Hudson Valley Astrologer

“There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.”

~ Leonardo Da Vinci

Behind me on the wall hangs a 14 1/2 x 40 3/4ths frame with facsimiles of pages taken from the notebook of Leonardo Da Vinci. The Vitruvian Man is in the middle flanked by a suspension bridge, a flying machine, a domed architectural marvel, and what looks like a gadget of war. I even have a mouse pad of The Vitruvian Man lying on my desk just to the right of my keyboard.

It’s been 7 years since Walter Isaacson first published the #1 New York Times Bestseller, but I still haven’t read it. 7 years is a long time, so long in fact that there is now a documentary based on Isaacson’s work, which was produced by the incomparable Ken Burns. 7 years also happens to be the amount of time it takes the planet Saturn to advance 3 signs, or one quarter of the zodiac.

I stumbled across the docuseries the other night when I happened to be watching television with the dog at my feet. The other end of the couch held only pillows and a neatly folded blanket because my wife was away for the weekend. I had the remote all to myself and got a little giddy (having control of the remote can do that) when I saw the documentary program on the menu. You might have thought I had just unearthed the Salvator Mundi itself, which by the way fetched a tidy $450 million, also in 2017. Wow! What the heck was going on in Leonardo’s chart in 2017?

Astrologers know that significant life changes occur around the ages of 27 to age 30. This is the time when Saturn returns to its natal position, also known as the Saturn Return. Saturn is the more serious influence in the pantheon of planets and so this period of life can be downright unforgiving, like a tyrannical taskmaster is put in charge of the life ahead. It’s time to grow up! Tennessee Williams perfectly captured the zeitgeist and universal rite of passage when he said, “the irresponsible days of my youth are over.” He received a telegram from New York, while frolicking down in Mexico, to return to the city and get to work on the production of his first play. The Saturn Return is a pivotal time, we note that people get married, have babies, get divorced, and sometimes suffer a significant loss through the death of someone close; Death being the ultimate Saturnian expression, about the limits and constraints of our most precious resource: Time.

“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.”

~ Leonardo Da Vinci

People also experience geographical relocations, which for Leonardo was true in September of 1481. Saturn had come full circle in a manner of speaking, and returned precisely to 14 Libra 09, which is where it was on April 14, 1452, the day Leonardo was born. The coincident transit, and the more significant transit having to do with relocation, in my opinion, is an outer planet coming to the Ascendant. Leonardo had transiting Uranus conjunct his Ascendant at that time, while transiting Pluto was square his Ascendant. A powerful indication of the forces of change, during his pivotal Saturn Return, promised to usher in an identity transformation of some kind; he relocated to Milan where he began his illustrious career.

In June of 2017, Solar Arc Neptune (Art) came into alignment with his natal Saturn at 14 Aries 09, the same degree touched off by his Saturn Return (536 years earlier). Also in June, Solar Arc Uranus (the expectation of the unexpected, sudden surprises, etc.) was precisely aligned with Pluto and then later in the year the Ascendent; both planets, Uranus and Pluto, were dynamically involved more than 5 centuries earlier, on that day in September, 1481, when Saturn paid a visit to its birth place in his chart, his Saturn Return. This degree appears to be a “hot spot” in Leonardo’s chart. When activated in 2017, the Salvator Mundi won and still holds the record as the most expensive artwork ever sold.

Leonard’s 17th Saturn Return recurred from November 2010 to August 2011. Fascinatingly, this was when the Salvator Mundi underwent restoration after being discovered 5 years earlier at a small auction in New Orleans, and purchased for only $1,175. When the painting was finally restored it was exhibited at the National Gallery of London.

Discussion of Leonardo’s involvement in the painting and its authenticity remains an open debate, but the astrology strongly suggests a correspondence that is at the very least difficult to argue with. Now I am even more eager to read his biography AND watch the documentary.

HVA

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