Amanda Voss, formerly a Creative Director and now an Astrocartographer at Mood Altars, brings a unique perspective to the intersection of astrology and personal fulfillment. With a deep understanding of the sacred influence of location, Amanda guides individuals in activating creative breakthroughs through Locational Astrology. As a practitioner of Astrocartography, she helps clients discover the optimal places worldwide for self-expression, embodying vulnerability, and unleashing their inner artist. MysticMag has the pleasure.
Can you explain what Astrocartography is and how it helps individuals in finding the right places to thrive creatively and personally?
Astrocartography is part of the wider system of Locational Astrology or the “astrology of place.” The astrocartography system came into being as a result of Jim Lewis’ work in the late 70s. While Locational Astrology is an older system, Astrocartography overlays your natal chart over a map of the world. It depicts the same information we see in a relocated natal chart, but offers us a visual representation of key planetary lines, parans (planetary crossings), angles, aspects and our proximity to each of those planetary lines. Through the study of our natal chart relocated to desired locations for travel or holidays, we start to see how different themes of life can be activated (or quieted) based on the exact geographic location we find ourselves at. A Venus placement in the first house could influence an idea of how we desired to be loved or of an invitation to self-love. So, by moving a significant distance from where we are currently based, could in effect move that Venus to the 5th or 7th house which could be advantageous (if our Venus is supportive) to shift that energy to dating or long term partnership. This is the beauty. We do have agency over the experience we are having, and we can manipulate it to be more supportive, even if planets have some challenging aspects natally.
What inspired you to transition from being a Creative Director to becoming an Astrocartographer, and how has your background in creativity influenced your approach to Astrocartography?
Honestly, it just came right out of the ether and grabbed me. I have no idea exactly where this interest came from, but as soon as it did, it held tight and never let go. I have always had a deep affinity with the sacredness of being in the right relationship with land, studied ley lines for years, as well as some of the energetic experiences that occur on the different islands across the Isle of Iona and Scotland in general. I also love vortices and earth chakra points, and am lucky to be living in the southwest USA at the moment where there is not only a high frequency of UFO encounters but also powerfully activated land like you find in Sedona, Arizona.
As far as my Creative Direction background, I haven’t fully transitioned yet and I still offer design services that blend my 2 decades of experience in branding with astrology. I’m really obsessed at the moment with this idea of developing deeply meaningful and creative work that is in full alignment with all five senses. What does a creative work taste, touch, smell, feel, or look like even if it’s only experienced in a digital context? I think there is HUGE potential in developing a really creative brand vision through the lens of astrology. Imagine a client comes to you that wants to elevate their wellness brand but wants to have a completely different perception than similar brands out there. We can pull a natal chart that draws us in deeper to the spirit of the business. Referencing a birthdate for the conception of a creative business we can then study where certain planets show up in the chart, what relationships are being made, and uncover a narrative expressed through the senses that leads to aesthetically pleasing and innovative creative work across photography, graphic style, fonts, colors and even copywriting.
Astrocartography seems to connect astrology and geography. Can you share an example of how a client’s life or creative pursuits were positively impacted by discovering their ideal location through this practice?
I had a client that lived on 6 planetary lines for almost a decade. A Saturn AC, Pluto IC, Chiron MC, Jupiter MC, Mercury MC and Moon DC. In addition she had a 0 degree opposition to her Saturn in her chart (one of the most challenging aspects to have) and was living less than 15 mi from that Saturn line. She endured a lot of pain, constant chaos, various elements of her life falling away or going through an energetic death. It was too much energy and the weight of her stasis being in constant turmoil, almost broke her (and her body) down completely. We could definitely see it was time for her to leave.
When we consulted her Annual Profections chart, we could see she was in a “12th house year.” This is the year of absolute inner psychological work, introspection, the most isolating year, and one that was at its very end of its cycle – so that a new identity could be born. We knew this was the time and without planning it she made a sudden and abrupt move between a Solar and Lunar eclipse. You could not make this up. She made the formal decision the day after the Solar eclipse, and moved on the Lunar eclipse.
As someone that is a triple earth sign she was looking for grounding and stability. After all her money and job prospects had dissipated in her previous location, an opportunity arose to move out into the healing desert surrounding Tucson, Arizona with a friend of hers. She had been living in urban environments for the last 2 decades and though living in a more rural setting at first was jarring, she finally had the space to be more centered, to have focus, and build more prosperity and access opportunities she never would have had, had she stayed in her previous location. Most importantly she was 400-600+ mi away (mid to weak planetary influence) from 3 of her most challenging lines.
The last time I spoke with her she was finally launching her coaching program, felt much more sustained by having less energy in her life distracting her, and she even shared that as she was crossing the border from California to Arizona old clients began to reach out to her, and other project opportunities began to come her way – but only once she made the decision to leave. These experiences can be had much faster than one thinks.
Changing locations can be a significant step for anyone. How do you help individuals navigate and make informed decisions about relocating based on their astrological maps?
The beauty of the all encompassing system of Locational Astrology which includes Astrocartography is there are many ways to work with this energy, and it doesn’t always mean you have to uproot your life. For many of us that is a privilege or we may not even desire to leave where we are, even when it’s difficult. Most of my clients already have a few ideas about where they would like to go, even if it’s a short term visit – and actually the most successful readings come out of gathering a few location preferences from my clients. In Astrocartography, the whole world is our “palette”, so the more specifics we can start from the better the reading.
