The sinking of the Titanic has always fascinated me as a very sad story of a vessel being pulled down into the underworld, to me it has elements of the Persephone myth about it. We have a time for Titanic hitting the Iceberg at 11.40pm. [wiki].
The astrology of the sinking of the Titanic synchronises with a pretty phenomenal horoscope as you would imagine! Pluto on the Descendant (29′), South Node and Spica on the Midheaven (22′). Massive wealth, power, status. Titanic tragedy. The Nodes are conjunct the MC/IC axis by only 22′, and this ship should have been a success with Spica on the MC, but it is being squared by the God of the sea Neptune and Persephone’s mother Ceres.
Ceres can break up families, and bring tragedy it is also abduction and grief. So it’s not surprising these are in hard aspect. I’m sure many children lost their parents in the tragedy since there was a struggle for lifeboats and it was women and children first. The chart is mostly below the horizon, or below sea level. The most interesting conjunction is the Moon and Eris both on Scheat. “It causes extreme misfortune, murder, suicide, and drowning.” [1]
Scheat with the Moon in particular “danger of accidents and by water”. I mentioned Persephone earlier and Eris can be Persephone after the rape. In this case Pluto is the iceberg, ripping into her side. I also have found Eris in hard aspect to the Moon very dangerous and psychotic in my post on Psychopath Astrology. And we have a Hades Moon square Pluto to add to the Persephone theme. Just read the link and it makes sense with the whole tragedy
The Moon is conjunct Eris/Persephone below the horizon. This is the ship being pulled down into the underworld by Pluto the Iceberg. But Pluto is just re-balancing something. Ceres conjunct Neptune could be the big impossible dream, the opulence, the chandeliers, Persephone’s privileged background.
The ship contained societies elite, most of whom must have survived. Ceres square Sun conjunct a Mercury retrograde. Well naturally! Even the way the poor ship nose-dived like a torpedo after only 2 hours seems to be described by the Sun on the North Node at the IC. Titanic’s fate lay below sea level. Apparently there was an huge amount of coal stored in the bowels of the ship that caught fire and weakened its structure, melting its iron so that it snapped in two. Pluto is of course coal. Because of this huge wealth of Pluto the unsinkable was sink.
Pluto on the DC was on Betelgeuse.“Honors and titles will be given…If setting, these honors and titles will not come until after death.”. The Titanic has become a legend since it sank, so it is still very much alive in peoples consciousness. Titanic is big business and such is the obsession with it there are Titanic conventions and even an astrologer who specializes in finding the Titanic past-life connections in your chart! The AC was on the star Acumen the sting of the Scorpion which again makes me think of Pluto the God of the underworld stripping down this symbol of overblown wealth and privilege. All that luxury is now eroding at the bottom of the Atlantic.
Captain Smith & Titanic Synastry
Captain Smith’s natal North Node, Moon and Ascendant are all in the Titanic’s 8th house of death. His natal Moon opposes Titanic’s Uranus which is traditionally the planet of accidents, shocks and disaster.
Smith’s Saturnian scythe is on the Titanic’s Venus, her luxury and wealth. His disastrous Uranus is Titanic’s destiny being that it is on her North Node/IC conjunction and in horary astrology the IC is the “End Of The Matter”.
Smith has Pluto on his own MC (55′) which makes him an agent of Pluto, Persephone’s abductor. His MC/Pluto falls on Titanic’s Mercury/Sun conjunction in the Underworld (4th house) both squaring the the sorrowful Ceres/Lilith opposition.
Captain Smiths Sedna falls on the calamitous Moon/Eris conjunction on Scheat. Sedna’s mythology is one of betrayal by the father, but it is also very similar to the myth of Persephone in the sense it is about the parent/child relationship and being forced to grow up in a very brutal manner. Captain Smith was responsible for the safety of his passengers and ship so he was the symbolic father. In effect he was responsible, albeit indirectly, for any children who had been orphaned by the tragedy and for them having to grow up quick.
I think it’s amazing how the astrology shows us why the story of the Titanic has continued to fascinate us 100 years on. There is an underlying mythology that touches us on a very deep level which is why the film Titanic is the second highest grossing film of all time. And even the fictional love story, created to carry the account of the Titanic’s sinking, is reflected in the horoscope of the sinking.