Giftedness in the Chart

I will start by saying there are many different kinds of giftedness. In this article I am talking about mental giftedness. 

What is it that shows giftedness in the horoscope? It has been posited by Lois Rodden (no cite) that it is a combination of 3 and 12, so those houses, or the planets ruling those houses, strongly configured. This would be Mercury and Neptune. Since Mercury rules the mind and communication, this makes sense. What about Neptune and the 12th house? To achieve something beyond the ordinary requires a great imagination. I believe Neptune supplies that element. Arroyo, in Astrology, Karma and Transformation notes on Mercury Neptune:

"Interchanges between these two planets always reveal a particularly sensitive, intuitive, and even visionary quality of mind". (page 129)

Mercury combined with Uranus also correlates with extreme intelligence. Uranus can correlate with extra fast mental processing.  Einstein had Mercury quincunx Uranus on the cusp of the third house. Churchill had Mercury square Uranus (ability to think outside the box, and inventive).  Churchill was also extremely quick witted.

Uranus strongly configured with the planets or angles also can show giftedness. 

Uranus conjunct the Midheavean is an aspect I often see associated with extreme intelligence. 

Mercury in aspect to Saturn, including the conjunction (Einstein) and squares and oppositions may also show giftedness. Saturn goes with an extreme ability to focus. As with any Saturn aspect, there can be a rigidity about one's opinions.

Mercury square the Nodes also seems to have a connection with giftedness. 

An example of the 3/12 combination can be seen in the charts of two great men born on the same day, same year, on opposite sides of the ocean, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. The charts are below. The time for Darwin is not confirmed, but we can still look at the aspects without focusing on the angles. 

Both men have Mercury in Pisces square to Neptune (both 3 and 12), as well as Mercury trine Uranus. Uranus is stationary. When a planet is stationary in the chart it has extra emphasis. Both men also had Mercury square Saturn. Both were incredible writers. Darwin with On the Origin of Species and Lincoln with Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address among other famous speeches. 

The sun is in the sign Aquarius trine Mars in Libra. The moon in both charts is in Capricorn square Mars. There is an uncanny similarity in their life experiences. 

Lincoln lost his mother at age 9 and Darwin at age 8. Both men also lost their favorite children. Both men struggled with their religious beliefs.  Darwin struggled as he was mindful of his wife's strong religiosity and how the theory of evolution would be perceived. Lincoln seems to surely have believed in an overruling Providence, yet Adam Gopnik calls the question of how religious Lincoln was "vexed". (See Angels and Ages by Adam Gopnik page 126.) 

In any event, both had visionary minds. 

Wolfgang Mozart is another example of a 3/12 mix. Mozart has Sun Mercury Saturn in Aquarius in the 5th house oppose Neptune in Leo. He also has Uranus on the Descendant conjunct his South Node . Virgo rises so his chart ruler is opposing Neptune, the planet of musicality. Venus is 29 Aquarius trine to Mars at zero Cancer in the 10th house. With his Moon Pluto in the 4th house in Sagittarius his early life was consumed with travel for his musical career. Mozart was both mathematically and musically gifted. He also spoke four languages. For a complete astrological overview of Mozart see Shelley Jordan The Astrological Saga of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.