Titanic: True Sidereal

Just after the full moon this month (October 20, 2021), I decided to rewatch the James Cameron film “Titanic,” as it recently became available on Netflix. As I often do while viewing an event or person that intrigues me, I pulled up the chart for the moment the mammoth ship struck the iceberg. Numerous astrological studies have been written over the years about this event (many use the chart of the timing of the sinking; I was not satisfied with that chart, and find the iceberg event to be more revealing). This writing will focus on the the stellar alignments, in particular. Interestingly, the chart for this moment has the event’s sun aligned to that full moon I mentioned of this month, and it’s moon is conjunct the full moon prior to this one (September 20, 2021). Both of these placements fall within the vast, watery stars of Pisces within the system of Constellational—i.e.“True Sidereal" Astrology—which is the system I am utilizing in this writing.

Beginning here, in Pisces, we have not only have the Sun and Moon, we have Eris, Venus, Mercury, the North Node of the Moon, and the Imum Coeli (the root of the chart, also known as the Nadir). Thus, this large stellium of placements within Pisces serves as the foundation of the chart and holds major emphasis of the influences at work at the time of this event.

The Sun and Mercury (retrograde) were conjunct one of the major stars of Pisces—the star known as Al Pherg, which comes from the Arabic word “Al Fargh”, and means “an outpouring of water.” This star is associated with the lip/mouth of a vessel filled with water, which is a very literal description of what happened to this particular vessel; the ship’s compartments broke in half after filling with water, and sank in two pieces. The ancient Greeks also associated this star with their monster of chaos and destruction—Typhon, who was a giant creature with a hundred snake heads…a fearsome being and offspring of Gaia (Goddess of Earth), and, thus, representative of the raw, destructive power of nature.

The Moon was also conjunct the dwarf planet, Eris, who is named for the Greek goddess of chaos and discord, and her astrological significations seem to mirror those of the goddess. Both the Moon and Eris were aligned with the star, Scheat, in constellation Pegasus, which stretches (in part) over Pisces, north of the ecliptic. Scheat is part of the Great Square of Pegasus, and it is a star, notoriously, associated with sorrow, difficulties, and catastrophes by air or sea. I believe Scheat has a greater complexity than this, as it is also a star prominent in many great thinkers charts…the stars of the Great Square, perhaps, having such an influence due to their role in creating this celestial geometry. However, too, Scheat has been configured to many charts of great disasters; clearly, this is one of them.

Constellation Cetus—the sea monster or whale—stretches South of the ecliptic, beneath Pisces (in part). At the time of the Titanic striking the iceberg, Venus was aligned with the tail star of Cetus—Deneb Kaitos. The Imum Coeli (Latin for “lowest point”) of the chart, as well as the North Node of the Moon, were aligned with the belly of the whale/sea monster—Baten Kaitos. The ship, symbolically, sank into this “belly,” as it’s particular dharma (signified by the North Node) left it sunken in the depths of the Northern Atlantic. The stars of Cetus reflect these engulfing depths; the giant whale/sea monster being the subject of many an archetypal tale…from “Moby Dick” to Biblical “Jonah and the Whale,” to the Bablyonian Tiamat to “Jaws.” The overwhelming power of the unconscious and the forces of nature—specifically those of the watery depths—are significations here. With Venus aligned to the tail of this great sea monster, this may indicate how the famed opulence of the ship and its many affluent passengers were swallowed up by Cetus and became part of the vessel’s destined ruin.

At the Medium Coeli (the top of the chart) is the South Node of the Moon. The MC and the South Node were aligned to the star Foramen—a Southern Hemisphere star in the keel of the Great Ship constellation—the Argo Navis. The Argo is presently separated into four constellations, but was once a singular constellation of an enormous ship. For the Greeks, this was the ship that Jason and the Argonauts sailed upon in search of the Golden Fleece. Again, we have a very literal alignment with the chart’s MC—how it is known to the world—to the constellation of the ship. Classically, this constellation was associated with adventure, conquest, and also death by drowning. Foramen is the most massive, energetic star in our galaxy. It has varied in brightness from naked-eye invisibility, to (at one time)being only second in brightness to Sirius—the brightest star in our sky—due to its history of eruptions. It is at least a two-star system that has a luminance of more than 500 million times that of our Sun. It endured what has been termed “The Great Eruption” in the 1800s, becoming its brightest during this time, and then fading into naked eye invisibility. It then went through another eruption and brightened and then faded, yet again. It has been brightening, yet again, since about 1940, and is surrounded by massive clouds of gas and dust—called the “Keyhole” or “Homunculus Nebula.” I think this incredible volatility and variability speak to the potency and tragedy of this event. To have such a massive, energetic star that has blown itself up, repeatedly, over the years at the top of the chart, suggests the dynamism of this event and its ability to inspire consciousness . As Foramen—in the keel of the Great Ship—now shines through these remnants of its “Great Eruption,” the Titanic continues to be documented, explored, and celebrated well beyond the years of its sinking.

