The Technique
Astrocartography#astrocartography
A locational astrology technique developed by American astrologer Jim Lewis beginning in 1976. It takes a natal chart and projects the planetary positions onto a world map, drawing lines that show where each planet was rising, setting, culminating overhead, or at its lowest point at the moment of birth. Cities near one of these lines are places where that planet's themes become more pronounced. Read the full guide →
Jim Lewis#jim-lewis
American astrologer (1941–1995) who developed astrocartography in its modern form starting in 1976. He branded the technique Astro*Carto*Graphy and produced hand-drawn mail-order maps for clients for nearly two decades. His 1989 book The Psychology of Astro*Carto*Graphy remains the foundational reference. Read the founder page →
Planetary line#planetary-line
A curve drawn on a world map showing every location on earth where a particular planet was on one of the four angles (rising, setting, at the Midheaven, or at the Imum Coeli) at the exact moment of someone's birth. Each of the ten planets produces four lines, for a total of 40 lines on any astrocartography map. Read the planet line guide →
Mundane astrology#mundane-astrology
The branch of astrology concerned with collective and worldly events — politics, war, cycles of empire, weather, mass psychology — rather than personal horoscopes. Astrocartography is a personal application within a fundamentally locational tradition that has both mundane and personal branches.
Locational astrology#locational-astrology
The umbrella term for any astrological technique that asks how location modifies the natal chart. Includes astrocartography (planetary lines globally), relocation charts (single-city recalculation), parans (latitude-based interactions), and Local Space (azimuthal lines from a specific point). Jim Lewis's astrocartography is the most globally adopted locational technique today.
Relocation chart#relocation-chart
A version of your natal chart recalculated as if you had been born at the same moment but in a different city. The planetary positions stay the same; the house cusps and angles shift. Astrocartography is the global visualization of relocation chart logic — instead of recalculating city by city, it draws lines showing which planet sits on which angle at every spot on earth. The two techniques are mathematically consistent and answer the same question from different directions.
The Four Angles
Midheaven (MC)#midheaven
The highest point a planet reaches in the sky as the earth rotates. On an astrocartography map, a planet's MC line is a vertical line showing every location where that planet was directly overhead at the moment of birth. MC lines are traditionally read as the planet's public, career, and identity expression — where the planet's themes shape how you are seen by the world.
Imum Coeli (IC)#imum-coeli
The point directly opposite the Midheaven — where a planet was at its lowest point below the horizon at birth. On an astrocartography map, the IC line is vertical, 180° of longitude from the MC line. IC lines are traditionally read as the planet's private, home, and foundational expression — where the planet's themes shape your inner life and roots.
Ascendant (AC)#ascendant
The point where a planet was rising on the eastern horizon at birth. On an astrocartography map, the AC line is curved and shows every location on earth where that planet was on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth. AC lines are traditionally read as identity and self-presentation — where the planet's themes shape how you arrive and how others first see you. Read the angles deep dive →
Descendant (DC)#descendant
The point where a planet was setting on the western horizon at birth — directly opposite the Ascendant. On an astrocartography map, the DC line is curved. DC lines are traditionally read as partnership and encounter — where the planet's themes shape who you attract and the kinds of relationships the location draws toward you.
