Astrocartography online
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The Uranian dial
ZEUS Online opens on the Uranian (Hamburg School) dial: a rotating 360°/90°/45° disc with a pointer. Drag the pointer with the mouse or your finger; clicking an object sets the axis exactly on it. Orb sectors and symmetry lines — the planetary pictures — are highlighted along the axis and listed on the “Pictures” tab. The “Axis by formula” block places the axis at a sum of the form a + b − c, optionally locking it to the formula. The eight Hamburg bodies (Cupido, Hades, Zeus, Kronos, Apollon, Admetos, Vulkanus, Poseidon) are calculated together with the planets.
Prefer a classic wheel? The “Uranian ▾” menu switches to Modern — a traditional chart with houses, aspects and position tables.
Quick start
Click the chart chip above the wheel and enter the date, time and place of birth. Cities are searched by name; the first Enter in the “City” field picks the top suggestion, a second Enter builds the chart. The time zone is filled in automatically from the place and date, historical changes included. Charts are calculated in the tropical zodiac, geocentrically.
The ⌖ button in the chip editor sets “here and now”: the current date, time and — for the first circle — the place taken from your browser’s time zone. Such a chart stays live: next time you open the site it will show the current moment again. As soon as you enter your own data the circle stops updating and your chart is kept.
Circles: transits, progressions, directions
The “+” button adds a second and third circle — Transit, Progression, Direction or Solar arc (the type is chosen in the circle’s chip). Pairs of circles for aspect calculation are switched in the “Aspects” panel above the wheel; every interaction type has its own set of orbs, edited in Settings.
Event pool
The 💾 icon in the chip editor saves an event to the pool — the list on the “Pool” tab. Double-clicking an event loads it as the natal chart, the ⋮ menu sends it to any circle, renames or deletes it. The pool is stored in your browser.
Geomap (astrocartography)
The “Geomap” item in the configuration menu draws planetary lines on a world map: the places where a planet stood exactly on the MC, IC, Ascendant or Descendant at the moment of birth. MC/IC labels stay at the bottom edge of the map, As/Dsc labels ride the dashed red parallel that follows the centre of the map. The buttons under the zoom control restore the whole-world view and jump to the place of the first circle. The “Lines” tab on the right switches angles and planets on and off. Tap a line (or its badge) to open its interpretation — what this planet means on this angle; the “?” button next to a planet shows all of its lines at once. The full reference lives at “Meaning of the lines”. Online the seven classical planets are drawn; outer planets, aspect lines and parans are part of ZEUS for desktop. Lines can be calculated in mundo (using the ecliptic latitude of the body) or zodiacally — the switch is in Settings.
Time dynamics
The ⏱ button opens the time-scrolling window: choose a circle and a step (from minutes to years), move with the ◄ ► buttons or start the ▶ animation. The ⟲ button returns to the original moment.
Tables and settings
To the right of the wheel are the “Positions” (“Pictures” in the Uranian configuration), “Aspects” and “Houses” tabs. The gear ⚙ opens the settings: the set of objects, aspects and orb sets, the house system (Placidus, Koch, Regiomontanus), aspect colours and table appearance. The “Parameters” line in the corner of the wheel leads to the same place. The light and dark themes are switched next to the help button.
Sharing a chart
The 🔗 button opens a menu: copy a link to the chart (it opens with all the circles for anyone — handy for a forum thread), copy the wheel to the clipboard as an image (paste it with Ctrl+V into a message or chat) or save it as a PNG file.
Online and the desktop version
The online calculations follow the same algorithms as the desktop ZEUS astrology software. The full working toolkit — four circles, every kind of progression and direction, astrocartography with aspect lines and parans, Uranian and traditional astrology, interpretations — is in the desktop version of ZEUS for Windows and macOS.
Calculations — Swiss Ephemeris © Astrodienst AG, under the ZEUS product licence.
Astrocartography puts a natal chart onto a map of the world. Instead of a wheel of signs you see a globe crossed by planetary lines: the places where, at the moment of your birth, a planet stood exactly on the horizon or on the meridian. The method does not answer the question of what happens — it answers the question of where it is felt most strongly.
The tool above builds such a map for free, with no sign-up. Enter the date, time and place of birth and the lines appear at once. Positions are computed with the Swiss Ephemeris — the same standard used by professional astrological software.
What astrocartography is
The idea was introduced by the American astrologer Jim Lewis in the 1970s. The logic is straightforward: a horoscope is always calculated for one point on Earth, and if you mentally move the moment of birth elsewhere, the angles of the chart shift. Collect every point where a given planet lands exactly on the Ascendant and you get a line. Do the same for the Midheaven, the Descendant and the Imum Coeli.
The result is a grid of lines across the world map, each one saying: here this planet is angular, that is, at its most exposed. Astrologers use it when choosing a place to move, work or study — and, no less interestingly, to look backwards: the cities that mattered in a person's life often turn out to sit close to particular lines.
How to read the lines
Every planet produces four lines, and they differ by the angle the planet occupies. The MC and IC lines run along meridians; the AC and DC lines are curved, because they depend on latitude.
- AC (Ascendant) — the planet is rising. Its qualities show in appearance, manner and first impressions, in how you feel here and how others read you.
- MC (Midheaven) — the planet is at upper culmination. A line of work, vocation, public role and reputation.
- DC (Descendant) — the planet is setting. Partnership, encounters, collaboration — and sometimes open opposition.
