Your map in 30 seconds

Your astrocartography map shows where each planet was sitting on one of the four angles of your chart at the moment you were born. Each angle looks after a different part of your life, and once you know which is which, the map gets a lot less overwhelming.

The IC sits at the very bottom of your chart, and it's the part of you that nobody sees from the outside. So if you're looking for home, the IC lines are where to start.

What each planet does to your home life

Here's what the main planets tend to do when they sit on your IC.

• Moon IC. Being nurtured becomes a key focus here. Think warmth, food, closeness and the feeling of being looked after. For a lot of people this is the most home-like line on the whole map.
• Venus IC. Home becomes a place of pleasure and comfort. You might care more about how your space looks and feels, and you'll probably entertain more. Just watch for never wanting to leave the couch.
• Jupiter IC. This one surprises people. Rather than a big cosy home, it tends to bring the world into your home, along with a restlessness about staying put. It can be wonderful if your home is full of guests, travel and ideas, and frustrating if you wanted to settle down.
• Neptune IC. A spiritual, empathetic home, with a risk of rose-coloured glasses about family.
• Uranus IC. Expect big changes to your home environment and routines.
• Saturn IC. Authority or control in the home, and some heaviness in your home.
• Pluto IC. Depth and a strong need for privacy, with power dynamics in the family to keep an eye on.

When home is your goal, the main signals to look for are the Moon and the asteroid Ceres on or aspecting your IC, plus the ruler of your 4th house.

No line is automatically good or bad

This is the most important thing for beginners to understand. Venus on the IC doesn't guarantee a happy home, and Saturn on an angle doesn't mean disaster. What a planet does on your IC depends on how that planet works in your birth chart.

Check the planet before you check the line

Moving doesn't change your planets. Your signs and aspects stay exactly as they were on the day you were born. Only the houses and angles shift. So a line gives you that planet exactly as it already is, with all its strengths and baggage.

If your Moon is in a sign where it struggles, or it's tied up in a hard aspect with Saturn or Pluto, those feelings will come home with you too. That's why one person's Moon IC city feels like a warm hug, and another person's feels like family drama on repeat.

How close do you need to be?

You don't need to live directly on your IC line to feel it. Main lines are felt roughly 450 to 600 miles either side, depending on the astrologer. Parans are much tighter, about 70 miles or one degree of latitude. Being exactly on a line is also the most intense version of that planet, so somewhere nearby is often easier to live with day to day.

Find your home line in 6 easy steps

• Step 1: Get your map. Pop your birth date, time and place into the AstroNat app or any astrocartography tool. Use your exact birth time if you can, because your angles and house cusps move fast.
• Step 2: Show only your IC lines. Switch the other lines off so the map is easier to read, and jot down the cities each IC line passes near.
• Step 3: Check the planet's strength. For each IC line, look at the planet's dignity in your birth chart. It's strongest in its own sign or exaltation, and weakest in detriment or fall. Then check its aspects. Ties to Saturn, Pluto or Neptune need a closer look.
• Step 4: Shortlist cities within range. Keep the cities within about 450 to 600 miles of your best IC lines, and flag any parans within about 70 miles.
• Step 5: Find your relocated 4th house cusp and its ruler. Cast your chart for each city and see which sign lands on the cusp of your 4th house, the house of home. The planet that rules that sign is your home ruler for that city. For example, if Taurus is on your 4th cusp, Venus is your home ruler there.
• Step 6: Check where that ruler lands and how strong it is. Note which relocated house your home ruler falls in, because that's the part of life home gets tied to. A 4th ruler in the 10th can mean working from home, or a home that serves your career. Then check its dignity and aspects. A dignified, well-aspected ruler is a good sign. A ruler in detriment or fall, or under hard aspects, means home life there will take more work. If a few of these signals agree, that city is worth a visit.

Then zoom in to your neighbourhood

Once you've found a city that feels like home, you can go even smaller. Local Space astrology looks at the directions around you, which is perfect for choosing which part of town to live in. The AstroNat Home Finder ranks the neighbourhoods in your city for you, or for you and your partner together.

Don't forget real-world practicalities like your income, visa restrictions, family obligations, climate preferences & cultural assimilation like language etc. Your relocated charts won't show all that.

Ready for the full map? Read how to read your astrocartography map: every line explained. Worried about a heavy line? Read should you really avoid your Saturn line?

Questions people ask

Further reading: Jim Lewis & Ariel Guttman, The Astro*Carto*Graphy Book of Maps (1989).