Andrea Bocelli – Overcoming the odds and with the world at his feet.

Last night I was privileged to go to the London O2 Arena to see a man at the height of his powers. Andrea Bocelli has one of the most soothing and flawless voices in the world of music, and I would say that he is the foremost tenor on planet earth at this present time. His rendition of “Nessun Dorma” at the end of his set was one of those moments in my life that I will never forget. I remember watching Pavarotti sing this song on TV, but I reckon that Bocelli has more warmth to his voice. It was perfection, totally spellbinding stuff and it nearly brought me to tears. Yes, he was that good.

Andrea Bocelli was born on 22nd September 1958 in Lajatico, Italy and is thus a Sun sign Virgo, with a Capricorn Moon and a proud Leo ascendant. Most of the planets are below the horizon, so his life would have been shaped by events early in his life, and they were due to his onset of blindness. More of this later. He has a nice earthy chart with 5 planets in this element, so he is likely to be a guy who doesn’t set the bar too high and is prepared to graft and work his way to the top. Six planets in mutable sign shows a flexibility to his character, and it is true that despite a love of classical music, he hasn’t pigeon-holed himself into just singing this type of repertoire, but he collaborates with pop stars and sings more modern day classics too.

His Virgo Sun and Capricorn Moon shows quiet dignified ambition, a need to be correct and right. These two signs don’t often promise an outgoing side, but once they know that they are solid ground, then they can let go and have some fun. Andrea last night started out just a little wary of how the crowd would react, as someone with these signs would, but soon he was smiling and even dancing a waltz on stage with his soprano co-star.

Andrea’s Sun sits in his second house of the social servant, someone who knows that he needs to work with and for the public, and he in turn gets self-confidence and self worth in doing so. His Venus/Mercury conjunction, the conjunction of the artist, someone who loves and appreciates beauty and design; this conjunction makes a trine along with the Sun to Andrea’s Moon in his 5th house of entertainment. The trine between Sun and Moon shows a good rapport between his parents. That Moon in Capricorn although quite reserved in nature does have very expressive and artistic tendencies. If I didn’t know what Andrea did, with this 5th house Capricorn Moon I would say he would love music. Capricorn has this reputation for turning up very often in the charts of singers and musicians. What’s more, this Moon completes a grand earth trine with his Taurean Midheaven and Mercury in Virgo, a store of talent which he would be able always to fall back on. Taurus rules the throat and is the other musical sign in the zodiac, and Mercury in Virgo shows a perfectionist attitude to everything he does, but especially in communicating. 

Saturn sits in the 4th house square to Mercury and Venus which brings a determined and steady mind, able to concentrate on the job in hand. Slightly reserved emotionally, there is a lovely modesty here which shines through, and Andrea will have a humble and cautious attitude to love and romance; Venus in Virgo is devoted, kind and generally faithful to the one you love. The square can cause disappointments in relationships especially earlier on in life, but I have always believed that as you get older and more mature, this aspect becomes less of a problem as you learn how to handle it. Andrea separated from his wife Enrica in 2002, but never divorced.  He may well have a rather critical attitude sometimes, but this attention to detail is also why he is so accomplished at his job. Now, Saturn sits in his 4th house in Sagittarius and it indicates that his freedom (Sagittarius) when he was growing up and now as a father and  a husband was and is restricted (Saturn) in some way. Of course, we know that from early on, Andrea suffered from sight problems and he lost his sight after an accident playing football aged 12. The ball hit his head, he had a brain haemorrhage and unfortunately despite trying hard, the doctors could not save his sight.

Please look at Mars. His Ascendant, Pluto and the Sun form a series of aspects linking back to Mars at 0:13 degrees Gemini. Back in 1971, I would guess close to 17th June of that year (I have not found a definitive date for his accident), there was a Saturn opposition to Neptune. Saturn when it connects with Neptune always has health implications, often epidemics or other health issues start under stressful connections under these two planets. Now Saturn in June 1971 was sitting bang on Andrea’s natal Mars. Andrea’s Mars at 0:13 Gemini is placed on the fixed star Alcyone, which sits in the Pleiades, the 7 sisters in the constellation of Taurus. This is a collection of stars that make up a nebula on the back of the cosmic bull in the sky. Go back years to ancient astrology, and the common consent about any nebula was that they were associated with blindness. Now remember that Mars is the planet of competition and sport and that hit on the spot by Saturn opposite to Neptune sent a shockwave of negative energy (like the football that hit Andrea did) through his chart, through the Ascendant (physical body), through Pluto the planet of destruction and rebirth in his 1st house, and through his Sun. Now with Pluto already conjunct his ascendant, there was an existing and destructive weakness hiding deep within Andrea waiting to be triggered, something that would force him to reassess his life.

