Astrocartography: How You Can Use the Stars to Guide Your Wanderlust
When Alexandra Clark, founder of ASTRO/CARTO, called me to discuss my birth chart, my stomach swelled with nerves. My knees were weak, my palms sweaty, arms heavy etc., etc. — you know the rest. I had just recently booked a one-way flight to the UK, and Clark was going to gently tell me whether or not I had made a catastrophic mistake. She wouldn’t use those words, per se, but she was going to explain how my planetary energies impact how I relate to that specific longitude and latitude. In layman’s terms: she was going to reveal if I’d find London to be a good vibe or a bad vibe. (Clark delivered positive news: my moon node runs right through England, so I can expect to collect all kinds of karmic/spiritual life lessons while I sip tea and consume fish and chips.)
Astrocartography, also known as locational astrology, projects your birth chart over a map to determine which cities are best for career success, romantic relationships and spiritual growth. It’s a tool that might encourage you to pack your bags and move across the globe, guide you to an unexpected travel destination or explain why you had a really, really miserable time on that family vacation over a decade ago.
Using Clark’s expertise, here’s an example of what you can expect from a locational astrology reading / a preview of planetary lines that might be passing through your hometown right now:
Neptune: “It’s about our imagination. A place we hold in our minds as the ideal. It’s where our minds go in a dream. It’s difficult to live in a Neptune place because it’s so far away—it would put you in the clouds.
Uranus: “It’s the Marie Kondo of lines. It’s where you decide you don’t want material things holding you back. It’s where you sell everything you have and start over.”
Moon Node: “It’s where we find our karma. It’s where we go to figure out where our life path is. It’s a transition place. It opens the door to the next chapter. It’s a place where nobody really likes staying for more than four years; it’s a landing pad.”
Here’s the thing about astrocartography: it isn’t just for people who plan on uprooting their lives and leaving behind their friends and family. (People like me.) Your reading might, for example, identify why you love Persian food or help you understand why you’re obsessed with Japanese reality TV. “You can do it through people you meet, interactions that you have, the music you listen to or movies you watch,” Clark, who charges $175 for a custom map and one-hour consultation, explains. “It just means that there’s something there for you to figure out. When you visit these places, you unlock keys.”
Looking over an astrocartography map, however, you’ll notice not every city has a planetary line passing through it. According to the stars, Toronto—the area I’ve lived in for most of my 24 years—is a neutral zone. “It’s not good, not bad,” Clark says, “It might actually be a favourable place—a place where you can recharge. People can get overwhelmed by how much energy is around them.” And to that, I say: my battery is full. So please universe, bring on the karmic energy!
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