How to read your AstroCartography Map to Plan Travel

Curious about how to read your AstroCartography map so you can choose the best places to travel to and get the best out of your natal astrology? In this blog I share my own experiences and tips of living and working astrocartography as I’ve travelled and relocated around the world – so if you’re looking for tips on how to work with your AstroCartography lines, read on!

As a lover of both astrology and travel as incredibly powerful tools for self-discovery, growth, change, navigating life transitions and so much more, you can imagine how excited I was several years ago to discover that there was a tool that blends exactly these two things.

From the moment I first discovered how to calculate my AstroCartography chart, I was hooked.

Those places that had called to me all of my life, suddenly made sense.

The places that I’d never really felt at home in or had downright challenging experiences, suddenly made sense too.

The thing is, there’s a reason we feel drawn to certain places – and that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the easiest places for us to be – but in my experience it does mean that the energy – the planetary lines and influences running through there – do have medicine and wisdom for us.

As someone who has travelled the world mostly full time since 2015 and a career in travel for 13 years, AstroCartography mapping is the tool I wish I’d known about when I first started travelling 20 years ago.

So, without further ado, let’s get into some pointers for how to read your AstroCartography map, and how you can use that information to plan the perfect trip!

What is AstroCartography?

AstroCartography is a type of locational astrology, created by astrologer Jim Lewis in the 1970’s. Simply speaking, it is a visual system for mapping how your astrological birth chart (natal chart) corresponds to different locations on earth.

More specifically, AstroCartography maps the locations where the planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus et al) were rising and setting around the world at the time of your birth.

When clients do readings with me, there are more types of locational astrology that I factor into the mix beyond AstroCartography for a more holistic approach, but AstroCartography is a great tool for getting started, and in particular thanks to the free map on astro.com, it’s easy to play around with if familiar with the different planetary archetypes and energies.

Using AstroCartography, you can easily locate your different lines – for example your AstroCartography Venus line or your AstroCartography Moon Line – and see which locations they run through in the world.

How to Use AstroCartography to Make Decisions on Location & Travel

There are multiple software options that offer AstroCartography, but the best free one to use is the one on Astrodienst. Simply go to astro.com and select the AstroClick Travel chart. It has handy descriptions when you click on a place so it’s perfect for beginner dabbling.

NB: For AstroCartography you need to know your accurate time of birth. AstroCartography is all based on the angles of your chart, which change by the minute.

Which are the Best AstroCartography Lines?

A common question I get, is which is the best line to go to or visit? Which is the best AstroCartography line to live on?

And the answer – somewhat predictably is, it depends. Let me explain why.

AstroCartography is just one very specific form of astrology – and although working with it on its own can be helpful, it is far more powerful when combined with the wisdom and magic available through working with your natal chart as a whole and your current transits.

For example, you can be in the middle of your Pluto square Pluto transit and travel to your Venus AS line, but still feel like you’re living in deep pain and your worst fears are coming up to be dealt with. Ultimately, there’s no escape from the Pluto cycle – but we do get to choose to put ourselves somewhere more supportive for the process and healing.

Likewise, if you’re planning to launch your next big project and share it with the world, going to your Venus IC line may not help you in the ways you hope. As that’s a much more inwards energy.

It also depends very much on: What are you looking for? What are you seeking at this time? How are you looking to be supported on your life journey? What is your soul needing?

That said, there are some really supportive energies to look for when searching for where to settle longer term (eg home) – it’s really hard to go wrong with Sun, Moon, or Venus on your IC, unless you have other challenging lines crossing in the same location. But again, it’s really best to make these decisions when taking your whole natal and relocated chart into consideration, as well as current transits for big decisions like this. If you would like to take a holistic look at where is right for you looking at all of these things, you can book a Soul Travel Oracle reading with me here.

What Kind of Trip are you Planning?

When working with AstroCartography to plan travel, one of the first things to do is to spend some time sitting with your intention and what you want to get out of your upcoming trip. That will help inform you about which AstroCartography lines and which energies would be best to work with.

Or, you can simply take the AstroCartography as inspiration – by looking at where the most beneficial lines are for you, where they pass through, and consider how they relate to the places that most call to you / you most feel drawn to.

A few pointers:

• If you want to go somewhere on a healing retreat or take time for yourself to heal after life challenges, Chiron can be a supportive energy to work with
• If you want a lazy week in the sun look for Venus – Mars lines may have you running around more than you bargained for!
• For those once in a lifetime journeys of the unknown and adventure, Jupiter lines are your teacher and guide
• And if you’re really over something and ready to let it go and create something new instead, Pluto lines can be very supportive in the death-rebirth process – this energy is often avoided in AstroCartography and is incredibly powerful and transformative, even if it’s not always easy at the time.

It’s not always about the AstroCartography Lines, but it’s a great place to start

There’s more to the energy of a place of course than the AstroCartography – I believe that land holds different energies, which can be affected by the history of a place, and what has happened there. Places that have seen incredible hardships, genocide, or constant destruction through climate change can take on a heavier energy than their lines may suggest when you learn to read your AstroCartography map.

That said, I also believe that AstroCartography can be seen as a tool to guide us home. To our truest selves. And this is the deepest work.

The AstroCartography map can be seen as a way to find the missing parts of ourselves; to reclaim our stories and unfinished business from past lives, and reintegrate the pieces of our story we have forgotten – whether we can physically travel to those places or not.

And sometimes, the places we are most drawn to are on the most challenging AstroCartography lines – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go.

Following this path and journey is a process, which is why I love to support and guide women home along this journey. You can find out more about working with me here.