Gryphon Astrology Blog

Can we find creativity in the horoscope? We will look at Leonardo da Vinci’s horoscope to determine whether his tremendous inventiveness and flow of ideas were shown in his chart. To do this, we will use a method called determining the “quality of the mind.” This is a much more nuanced examination than an astrological IQ test, because unlike such tests, this method shows the person’s facility in various thinking modes. The horoscope shows one’s level of interpersonal intelligence, creative intelligence, physical intelligence, and so on.

1. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mind.

We look at the conditions of Mercury and the Moon, the left brain and right brain, respectively.

Mercury is angular in the 4^th house and thus is better positioned than the Moon. This means the native is more likely to rely on the left brain, analytical functions of the mind. However, Mercury is not very strong by sign – it is in Aries, where it moves very fast – perhaps too fast to do the kind of comparison, pro-and-con thinking Mercury loves and excels at. But Mercury was actually moving very slowly at the time of da Vinci’s birth, likely leading to a tense frustration between Mercury’s motion and its fast sign.

Opposition to an exalted Saturn can give good spatial reasoning, but there is the sense that cold, hard reality bumped up against da Vinci’s lightning-fast mind. Saturn rules the 3^rd house of communication, and he may have had difficulty conveying his ideas to others in the same purity of vision he had in his mind. Mars in Aquarius on the third house cusp made his communication fast and perhaps a touch abrasive.

The Moon is in its joy, the third house. Being cadent, the Moon is much more “tucked away” than Mercury, but for all that, it is a veritable fountain of inspiration. First, the Moon is in the phlegmatic, or watery 4^th quarter, and it is in Pisces, the most fertile of the signs. This in itself shows a pouring forth of creative ideas from the native’s right brain. As if that weren’t enough, the Moon is conjunct Jupiter in Pisces – the two most fertile planets in the most fertile sign. The third house rules communication and indeed, Leonardo’s writings and jottings are legion.

The Moon-Jupiter conjunction is sextile Leonardo’s Taurus Sun placed in the fifth house of creativity. The Taurus Sun, combined with the Saturn influence on Mercury, tell us that da Vinci’s creativity will be channeled toward the practical, tangible world. Still, Pisces is what it is, and the inventions may often seem outlandish and otherworldly. The Sun rules the 9^th house of faith, so there is a sense of divine inspiration in da Vinci’s horoscope.

2.  Leonardo da Vinci’s Significator of the Mind.

The significator of mind (aka Significator of Manner in some texts) describes the native’s personality, and the way he or she thinks and interacts with the world.

The SoM should be a planet with influence over both Mercury and the Moon. For Mercury, this is most likely Mars, as Mercury is sextile Mars and in Mars’s sign. However, we must also include the opposition to a strongly placed Saturn. The Moon is most strongly influenced by Jupiter, due to the conjunction and the fact that the Moon is in Jupiter’s sign. Ptolemy writes that Saturn and Jupiter together give a “virtuous, respectful, well-intentioned mind…prudent, patient, and philosophical.” Mars adds a bit of recklessness, a big mouth, and fierceness. Leonardo probably shunned the limelight, but had a fierce streak when challenged.

Bonus question: Who can see Leonardo’s famous “mirror writing” in his horoscope?

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