What Is Astrocartography? A Complete Guide to Locational Astrology

Astrocartography is a form of locational astrology — the practice of using planetary positions to understand how geography affects your life. Specifically, it's a method of overlaying your birth chart onto a world map to show where each planet's energy is most strongly expressed in the physical world.

If you've ever wondered why some places feel immediately right while others drain you — or why a move to a new city changed your career, relationships, or health — astrocartography offers a framework for exploring those patterns through the language of planetary symbolism.

Note: "astrocartography" is at the centre of an ongoing trademark dispute. A France-based astrologer has registered the term in France and is seeking EU-wide protection. The astrology community is actively fighting the move. Read the full story here.

The Origins: Jim Lewis and the 1970s

Astrocartography was developed and named by American astrologer Jim Lewis in the early 1970s. Lewis, who was based in San Francisco, spent years developing a system that mapped the planetary positions at the time of a person's birth onto geographic coordinates around the globe. He published his methodology under the name "Astro*Carto*Graphy" in 1976 and spent the rest of his career — until his death in 1995 — teaching and refining it.

Today, "astrocartography" (without the asterisks) is the standard generic term for this type of locational astrology, used by practitioners worldwide regardless of which specific system or software they use. Read the full history of Jim Lewis and astrocartography.

How It Works

Your birth chart captures the position of the sun, moon, and planets at the exact moment you were born. Each of those planets was in a specific relationship to the horizon and the meridian at that moment — and those relationships shift as you move around the globe.

Astrocartography calculates and maps four lines for each planet:

• Ascendant (AC) line: Where the planet was rising on the eastern horizon. Associated with identity, self-presentation, and how others see you.
• Descendant (DC) line: Where the planet was setting on the western horizon. Associated with partnerships, relationships, and what you attract.
• Midheaven (MC) line: Where the planet was at its highest point in the sky. Associated with career, reputation, and public life.
• IC line: Where the planet was at its lowest point. Associated with home, roots, and private life.

Living near, moving to, or spending significant time on a particular planetary line is said to amplify that planet's themes in your life. A Jupiter MC line might correlate with career success and public recognition in that location. A Saturn AC line might bring structure, discipline — and possibly limitation — to how you show up personally.

Reading an Astrocartography Map

An astrocartography map looks like a world map covered in coloured lines running roughly north to south. Each line is labelled with the planet and angle it represents (e.g., "♃ MC" for Jupiter Midheaven). The lines curve slightly as they account for the planet's actual position at your birth moment.

Key things to look for:

• Where your lines cross: "Crossings" of two planetary lines create power spots — locations where two planetary themes intersect simultaneously
• Where you currently live: What lines run near your home city? What themes does that suggest?
• Potential relocations: If you're considering a move, which lines run through your target city? Are the themes aligned with what you're hoping to build?

Astrocartography vs. Locational Astrology

"Locational astrology" is the broader category — it includes any astrological technique that considers geography as a variable. "Astrocartography" is the specific mapped-line method developed by Jim Lewis. Other locational techniques include relocated charts (casting a new chart for a different location while keeping your birth time) and geodetic equivalents. All fall under the locational astrology umbrella; astrocartography is one specific tool within it.

Getting Your Own Reading

Understanding your astrocartography map can help with major geographic decisions — where to relocate, where to travel, or simply why a particular place has always felt like home (or the opposite). Our Astrocartography Report delivers a personalised analysis drawn from your specific birth data.