espite living in an age in which GPS tracks our every move and most of us have a map available at the touch of a screen, a growing number of people are turning to a different guide for directions: the cosmos. Astrocartography, a practice combining geography and astrology, claims to map the world for a person based on the moment they were born, offering guidance on where to go on holiday and even where to live.

Developed in its modern form by the American astrologer Jim Lewis in the 1970s, at the root of the concept, which is sometimes called locational astrology, is the theory that by relocating to or spending time in areas that match with favourable planetary lines, we could tap into positive energies.

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“Essentially it’s a map based on the moment you took your first breath, which shows you your most powerful locations in the world,” says Helena Woods, a former actress from San Diego who now works in astrology and lives in Paris. She charges $550 for an initial one-hour astrocartography reading.

The astrology influencer Helena Woods charges $550 for an initial one-hour astrocartography reading