Thursday, June 11, 2009

RELOCATION

When a person moves home, to live permanently at a substantial distance from the location where they were born, their natal chart skews around - sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, depending on the distance and direction involved. Natal charts are calculated with great precision, according to date time and place of birth. The only component capable of change during a lifetime from that trio is "place". Planets remain in the same signs at the same degrees, while the rising sign, midheaven, house positions adjust to take into consideration the new location.

Place of birth, as well as time of birth, determines exactly where the angles of the chart will fall - the angles being the ascendant (horizon), and its opposite point; the midheaven and its opposite point. The position of the four points, and planets close to them, form an important part of any personality blueprint. A substantial change in the location of the angles could present at the very least, a change of outlook in the chart's owner. The signs and planets affected will indicate the type of change. Makes sense! One's outlook is bound to change after a major permanent move.

Those living in smaller countries, the UK for instance, are not as likely to be noticeably affected by astrological relocation after moving home within that country. There'll be minor changes to the angles in their chart, but the effect isn't likely to be dramatic. A person moving from the UK to a location thousands of miles away, sometimes as far as the opposite hemisphere, is likely to experience a noticeable change.

The effect of one's original, natal, ascendant and angles will not suddenly disappear though. That remains for ever - can't be eradicated. What I believe happens is that the new location adds an overlay, to highlight signs and/or planets and aspects which had previously been taking something of a backseat in the personality. Consequently, the brighter light which, natally, had fallen on some signs/planets/aspects, becomes dimmer at the new location. Planets in signs, and their degrees, do not change, relocation simply causes re-orientation of the whole chart.



My own case is an example of how relocation can work, astrologically. For reasons I'll mention, though, mine might not be one of the best examples. Natally I have Cancer rising, Pisces at midheaven. By moving my life's stage westward, almost 5,000miles to Oklahoma (middle of the USA), my natal chart swung around (diagram, right) to move Aquarius from 8th house position to become the ascending sign, with Sagittarius at midheaven. These two signs are not "foreign" to my personality though. Aquarius is my Sun sign and I have Venus in Sagittarius. I have a "splash" pattern chart with planets in every sign but two - perhaps if one of those empty signs had become highlighted by moving into the ascendant position, a change would have been more noticeable to me. Another point to take into consideration is my age. I'm unlikely to be as radically affected by such a move as a much younger person would have been. My natal orientation is already well imprinted within me.

I do often wonder whether I'd have dived quite as enthusiastically into learning some of the finer points of astrology, buying the software, and launching into astrology blogging, had I remained in the UK. My re-located Aquarian ascendant might have something to do with this. Basically though, underneath it all, I am still the same ol', same ol' me.

6 comments:

anyjazz said...

I knew that.

Twilight said...

Tsk ...I used to call you "HeWhoKnows" on this blog for a reason.....
;-)

anthonynorth said...

Well, I'm glad moving around a lot in the UK doesn't topple the aspects too much otherwise I'd be in a right state :-)

Twilight said...

AN ~~~ Movement within a smaller area probably helps keep things fresh and interesting without upsetting any astrological applecarts. ;-)

Shawn Carson said...

Hi Twilight,
I agree with everything you said about relocation, and i will add that, in my studies, the angles of the chart seem to act as portals through which the planetary energies manifest on earth most noticeably. So, for example, if your move across the world brought natal Jupiter to within say 5 degrees or so of one of the 4 angles, that would account for your increased interest in all things Jupiterian, including astrology and publishing.
Some freaky examples of locational astrology include former American president John Kennedy who unwisely traveled to Dallas, Texas and met his end under Pluto to the midheaven.
If you look at your astrocartography map, you will also notice those energies manifesting through people that you meet from different places in the world. For example, my parents had a foreign exchange student live with them for a year who was from Madrid, Spain. During that year, my father died and all 3 of my siblings went through divorce. I later learned that my Pluto the the midheaven line runs right thru Madrid. Years later, this person contacted me by phone to tell me that he was visiting my hometown again, and we made arrangements to get together. No sooner did I hang up the phone with him, that it rang again from an old friend of mine who was calling to tell me that her father had just passed away.

Twilight said...

Shawn ~~~ Yes, after relocation to the US Jupiter sits in my first house - how close to the ascendant isn't clear because my birth time is a rectified time and might be a few degrees off, but I suspect that Jupiter will be within 5 or 6 degrees of the re-lo ascendant.
:-) Natally it was close to midheaven.

Wow - interesting, not to mention spooky) stories there, Shawn! I haven't investigated astro-cartography to any extent yet. It's high on my list of things "to do".