What is Astro*Carto*Graphy?  (Slide 2)

Astro*Carto*Graphy was founded by Jim Lewis in the 1960s.  He was a brilliant astrologer living in San Francisco.  Tragically he died from a brain tumour in 1995 at the young age of 53.

It all started when Jim found that every time he drove through the high desert area in the USA, his car would overheat and break down around Salt Lake City.  Being an observant astrologer he drew up a relocated chart as if he was born in the City.  He found that two planets, Mercury and Mars formed a paran (or paranatellonta)– a moment when two planets are simultaneously on the angles.  He was struck by the symbolism of Mercury (transport) and Mars (heat) mirrored his scorching vehicle.  Surely, Jim thought he could plot these paran points onto a world map. 

How to plot lines onto a world map (Global Rotation Movie Slides 3 & 4)

A simple way to understand how the Astro*Carto*Graphy map is created is to imagine the Earth partly illuminated by daylight and partly in darkness.  The border between the light and the dark is sunrise on the west and sunset to the east of the circle. 

Astro*Carto*Graphy lines (49 A*C*G lines Slide 5)

When a globe is flattened and projected onto a two dimensional flat map, these borders can be drawn as curved lines.  In addition, the lines that cover the midday and midnight positions of the sun are straight and run through the poles.  The same four angular lines can be created for every planet. 

But what use is it to know where the planets were on the angles when you were born?  First planets are more powerful on the angles.  When people move they activate the local power lines.  Though the people don’t change in character one part of their nature becomes more prominent and this quality governs their experiences, encounters and views of this location.  So it is quite natural that people want to move away from difficult locations to locations that promise them a greater chance of success in life.

Astro*Carto*Graphy Map Kits, Analyses, Place Selections, Software, Consultations & Books (Slide 6)

Jim started by hand drawing each map for his clients.  It took several days.  Eventually he commissioned a celestial mechanic to write a program to plot these maps.  He called them Astro*Carto*Graphy maps or ACG maps for short. 

Robert Currey studied Astro*Carto*Graphy under Jim Lewis in the 90s.  He also wrote software to create ACG maps.  His company, Equinox are now the official licensee to sell these maps world-wide and he has been an ACG consultant for some 30 years. 

The Cookbook Approach (Slide 7)

By the 1980s Jim started to build up many clients.  He had published a number articles in astrology magazines and a book on Astro*Carto*Graphy.  Up until this point most of his material had been in, what is known as, a cookbook format.  Like a recipe, there is a standard interpretation for each planetary line.

Do Venus Lines bring love? (Slide 8)

Here’s an example of how cookbook Astro*Carto*Graphy appears to be work based on Jim’s interpretation for a Venus line.  He claimed that you are more likely to fall in love with someone born on your Venus line or if you go to your Venus line.  Jim found a number of cases where this works.  A classic example of Venus is John Lennon’s Venus line goes through his wife, Yoko Ono’s birth place Tokyo.  Meanwhile Yoko’s Venus line goes through John’s birth city, Liverpool.  Just imagine if we astrologers could send clients to their Venus lines to find love or to Jupiter to have success?  However, it doesn’t happen that way.

Are there Good and Bad Planets (Slide 9)

The down side to this approach is that some planets are rated as downright ‘bad’.  Jim was quite tough on these planets.  “On Saturn lines you will forced to endure loneliness and poverty.  On Mars you will be accident prone and subject to violence.  On Neptune you mix in criminal circles.  On Pluto lines you risk death.”  These are the most extreme examples.  Jim was no exception.  In the 1960s astrologers were expected by clients and the press to make firm sensational statements often using very little information.  Planets were seen as good and bad – sometimes waging an internal war between good and evil in all of us.  It’s not my approach but some astrologers who I respect still work this way. 

Jim Brainwave (Slide 10)

Soon Jim reached a crisis point.  He was unhappy with his results.  He then devoted time into research to find out why his technique was not working. 

Lewis arrived at one simple conclusion.  The Astro*Carto*Graphy map can only be read in conjunction with the natal chart.  The effect of an ACG planetary line is mediated primarily by the natal aspects.  The planetary sign position is relevant but not as critical as the aspects.  The natal house position is not relevant since the houses automatically change as you move. 

