Never before have we had the ability to travel to new countries as easily as we do today. While we are still sadly living during these weird pandemic times, hopping on a plane to go to a new place halfway around the world is still something our grandparents couldn’t fathom!

And thanks to Jim Lewis, who discovered astrocartography in the 1970s and coined / trademarked the term, we now can plan to relocate or travel to places that would most beneficially serve us on an energetic, soul level.

I’ve been studying birth charts and astrology for over ten years, but it wasn’t until after I lived on 7 different planetary lines across the globe from San Diego to NYC, Egypt to Bali and Virginia and then ultimately moving to France in 2018. It was while living in France on my Venuc IC line that my interest for reading natal charts very quickly turned to an exciting, small niche in astrology, that most captivated my love for travel: astrocartography.

If you’d like to go more in depth and learn astrocartography in my 7 week locational astrology course, click here to learn more!

What is Astrocartography?

Astrocartography is the astrology of place. It’s also called locational astrology, relocation astrology and astro-locality.

Based on your natal chart in astrology, there is a map that corresponds to where the different planets were at different points on the map at the specific time you were born. 

Just as there are supportive planets and challenging planets, there are more supportive and challenging places in the world for you.

As a traditional Hellenistic astrologer, I follow the stoic notion that nothing in life is good or bad; things are either preferable or unpreferable, but certainly some places in the world hold more challenging energies for us.

The more challenging places (Mars, Saturn, Pluto – but it depends entirely on the natal chart) are areas of growth. Venturing to planetary lines that are more difficult are areas to learn lessons and focus in on those particular energies in our lives.

Reading an Astrocartography Map

When you pull up your astrocartography map, by going to astro.com < astro click travel, or using professional astrology software like Solar Fire, you’ll find that your map is covered in longitudinal lines. The closer you are to a line, the closer you feel the energy of that planet.

Even if you aren’t directly on a planetary line, you’ll still feel the orb of influence of that line up to 600 miles. Which is why it’s so important to measure it! Vibrationally, the energy lessons the farther you move away from the planetary line. I share more about the distance and specific measurements for the best effect in this blog post here.

Other Lines in Astrocartography

Aside from the main natal lines, there are also local space lines, parans, zenith points, among others. There are also crossing points when longitudinal and latitudinal lines cross and points that target on a specific point on your astrocartography map. Professional astrocartography software like Solar Fire can show those other lines and crossings.

When multiple lines are together, they tell a deeper story. I’ve been studying astrology since 2011 and astrocartography for four years and now offer astrocartography readings to suit your personal needs and interests, as well as to dive deeper into your unique soul’s history in the world. You can learn more about my offerings here, but let’s get back to understanding your map!

Steps to Uncovering Your Astrocartography Map

1. Learn the meanings of the planetary archetypes. Each planet has a positive and a negative side. (I’ve included some basic keywords at the bottom of this blog post.)
2. Research the angles and their meanings (scroll down to read more)
3. Most importantly, look at your natal chart first. Determine the sect of your chart (is Mars or Saturn more unpreferable for you? Is Jupiter or Venus your happiest planet?), the essential dignities, and where the planets are placed in which houses. What aspects are they making with one another? This will give you detailed insight as to whether a line will be positive or more challenging.
4. Look at Parans and Local Space Lines. These are crossings and horizontal lines that cross your natal A*C*G lines and give more information on specific cities, regions and places around the natal lines. You can only find paran lines and local space lines on professional astrocartography software like Solar Fire.
5. Look at your relocated natal chart, to see the different areas of your life and how they are activated in a new location!

Examine the Natal Chart First

I’ve written some other important factors to determine a positive planetary line for you and your unique natal chart in this post here. I find many people just automatically jump right to the astrocartography map. This is where I would urge caution. Your map works in tandem with your natal chart. So if you have a very difficultly placed Venus, I would never recommend moving to a Venus line, even though Venus being benefic is typically a positive place to travel. It’s important to start always start with examining your natal chart first and seeing how the planets work for you.

Career and/or Family on your Astrocartography Map

As a general rule of thumb (definitely look to your natal chart for specifics), for career and public success of recognition, you want to ideally move to a Jupiter MC or a Sun MC or a strong 10th house placement.

Generally speaking, venus are especially supportive for creatives and artists. If you’re looking for a peaceful home and family life, Jupiter IC, Moon IC or Venus IC is lovely (After living on 7 different planetary lines, I currently live on a Venus IC line in France and love it)!

Tips for Understanding the Lines on Your Astrocartography Map

When lines are directly on top of each other, such as on an intersection, they merge to tell a more nuanced and detailed story of a person’s life there.

You don’t want to live in a place where there are too many lines; it’s just far too much energy for one to take in.  Even living directly on a natal line is intense and can feel overwhelming. I write all about how to measure the best distance from natal lines here in this recent blog post.

