up residence in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and there he spent most of his life. He was a Vice-Admiral of the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

involved in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A prolific author, he performed historical and esoteric research and published fundamental texts, referring to the ''Rite of Misraïm and Memphis'', as well as the ''Ordine Martinista''

Martinist Order Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his state of material privation from his divine source, and the process of his return, called 'Reintegration'. As a mystical traditio ...

] over which he presided. According to him, Traditional Gnosis is based on the universal principles of metaphysics.

Books

Beside having translated into Italian some works of the well-known esotericist Jean Mallinger, Gastone Ventura wrote the following books (in Italian): * Templari e Templarismo * Cagliostro, un uomo del suo tempo * I riti massonici di Misraïm e Memphis * Miti e riti nel pensiero tradizionale * Tutti gli uomini del martinismo * Il mistero del rito sacrificale * La terra delle quattro giustizie * Agartha e Sambhala e la Glazialkosmogonie * Considerazioni storico tradizionali sul mito della Regnia di Saba * Il mondo alla rovescia * Influenza delle dottrine dell'Antico Egitto sull'esoterismo ebraico-cristiano * La Tetraktis pitagorica * Note storiche sul Martinismo * Tecniche della Via Cardiaca

References

1907 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Italian people Metaphysicians {{Italy-philosopher-stub