Hard Aspects & Shadowed Planets (Slide 11)

Jim found that some planets were so at odds with the rest of the chart, that they became repressed.  Or to use Carl Jung’s terminology – they became a shadowed archetype.  Going to these lines would be an extremely difficult experience as the subject must face subconscious problems that tend to manifest as confusing or unpleasant external events or people.  

Play to their strengths

So the simplest way to find ideal locations is to look for planets that have the easiest aspects (mainly trines and sextiles and conjunctions).  This means that an individual is enabled to play to his or her strengths.  Qualities and talents that are easiest to express are emphasised in the right locations. 

This would be like putting a left footed football player on the left wing in a game.  On the left wing, he will find it much easier to kick the ball to his left into the area around the goal mouth.  He doesn’t change, but it is easier to perform well in this position as he is using his stronger leg more frequently.

An Archetype for every season (Slide 12)

So planets can be experienced in the form of archetypes – or classic fundamental examples that embody the nature of the plant.  They are neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’ – they just are.  More than being fundamental to the fabric of human life, they are universal. 

All these archetypal planetary qualities exist in you.  However, when they are activated by an Astro*Carto*Graphy line, then this quality resonates either through you, your experiences and through the types of people you encounter in connection with this location.  The other planetary qualities that are not activated still exist in your life, but they are less prominent.

Presidential Study (Slide 13)

So how does this play out on the world stage?  One of the best test cases is looking at the Astro*Carto*Graphy maps of US Presidents.  These are the most powerful men (so far all men) in the world, their times of birth is often a matter of public record and they travel or deal with many parts of the world. 

Jim Lewis’s study ended with President Carter in 1981.  So over the past 35 years, we can add five additional Presidents to our ongoing research.

For King and Country (Slide 14)

The earliest recorded horoscopes were made for the kings in Mesopotamia.  The fate of the king was bound up the fate of the nation.  If the stargazers saw death of the King in the planetary line-up, they would crown some hapless individual while the configuration was in effect.  This pseudo- monarch would then be ceremoniously murdered in order to fulfil the planetary fate. 

Surprisingly there is something in this method of forecasting.  Sometimes, when there is a challenging line-up, I may advise the subject to live out the transit.  So that if Pluto is strong, I may suggest that the client considers going into psychotherapy or cleans out their basement.  If the Plutonic signature is not embraced, it will surface in the form of a crisis.

Richard Nixon (Slide 15)

Historically every US President’s Astro*Carto*Graphy lines over Washington determine the predominant nature of his Presidency. 

For Nixon, it was his Neptune on the Midheaven over DC.  This planet can be associated with the creation of an illusory public image and the risk of scandal.  This negative pattern was fulfilled when Nixon was forced to resign his presidency over the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Nixon did however have Mars rising (with Mercury and Jupiter) over Moscow and threatened the Russian President Khruschev with nuclear war. 

George W Bush (Slide 16)

There is a long history of US Presidents going to war or having conflicts on their Mars lines.  In many cases the Mars lines have been activated without them travelling to the war zone.  Jim termed this Remote Activation.

George Bush’s Mars MC line runs through Afghanistan where he launched his War on Terror in 2001.

Barack Obama (Slide 17)

Obama’s Mars rising line runs just east of Baghdad up north close to Moscow.  It lies close to Mosul, the largest Isis controlled city, located next to the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh at an important crossing point on the Tigris river. 

In his chart Mars is more controlled than George W Bush’s unaspected Mars which can be like a loose cannon.  With Mars trine Saturn, Obama has so far been more oriented towards containment of ISIS.  The drones and the bombing campaign aimed at Isis have shown some Martian aggression but there have so far been no troops on the ground.  None of this has been helped by cold relations with the Kremlin in Moscow. 

Obama’s Mars line extends south through Yemen and Somalia where he has been run a targeted air and drone campaign with proxy forces against Al-Qaeda.

Jimmy Carter (Slide 18)

Jimmy Carter’s presidency was dogged by the Iran hostage crisis.  He had Mars and Jupiter crossing over Tehran – where the US diplomats were held in the US embassy.  While Carter saw it as terrorism, it was seen by his fanatical opponents as a religious (Jupiter) war (Mars) or jihad involving US hostages. 

