As an astrologer, I often wonder how events and their buildup are reflected in the planetary alignments at the time of the event. It would seem that it would be easy to see astrological indicators for momentous events. For the sinking of the Titanic this seems to be the case.

The Titanic, which was highly touted as unsinkable at its launch, hit an iceberg in the mid-Atlantic at 11:40PM on April 14, 1912 at 41N46 longitude and 50W14 latitude. (See Chart) The huge gash that the iceberg ripped into the ship caused the Titanic to sink two hours later, killing 2/3 of the passengers. Poor emergency preparations and freezing water were the cause of death for most of those who died.

In the astrology chart for the time of iceberg impact, the South Node conjuncts the Midheaven. This remarkable feature strongly suggests that this moment in time is associated with calamity and loss, and with 'paying the piper'.

The opposite end of the nodal axis, the North Node, is conjunct the Ic, which suggests a great learning from the deep, and the need for a significant re-thinking of the psychological underpinnings of our behavior. I guess this represents a mistake we all can learn from! By itself, the nodal axis on the Mc-Ic axis doesn't require such a great catastrophe. However, several other planetary placements contributed to this theme and magnified it.

Neptune at 21 Cancer is in a perfect square to the nodal axis. Neptune represents the sea, great loss, glamourizing, delusions, and lying to ourselves and others. In the 7th house, Neptune can indicate that we are easily deceived and tricked by others. Neptune also represents drunkenness. Neptune can indicate that we are less aware of risks and pitfalls and therefore may act brashly and irresponsibly. In the movie, Titanic, which represents a popular story about the sinking, the captain was persuaded by a colleague to run the ship at full speed across the Atlantic for the sake of creating a national media sensation about the early completion of the voyage. This, despite the fact that they were crossing iceberg-filled waters on a moonless night (it was a balsamic moon that night, which further supports the themes of loss, death, catastrophe, dissolution, and things simply coming apart.)

Along with the lunar nodes, another portentous planet was aligned with the chart angles that night: Pluto.The chart angles are considered 'personal points' and places of significant action in the chart. Malevolent planets on the angles can weight the chart towards danger. With Pluto on the Descendant, the moon acts as a trigger by squaring it, the Sun and Mercury also acts as triggers by sextiling Pluto, and Neptune adds theme as well as plenty of extra tension by squaring the Nodes. Mars in square to Venus adds social tension, which there was plenty of in the panic of that night.

Okay, so we see that the chart at this particular moment in time shows a lot of danger. In truth, though, several of the planets and points mentioned move far in a short period of time (the chart angles move completely around the zodiac every day, the moon changes sign every 2.5 days, etc.) Could this terrible danger have been foreseen in the horoscope? Would it have been useful for the captain, say, to seek out the advice of an astrologer before the maiden voyage of his renowned ship?

If we take a look at the chart for the departure of the ship from Queenstown, Ireland 3 days earlier on April 11, we can see some chart features that persist throughout the voyage and others that would transpire during the voyage. (See Chart) Neptune is at the high tension point of the nodal bending (Neptune squares the lunar nodes) indicating that delusion, deception and troubles at sea are a strong potential. It also indicates that the Titanic will remain a story in the culture's consciousness for some time to come, whatever form that story would eventually take. The action on Pluto is particulary interesting. Pluto, which represents death, destruction, anger, power, and instinctive irrationality, is exactly sextile Mercury retrograde and will be aspected by the Sun and Moon during the course of the trip. Venus squares Pluto, indicating rash desires and impulses. And it could be said that the trine of the Moon in Aquarius to Pluto coincided with brainy discussions related to the how to get the most from the voyage for the sake of publicity. In the movie, the captain was convinced by an investor to push the Titanic engines to their limits. The square of the Moon to Pluto resulted in the consequences of those fateful discussions.

A good astrologer would have warned of the need for caution, attention to risks, and the need for clear-headedness and clear vision. He would also have warned of decreased visibility due to the darkened moon, and the extra care needed as a result.

The chart simply shouts 'Be Careful' or you're Doomed!