“And the future will be nothing less than the flowering of our inwardness.”
1: The World is Your Oyster
‘The world is mine Oyster’ is a phrase from Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor and it has come to have a positive spin, meaning limitless potential. But originally it was said by a character called Ancient Pistol and directed maliciously against Falstaff for being tight with money. But you don’t need a sword to open the oyster. The world offers its pearls and natural beauties regardless. All it takes is to get on a plane to cross oceans and time zones. The costs and barriers to travelling still have to be dealt with, but the possibilities have not diminished and it is worth experimenting with which country is the best fit.
Astro-cartography is an incredible tool for unlocking how well or badly you’ll fare in certain geographical locations. It is a term coined by Jim Lewis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He died in 1995. But the potential of what he created has grown in the past few years as people contemplate the perilous nature of their future. It is not just about travelling or even relocating, but has wider implications such re-familiarising yourself to the earth’s rotation. To notice the sunrise and sunset times in different places connects you closer to the earth and the sun’s journey. For anyone ruled by the Sun -that’s Leo Sun, Leo Rising or the Sun in the 5th House- this is a way to acknowledge that presence of light. It is not just Sagittarius that rarely needs persuading that there’s a world out there to explore. Going to live on your Sun line is the best option when you have tried every other planetary line for the right fit.
The importance of location should not be underestimated. Many people are beginning to ask: am I in the right place? Is there a better place? Are there places I must avoid? But the first most obvious flaw in this line of thinking is overhype. It can give the false impression that just by moving, you can solve the problems inherent in your natal chart. Maybe you will, but you also take the gnarly squares and oppositions with you wherever you go. If you visit a ruined temple for example, you may feel it is a metaphorical reflection of your and abandoned hopes and dreams i.e. you take ruins to ruins. The work of self-awareness and self-development remain so the astro map of your natal chart will show all the potentials in the lines across the world. Yet as Kabat Zin said ‘Wherever you go, there you are’. Your consciousness is the primary conduit for all experiences and you may have to adapt to what life throws at you.
The truth is how you work with the challenges in your chart that will bring about the real enhancement. Not everything that looks good on the surface e.g. Jupiter- Venus- even the Sun- is genuinely good for you and vice versa. A Jupiter line could potentially bring gambling, excess and overwhelm; a Venus line could encourage a glut of social contacts that are shallow, distracting, and draining, when it may be introspection that you need; and a Sun line can put you in the glare of the spotlight when you may wish to stay out of it more or less unnoticed.
Having said that, by going to a planetary line, you can still enhance desirable attributes and that is worth doing. Basically, to travel consciously increases your awareness of experiential self-development exactly because it is a decision forged from your own intention. But equally be aware to notice if countries do not have the qualities you desire even when they are supposed to. There are so many factors at work it takes close observation, experience and the ability to change your mind when needed.
By tracking the angular and Ascending/Descending lines on the astro-map, people can see cities and countries as having a favourable or unfavourable aspect in relation to their natal chart. It is certainly true that you enhance or downplay the archetypal propensities of say Mars or Jupiter. A Mars line might be good for athletic training; a Jupiter line for a spiritual quest, or to do some higher studies; Mercury for trade and business etc.
Fundamentally, astro cartography is about the intricate interplay of time and space in any given location, so the house system that is faithful to the ever-changing time-space coordinates is Placidus, but you may prefer to use Campanus which combines the quadrant system with more equal symmetry at the 3D level but a 2D chart will still show irregular sized houses.