The Ten Planet Lines
Sun line#sun-line
A location where the Sun was on one of the four angles at birth. Sun lines amplify identity, vitality, public recognition, and the experience of being seen. Sun MC lines are classically associated with becoming the more visible version of yourself in that location. The Sun line is the line of self-arrival. Read the Sun line guide →
Moon line#moon-line
A location where the Moon was on one of the four angles at birth. Moon lines amplify emotional life, home, family, instinctive belonging, and the feeling of being at home in a place. Moon IC lines are classically associated with finding deep roots in that location. The Moon line is the line of belonging. Read the Moon line guide →
Mercury line#mercury-line
A location where Mercury was on one of the four angles at birth. Mercury lines amplify communication, learning, writing, commerce, and intellectual exchange. Useful for natives whose work depends on language, ideas, or short journeys. The Mercury line is the line of articulation. Read the Mercury line guide →
Venus line#venus-line
A location where Venus was on one of the four angles at birth. Venus lines amplify love, beauty, art, pleasure, relational magnetism, and the experience of being met as attractive. Venus AC lines are classically associated with being seen as more attractive in that location; Venus MC lines with public recognition of aesthetic or relational gifts. Read the Venus line guide →
Mars line#mars-line
A location where Mars was on one of the four angles at birth. Mars lines amplify drive, action, ambition, sexual energy, and conflict. Useful for natives in periods requiring decisive action; risky for natives prone to friction or burnout. The Mars line is the line of sharpened intent. Read the Mars line guide →
Jupiter line#jupiter-line
A location where Jupiter was on one of the four angles at birth. Jupiter lines amplify expansion, opportunity, teaching, publication, travel, and good fortune. Jupiter MC lines are classically the most sought-after for career growth and public reach. The Jupiter line is the line of expansion — what gets bigger here, sometimes too big. Read the Jupiter line guide →
Saturn line#saturn-line
A location where Saturn was on one of the four angles at birth. Saturn lines amplify discipline, structure, responsibility, mastery, solitude, and the hard work that lasts. Saturn MC lines are classically the line of long-built authority — the line where craft becomes career. The Saturn line is the line of weight and slow time. Read the Saturn line guide →
Uranus line#uranus-line
A location where Uranus was on one of the four angles at birth. Uranus lines amplify awakening, disruption, breakthrough, sudden change, and the experience of being shaken loose from old patterns. Powerful for natives ready for transformation; chaotic for natives seeking stability. The Uranus line is the line of rupture and reinvention. Read the Uranus line guide →
Neptune line#neptune-line
A location where Neptune was on one of the four angles at birth. Neptune lines amplify mysticism, art, intuition, dissolution of boundaries, and altered states. Useful for natives doing artistic, contemplative, or healing work; risky for natives prone to escapism, addiction, or confusion. The Neptune line is the line of dissolution. Read the Neptune line guide →
Pluto line#pluto-line
A location where Pluto was on one of the four angles at birth. Pluto lines amplify power, transformation, intensity, depth psychology, and forced change. Pluto lines tend to produce ego death and rebirth in the people who live near them. The Pluto line is the line of total restructuring. Read the Pluto line guide →
Chart Concepts
Natal chart#natal-chart
A snapshot of the sky at the exact moment and place of someone's birth, showing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, the Ascendant, and the Midheaven. The natal chart is the foundation of all Western astrology including astrocartography — astrocartography is the natal chart projected outward onto the geography of the earth. Calculate your natal chart →
Essential dignity#essential-dignity
A classical measure of how strongly a planet expresses its nature based on the sign it occupies. The five conditions are domicile (planet in its home sign), exaltation (strong but not at home), peregrine (neutral), detriment (weak), and fall (weakest). Dignity matters enormously in astrocartography because a planet in domicile produces a much stronger and cleaner line than the same planet in fall.
Domicile#domicile
The sign a planet rules — its home. A planet in domicile expresses its nature most cleanly and powerfully. The Sun is in domicile in Leo; the Moon in Cancer; Mercury in Gemini and Virgo; Venus in Taurus and Libra; Mars in Aries and Scorpio; Jupiter in Sagittarius and Pisces; Saturn in Capricorn and Aquarius. A planet in domicile is the strongest condition for an astrocartography line.
Exaltation#exaltation
The sign in which a planet's qualities are honored and amplified, though it is not the planet's home. The Sun is exalted in Aries; the Moon in Taurus; Mercury in Virgo; Venus in Pisces; Mars in Capricorn; Jupiter in Cancer; Saturn in Libra. Exaltation is the second-strongest dignity and produces strong astrocartography lines, though slightly more theatrical than domicile.
Detriment#detriment
The sign opposite a planet's domicile — where the planet is least at home. A planet in detriment struggles to express its nature and often produces over-corrected or distorted expressions. Astrocartography lines for planets in detriment are classically called trap lines — they amplify what the planet cannot deliver, which makes for unhappy relocations.
Fall#fall
The sign opposite a planet's exaltation — the weakest essential dignity. A planet in fall is unable to express its qualities with confidence and often produces self-undermining expressions. Lines for planets in fall are the strongest candidates for an astrocartography anti-list — places to step away from rather than toward.
