My Thoughts on Astrocartography

             As 2025 comes to a close, I realize I did more charts on Astrocartography this year than any other previous year of my practice. It's become a hot topic lately and for good reason! Lots of people are considering relocating and starting fresh in light of world events that have happened this year.  There is a beautiful bright full moon outside tonight. Given that full moons are about sharing wisdom and of new information coming into our awareness, I thought I may share some of my thoughts and experiences on this insightful topic and hopefully you will find these of use to you, and for deeper reflection in your life journey. 

        Astrocartography is the branch of astrology that deals with the predominant planetary influences in the city and country that you are currently in. When you travel or immigrate to another place, and the further away you travel or immigrate from where you were born, the more your chart will change. The feelings and experiences are new because new planets will be on the angles of your chart (Ascendant, Descendant, MC, IC). In addition, the planets can change house emphasis and influence you in a different way. For instance, a stellium that is in your 5th house natally can shift to another house and make that house's domain take more prominence in your life.

       When the transiting planets aspect your relocated chart, the influences will be different from the influences of those transits to your natal chart. If you are in a different country (or sometimes a different state or province but in the same country of your birth), you will not only feel the transits to your natal chart but also of your relocated chart. This has significant implications for deciding where to move for short or long term, or even when and where to travel for a vacation. You could have a lovely natal jupiter and travel to a city/country where jupiter is on an angle, and time it to be when jupiter is making an easy transiting aspect to your natal jupiter. However, if transiting saturn is coming close by orb to making a square, opposition or conjunction to the angles of your relocated chart in that country, or influencing a stellium of planets in that chart, your experience will be modified by that saturn influence.  Since saturn moves relatively slowly, and pluto, neptune and uranus even slower, one must be mindful of these planets making hard aspects to angles and stelliums in the relocated chart. This doesn't necessarily mean to avoid the trip or cut it short, rather it means being psychologically prepared for a wider range of experiences/ events than you originally thought or planned for. The eclipses happening in that year will also affect the relocated chart if they hit the angles of that chart when you are there. For example, in 2025 there were eclipses in pisces/ virgo in the western system so if your relocated angles were within a few degrees of the degrees of the eclipses, than you would be impacted. 

      A planet that closely conjuncts a relocated angle will not only bring up matters that it represents (i.e. venus is beauty,  self-worth, finances, and romantic relationships among others) but also will highlight the condition of venus in your natal chart. The condition of a planet is influenced by its aspects, the house(s) it rules and is the dispositor of, the house that it is located in and the sign that it is in.  That is why broad generalizations some amateur astrologers make such as relocating or travelling to your venus line will bring love and romance into your life are wrong and sometimes can be dangerous. In fact, I have observed many people with a poorly placed venus on relocated angles live through horror stories in their love life, or maybe even feel more lonely and isolated than they were in the city of their birth. There are also parans to consider which can modify the main planetary angles, some combinations can add some luck and some can take it away. Overall, the goal would be to relocate to a well placed planetary angle in combination with good parans influencing it. You would determine if a planet is considered to be a well placed planet if it is in a sign that it rules or exalted in, if it is in a mutual exchange with another planet making them both act as if they are exalted or in its own sign, if its in a favourable natal house/ rules favourable houses/ disposits favourable houses, if it makes easy aspects to other planets without many hard aspects to malefic planets, if it is natally out of bounds, if it is in a critical degree (critical degrees add strength to the planet) among other factors. Planets that don't make any major aspects natally will have much bigger effects when you relocate and put it on an angle but these can be helpful or challenging depending on its overall condition in the natal chart. If a planet is in detriment or fall, in a challenging house and making mostly hard aspects or close hard aspects to malefic planets or even the outer planets you will have more difficulties. 

              You will change the relationship dynamics you have with people when you relocate for several reasons. One reason being that your personality will seem to be different as you attract experiences more in line with your relocated chart and that the planets on angles will take up more space in your life, making your outlook on life and way others perceive you to be different than what you are accustomed to. Another reason is that your family will all have relocated charts and different aspects of their personality and life plan will come to prominence, which can shift roles and expectations in the family unit. One person may have been the breadwinner at home but soon the other partner becomes the breadwinner in the new country and if that goes against gender norms, it can be hard for both people to get used to. It could have been that one partner was perceived to be more attractive or desirable than the other, and in the new place the roles are reversed due to the way the culture responds to both of you. I have seen this when one person's 7th house (natally in good condition) becomes activated; all of a sudden they generate more personal in depth interest from other people, even members of the opposite sex though they are already in a committed partnership or married. The new planets on the angles can change your choice of career, or influence the types of partners you attract, even the type of home you wish to live in. They can make you more/ less social and interested in friendships or making connections with people, as well as influence what types of people you enjoy or don't enjoy spending time with. It can influence your social circles and overall net worth, and all of these factors taken together will make relating in the same way you did in your country of birth difficult to do in the new country. If you had an established dynamic with a family member still living at home, this may change as you are changing in many ways and the dynamic is bound to change too as your thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviours all change in subtle and direct ways. You will always be what your natal chart indicates (in absence of serious transformational work/ experiences) and generally your core personality stays the same as when you are a child. You can't erase your karmic issues, your interpersonal strains, and difficult personality traits/ experiences by moving. We can only dream that it could be that easy! These things require emotional regulation, concentrated personal development activity and a plan of behavioural change over time. It is a lifelong process.  Our natal chart is invaluable for understanding our shadow and healing it through self-compassion. Cultivating self-awareness and then taking action is the only way to resolve karma. At the same time, different countries bring out a different part of ourselves for self-discovery. We evolve and adapt to a new lifestyle, way of being and cultural/ societal expectations of where we are. In my view, travelling is one of life's best teachers. What people see in us influences how they respond to us and it will create a cycle.  I remember the saying, 'when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change'. This is a mantra I always keep in mind from my spiritual teacher Dr. Wayne Dyer. The world doesn't need to change, only our outlook on it does in order for there to be meaningful growth and progress. We need new spiritual eyes. As a psychotherapist, I have observed that once you learn something about yourself, once it is made conscious through self-inquiry, that is the first step in changing the narrative. Changing the narrative has the potential to lead to different life experiences and more productive cycles. Hopefully, with enough motivation for change, you can change your future experiences through wise and persistent action.

           Finally, you can bring the qualities of the planets into your life remotely by having relationships with people from different countries, and by bringing elements of that culture into your life (clothing, traditions, food, festivals/ holidays, myths and stories) even when not physically in that country. I have found that items and people from countries on my venus line have made me feel more beautiful and healthy, for example following an app by a fitness instructor who is originally from part of a country where my venus-IC line is, and having many clothing items/ personal grooming products from a state that is on my venus-Ascendant line. 

           I hope this gave you a new perspective on astrocartography and invite you to do an astrocartography reading with me if you are considering travelling or relocating in the next few years. In this reading, you would select about five different places you would like to examine and we will go through these in more detail according to the factors I have mentioned. If relocating with others, I can examine each person's chart separately. I can also let you know based on the condition of the planets in your chart, which planetary lines are more favourable than others and which you must be more mindful in the planning. I would not suggest avoiding travelling in the short term or for vacation to a place just because you have a difficult line going through it, but if you can have a heads up for preparation, it is wise to take it. 

             What have been your experiences with astrocartography? Let me know in the comments below!