AZ - Titanic

~ Voyage of the Titanic ~

April 10, 1912; 12:15 p.m. GMT
Southampton, England
Click here for Chart

The stupendous success of the recent release of "Titanic," the movie, is no coincidence.
The planets in the chart of the actual sailing in 1912, have been resounding like a series of gongs for the last three years! Alas, we certainly did not get the message way back then, and we appear to be in grave danger of missing it again. The resurgence of the entire drama, in all its cinematic largess, has reached a far greater number of souls than the original event ever could have. Are we paying attention, or are we just being swept away by the "romance" of the movie?

First, let's look at the chart for Titanic's maiden sailing.
Astrology had not quite "come out of the closet" yet, in 1912, so if an astrologer
did look at the chart, it was obviously deemed impractical to say anything against the "unsinkable" ocean-going hotel of the great "White Star Line!" (Sounds like they had already laid claim to the heavens!) However, that astrologer could not have missed all the warnings in Titanic's horoscope. The ASC (and its ruling planet) represent the vehicle in any travel chart. With Leo (Di Caprio? - destiny?) rising, trine Jupiter in Sagittarius, we are not surprised that it was proudly proclaimed to be the biggest, the best and unsinkable. Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends. The Sun (Leo's "ruler" = the ship) is in Aries in the 9th house of long distance trips: that's all Fire: in a big hurry, leaping without looking, full of oneself, "full steam ahead." The Sun is conjunct the Lunar North Node (opposite South Node), and they all square Neptune. So, the Sun (ship) and the Nodes (path of destiny) square (conflict) Neptune (loss, deception, fog, ice, water, the Sea) in Cancer (more water, including families) in the 12th house (home to Neptune & Pisces! - irrational, unknowable, irretrievable, i.e. more of the same).
Doesn't sound very good so far, does it?

The MC (midheaven) is the top of the chart and the entry point
into the 10th house, which in a journey chart represents the Destination. The Sun (always the "pilot," but in this case, the ship too) is right next to the MC, but not quite into the 10th house (it does not arrive). Horary astrologers know Spica to be the star of the most protection and blessing in the sky. When Titanic sailed it was conjunct the South Node (loss) and the IC (bottom of chart = HOME, the point of Departure). So, even the protection of Spica was "lost," and if it was anywhere, it was "at home." The people who "stayed home" were safe. Even the name "Titanic" is a mystery to us weavers of symbols, since the Titans in mythology were "earth gods," not "sea gods." No wonder the ship couldn't wait to get back to "ground."

But that is not all. Also in the 10th (destination) is Mercury retrograde!
Mercury (directions, crossroads, communications, signals) retrograde (backwards)
always means confusion, at the least, and at the Destination point, arrival is doubtful. At the end of Aries (impulsive), it had just been squared by the Moon, showing an obvious lack of attention to practicality or balance. As we now know, numerous warnings and signals were ignored. Saturn is often known to put a damper on fun, especially if the basics have not been looked after. Saturn was in Taurus (more Earth) intercepted (caught) in the 10th house! If we wanted to build the best anchor in the world, we might choose Saturn in Taurus to do so. This is not
the "destination" we want to see in an ocean voyage.

The Moon, always the primary key to chart activity, was waning
past the last quarter, at 29:45 Capricorn (as much Earth as you can get). This is
an old crone's Moon, not a maiden's. When no more aspects (exact angles) can be formed by the Moon before it changes signs, it is called "void-of-course." In other words, it is "done." While plane flights and car rides (without other dangerous aspects) may be quite peaceful with a v/c Moon, a long voyage like this one, and certainly the "maiden" voyage, had only the slimmest chance (less than 1% of Moon-time) to make it. Of course, the Moon is feminine, intuitive, receptive. This was not the fashionable "modus operandi" for the male Captain of the first "perfect" ship ever built! Once the Moon did change signs, it made a harsh quincunx (150°) to Mars (crash) and then conjoined Uranus (sudden shock, collision, break-up). The Moon in trip charts also symbolizes the passengers, and thus, they too were doomed. Even Venus, goddess of love and joy, was in Pisces (Neptune's domain, the ocean, fantasy, illusions)
exactly square Pluto (Death, and deep, dark water).

So, what about now? Uranus is nicknamed "The Awakener,"
and always comes with a sharp crack of thunder to snap us to "Attention!"
Keeping in mind the aforementioned Moon (at Titanic's sailing) at 29:45 Capricorn, and the Uranus, just three degrees later, in Aquarius, it comes as no surprise that in the spring of 1995, just as James Cameron was securing the first $3 million from Twentieth Century Fox to begin the movie project, Uranus was just entering 29° of Capricorn, for the first time since 1912! "Wake-up call!" It spent the next year traversing back and forth, as it prepared for entry into Aquarius. By the spring of 1996, it had returned for the first time, to the exact degree it held on the day Titanic sailed; just as Mr. Cameron added Paramount Studios' $65 million to the budget, and construction began on the movie. The magic of the Universe was at work!