What if there are no lines?

If there are no lines anywhere around a place, that means the energy in that place isn’t supportive or challenging. It’s a respite of sorts. Personally, I think it’s better to travel or relocate to a more supportive planetary line to receive the maximum benefit. One can still feel the effects of astrocartography lines within 600 miles, so it’s important to measure the distance, even if a line is in ocean. Keep in mind the parans and local space lines, if there are no natal lines. 

Learning Astrology and Astrocartography

Astrology is complicated. It’s not as simple as knowing your sun, moon or rising sign. We are so much more than just our rising sign. We have many planets telling a story in our natal chart. How you communicate with others (mercury) may not appear anything like your sun sign. There are various houses (areas of life), rulers of planets and aspects that tell a deeper story of how the planets relate to one another. 

It’s always important for me to note that astrology is a system of correlations; it’s not causal. The stars don’t cause us to do things or tell us to behave in a certain way. Rather, astrology is a reflection, a window of your karmic unfolding. Astrology is a language, and when you begin to study the language of astrology, you start to understand the symbols, the glyphics, the lines and their meanings.

Reading a full chart can then be like reading a book of a person’s life…which is why I love zodiacal releasing – an ancient Hellenistic timing technique that divides a person’s life into positive and challenging “peak periods” which can help with planning purposes.

Essentially, astrology is the language of life. If you don’t speak the language, of course, you’re not going to understand it. But by working one-on-one with experienced astrologers, reading books (I recommend this one to get started and learning the basics) or learning the basic planets/aspects, which I’ve included down below, astrology can be easily learned with time and dedication.

Astrology isn’t a psychic or intuitive practice. It’s simply looking at what the chart says and simply acting as a messenger.

Book an Astrocartography Reading with Me

I love studying the chapters and places of a person’s destiny. And I’m far more fascinated by other people’s charts than my own. That’s why I love giving client readings. I’ve been passionately studying astrology for over 12 years but I uniquely specialize in astrocartography (or travel and relocation astrology) and zodiacal releasing as travel and time are my favorite topics to explore in a person’s life biography. As a storyteller and seeker, I feel most at home uncovering the truth within a chart. And I’m so thrilled to be sharing what I’ve learned with you.

If you’d like to book a personalized one-on-one reading with me, where we go deeper on the map of your soul’s blueprint and look at the detailed themes that will emerge for you in those specific places in the world. You can learn more details and book an astrocartography reading with me here.   I consider both parans, local space lines and natal lines. 

Learn Astrocartography in my Locational Astrology Course

Want to learn astrocartography and add this valuable skill to your business offerings? Take my in-depth 7 week locational astrology course. This self-paced course includes 7 modules, including how to understand the story of a place as well as how I created a thriving business as an astrocartographer! Get more details and join the course program here!

Just Have a Quick Question?

I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have about your natal chart, zodiacal releasing or travel/relocation astrology map here on Hey Hero! Send me your questions and I’ll look up your chart and send you a unique, personalized video answering your questions!

Basic Keywords of Planets –

Sun: Most positive luminary. It’s where we shine and are seen! Leadership. It’s our will and spirit.

Moon: Feminine, nurturing, emotions and desires, inner needs and nourishment, a feeling of home and belonging

Neptune: Spiritual, unconscious, the unseen, the mysteries of life. A bit foggy and vague in energy.

Mars: Aggression, achievement, drive, stamina, motivation

Mercury: Communication, writing, technology. A very social and mentally stimulating line.

Jupiter: Fortune, blessings, luck, abundance. This planet is expansive!

Venus: Visual beauty, love, affection, style, art, partnership.

Uranus: Surprises, rebellious energy, changing society, instability

Saturn: challenge, discipline, hard work, order, delay, isolation, limitation

Pluto: transformation, death, rebirth, corruption, power, intensity

Angles and their Meanings in Astrocartography:

Ascending (AS) – Self / adopting the appearance and energy of that particular planet. Self-focused.

Imum Coeli (IC) – A sense of home and belonging, you will feel centered through the energies of this planet. More private.

Midheaven (MC) – Career, public reputation. How you are affected socially and in your career. More public.

Descendant (DS) – Relations. What you are drawn to in others and how others impact you. (partner, relationships, community)

Lunar Node – This special point shows a karmic connection. South nodes indicate a feeling of deja vu or familiarity, having come from. The North Node is your focus, obsession and the direction you’re heading toward.

Watch my astrocartography videos on Youtube!

I share more educational content on Youtube at Astrocartography with Helena, where I share example relocated natal charts, the meanings behind each astrocartography line and more tips on where the best places to live are based on your map!

I also make more spiritual, creative short films on Youtube here. 🕊☀️

I hope this provides some useful information on your astrocartography journey ☀️ Have a magical day!

Warmly,

Helena!