Notice also that transiting Mars was opposing Andrea’s Uranus across the 6th/12th house axis, the health, suffering and service axis on his chart. This was a sports accident, Mars (sport) opposite Uranus (unexpected shocking events) that was meant to happen!! Why? The transiting nodes, the points of destiny on a chart were also conjunct transiting Mars and his natal Uranus. Add in that Saturn rules Andrea’s 6th house of health (Capricorn on cusp of 6th) and Neptune his 8th house of enforced change (Pisces on cusp of 8th) and we have multiple astrological indicators leading to the events of that fateful day.

I now take you back to the main chart. Pluto in the 1st house always instils a burning desire for personal recognition, an incredible drive and a passion to achieve all of your dreams. It drives the chart on with a quiet, and sometimes not so quiet intensity. That Pluto makes a double trine to Neptune closely conjunct Jupiter in Andrea’s 3rd house. The 3rd house is the house of communication, and here we have musical, inspirational Neptune conjunct Jupiter the planet which expands the horizons internationally. Connect this conjunction to Pluto and we have the driving force which has taken him to stratospheric heights. His Leo Ascendant shows someone who wants to perform and show this talent, proud but not in an overpowering manner; that Virgo Sun will never let him get too big for his boots. Of course this Neptune/Jupiter conjunction also makes a very close quindecile to his Taurean Midheaven, a focused link to his career. Andrea not only sings, but he can play many different instruments, he is a true all round musician. This connection also explains his year as a lawyer after he left school but before he took up music as a career and took advantage of that lovely earth trine in his chart. Jupiter is the planet of law and Saturn the planet of ambition sits in Jupiter’s sign of Sagittarius.

Andrea’s amazing talent is enhanced by Uranus zapping it’s electric current through a square to the Midheaven, indeed that Midheaven feeds out to Venus too. Venus in the 1st house shows he has a dapper sense of personal style and will be careful that he presents a clean cut image. That Venus I think also softens his personality and his voice through the trine to the Midheaven and brings a pure easy going quality and earthy richness that so many people love. Mars in Gemini in his 10th house is surprisingly competitive and a true winner, as well as very eager to please. Andrea never stops working and travelling and performing, that Mars in the 10th house trine to his Sun gives him energy in abundance to work.

Now to the stars. Andrea’s has Menkar, the star in the mouth of Cetus the Whale, the sea monster of the universe culminating at his Taurus Midheaven. This star taps into the collective and promises either fame or oblivion, obviously in Andrea’s case it has projected him onto the world stage through his voice represented by the Taurus Midheaven. In the stars affecting his prime or middle years, he had the Sun culminating on 22nd Sept 58 when the star Betelgeuse in Orion was rising. This promises success and yet more success, and his star and his reputation is still rising and rising. Mercury culminating with Zosma shows a need to reach out to those suffering, and Andrea has been instrumental in trying to help fellow blind people improve their lives. He has Venus rising as Castor in Gemini was on the nadir bringing an artistic flair, great intuition and a beautiful way of expression.

Finally, his North Node is conjunct Spica, the star which represents the wheatsheaf in the hand of the virgin in Virgo. Spica brings special unique talent, and Andrea’s destiny was to use his talents to entertain through his 3rd house North Node, sitting in the place of the communicator. His blindness and his accident was the making of him, making him concentrate on that wonderful tenor voice that he was blessed with. His is a story of winning against adversity and a lesson to us all, a lesson that you can achieve your dreams and fulfil the abilities within you though the most debilitating of circumstances. With 80 million albums sold and now officially the most successful classical artist ever,  Andrea is truly an inspiration to us all…