Why learning astrology matters for astrocartography
Here's a topic that, as far as I can see, isn't discussed much. Daily, I see many posts with a screenshot of an astrocartography (world) map accompanied by questions like ‘hey, where should I relocate to feel better?’ and similar. That’s alright, especially when people are intrigued by astrocartography and want to learn more, but are unsure how to approach the topic and are seeking guidance.
Imagine asking a nutritionist, “What diet should I follow?” without sharing your health history, allergies, or goals. They’d need details to help you, right? Well, astrocartography works the same way!
The problem arises in the comments, where people guess where someone should go based on such a vague question. It’s even worse when people answer with zero data from another person. The advice in the comments often misses the mark. Why? Because guessing without data is like throwing darts in the dark. No birth date, birth hour, or place of birth — nothing.
To at least attempt to stop this vagueness (and we must agree that there are many scammers in every field, particularly in the spirituality, guidance, and healing niche unfortunately), I will try to explain how you can approach and understand the steps of how it works, at least on an elementary level, so you don’t get scammed in the future or be mislead by other person’s intentional or unintentional (uneducated) approach to astrology and astrocartography. Simply put, knowledge is always power!
Step 1 — learn astrology on an elementary level first
Before trying to learn astrocartography, an elementary understanding of astrology is a must. Doing it the other way around is like you are trying to learn a completely new language on a conversational level, before learning the alphabet and basic grammar. It’s literally like that! This is why I always include an astrology 101 cheat sheet in every written reading I do, and I try to explain each reading as if you are writing your own personal astro diary for easier understanding.
As planetary \ luminary \ object lines are the highlight in astrocartography, the easiest approach is to begin by understanding the meanings behind them first. It’s a bonus if you enjoy philosophy and/or mythology, as astrology is quite relatable to both. Begin from the basics or with what you are probably the most familiar with, like with the ‘big 3’, which is common in popular astrology (Sun, Moon, rising). Begin by understanding the meaning of the Sun and the Moon in depth, both being on the Ascendant line, for example. Once you feel the confidence to move forward from the luminaries, continue to planets, and then to objects, points, and asteroids.
I also created a free Western Tropical Astrology Beginners Course that you can access right now to begin learning:
Learn about the essentials of Western Tropical Astrology in this beginner-friendly course. You’ll learn about the planets, signs, houses, and aspects, and how they interact to shape your personality, life themes, and experiences. Whether you’re completely new to astrology or looking to strengthen your foundational knowledge, this course will give you the tools to read and understand your natal chart with confidence. Start your journey into astrology today, completely free!
Step 2 — understand the relation between your natal chart and astrocartography map + rising sign explanation
The next thing I realized in the astrocartography/astrology community is that people mostly don’t understand the connection between their birth chart and their astrocartography map. Some people separate the two, but the reality is that your natal chart IS your astrocartography map, spread across the whole world! How is this even possible? Understanding that you were born all at once in the world is actually key to this.
It may sound super confusing, but think of it this way: we are all born under the same sky and the same planets; yet the Sun sets at different times across the globe in each time zone.
Here’s an example: Imagine you were born on April 17, 1991, in New Haven, Connecticut, at 2:30 PM. In that location and moment, your Ascendant (rising sign) is 28° Leo. However, if you look at the exact same moment in Leeds, UK, it’s 6:30 PM there, and the rising sign shifts to 21° Libra. In London, it would be 23° Libra. This shows that while your birth time is fixed, the rising sign changes with location—different places can produce different degrees, and sometimes even different signs, on the Ascendant.
This is the step where it would be great if you start to understand astrology further from planetary meanings, by understanding the 12 signs and the meaning behind the each house, simply because the example above is connected to house switching once you change location, and our RISING (Ascendant) sign, a.k.a. the moment of your birth which dictates your house system chages, and in that way dictates our relocation house systems as well. Rising sign / ASC = always the 1st house of the birth chart. It’s impossible to have the rising sign in the 12th or the 2nd house.
To understand the rising sign better, picture in your mind how the Sun doesn’t rise or set in just one place ever; instead, there are many locations on Earth where it’s either daytime or nighttime. At any moment, the Sun is rising or setting along a curved line that runs from one side of the International Date Line to the other.
natal + relocation = astrocartography chart (see below)
Notice I didn’t list exact locations for the lines, well, that’s intentional! In astrocartography, you don’t have to be directly on a line to feel its influence. While measuring distances and orbs is more advanced, it’s important to know from the start that the energies still reach beyond the exact line. Once you connect your birth chart, relocation chart, and astrocartography map, you can start exploring how the system works on a basic level.
Step 3 — familiarize yourself with general line meanings
Now, you can go through the rabbit hole of the meanings of all lines across the world. Think of each one as a specific energy that you can experience by going there or simply by awakening via remote activation. I highly recommend you read through the psychology of Astrocartography by Jim Lewis with Ken Irving (I explained the history of astrocartography, mentioning him briefly here), where everything is explained! My favorite part of all is definitely the connection between astrocartography and a quote from Carl Gustav Jung on how every part of the psyche seeks outer manifestation.*
A translation of Jung's words for astrocartography should be 'every planet in the horoscope seeks outer manifestation,' and this is where all the magic lies!* You can see the whole world map as your psyche and parts of you that you can activate. Traveling to new places or meeting people from different cultures helps us connect with parts of ourselves we might have ignored or even suppressed. It makes us face these hidden sides and deal with them, challenging ones and lighter ones.
Think of astrocartography as a mirror of your life journey. Reflect on past moves, how you felt, what themes emerged, and use those reflections as a guide. Then add your astrocartography lines, starting with major planets, specific locations, and how transits like Saturn or Jupiter shaped those times. It’s less about “where should I go?” and more about “how did each place shape me?”
*Quote from the book The Psychology of Astrocartography, by Jim Lewis with Ken Irving
Give yourself time to meet yourself through your birth chart and astrocartography map
The reality behind astrology and astrocartography is that there is no “one reading solution” for this. The goal is to see your birth chart and your astrocartography (ACG) map as tools that you can use to get to know yourself on a deeper level, to work with yourself, and to acknowledge what you desire to work on, activate further, etc.
If you like my style of explaining things, you can either book a reading with me or you can join my waiting list for bundled courses of basic astrology and astrocartography (or get astrocartography basics separately if you have elementary astrology knowledge) through the newsletter subscription below.
Until the next diary entry,
Ang x