Yet, to the East Carter’s Venus Neptune Descending lines, enabled him to broker the Egypt Israel Peace Treaty (1979) over territorial claims. 

Since leaving office, he has dedicated himself to bringing peace, and ensuring fair elections prevail around the world.  Carter’s role has been most evident in East Africa where his democratic and peace-loving Venus/Neptune lines run parallel with war-like Mars.  With negotiations centring on Nairobi, Kenya, his peace missions concentrated on Darfur (Sudan), Ethiopia, Uganda and Eritrea.  Some twenty-one years after leaving office, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. 

Bill Clinton (Slide 19)

It is likely that Carter’s peace-keeping efforts in East Africa were due to the closeness of Mars, Venus and Neptune.  The same effect occurred with Bill Clinton who has Mars, Venus and Neptune conjunct in Libra.  He was more of a militant pacifist.  He never went to war as President or had openly hostile relations apart from with Congress who tried to impeach him. 

Clinton’s Mars, Neptune and Venus Midheaven lines run through the British Isles.  While he was on a scholarship to Oxford he used his Mars to protest against the Vietnam War outside the American Embassy in London.  Later as President, he helped to broker peace in Northern Ireland. 

Presidents in Washington and Mars lines (Slide 20)

In most of the last 12 US Presidencies, Mars impacted the President’s principle War Zones. 

·       President Franklin Roosevelt was born with Mars on the Midheaven over Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian Islands.  This was the point of the Japanese attack that sparked off US entry into the Second World War. 

·       George H Bush (the elder Bush) led a coalition against Iraq in the Gulf War.  Mars was rising on the Iran/Iraq border.

Note that George H Bush’s time of birth is uncertain which could affect the position of the lines. 

Donald Trump (Slide 21)

Looking to the future – there is for many the worrying prospect that Donald Trump became President.  He was born with Mars rising.  This manifests as his love wearing rich red ties – even before he was a confirmed Republican.  His aggressive approach to everyone as if the best method of defence is attack.  Since he was born in New York City, the Mars rising line affects Washington DC.  So on this basis, we can expect an aggressive war-like Presidency. 

Mars and Pluto Lines (Slide 22)

Evidently a ‘stressed’ Mars can result in war for one President, while a ‘softer’ Mars moderated by say Venus or Neptune in another chart can manifest as conflict resolution or even anti-war activities. 

The double-edged sword of Pluto can lead to warfare at-a-distance possibly involving weapons of mass destruction or terrorism.  In addition, there is also an increase risk to the President of a life-threatening experience whenever he visits a Pluto line or has contact with someone from one of his Pluto lines.  Pluto is after all the ruler of the underworld.

The Kennedys arrive in Dallas (Slide 23)

It was a sunny day in downtown Dallas on November 22^nd 1963.  President John F Kennedy was waving at the crowds from the back of an open top limousine with his wife Jackie.  At 12:30 pm as the Presidential motorcade turned from Dealey Plaza into Elm Street, three shots were fired from the 6^th floor of a nearby building.  Two bullets hit the President.  The second to the skull killed him. 

John F. Kennedy (Slide 24)

Finding Jack Kennedy’s Pluto Midheaven line near Dallas had a huge impression on Jim Lewis and he used it as one his classic examples.  In the 90s I started to include Chiron and the Nodes of the Moon in our updated official Astro*Carto*Graphy maps.  JFK’s Chiron was descending in Dallas.  Now Chiron in myth is the wounded healer and the assassination involved the wounding of four individuals.  Two, the President and a cop died from their injuries.

Ronald Reagan (Slide 25)

Astrologers have a problem with Ronald Reagan’s time of birth.  This is somewhat ironic since he evidently followed astrological advice via his wife, Nancy, from astrologer Joan Quigley and possibly other claimants.  Most family sources claim an early-morning birth, but within that range astrologers have posited over eighteen rectified times including Quigley’s.

While mindful that rectification can be celestial roulette, I will speculate a time based purely on Presidential ACG patterns.  On 6th February 1911 at 02:35 with 6° Sagittarius Rising in Tampico, Illinois, Pluto was setting over Washington. Here Reagan survived an assassination attempt.  This Pluto line extends to Nicaragua where exposure of US covert operations to fund the ‘Contras’ (rebel forces) led to a major embarrassment for the President.  His Venus Ascending line runs through London where he had a cosy alliance with Margaret Thatcher, and Mars was directly above Tripoli, home to Gaddafi and the target of his 1986 Libyan bombing campaign.

