OK, so what is Astrocartography, and how do you use it?
Astrocartography is a relatively new offshoot of astrology that’s been around since the 1970s (also known as locational astrology) where your birth chart is mapped against a world map to discover which places on Earth resonate most with you. If your birth chart is a snapshot of where all the planets were in the sky at your moment of birth, an astrocartography chart relates that to where all those planets were rising and setting around the world at your time of birth.
What is Astrocartography?
Astrocartography shows up as a visual guide, a map of the world with lines for each planet drawn on top. The places that fall on lines or line intersections are supposed to be more meaningful, powerful, and transformative for you. They are your special places. Depending which planet’s line these ‘hot spots’ belong to dictates what kind of energy and action you can best tap into there.
Place is very important. Sometimes we outgrow our surroundings; sometimes we feel poisoned by them, and sometimes we need a fresh scene. New landscape = new energy and opportunity. We often feel differently when we travel, when we expand our horizons, see other cultures or scenery. And different places can awaken different versions of our self, or different moods and ideas. Astrocartography takes that to the max and matches places to planets which are cosmically aligned with our destiny. The places it shows up are the places where you can realise your full potential and find, perhaps, who you truly are and what your purpose in life is.
The planet lines exert the same kind of influence and themes on the places they hit as they do in a birth chart i.e. Saturn for responsibility and growing up, Venus for love and relationships, Jupiter for good luck and new opportunities, Mercury for commerce and communication etc.
How do you find your Astrocartography?
You can get a lot of this information from a free chart (astrodienst) and see the places your planetary lines hit. However to get a truly personal reading, there are more factors to consider that might defeat the average layman. Consulting an expert is not a bad idea.
For instance, when looking at an Astrocartography map online, you’ll track not only the lines of the planets, but their angles as well - the ascendant (AC), midheaven (MC), descendant (DC) and imum coeli (IC). Each one pertains to a different stage of personal development and growth. It adds another layer of interpretation. So, to get a true understanding of Astrocartography, you need to match the planet (the life area or influence) to the angle (the stage of personal development in play) to the place (the action or potential in scope). An experienced Sstrocartographer can interpret all of these moving parts and help you to understand where you need to be.
Some of the key lines to pay attention to include:
Rising or Ascendant (AC): As in basic astrology, your rising or ascendant line is all about how you present to the world, what others experience and see of you - your ‘mask’. So, if you moved to your Uranus AC line, you might come off as really radical and progressive in an outwardly facing manner, like joining a cause or leading an activist rally.
The Descendant (DC): The descendant line represents the 7th astrological house of life-changing relationships and partnerships. The sweet spot is your Venus descendant line which might just reveal exactly where on this earth your true love is.
The Imuni Coeli (IC): The IC line is linked to the 4th house of ancestry, family, maternal or caregiving figures in your life, and tradition, and speaks to your family and roots. When you’re near this line, you may feel yourself looking back and within to trace your growth and the influences on you from family and your past.
How do you use Astrocartography?
As a very rough rule of thumb, the hotspots on the following planetary lines will suggest the best places for certain activities.
Chiron: For healing or time to process something difficult.
Venus: An indulgent or relaxing place for pleasure will be found
Mars: Places full of action, ambition, and dynamic opportunity aligned to your life goals. You’ll be busy and challenged there.
Jupiter: Places for surprises, adventure, good fortune, and broadening one’s horizons mentally and spiritually.
Pluto: A deep, meaningful source of rebirth and new life cycles, so go there when you’re ‘going through’ something or want to trigger a total transformation.
Sun: whenever you’re near your Sun line, your energy, self confidence and sense of ‘rightness’ in your own identity and skin will surge. A promise of wonderful happenings along this line.
Moon: Expect to feel heightened sensitivities and even psychic twinkles when you’re near or on your Moon line. This satellite rules over our emotional, intuitive self.
Mercury: Mercury is all about travel, communication, commerce and intellect, so the places along this line are all venues for you to express yourself, have great fun learning something, or even be successful commercially.
Saturn: Saturn doesn’t come to play; it comes to make us grow up, face reality, and accept responsibilities. ‘Adulting’ in short. So the places associated with your Saturn line are likely to trigger a wake-up call.
Uranus: Expect your inner rebel to strike out when you’re around Uranus-linked places. This planet is radical, unpredictable, and progressive. Amazingly powerful ideas and opinions could be sparked along your Uranus line.
Neptune: Beware of illusions, secrets, and meandering mysteries that lead you off track when you’re near your Neptune line. That said, your imagination WILL be firing on all cylinders. Discern fact from fiction.
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