Foramen is very close in longitude to the Alpha star of constellation Virgo—Spica. This is the sheaf of grain that the winged goddess, Virgo, offers in one of her hands—a gift of bounty and brilliance. In Vedic astrology, Spica is the star of the Nakshatra Chitra, and is represented by a sparkling gemstone. Though fictional, the necklace known as “Heart of the Ocean” in the film is a blue diamond, similar to Spica’s blueish spectral frequency. I would argue that the stories we create about the Titanic are also informed by the chart of this event. Spica also reflects much about the ship’s reputation as a symbol of wealth and a marvel of engineering brilliance. With the conjunction of the MC with the South Node of the Moon, ultimately, Titanic had to let go of these notions of being unsinkable and its image of luxury and grandeur. The South Node of the Moon is also known as the “Tail of the Dragon” and the ship’s reputation was met, again, with the transformative forces of nature, dissolving its aspirations of future voyages (the great dissolver and Lord of the Sea, Neptune, was also square the lunar nodes).

Finally, I want to highlight the fact that the Galactic Center was rising in this chart—at the cusp of constellations Ophiuchus and Sagittarius. Thus, the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* was rising, while the point directly opposite—the Galactic Anti-Center—was setting. Thus, the “River of Stars” that is the band of the Milky Way was both rising and setting at the time of this event. I find that charts configured to this central point of our galaxy can greatly impact collective consciousness, bending constraints of time, just as black holes are believed to do. Black holes, possibly, are space-time portals, with a magnetism that both devours and aids in the creation of new stars. Pluto was conjunct this setting point, and acts as the co-ruler of the chart (in Constellational Astrology, cusps are very important, so I will be examining both Pluto and Jupiter as rulers of the chart…Pluto governing Scorpio-Ophiuchus and Jupiter ruling Sagittarius). Pluto is the planet of death, power, buried wealth, and transformation. Setting opposite the Galactic Center, Pluto speaks to the subterranean descent of the ship, the sheer power of the iceberg (the Descendant is what the event chart is facing), and the inevitability of death. Pluto could also speak to the “soul” of this chart, and is aligned with our current pole star—the “North Star”, Polaris, in Ursa Minor. This is another sort of center, as Polaris signifies the Earth’s axis, upon which we all turn. Pole stars are very important for navigation, literally and symbolically, acting as the “World Navel” of the time. As the pole star shifts over time, so does the collective paradigm. In this chart, our current pole star aligns with the chart ruler, which is, simultaneously, configured to the black hole at our Milky Way’s center.

Jupiter—the largest of our planets—is also important to examine. Jupiter is expansive, magnanimous, and sometimes exaggerative…similar to the namesake and qualities of the Titanic. Jupiter is aligned to yet, another, point of center. Our Milky Way galaxy is one of approximately 100,000 galaxies in the Laniakea Supercluster. The central gravitational area of the entire supercluster is known as the Great Attractor, with a mass that is believed to be millions of times greater than our Milky Way. Millions! Jupiter is aligned with this incredibly magnetic center, at the cusp of constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus. I consider these constellations intrinsically connected, as they share the same region of the ecliptic—Ophiuchus standing above the scorpion and transmuting its poison into medicine. These stars are ruled by Pluto, and influence things like survival, passion, emotional catharsis, death, rebirth, healing, and transcendence. Jupiter was in the 12th House at the time of the event—a house, classically, known as the “House of Self-Undoing.” Too, this is the house of our dreams and the collective unconscious, which I will reiterate that this event continues to inspire. The Titanic suffered its own undoing through its bloated beliefs (Jupiter) of indestructibility and exaggerations of magnificence…due, in part, to the mistakes made by those in power (Pluto). Definitely, its lack of sufficient lifeboats sealed the fate of about 1,500 crew and passengers.

In the dark, icy Northern Atlantic that night, the Titanic sunk. However these centers upon centers within the chart ensure that the event will not soon be forgotten. From its stellium in Pisces, to all of the other placements I’ve delineated (and, of course, there are many more), it is evident that this event is a momentous one in the course of human history. The stories of both the dead and of those that survived mesmerize many, including the author of this writing. And, today, as it is the witches’ high holiday of Samhain—when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest—it feels appropriate to complete this article. Happy Samhain/ Halloween/ All Soul’s Day/ Dia De Los Muertos/ and more. What is remembered lives.