Presidents on Pluto Lines (Slide 26)

Pluto Lines and life-threatening risk.

•        Although Truman never visited his Pluto lines, he was sent a number of letter bombs in the summer of 1947, believed to be from a Zionist gang seeking Israel’s independence. Truman has Pluto on the IC by Israel.

•        Lyndon Johnson was almost shot dead by an American secret service agent fourteen hours after Kennedy’s assassination. LBJ has Pluto MC just off the Eastern Seaboard.

•        In 1975 Ford experienced two assassination attempts (San Francisco and Sacramento) on his Pluto IC line.

•        Clinton visited Manila in the Philippines, on his Pluto IC line, in 1996.  The presidential motorcade was rerouted when a plot (masterminded by Osama Bin Laden) to detonate a bomb under a bridge was intercepted, 

•        On 10^th May 2005 in Tbilisi, Georgia, an Armenian Georgian threw a live grenade onto the podium where George W. Bush was giving a speech.  GWB has Pluto and Mercury MC off the Georgian coast, in the Black Sea.  At the time he had transiting Mars and Uranus opposite his natal Mars.

•        In April 2009, Obama travelled along his Pluto Ascending line from Prague to Turkey and onto Cairo.  While he was in Prague, Turkish security forces foiled a plot to stab Obama with a knife.

President James Garfield (Slide 27)

On July 2, 1881, 20^th US President Garfield was scheduled to travel by train from D.C. to Massachusetts.  However, he was intercepted at the station by a man who held a grudge against him.  The assassin shot him twice.  While Garfield survived the shooting, he died 80 days later due to medical malpractice.  His doctors ignored sterilisation procedures and antiseptics as they refused to accept that germs existed.  Garfield had Pluto descending on Washington. Jim Lewis’s handbook states “There is great danger under this line” and you are drawn to combative relationships.

My Astro*Carto*Graphy Experience on a Pluto line (Slide 28)

I don’t normally discuss my own chart, but I did have a near death experience on my Pluto rising line.  Fortunately, I am on my Mercury line here in Perugia.

My wife and I were flying from San Francisco to Hawaii.  Just over an hour into the flight as we crossed by Saturn Pluto lines, I accidently swallowed some large chunks of ice in my drink.  I started to choke.  After what seemed like a minute wandering down the aisle, the airhostesses could see I was in danger and came to help, but didn’t know what to do.  My wife, KC got up – performed the Heimlich manoeuvre which released the ice. 

United Airlines rewarded her with 5,000 Air Miles for saving my life.  This sounds ok, but I have since they gave her 10,000 Air Miles for failing to serve a vegetarian meal.  So in this sense Astro*Carto*Graphy gave me a sense of what my life is worth and that is 5,000 air miles. 

What is the orb of influence of each line?  (Slide 29)

Jim Lewis gave varying theories about this.  Generally, we think in terms of 300 miles or 500 kilometres.   However, it depends if there are other lines in the vicinity.  If there are no other lines, the orb distances are increased.  If there are other lines and the planets of both lines are in aspect, then this creates a larger zone of influence.  If the planets are not in aspect to each other, the closest planet predominates and the orb is narrower.

How critical is an accurate time of birth?  This information is vital as the lines are moving at around 600 miles per hour or 1,000 kilometres per hour to the west around the latitude of Kolkata.  The lines move is even faster at the equator and slower in higher latitudes

Zenith and Ecliptic Line (Slide 30)

On the official Astro*Carto*Graphy maps a circle is marked where a planet is directly overhead.  These are close to the dashed ecliptic line which lies within the tropics.  We have not found any significance to these points.  However, it is interesting that George W Bush’s Pluto MC Zenith point was directly over Mecca – the heart of Islam. 