We might not be surprised either, by the fact that a year before she sailed,
when Titanic was originally "launched" into the River Lagan, in Belfast, Ireland, May 31, 1911, Uranus itself, was retrograde at 29.Capricorn! (again, "as much earth as you can get"). Saturn, Capricorn's planet, has been making its own statement recently, just to drive home the point. Saturn "stationed" (turned retrograde) in the summer of 1997, in an exact square to Titanic's Neptune (the one that was square the Sun and the Nodes! - see above), just before the movie's world premiere, and didn't return to that point again, until "Titanic" made an historic sweep at the Academy Awards (March 1998). Saturn is indicative of the hard-learned lessons of the physical world, and squaring Neptune, it rips off the rose-coloured glasses.
Haven't we seen enough of patriarchal arrogance telling us "they know,"
and having something altogether different be the actuality?

Much to the chagrin of "male supremicists," we are NOT here to "conquer"
Mother Nature. The Aquarian Age will harken us back to a ~time~ when all of Life's creatures shared a common "language." Wasn't this the lesson in the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel? We are here to cooperate, integrate and create. In our avid desire to explore, achieve, and succeed, we get "all fired up," and forget (or choose not) to include the balance of "yin" energy (water!). Might we not imagine that had a little more nurturing, comfort and compassion (all Water) been given to the "lower classes" onboard, that more lives might have been saved, and such a torrential "flood of water" would not have been necessary (i.e. the "natural" balance to the "offense"). Any martial artist can tell us that without balance, defeat is inevitable. It takes a great deal of self-discipline to really listen to our intuition and synchronicity, especially when it radically disagrees with our personal intentions or desires.

At the turn of the last century, it was called "women's intuition,"
but as we close the door on the Piscean Age, we must assume that integrated holism is the ideal mode of transportation for all of us. As the 12th and last sign of the zodiac, Pisces (and Neptune) is about Oneness, acceptance, integration, humility, forgiveness, unconditional love, and yes, compassion. "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" It is nothing more than an overblown ego, "hubris" it is called, that refuses to listen to intuitive guidance, gut instinct or "whispers on the wind." Even the lack of an astrologer's advice on Titanic's maiden voyage is another indication of the lack of respect paid to the Feminine (I refer here to the archetypal "Feminine," which includes all forms of receptive activity. Male and female astrologers alike must use both intuition (yin) and intellect (yang) in order to give a holstic interpretation of the chart. The tides of Neptune must EBB and FLOW; life can never continue to move in only one direction ("full steam ahead"). The saddest part of all of this is that we still appear to have learned little. As this piece was being written, news came of "two Titanics" on the drawing boards for the year 2000.

Are you going to buy a ticket?

Our biggest challenge now, is to remember that it is Neptune
we are dealing with. Our rational, patriarchal conditioning pushes us toward a response that is frighteningly akin to the problem! We tend to want to "figure it out" with more mathematics, higher engineering and modern tools, a la Virgo, rather than floating, listening, and empathizing with the pain and compassion invoked through its polar opposite, Pisces (Neptune). On the last set of eclipses (late summer 1997), in Virgo/Pisces, we lost Lady Diana (see our Tribute to Diana, via her chart) and Mother Teresa. Never before has the entire world shared in such an immense collective outpouring of compassion. Again, six months later, following the next two eclipses in Virgo/Pisces, we were thrown into a mass mourning and again, compassion, as a result of the movie "Titanic" taking the theatres, and our hearts, by storm!

Perhaps, as our own emotional waves begin to subside,
we might take a deeper look at the whole message, rather than just at how technology is "bigger and better" now, so "it could never happen again." "It could never happen" the first time, remember? And "the four-minute mile could never be run," and "man was never meant to fly." Once we realize that the "impossible" can happen, we can allow it into our consciousness and our lives. Then we can be "warned" if there is danger lurking, and we can also be "assured" when we are on the right track! This is the world of Neptune. In memory of all the souls lost and traumatized by this gigantic tragedy, perhaps we could take a moment to reflect on their sacrifices, allowing our compassion to heal their wounds, and then as the natural ebb and flow goes, we shall also be healed. Can we give our planet one last chance? Can we learn to listen?

Please take a moment to read (or print for later) the brilliant, insightful
article written by James N. Kraut, Psy.D., on the C.G. Jung site.

For further exploration into the entire Titanic phenomenon, check here!

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