Alex's Asteroid Astrology

On Sunday, 18 June 2023, the Titan submersible, some 13,000 feet under the waters of the North Atlantic, lost contact with its support vessel on the surface.  The craft was carrying a crew of five, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four others who had paid $250,000 apiece for a chance to view the wreckage of the Titanic, part of OceanGate’s underwater tourism service.  Last contact came at 9:45 AM local time (11:45 AM UT), and a multi-nation search was instituted after the sub failed to return to the surface at about 3 PM as expected.  With an estimated 96 hours of reserve oxygen, by Thursday the 22^nd, the operation became one of recovery rather than rescue, as little hope was offered for survivors.

That slender hope dwindled to nothing later that day, as robot-operated vehicles spied a fresh debris field near the Titanic, with wreckage consistent with the Titan submersible’s size and construction.  Authorities suspect a “catastrophic implosion” of the craft, due to the tremendous pressure of the water at that depth, which likely occurred at about the time contact was lost.  The Titan would have imploded suddenly in a spectacular failure of the outer structure collapsing inward, with the force of several cases of dynamite exploding at once.  If any comfort can be taken from the situation, it is that the doomed passengers were likely destroyed instantly, before they were even aware there was a problem.

A chart cast for the last contact shows 20 Virgo on the Ascendant, conjoined asteroid Osiris 1923 at 27 Virgo, named for Egyptian god of the dead, exactly opposed Neptune at 27 Pisces, on the 20 Pisces Descendant, with asteroid Pandora 55 at 23 Pisces.  This Osiris/Neptune opposition, linking death (Osiris) and the sea (Neptune) has also been responsible for the drowning death of a FDNY EMT at the Jersey shore on June 9 and the capsizing of an overloaded trawler carrying some 750 migrants off the Greek coast on June 14, with the probable loss of more than 600 lives.  And on June 21^st, a dinghy conveying 60 more migrants to the Canary Islands sank off the coast of Morocco, with an estimated 30-40 drowned.  Also currently, British swimmer Iain Hughes has gone missing during a crossing of the English Channel for charity, with hope of his rescue fading.  Pandora suggests the unleashing of unintended consequences, an active element of all five stories.

On the 19 Gemini MC is Mercury at 12 Gemini, ruling communications and newsworthy stories; the Sun at 27 Gemini, bringing focus to the event; asteroid Atlantis 1198 at 23 Gemini, named for the mythic city inundated by floodwaters and submerged in the ocean to which it gave its name; and asteroid Grieve 4451 at 26 Gemini, whose application to the story should be obvious.  Note that Grieve and Atlantis form a T-Square with the Osiris/Neptune opposition and were likewise active in the earlier tragedies, though the Sun had not yet entered the fray, and these stories received less media attention.

On the 19 Sagittarius IC is asteroid Requiem 2254, named for the funeral mass for the dead, making three points related to death and grief energized by Angular placement. 

Three bodies are stationary for the incident, with two having the most application to the specifics of the story:  asteroids Seagrave 5574 at 28 Libra and Titania 593 at 17 Aquarius.  Seagrave is named for amateur astronomer Frank Evans Seagrave, but broken down into its component parts of “sea grave,” it couldn’t be more appropriate to the circumstances.  In fact, the entire Titanic wreckage site, which was the Titan submersible’s goal, is one vast “sea grave,” enfolding the remains of some 1500 victims of one of the worst disasters in naval history.  Seagrave turned direct on June 12^th, and is stationary for all five stories. 

Titania turned retrograde on June 7^th, and appears here as a marker both for the Titan submersible itself, and the wreck of the Titanic it was enroute to explore.  The submersible’s fate is further depicted by a T-Square, opposed Mars at 16 Leo, with Uranus on the fulcrum at 21 Taurus.  Mars rules violent death, and Uranus rules explosions of all types, as well as the sudden, unexpected quality of the implosion.

An additional allusion to the manner of its destruction and the attendant mystery surrounding the precise circumstances may be portrayed in a combination of factors also astride the Midheaven – these comprise asteroids Phaethon 3200, Sphinx 896 and Nemesis 128 at 11, 13 and 25 Gemini.  Phaethon is named for the son of the Greek solar god Helios, who drove his father’s sun chariot but was unable to control its horses, causing the sun to careen to earth and ignite the planet.  Out of desperation Zeus blew the boy from the sky with a thunderbolt, thus Phaethon is noted astrologically for a spectacular implosion.  Sphinx is named for a riddling desert creature who waylaid travelers with a question, then ate them when they were unable to answer.  It represents the ultimate mystery, inscrutable and unknowable, an enigma, never to be solved.  Nemesis represents ruin or destruction, a source of self-undoing.

The third stationary point is asteroid Paul 3525 at 21 Aquarius.  Paul represents passenger Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, a French deep-sea explorer, author and Titanic expert known as “Mr. Titanic.”  Stations represent literal “turning points” for those to which they are connected; in this case, the station appears to be chronicling Nargeolet’s shift from life to death.  Nargeolet is also represented by asteroid Henry (for Henri), which at 23 Virgo conjoins the Ascendant and Osiris, opposed Neptune.