Relocated versus In Mundo (Slide 31)

Jim Lewis’s technique of Astro*Carto*Graphy Maps plotted the planetary lines are plotted ‘in mundo’.  What this means is that the ACG line marks the point where the planet is on the physical horizon … as if you could see the planet rising or setting.  This can result in a discrepancy between relocated chart and ACG Map when a planet has a high or low celestial latitude - that is above or below the path of the Sun.  The Natal Chart is calculated using the nearest position on the zodiac and not the physical position of the planet in relation to the horizon.  The zodiacal point can rise before or after the planet.  For example, a person born in London in the 1960s with Pluto on the ascendant in their natal may find that their Pluto ACG rising line falls way out in the Atlantic. 

This is why Astro*Carto*Graphy look-alike maps with aspects to angles are false as they try to combine two incompatible systems. 

West is generally best (Slide 32)

It is generally best to locate to the west of the line, though this might depend on what you are seeking from a location.  To the west planets fall in Angular houses and tend to be more conscious and in your control.  To the east, the planets fall in the Cadent Houses and you can be less in control, more subject to external forces and more contemplative.  So East of a line is better for meditation retreats or for studying.  West is better for certainty about life, identity, goals and action.

Unaspected or least aspected planets (Slide 33)

Jim Lewis never addressed the question of planets that were unaspected or had few aspects.  Subsequent Astrocartographers have found that the least aspected planet is a significant draw.  I have found that unaspected planets point to strong talents that switch on and off in most locations.  When an individual locates to an unaspected planetary ACG line, the energy of the planet becomes very strong and constant.  For example, an unaspected Mercury makes a great a teacher or author who can have periodic writer’s block when off a Mercury line.  This block is released on the Mercury line enabling them to become a prolific speaker or writer.

Settling off-lines (Slide 34)

People often ask about locations where there are no lines?  These zones known as off-lines are experienced as a safe, secure locations where no particular skills or issues predominate.  If a person’s chart is challenging or difficult, they will find the freedom from stress in this location to be ideal.  However, someone with a very easy chart with few hard aspects will have a different experience.  Initially they might enjoy the tranquillity and peace, but after a while, they will get listless and bored.  The lack of stimulation and lack of challenge will lead them to long for distant shores, exotic cities.  Every day starts to roll into the next and there are no big accomplishments.

Crossings or Parans (Slide 35)

Where two lines cross on the map, two planets were at the angles at this place when you were born.  This celestial coincidence is known as a paran or to use the full term paranatellonata.  Arabic and Egyptian astrologers placed significance on the coinciding rise, fall and culmination of stars, constellations and planets.  On an ACG map, a combination of lines is going to be a significant and highly stimulated point for anyone. 

Freud moved from Vienna to London in 1938 and he died aged 83 a year later. In London, in the last 18 months of his life he finished a book, Moses and Monotheism, over which he had hesitated for years and compiled a summary of his life's work, An Outline of Psychoanalysis.

Vortex (Slide 36)

In both the Northern and Southern hemisphere there is a zone where all the lines converge.  This is known as the vortex.  Because the ACG maps only show up to 60 degrees in the southern hemisphere, it usually only appears on the map in the northern hemisphere. 

If you are born in the northern hemisphere mid summer, you will see a point around or above 65 degrees where the Sun IC crosses the culmination (highest point) of the rising and setting lines.  This was midnight in full daylight.  Along this latitude, was the land of the Midnight Sun, where the Sun and any nearby planets never set.  

Those born in December and January can see the point of darkness at midday where the Sun MC hits the rising and setting lines. 

Jim Lewis described these zones as anxiety producing, upsetting and difficult.  And he actually went there with a number of well-known astrologers on a disastrous cruise/lecture tour into the Norwegian Fjords.

Conclusion (Slide 37)

Astro*Carto*Graphy is a huge topic and there is that has not been not covered.  It’s hard to condense a weekend course into 45 minutes.  Astro*Carto*Graphy is more than just moving to the best place in the world and avoiding certain locations.  This can be useful, but it is also a tool for growth and understanding.  What is most valuable is that you can use it to live and travel consciously knowing the opportunities and the dangers by working with the planetary archetypes wherever you are located. 

Lastly, the grim themes of violence, tragedy and assassination that have been discussed here are not inevitable consequences of going to lines.  After President Reagan’s attempted assassination in 1981, his wife Nancy commissioned an astrologer to advise them.  Though at the time the media ridiculed the notion of an astrologer in the White House, Reagan has turned out to be the only President in last 50 years to leave office popular and without disaster or disgrace.

Robert Currey