the sun line: astrocartography part 1

on embodying astrology. the irony of light. and what happens when you’re begging to be Seen

i asked the Sun

to shine on me so i could finally feel the

warmth of Being Seen

but He showed me that first

i had to learn to hold a small torch light

& shine it in the corners of myself

that had grown dusty & neglected

first i had to look in the mirror

under harsh grey lights & see

the dark circles of my eyes

with an ounce of understanding

& a pound of compassion

for the flesh of my belly

first i had to face the Monster

that had lurked

inside a dark box too small & buried deep

straight on without flinching

& tell it

“i See you. there’s light enough here for you, too.”

the Sun, fractalized & iridescent

taught me the many ways it shines

and the many ways to See

before I ever felt Seen the way i do

when i See you Seeing me

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👆 an astrocartography map… i know, it’s very scary looking & daunting 😵‍💫 but we’ll unpack what it all means in the upcoming posts 🗺️

this is part 1 of a 4 part series going into the magical modality of astrocartography ~ if you want to stay in the loop as these come out over the next couple weeks, subscribe below ⬇️

i’ve been interested in astrology since i was an adolescent. i have no clue how this happened. my parents aren’t cool hippies, i don’t have an aunt who’d whisper to me about crystals at Christmas dinner, & all of my friends parents’ growing up were mostly farmers & shift workers who barely had time to read a book, much less show me the horoscope section of the local paper.

if you’re someone who’s always felt drawn to the stars without knowing why, maybe this speaks to you, too.

i don’t know where my impulse to understand this system about the magic behind the stars came from, & to this day i still remember the first little astrology book i had {all about my Cancer Sun} but can’t remember how it came into my possession.

but i was a weird little 13-year-old. & my classmates knew it. i was named “most likely to be an astrologer” in my 8th grade year book & my bedroom was the quintessential “celestial motif” of the 90’s.

i lived and breathed this shit.

until i didn’t. until i got so wrapped up in Other People’s Expectations and threw away the things that made me weird and wonderful as a growing teen and then young adult.

now. post Saturn Return. i found my way back a few years ago & began studying it in the way a proper adult does: books and courses and “sources” {so so many sources}. and then my 8th grade classmates’ prediction came true—i got hired to write monthly astrology guidebooks.

{if you’ve heard that phrase “Saturn Return” & wondered what the hell it means—in short: it’s an astrological coming-of-age that usually hits around 28-30ish. it brings big life pivots & clarifies what’s no longer aligned. mine brought me back in touch with so many of my interests from my younger years, like astrology!}

here’s the thing though… all of the ways i played in the world of astrology, it was all so very heady.

i memorized the keywords of each sign & archetype & could weave a reading together well enough. but i failed to FEEL the thing.

this is where astrocartography enters the chat.

astrocartography, also known as “locational astrology,” is the study of location as it corresponds to a birth chart.

a dude named Jim Lewis created a mapping system with technology in the 70’s to draw up a visual map showing where, at the moment of your birth, each planet was rising, setting, or making angles—these create what are called planetary “Lines.”

this system fascinates me, possibly more than basic astrology chart reading—and i think the reason for that is because it can be felt so much more tangibly. it becomes embodied because you are living inside of it when you travel to a location influenced by your Lines.

at least that’s what i’ve experienced.

i’ve now traveled to five places that were “within orb” {i.e. within a close enough distance to be said to have impact} of planetary Lines on my chart.

and each experience of the place has absolutely reflected the archetypal energy of the planet connected to it. and before you say “well when you expect it to be a certain way then self-fulfilling-prophecy blablabla”—i’ll have you know two of those trips were done before i had ever heard about astrocartography.

Guatemala 2014

i was working my first remote job & was ECSTATIC to be a “digital nomad i was also in the early stages of building my first health coaching business, while working this remote gig for a podcaster who was big in the world of the Paleo diet scene at the time. i handled producing his podcast, managing his coaching clients, calendar & social media, but deeply wanted to become my own boss & make a break from the diet dogma i found myself surrounded by while working for him…

so i quit my job with the podcaster 😳

all in the name of having more freedom to share my message about supporting women to get off the diet rollercoaster & come home to their bodies.

hellooooo Mercury MC Line at its Zenith!

Mercury MC (Midheaven) Lines relate to career, visibility, and the messages you’re meant to share publicly. it's about giving voice to your “main character” energy. & you’ll hear me talk about “Zenith” more when we get to my Sun Line travels ~ but, in short, “Zenith” aka the peak energetic point on that line.

also while in Guatemala i got UNBELIEVABLY SICK. and i never get sick while traveling. this was the first time i was genuinely scared traveling alone because i did not know what the hell was wrong with me & my mind started playing games with me about “i’m going to die in my sleep”…

hellooooo Moon/Pluto conjunction!

the Moon represents our body, Pluto is death/psyche work…

{side note—i did not learn my Moon/Pluto lesson with this trip… more on that in part 2.}

Bali 2018

another remote job working for a subscription box—one of the co-owners lived in Bali and flew the team out for a retreat.

i had been dreaming of going to Bali for a full decade after i read “Eat Pray Love” right after college. yes, hi, so cliché. did 👏 not 👏 care 👏 i was SO EXCITED.

this “work trip” was something i had genuinely never dreamed possible, so i had VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS about how much i would love it there…

my Saturn Line had different plans for me.

☝️ the time difference absolutely wrecked me. i arrived a week before the team retreat, it took me nearly that entire time before i felt semi-regulated again.

✌️ in total, i spent a month on the island & could not shake this feeling of heaviness. my body just dragged, as did my experience of time over that month

i felt so defeated. this was supposed to be my place!

i’d dreamed of being here!

but the pulse of my experience in Bali was sluggish & felt like drudgery no matter how hard i tried to reframe it. i spent my days clocking in for my J O B, feeling resentful of my boss, & struggled to find inspiration even in one of the most vibrant & beautiful settings i’d ever seen.

it was a lesson in what Saturn wants us to learn: patience, responsibility, and—most annoyingly—slowing the hell down.

hellooooo Saturn DC line!

Saturn Lines are about our relationship with time & responsibility, with DC lines drawing our attention to our close 1:1 relationships.

---

looking back it strikes me as so beautiful that reflecting on these travel experiences through the lens of astrocartography brings me even. more. medicine. than i gathered at the time of the adventure.

there’s a softening that happens inside me as i feel this sense of “ah yes, there was magic in that, too.” regardless of how tumultuous the trip was {looking at you Guatemalan Montezuma’s Revenge 🤢}.

all of those wild & weird planetary experiences set the stage. but nothing—& i mean nothing—could have prepared me for what unfolded when i intentionally traveled to the Zenith of my Sun Line...

and that is what we’ll get to in the upcoming parts of this astrocartography series.

in Part 2, i’ll be giving a quick-n-dirty dive into each of the planetary lines, how to read your map, and things like “parans” and “orbs.”

⭐️ i highly recommend you check out your own astrocartography map in the meantime! ⭐️

you can grab a free one over on AstroClick Travel {you’ll need birth date, time & location to get an accurate map} & then start clicking around.

where have you traveled in the past? are there any lines you now can see that pass through or near those areas? get curious!

be sure to subscribe below so you know when Part 2 arrives. excited to keep exploring this magical modality with you 🗺️