The OceanGate company and the Atlantic Ocean venue are represented by asteroid Oceana 224, which at 0 Leo is opposed Pluto, modern lord of death, at 29 Capricorn, in a Grand Cross with Seagrave and asteroid Atropos 273 at 29 Aries, named for the mythic Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death.

Some of the passengers are also represented celestially, with craft pilot Stockton Rush, 61, imaged as asteroid Stockholm 10552, which at 17 Aquarius is an exact match for Titania (though not at station, having turned retrograde at 18 Aquarius several weeks prior).  Strangely, there is no birthdate available for this millionaire entrepreneur, himself a descendant of two US Founding Fathers, whose wife is the great-granddaughter of two Titanic victims.

British billionaire Hamish Harding, just days shy of his 59^th birthday, is seen as asteroid Harding 2003, which at 5 Capricorn conjoins asteroid Ophelia 171 at 3 Capricorn, named for the tragic Hamlet character who goes insane and drowns herself in a river.  Harding is also squared to asteroid Rip at 3 Libra, which functions as a death indicator in the form of the acronym RIP, “Rest In Peace”, a common tombstone inscription.  The Moon at 1 Cancer, also ruling the sea, fills in a T-Square.

The final two passengers are Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman, for which no PNA (Personal-Named Asteroids) matches exist.

We do have birthdates for Harding and Nargeolet, however.  Born 24 June 1964 (no time available), Hamish Harding has several points at station in his birth chart, including … wait for it … Seagrave, Oceana and Titania!  Stationary points exert an outsized importance in the life and biography, and certainly these three energies will be forever linked with Harding.  Incredibly, asteroid Titania appears at 28 Libra, exactly conjoined transit stationary asteroid Seagrave!  Titania turned direct 15 June 1964.  It is accompanied by asteroid Oceana at 6 Scorpio (SD on 21 June 1964) and asteroid Karma 3811 at 10 Scorpio (SD on 30 June 1964).  This speaks to a fated rendezvous with destiny (Karma) involving OceanGate’s (Oceana) Titan submersible and the Titanic wreck (both Titania).  As well, Titania opposes asteroids Poseidon 4341 and Osiris at 23 and 24 Aries, in a T-Square with asteroid Requiem at 26 Cancer, linking the ancient Greek god of the sea (Poseidon) with two death indicators (Osiris, Requiem). 

Asteroid Seagrave at 27 Aquarius turned retrograde on 15 June 1964, and is accompanied by asteroid Icarus 1566 and Damocles 5335, at 24 and 17 Aquarius respectively.  Icarus represents rash, reckless acts heedless of the consequences (multiple experts deemed the Titan submersible to be unsafe), while Damocles is that doom hanging unseen overhead.  Confirming the source of the doom is transit asteroids Titania and Stockholm, both exactly conjunct natal Damocles at the incident, for the craft (Titan) and its pilot (Stockton Rush).  Seagrave is also squared natal asteroid Atropos at 26 Taurus, while natal asteroid Grieve at 19 Gemini is an exact match for the incident’s MC.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet (born 2 March 1946, no time available) has no stationary point applicable to the story, but he does sport an exact square from natal asteroid Seagrave at 11 Sagittarius to his natal Sun at 11 Pisces.  Asteroid Titania appears at 11 Libra, with Neptune at 7 Libra, in sextile to Pluto at 9 Leo with asteroid Oceana at 13 Leo.  Together these form the base of a Yod, or Finger of Destiny pattern, with the Sun at its Apex.  Titania exactly opposes an exact pairing of asteroids Rip and Anubis 1912 (named for the Egyptian deity governing funerary rites) at 11 Aries, while Pluto/Oceana squares a conjunction of asteroids Atropos and Osiris at 11 and 17 Taurus.

Given the depth of the sea in this area, and the difficulty of retrieving wreckage or remains, it is likely these adventurers will lie as they are forever, with the goal of their expedition just out of reach.

ADDENDUM: 6/26/23

Birth data for Stockton Rush was unavailable at this writing, but surfaced several days later with obituary and memorial material. As well, it was revealed that Stockton was actually his middle name, and Richard was his given first name. It had been bothering me that someone so central to this narrative had appeared more or less peripherally in the skies at the time, but I chalked it up to the inexact matches I was forced to use to represent him.

However, there is an exact match for Richard (#3972), and its placement more than validates his pivotal importance. At 27 Pisces, asteroid Richard is an exact match for Neptune, exactly opposed asteroid Osiris at 27 Virgo, and exactly T-Squared the Sun at 27 Gemini, marking Richard Stockton Rush III as a leading player in the drama.

Born 31 March 1962 (no time available), Rush sports natal asteroid Seagrave at 7 Cancer squared the 10 Aries Sun, conforming to the pattern of having this point prominent, already established in the birth charts of the others lost on the implosion. Reinforcing the sense of mortality here is asteroid Anubis at 14 Cancer conjoined Seagrave, also squaring the Sun with asteroid Rip at 16 Aries. Asteroid Titania at 1 Aries conjoins the Sun broadly, identifying his Titan submersible as self-defining for Rush, and asteroid Oceana (for the OceanGate company of which he was CEO) at 13 Taurus joins a Grand Cross of energies, opposed Neptune (the sea) at 12 Scorpio, squared Saturn (death) at 9 Aquarius and Atropos (also death) at 16 Leo, with Atropos embedded at station.