- IC (Imum Coeli) — lower culmination. Home, family, roots, the sense of having ground under your feet, or the lack of it.
The meaning of a line comes from the angle together with the nature of the planet. A Venus line on the AC works differently from a Saturn line on the MC, and the same planet reads differently on different angles. The influence is usually considered noticeable within roughly 700–800 km on either side, and the closer the stronger.
You can open the interpretation of any line right on the map — just tap it, and the service shows what that line means. The full write-ups of every line, from the Sun on the MC to Saturn on the IC, are collected in a separate reference — “Meaning of the astrocartography lines”.
Using the tool
Click the chart chip above the wheel and enter the date, time and place of birth. Cities are searched by name, and the time zone is filled in automatically, including historical daylight-saving shifts — which matters here, because a time-zone error moves the MC and IC lines by hundreds of kilometres.
The Geomap item in the configuration menu shows the lines on a world map. The Mc and Ic labels stay near the bottom edge, As and Dsc sit on the dashed red latitude that follows the centre of the map. Buttons under the zoom control return to the whole-world view and jump to the birth place. The Lines tab on the right switches individual angles and planets on and off — useful once the map gets busy.
The settings panel switches between mundane calculation, which takes the ecliptic latitude of the planet into account, and zodiacal calculation. For fast-moving bodies the difference is small; for objects with a large latitude it can be significant, so it is worth knowing which method you are using.
Astrocartography and relocation
These two are often confused, although they answer different questions.
Astrocartography is the overview tool. You look at the whole world at once and see where things are amplified. It narrows a long list down to a short one.
A relocated chart is the detailed one. It is the ordinary horoscope recalculated for the coordinates of a particular city: the same moment, but a different Ascendant, different house cusps and therefore a different distribution of planets across the houses. Aspects between planets do not change — only the areas of life they touch.
In practice the order is usually: lines first, to see the general picture, then relocation for the two or three places you have shortlisted.
What not to expect
Astrocartography is not a treasure map, and that is worth saying plainly. A line does not promise money and does not threaten disaster: it shows which theme sounds louder in a given place. A Mars line can mean a combative environment — or the place where you finally find the energy for your own work. Which of the two happens depends on the whole chart and on what you are doing there.
The second limit is the accuracy of the birth time. MC and IC lines move about one degree of longitude per four minutes. Half an hour of error and the line has travelled hundreds of kilometres. If the time is approximate, read the lines as a wide corridor.
And the third: people choose where to live by work, language, family, climate and visas. Astrocartography works well as a refinement inside a sensible set of options, and badly as the sole reason for a decision.
Online and desktop
Online you get the lines of the seven classical planets — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — on all four angles, with a choice of mundane or zodiacal calculation. That is enough to get the overall picture and to get a feel for the method.
The desktop ZEUS astroprocessor goes further: outer planets, aspect lines, parans, local space, natal and relocated charts side by side, and work with your own chart database. The calculation engine is the same — the difference is the depth of the toolkit.
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Frequently asked questions
What is astrocartography in simple terms?
It is a way of showing a natal chart as a world map instead of a wheel. For every planet the map draws lines — the places on Earth where, at the moment of your birth, that planet stood exactly on the horizon, at the zenith or at the nadir. Near such a line the theme of that planet is considered to be more pronounced.
What is the difference between the AC, MC, DC and IC lines?
AC means the planet was rising: its qualities show in how you come across and how you are perceived. MC is the upper culmination — work, career and public role. DC means the planet was setting — partnership and encounters. IC is the lower culmination — home, roots and inner ground.
Are astrocartography and relocation the same thing?
No. Astrocartography draws planetary lines on a world map and answers the question "where". A relocated chart is an ordinary horoscope recalculated for the coordinates of another city: the same date and moment, but a different Ascendant and different houses. Lines are for a quick overview, relocation is for studying one specific place in detail.
Do I need an exact birth time?
For astrocartography, more than for an ordinary chart. The MC and IC lines shift by roughly one degree of longitude for every four minutes of time, so half an hour of uncertainty moves a line by hundreds of kilometres. If your birth time is approximate, treat the lines as a corridor rather than a precise border.
Does a Jupiter line mean I should move there?
No, and this is the most common misreading. A line does not promise luck and does not guarantee trouble — it amplifies the theme of the planet, and how that theme plays out depends on the whole chart and on what you actually do in that place. Astrocartography works best as a refining tool once your options are already shortlisted for ordinary reasons.
Can I build an astrocartography map with only my birth date, without the time?
Without a birth time the map is approximate: the MC and IC lines depend directly on the time of day. Set the chart to noon — the lines of the slow planets, Jupiter and Saturn, will not move far and can serve as a rough guide, but do not rely on the lines of fast planets. For a working map it is worth pinning the time down to half an hour at least.
Which lines does the online version draw?
Lines of the seven classical planets — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — on all four angles, with a choice between mundane and zodiacal calculation. Outer planets, aspect lines and parans are available in the desktop ZEUS astroprocessor.
Where to go next
- Meaning of the lines — every planet on the AC, MC, DC and IC, explained
- ZEUS Online — natal chart, transits, progressions, directions and the uranian dial in the same tool
- ZEUS features — what the desktop version can do
- Articles — techniques and working methods explained
Calculations — Swiss Ephemeris © Astrodienst AG, licensed for the ZEUS product.