Today, I had a client who shared interesting facts about her vacation in Italy. During her stay in Lombardy, by Lake Como, where she was with her family, she was able to sit and relax for the first time for many years. She was happy to write in her diary and make plans for her future projects. Living in the States in one of the busiest cities, she had no time to reflect on her life and find peace. Most of the time, when we go on vacation, we are in a hurry to see more sights and have different experiences. Unexpectedly for her, she got some inspiration and started to write. Her mother, who was traveling with her, noticed a difference in her daughter, who is usually busy and has no time for writing or keeping a diary at home in Chicago. I was impressed by her story. I asked her if she had ever ordered a relocation chart for the town she lives in or for the town she went on vacation to.
Actually, the reason for her visit was to tell me that she has issues with her husband, and she wants to know if their family will be able to reconcile or if they have to split. She shared that they had no such problems in Bulgaria before they moved to the States. To make a long story short, I told her that she needs to have a relocation chart for Chicago to see which planets influence her family life. I wondered if she was going through a heavy aspect from Pluto or Saturn. I was right. When I looked at her transiting chart, I noticed that Pluto makes a square to her Sun. Even though she has a good aspect with Sun/Pluto in her natal chart, she told me that her relationship with her husband has been very difficult since they relocated to the States. I made her relocation chart for Chicago and found that she has Saturn very close to the cusp of her descendant/partnership house. This was the answer I was looking for.
Out of curiosity (she did not order a relocation chart), I performed a relocation chart for the place she was vacationing in Italy. I found that her beautiful stellium of four planets falls in her 3rd house of communication, also, the sign of Mercury, on the cusp of the 4th house. No surprise to me that she feels relaxed, and her writing skills start to develop. Even more, she finds the peace she was looking for.
Her story is a very good example of the importance of the relocation chart when we go on vacation, but more importantly, when we move from one state to another, or from one country to another. The planets in the natal chart remain the same when we perform a relocation chart. What changes are the houses and the positions of the planets in the natal chart. The purpose of a relocation chart is to regenerate your natal chart “as if” you had been born in the new proposed location. In this new astrological chart, your planets will move houses, often very significantly. Your relocated Ascendant symbolizes a new way of seeing the world and being seen.
Imagine that your birth chart is like a snapshot of the sky at the moment of your birth, taken from your birthplace. Now, a relocation chart is created by looking at that same cosmic instant but from another geographical location. In this chart, the positions of the planets remain the same, but the Ascendant (ASC), Medium Coeli (MC), and other houses change according to the new place. It’s like viewing your life through a different astrological lens, emphasizing different areas of experience based on where you are. If you do move to a new location, pay special attention to transits of the planets over the Ascendant and Midheaven of this relocated chart. Also, look for planets that are on the cusp of the major four houses of the chart: First (self and life direction), Fourth (home and family), Seventh (partnership), and Tenth (career, mission, and social status). If some of your planets are on these cusps, your life will change drastically, depending on the planet’s aspect. If these planets make good aspects, you will have a good, stable life; if the planet on the cusp has a challenging aspect in your natal chart, it will make your life difficult in its current position.
So, if you were born in New York, for instance, and then moved to Paris, your relocation chart would have any first-house planets shifted about 90 degrees clockwise into the tenth house; tenth-house planets would be shifted into the seventh house, and so on, thus giving your natal chart a whole new look for your Parisian adventures. In fact, if it turns out to be a significant improvement, you might even want to move there. Or, perhaps you might just want to visit when you are doing the kind of things that your Paris relocation chart favors—work, play, health, creativity—depending on your planets’ relocated house positions.
Usually, a well-placed Venus or Sun in these major cusps of the relocation house brings a happy and harmonious life. If Saturn is on the cusp of the seventh house of partnership, you may have a difficult time with your partner. If Uranus is close to the cusp of your seventh house of others, you may find that you have issues with your partner, you may not be able to find the partner you are looking for, or your partner may be wonderful but wants his freedom and prefers to do his activities without you, which can be another challenging aspect.
If you struggle to make money or find the career you are looking for, keep in mind that it is not your fault. No matter how much effort you make, things may remain the same without a positive outcome. I have a client who has difficulty finding the right partner since she moved to Chicago. Not only has she struggled to find a good partner, but she has also had trouble with all the men she met in Chicago. I looked at her relocation chart and found that Chiron sits on the cusp of the seventh house of partnership. I advised her to move to another state if she wants to find the right partner, but she is afraid to move as she does not have a green card or working permit. Still, she lives in the same city. We cannot expect to change our lives if we don’t make changes.
Sometimes we need to start over; other times, we need to think about where we are going before we decide to move from one state to another, from one country to another. The relocation chart can help us choose the right place. It also depends on what we are looking for in this stage of our life – do we want to retire or to find the love of our life? Do we want to have a successful career and be financially stable? These are important questions to be answered when we want to move, because often our value system changes as we are going through different life stages.
Margarita Ivanova- Gita