✨ What Is Astrocartography? Discovering Your Best Places on Earth
Astrology isn’t just about who you are, it's also about where you thrive. That’s where astrocartography comes in. This fascinating branch of astrology maps your birth chart onto the world, showing you the best (and sometimes most challenging) places on Earth to live, love, work, and grow. Imagine being able to see where you’re most likely to find love, feel at home, build a career, or undergo a spiritual awakening, all based on the sky’s alignment the moment you were born.
Astrocartography (also called locational astrology) was developed by Astrologer Jim Lewis in the 1970s. It works by drawing lines on a world map that correspond to the positions of the planets at the time of your birth. These lines show where the planets were angular rising, setting, culminating, or at the IC (the bottom of the sky)—which are the most powerful positions in a chart. When a planet is angular in a particular location, its energy is intensified and more active in your life when you're in that place.
For example, if you have a Venus line running through Paris, that city might bring romance, beauty, or creative inspiration however this also depends on the condition of your natal Venus If your Venus is in positive aspect in your natal chart, you are more likely to experience the positive aspects to Venus. If you visit or move there, you could attract love more easily or feel drawn to art, pleasure, and relationships however if you have negative aspects to your Venus, you may experience challenges with socialising or finances. A Saturn line, on the other hand, might bring structure, responsibility, or challenges. Perhaps great for building a career, but not ideal if you’re seeking a carefree vibe. Each planetary line carries a different energy, and how it affects you also depends on your natal chart and what kind of growth you’re looking for.
There are four main types of planetary lines on an astrocartography map: Ascendant (rising), Descendant (setting), Midheaven (culminating), and IC (Imum Coeli, or the nadir). A Sun on the Midheaven line, for instance, may bring visibility and career success in that location, while a Moon on the IC could make you feel emotionally rooted and safe like home. These lines run vertically along the globe and help determine the areas where these planetary influences are strongest.
What makes astrocartography especially powerful is how it connects your inner self to your outer world. Maybe you've felt inexplicably drawn to a certain city, or perhaps you moved somewhere and suddenly your life changed dramatically. Did you every watch Pop Idol back in the day? There was always a 'small town' contestant who had a great voice and their success and recognition started once they left that small town and moved to the big City. Astrocartography can help explain why certain places feel lucky, heavy, romantic, or transformative. It’s a tool for conscious relocation, intentional travel, and self-discovery through geography.
Of course, it’s not as simple as “move to your Venus line and you’ll find true love.” Astrocartography works best when interpreted with your natal chart and ideally in combination with relocation astrology, which casts a new chart for a specific city. Together, these tools reveal how the planetary energies shift based on your physical location, and how you can work with those energies instead of against them.
Whether you're looking for love, a spiritual awakening, career growth, or simply a fresh start, astrocartography invites you to consider the power of place. It reminds us that our environment deeply influences our experience and that the stars have something to say about where we’ll shine the brightest.
Image from Astro.com:
This is an example of what an astrocartography map looks like. Each line represents a planet and shows where its energy is most activated on Earth. When a planet is angular, rising, Descendant, setting, at the top (Midheaven), or bottom (IC) of the sky it has a stronger influence in that specific location. The type of line also matters: Ascendant lines affect your identity and presence. Descendant lines relate to partnerships. Midheaven lines influence career and public image. IC lines speak to home and emotional grounding.
