A Review of Titanic Astrology

By Natori Moore, C.A. NCGR

Titanic Astrology, by Eileen Grimes, Little Shaver Press, 2400 NW 80th Street, PMB 109, Seattle, WA, 98117, titanicastrology.com, 2004.  Paper.  260 pp.  $16.95/US

In terms of sheer drama, one of the highlights of my life was the opportunity to be a film extra in the 1997 feature film Titanic.  The reader will be encouraged to indulge my Leo Moon a little while I reminisce.  I’ll never forget being dressed in a formal 1912-era dress and long white gloves, standing on the ramp to the faux ship’s dining room film set with a handful of other extras, waiting for our moment in the spotlight.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be part of the action as Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Frances Fisher, Billy Zane and other principal Titanic actors filmed their scenes.  Billy Zane gave Red Vines candy to the extras and chatted with us to pass the time.  Kathy Bates returned a smile I gave her.  I even got to take a stage direction from director James Cameron.  He asked me to tell a joke (what the joke was escapes me now) to make it look like our table of people was laughing.  The daily hair and make-up sessions inspired me to improve my fashion sense off the set and even change my hair color.  And yes, my five seconds of fame did wind up in the movie.  You can see me seated at a table in the dining room, lifting a wine glass as the camera pans the room to land on a sullen Kate Winslet.  People in the greater San Diego-Tijuana area involved in filming Titanic still retell their tales about filming the movie, whether harrowing or heroic, with a kind of gleam in their eyes. 

As dramatic as being on a film set can be, there’s yet another way – more subtle and detailed but no less powerful – to become engaged with historical events at a transformative level.  Reading thoughtfully prepared historic astroanalysis -- writing that combines historical research with skilled astrological evaluation -- can be a profound way to gain deep levels of insight from historic events.  In Titanic Astrology, Eileen Grimes provides the reader with just such an opportunity for insight.  Grimes does an excellent job of describing the convergent people, places and events surrounding the historic voyage and sinking of the Titanic, and of showing us why it’s such a compelling tale all these years later.  She makes it clear by her enthusiasm for the subject and broad scope of research that historic astroanalysis is not mere dry rehashing of facts, but writing that can give the reader the opportunity to muse on how he or she might be associated with an historic event astrologically, and allow such musings to serve as a catalyst for psychological or spiritual growth.  Grimes reinforces with numerous examples her Titanic degree point theory – that persons involved with the Titanic event and later retellings of it nearly always have some connection to the cardinal astrological degree points of 21 to 25 degrees Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn in their natal or other significant charts.  Her theory gets a boost from the fact that I, having been part of filming Titanic and now writing this review of a book about the historic event, have my Mercury (planet of communication) at a critical Titanic degree of 21 Aries.  Ironically enough, this degree, through conjunction with the fixed star Baten Kaitos, is associated with shipwrecks!  (Luckily, apart from being an extra in Titanic, I don’t do much boating.) 

I found especially illuminating Grimes’ analysis of the North and South Moon’s Nodes in the Master Chart for the Titanic sinking dated April 14, 1912 – the complacency of the Libra South Node in the 10th house reflecting the passive attitude of many of the ships officers and the emphasis on the beauty and status of the ship, without sufficient attention to direct action on board (Aries North Node) or foundational support for the voyage (4th House North Node).  The chapter on Mercury Retrograde in the Master Chart could almost make a book in itself, with its fascinating notations of communication mix-ups involved in both the voyage and sinking of the Titanic.  Grimes’ use of interesting sidebar comments that describe last minute decisions by specific passengers to embark on Titanic or not enhances her tale as well.  As compelling as any mystery story, and even more so because its details are based in fact, Titanic Astrology is a worthy addition to literature on the sinking of the Titanic.  Even more important, it is a fine example of historic astroanalysis -- using astrology to evaluate historic events in a way that may be psychologically or spiritually constructive for the reader as well as intellectually educational.  In a sense, Eileen Grimes has fulfilled the promise of the 4th House Aries North Node in the Titanic sinking Master Chart by using historic astroanalysis to help popularize a deeper emotional and spiritual understanding of the event.  One hopes that, like Grimes, more writers on historic events will include astrological evaluation to increase the power of their work.