On Sunday, June 18th, at or around 9:45am, the Titan submarine imploded off the coast of St. John’s Newfoundland, killing its five passengers and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. Due to a variety of factors, including a cavalier attitude towards safety and craftsmanship, the ship imploded under the immense pressures of the Atlantic Ocean while surveying the wreckage of the Titanic, another underworld monument to human hubris. The manner in which the passengers died and the themes surrounding their tragic deaths, appear to align closely with the planetary movements at the time of the disaster, when both Neptune and Saturn were co-present in the sign of Pisces.
Neptune is the planet of illusions, mysticism, delusions, self-deception, and the blurring of boundaries. It represents that aspect of ourselves that strives to transcend and merge with the numinous and the divine.
Saturn is the planet of boundaries, obstacles and undertakings, containment, responsibility, and all that is heavy and cold. Saturn represents that part of ourselves that seeks to build long lasting structures through hard labor and discipline. Before the discoveries of the outer planets, Saturn represented the final boundary and is thus also aligned with themes of death.
The sign of Pisces is a feminine, mutable, water sign and is traditionally ruled by the planet Jupiter. In modern astrology, Neptune is assigned rulership of Pisces. Though we do not use the modern rulerships here, Neptune does share a strong overlap with the significations of the sign of Pisces and is especially strong here. Like Neptune, Pisces is a place without boundaries and represents all that is ephemeral, unreliable, and diffusive. Here, there is the danger of accepting things on faith and being too naive or trusting.
The name of the company itself, OceanGate, evokes the themes of both Neptune and Saturn in Pisces. Neptune, as ruler of the oceans and Saturn as ruler of boundaries or gates, in the water sign of Pisces appears to align closely. This echoing of themes is also present in the name of the vessel, Titan, which also happens to be the name of one of Saturn’s moons. Saturn’s moon derived its name from the Titans, a race of old gods, of which Saturn or Kronos belonged, who were usurped, overthrown, and tossed into the underworld prison of Tartarus. In the Greek tradition, Kronos (Saturn) was overthrown by his son Zeus (Jupiter) along with his siblings, one of which was Poseidon (Neptune).
The manner in which the poorly built vessel of the Titan perished is also echoed in Saturn and Neptune’s presence in Pisces. According to reports, the vessel was built with a cheaper, lighter carbon fibre rather than the titanium or solid steel traditionally used to withstand the heavy pressures of the deep waters. Interviews surfaced online of OceanGate’s co-founder, Stockton Rush, speaking rather flippantly about safety concerns, echoing Neptune’s delusions and tendency to engage in self-sabotage.
Saturn is the planet of form, structure, and order. But in the mutable, water sign of Pisces, Saturn is building on quicksand and the boundary between what is inside versus outside become dissolved. Saturn represents all that is heavy and cold and in the water sign of Pisces, we see further alignment with the destruction of the submarine due to heavy pressures deep in the cold waters off the coast of Newfoundland.
Underworld themes appear elsewhere: Saturn as harvester of time and arbiter of the final boundary between life and death; Poseidon (Neptune) as brother to the underworld ruler Hades (Pluto); the imprisonment of the Titans in the underworld prison of Tartarus; the vessel Titan’s visit to the ghostly remains of the Titanic. Following news of the event, there were also a series of articles about Thalassphobia or fear of the deep sea. Thalassa was the elemental, primordial goddess of the sea, of which Poseidon (Neptune) ruled.
Finally, during this period, both Neptune and Saturn were in a square aspect with Mercury, the planet of communications, in the sign of Gemini. For days, the ultimate fate of the Titan crew was uncertain, with news channels and websites breathlessly speculating on the whereabouts and lives of the people aboard the vessel. Additionally, news outlets at this time also speculated that the entire incident was being amplified as a diversionary psyop from Hunter Biden’s legal troubles and the war in Ukraine. Mercury, the planet of communications, in square to Neptune, the planet of illusions would appear to align with these themes as well.
Although we do not have an exact birth time for Stockton Rush, the co-founder and CEO of OceanGate, we do know that he was born 3/31/1962 in San Francisco, California.
We can see that Rush has his natal Moon conjunct both the South Node and Saturn in the sign of the water-bearer, Aquarius. The Moon represents the physical incarnation of the individual and when conjunct the South Node, she is considered to be in a precarious position and carries an ominous quality. Conjunct Saturn, whose significations we have explored above, would appear to offer further challenges. Finally, the Moon, Saturn and the South Node are all opposite Uranus, the planet of sudden changes and lightning speed, suggesting unforeseen events which are challenging in some way. Since we do not have an exact birth time, these are merely speculations.