If someone isn’t quite ready to make a move to a line that might be halfway around the world or even several hundred miles away, I’d like to remind my clients that the influence of the ACG lines can be felt up to 600-800 miles away. People often think you have to live right on a line which is just not the case – and even more true if that planetary line is challenged in your natal chart, you may definitely want some distance.
Another technique I use are parans, which are places where 2 planets cross somewhere on the planet. So what you get is a blended effect of 2 planets together. The beauty of parans is that instead of vertical planetary lines, the latitude where the planets cross forms a horizontal line which can literally be followed anywhere on the planet. So let’s say you have an amazing Venus AC line in Greece but you’re not going there anytime soon. Perhaps you have a Venus paran near you that you can spend time near, or maybe it’s a day trip or weekend away. You can basically then go test the waters closer to home, and get a bit of a preview of what the energetics of it might feel like.
Lastly, a core part of my process is utilizing ancient Hellenistic timing techniques, like Annual Profections or Cyclocartography. Annual Profections assign a chronological age to the houses on your chart, so you have a more informed sense on what is best to focus on this year (and moving might not be it). With Cyclo Cartography, or CCG, we are looking at planetary progressions and transits as they approach are natally placed planetary lines on our Astrocartography map. We’re looking at how the current sky is going to drive our spiritual and emotional worlds, as well as our lived experience in the 3-d in that place. With CCG we can get hyper-specific, sometimes down to the week or even day when the energy is ideal for a certain effect or experience someone wants to have. That is, it’s amazing for pre-planning just about anything – from moving, to travel, starting a business, or even being more creative. We now know the time an exact place that is lit up to facilitate that experience for a client.
Could you share a memorable success story of a personal transformational shift you experienced in your life?
I would love to share another concept that exists in Astrocartography which is another way we can work with the energetics without literal relocation that I personally experienced a few months ago. It’s called Remote Activation and for me, this is how we manifest with Astrocartography. Let’s say you want to tap into that Venus AC line in Greece we just mentioned but you’re nowhere near there. You can tap into the energy in the location you’re at by doing the following:
– Bring in the energy of the god/goddess that represents that planet into your everyday life
– With Venus, we might be looking at how can we surround our home environment with beauty, art, love and abundance at every turn
– How would we style our home with this in mind?
– What foods would we eat?
– What books, films, or art would we be immersed in
– How would we dress or adorn ourselves?
You can really double down on the efficacy of this process by then
repeating the above, but for the location you are interested in. If I’m curious about the Cyclades Islands in Greece, I might buy actual products from that region in Greece so they can start to become part of my experience in my home and start to have an influence on my life. My favorite hack ever is looking for local makers in a region you like, go to Etsy then filter on the country or region you are trying to invoke in your own home.
Although most Astrocartographers don’t focus a great deal on how the aspects show up on the map itself, it can be another way to tap into energy that is much further afield. So I was looking to connect with the Venus AC line in Greece, and I knew there was a Venus AS Sextile line just a couple hours south of where I was living in Los Angeles at the time.
So while I was on my Venus sextile line which was already having a conversation with that line in Greece, I also practiced remote activation while I was in this location. This is when some pretty epic manifesting started to occur. You know you are on the right track when the synchronicities start to show up. While in San Diego, CA i focused on eating Greek and Mediterranean foods, i watched Greek films, signed up for my Astrocartography professional certification. I even signed up for the waiting list on a retreat to Greece which was sold out, and within a day of doing this, a spot had opened up just for me. It even followed me a bit on the way home. A building I walked past all the time and never looked at before caught my eye – it was a mural of Zeus.
Aside from these connections, I had a profound realization that up until that point I spent most of my life doing things I highly disliked doing, that perhaps I never had the clarity until that moment. Since Venus represents pleasure, I can definitely say she was there influencing my experience too. While I was there I cut several things out of my life that did not speak to my authenticity or what I was here to do. Even though I was only on a minor aspected line for a few days, a big shift did occur which set me on the path I am on now.
If you would like to find out more about Amanda Voss:
Instagram: Follow @moodaltarsco
Website: https://moodaltars.com/
Creative Awakening 90-day Coaching Program
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Q &A
Can I join this if I’m not creative or an artist?
100%! This program helps everyone tap into the power of their “inner artist” via my methodology of creative mindset work informed by locational astrology and the unique blend of gifts you came into the world with. There is no other program like this anywhere.
What does this include?
3 months of creative coaching which we’ll kick off with 1:1 private sessions. As more students join the cohort we will have a powerful, safe and supportive group container as you build the confidence to finally step into the fullest expression of your creative power. The program includes a course component – an introductory Natal Astrology and Astrocartography course, as well as the following:
2x monthly group coaching calls
Accountability support via Voxer
Regular creative prompts through our private Instagram account
Monthly digital retreats
Digital art residency in month 3 where you realize your creative vision as a powerful project that you share with the world
What do you mean by free?
Once you make the investment in the program, if you haven’t been able to bring your creative project to fruition in month 3, we provide support in perpetuity until you do. You are welcome to come to the 2x monthly calls for support and accountability until you feel safe and confident to share your creative project with your audience.