Peregrine#peregrine
A planet that has no essential dignity in the sign it occupies — neither domicile, exaltation, detriment, nor fall. Peregrine literally means wandering. Peregrine planets produce neutral astrocartography lines: not particularly strong, not particularly weak. The line's expression depends more on the natal aspects to the planet than on the sign placement.
Tropical zodiac#tropical-zodiac
The zodiac referenced to the vernal equinox — the seasonal position of the Sun, not the visible constellations behind it. Tropical zodiac is the default in Western astrology, including astrocartography. Cosmos Daily uses the tropical zodiac. The alternative sidereal zodiac references the actual stars and is offset from tropical by about 24 degrees.
Sidereal zodiac#sidereal-zodiac
The zodiac referenced to the actual constellations rather than the seasonal position of the Sun. Used primarily in Vedic (Indian) astrology. Sidereal positions differ from tropical by about 24 degrees due to the precession of the equinoxes. If two astrocartography tools disagree on planet positions by 24 degrees, one is likely using sidereal and the other tropical.
Locational Concepts
Orb of influence#orb-of-influence
The distance around a planetary line within which the line's influence is considered active. Jim Lewis's original guidance was an orb of about 700 miles for strong effects, with influence tapering past that. Contemporary practitioners often use a tighter orb — around 300 miles for primary effect, 500 miles for noticeable. Living directly on a line (within ~70 miles) is the most concentrated experience.
Paran#paran
Short for paranatellonta. A paran is formed when two planets are simultaneously on angles (one rising while another culminates, for example) at a given latitude. Parans show as horizontal latitude lines on extended astrocartography charts. Cosmos Daily's main map shows the four canonical angle lines per planet; parans are an additional feature that some practitioners weight heavily and others ignore.
Power crossing#power-crossing
A location on earth where two of your planetary lines intersect within approximately 70 miles of each other. At a power crossing, both planets' archetypes compound simultaneously — a Venus-Jupiter crossing amplifies pleasure and abundance together; a Saturn-Pluto crossing intensifies restructuring and transformation. Most people have between three and eight power crossings worldwide. Read the power crossings guide →
Anti-list#anti-list
The list of cities sitting on the lines of someone's weak planets (their trap planets — planets in detriment or fall). These are the locations astrocartography advises against rather than toward, because the line amplifies a planet that cannot deliver on its promise. The anti-list is a defining feature of mature astrocartography practice — the technique earns its keep as much by warning as by recommending.
Trap planet#trap-planet
A planet in essential debility — in detriment or fall — whose astrocartography lines tend to produce the suffering version of the planet rather than its gifts. A native with Mars in Cancer (fall) is likely to experience Mars lines as frustration and impotence rather than focused drive. Trap planets identify which lines to avoid, which is more useful than identifying which to seek out.
Resonance practice#resonance-practice
A ritual, environmental choice, or sensory practice that approximates the energetic signature of a strong astrocartography line at a location where the line does not pass. If your Jupiter MC is in Bali but you cannot move there, the resonance practice imports Jupiter's signature into your current geography. Used in Cosmos Daily readings as the bridge between knowing what your chart wants and being unable to move immediately.
Equirectangular projection#equirectangular-projection
Also called Plate Carrée. A map projection that draws longitude as evenly-spaced vertical lines and latitude as evenly-spaced horizontal lines. This is the traditional projection used in astrocartography because it keeps the vertical MC and IC lines vertical and the math intuitive. Other projections distort the line geometry. Cosmos Daily uses equirectangular projection on every map.
Cosmos Daily Readings
The Relocation Atlas#relocation-atlas
Cosmos Daily's $19 full astrocartography reading. Delivers your three strongest cities as full chapters (~450 words each), honorable mentions on cities #4-6, your power crossings, your anti-list (cities to avoid based on trap planets), and one decisive directive. Written by Claude Sonnet 4.6 in three streaming parts, ~2,800 words total, ~2 minutes to deliver. Calculate yours →
The Couples Atlas#couples-atlas
Cosmos Daily's $39 premium two-chart astrocartography reading for partners. Maps both birth charts onto the earth and reads what the bond actually wants. Includes synastry-named bond architecture, top three joint cities as full chapters, joint power crossings, the anti-list of cities where one partner's trap planet weaponizes against the other, and the career-vs-home reality check. ~4,500 words across six streaming parts. Map both your charts →