This Viral Form Of Astrology Is Helping People Determine *Exactly* Where They Should Live, Work, And Travel
Whether you take astrology seriously or not, it can still be a fun tool to learn more about ourselves and see how it plays out in our lives. Not only can astrology be a way to predict how your day will go or which people you might get along with better, but it can actually show you the best places for you to live or travel to as well — this specific type of astrology is known as astrocartography, and lately, it's been going viral online.
Astrocartography uses your birth chart to trace each planet's path across the world map (known as astrocartography lines) to identify the locations that might significantly influence your life. Each line provides a certain kind of energy you may experience when you travel within 600 miles of it.
I wanted to learn exactly how one should go about understanding their astrocartography chart, so I turned to the experts and asked astrologist Helena Woods (@mshelenawoods), who regularly breaks down everything you need to know about astrocartography in her videos on Instagram and YouTube.
To start, you'll need to enter your birth info into an astrocartography map, which you can do for free on many astrology sites. Woods recommends astro.com, which she says has more accurate lines than other popular astrology sites.
Each of the symbols corresponds to a planet, and clicking on the lines on the site gives explanations of what each of the planetary influences might mean if you lived there.
Helena explained that these locations are stories that have the potential to play out. The closer you are to your planetary lines, the stronger the effect, so it's best to aim for within 200 miles. What's interesting is that it's not just the locations themselves but the people who are connected to them as well that can bring these stories to your life. For instance, if you're looking for love, you might find success with someone who was born in a city near your Venus line, the planet of love, beauty, and relationships — even if neither of you currently lives there.
Some planetary lines are preferable to live near or visit compared to others. For instance, living on or near your Sun line might make you feel confident and motivated toward your goals. Visiting or living near your Jupiter line is generally good luck and can bring opportunities for expansion.
Other supportive planetary lines are Mercury, the planet of communication and intellect (visiting there is great for intellectual pursuits), and the Moon, which plays into your emotions and inner world (living on or visiting this line will give someone a sense of home).
However, it is important to make sure the planets you are looking at are well aspected, or in a favorable position. Woods cautions that the one mistake many people make in astrocartography is assuming that one of these beneficial planets will be beneficial to them specifically. This is where getting a reading from a professional astrologer can be wise, because they will be able to explain which would be best for you according to your birth chart. For instance, many people assume living on your Venus line will mean everything comes up roses and will be good for finding love, but if your Venus is harshly aspected, it can actually be an intense, or even difficult, place to live.
More difficult planetary lines to live on or visit include:
Mars: action, conflict, aggression, and passion
Saturn: restriction, authority, and karma
Neptune: creativity, spirituality, and illusion
Uranus: freedom, upheaval, and sudden or unexpected change
Pluto: transformation, power, death, and destruction
Chiron: actually a comet, but is significant in astrology because it reveals our deepest emotional wounds
However, if you live near one of the more difficult planetary lines, don't panic: You don't have to start packing your bags just yet. Woods said that the best thing to do in those circumstances is to try to embody that planetary energy and make it work for you. For instance, living near a Mars line, you can benefit from being active and taking the initiative on things, while a person might find living near a Saturn line benefits from having a disciplined routine. Pluto lines can be great for research, studying, or leaning into psychological exploration.
Woods explained that in my astrocartography chart, my birthplace, Los Angeles, is very close to my Mars line, and I found the themes definitely related to my upbringing and experience there. My family is very prone to arguing, and I find that I am more of a homebody because I always feel too depleted to run around, which is the opposite of how I am while living in New York. I always felt better when I was active as a kid, participating in activities like dancing and gymnastics. I currently live in New York City, which is very close to my Neptune line and is also close enough to my Venus line to be influenced by it as well, though Woods suggested it would be stronger if I were to visit Washington, DC, Virginia, or North Carolina.
The next thing to understand about your astrocartography map is the letters next to the planetary symbols, which you'll see as AS/AC (ascendant), which represents the self and how other people see you; DS/DC (descendant), which is your relationships; MC (Medium Coeli, Latin for highest point), which is your career and public image; and IC (Imum Coeli, Latin for lowest point), which signifies your family and home life.
The combinations of these will give you an idea of the energy these lines lend to the locations. So my sun (the symbol next to the MC line) runs through Canada down to Colorado, which tells me that living or visiting around there would be good for my career or public image.
If you want to keep it simple, focusing on your ascendant line and the destinations it touches is easiest since that energy is representative of you, and that'll give you a pretty good idea of how you’ll feel when in a certain place.
There's a general saying in astrocartography, "West was best," coined by Jim Lewis, the astrologer who streamlined planet mapping into astrocartography in the 1970s, which meant that living west of an astrocartography line was generally better. However, Helena notes that being west of a planetary line "makes that planetary line more angular and dynamic," which is only "better" if that is the desired effect and if the planet is well-aspected in your chart, as mentioned earlier. Living east of a line is less powerful which can work out in someone's favor, depending on the desired result.
The other lines you'll see on an astrocartography map are the parans which are the horizontal latitude lines and are a blend of two planetary energies. Their range of influence is within 75 miles. They can have a significant influence on your experience of a place. Even if you’re on a beneficial astrocartography line, if you are within range of a difficult paran, it can bring up more challenges than you might otherwise experience. The further from a paran line you are, the less its intensity and, therefore, its impact. So even relocating within a city can change your story there.
The free astrocartography chart doesn't immediately show parans on the map, so in order to pull them up, you have to go to the sidebar where it gives you the option to "show more details," and this will allow you to display the latitude lines.
If you find a location you want to know more about, Helena recommends looking up a relocated birth chart for that location, which you can also do for free. A relocated chart is like your birth chart but with the location set as the new place rather than where you were born (and make sure you adjust the time of birth for the new time zone if the software doesn't do it for you!). You will then be able to see how the chart has shifted signs.
Helena Woods
For instance, Helena noted that when I am in New York, I have a Cancer ascendant rather than my natal Gemini, which means I act more like a Cancer here, and people initially view me more like one here, as well. Cancer traits include being sensitive, loyal, intuitive, and caring, as opposed to Gemini's tendency toward being clever, outgoing, and impulsive.
What I found most interesting about my reading was almost all of the locations were places I had previously had an unexplainable affinity for. Colorado is one of the most beautiful places in the world that I've photographed, and I have a lot of fond memories there from when I was a kid — so much so that I actually sought to spend my birthday there this year. Plus, it was supposed to be lucky for my solar return (when your sun goes back to where it was when you were born — another astrology wormhole to deep dive). Visiting Japan has been at the top of my bucket list since I was in middle school, and Helena noted that I have a LOT of astrology placements there, including Venus (which means I would find it beautiful and fun), but apparently, also my nodes — so it could be a wonderful place for my career, as well.
Will you be trying out astrocartography for yourself? Let us know in the comments!
