Astrocartography

Photo “Torre del Lago Puccini” © Martha Clarke

How astrocartography and relocating helps you live a more authentic and creative life through relocating

FEBRUARY 2026

by Martha Clarke

As an astrologer, I can testify personally to the immediate transformative power of astrology. I will forever remember feeling truly “seen” for the first time almost twenty years ago as I sat in my astrologer’s office. I was going through an agonizingly painful divorce and nothing was working- therapy, talking to my husband, trying to run a new business, make friends.

He explained that my current Pluto transit was the reason, as Pluto was crossing my Descendant for several years, indicating a breaking down of everything to do with the “other” in my life. He explained that, as someone with their natal Sun in the twelfth house, I needed silence and solitude, I needed to live near nature and the seas. These were absolute needs crucial to my natal chart and made so much sense to someone who grew up in a multi cultural household with seven student and no privacy.

When someone first reaches out to an astrologer, it is for several common reasons. They are usually “stuck” in life – they know there is so much more but they are either afraid to change or don’t even know where to begin. Often they are going through their Saturn return, a time when Saturn returns to your natal chart and causes you to solidify and structure your life for the next thirty years. We reach our Saturn return between the ages of 28-30, then the second Saturn return is between the ages of 58-60, with the third one between the ages of 88-
90. Most of us reach our second Saturn return and an increasing number of us are also reaching our third one.

Then we have the Uranus opposition, usually between the ages of 38 – 42 (but I have had a high number of clients who did not reach it until the ages of 45). It is a time when if you are not on your authentic path, Uranus comes along and blows everything out of the water for you to force you onto your true path. Think – the person who got fired unexpectedly from their job, was totally shocked then realised they hated the job anyway but had been too lazy to change!! Uranus did it for them instead!

Then we have the Chiron Return at the age of 49-50. Often a time of healing deep wounds. Or of turning to alternative therapy or even becoming an alternative therapist ourselves

So when we reach out to an astrologer, it is often one of these major transits that, unbeknownst to us, are kicking things off, forcing us to change.

By working with an astrologer, and knowing what transits we are going through, we can work consciously with these planetary energies and time optimum times to make changes. I usually go back six months in time with clients, and forward eighteen months. If a client is going to have a major planet crossing an angle beyond this time, I’ll also cover that, as it is highly significant. Meghan Markle for example, had Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter all crossing her Descendant before her marriage to Prince William and when leaving the UK to move to Canada and then California. A deconstructing of her life with “others” – in her case – the British Royal Family to form her own family in a way that worked for her and Prince Harry.

There is so much that makes astrology so incredibly accurate – a person’s natal birth chart tells us the lessons their soul came into this lifetime to learn and experience. When we relocate to a new location (another main reason for someone to consult an astrologer) our natal chart changes “as if” we have been born in that new location and hence different areas of our life will be highlighted. Then our transits also play out differently. For example is we have Pluto trining Venus by transit – there is an ease and flow (a trine) around deepening and transforming (Pluto) our value system (Venus). If Venus is in our fourth house natally, then our value system can be focused around home, but if Venus moved say to the eleventh house in a new location, then the focus is on what we value in our larger community.

We are now living through a time of phenomenal collective change. Yet on a deeper level, your soul signed up for this. Your soul chose to be born at the exact moment reflected in your natal birth chart and your soul is continuing to choose to live through this unprecedented collective change.

How are you handling it? There is no point in fighting? Ask yourself, how happy are you with your life right now? What could you changed? Living in a stunning place like Tuscany, many of us forget that to others, we are already living the dream. A dream we may in fact take for granted.

How can astrology make this dream even bigger? Well, we can become more creative for example – take up that art class we always wanted to do or learn to tap dance. Enhanced creativity is a core reason people relocate. Here is Tuscany, I effortlessly create far more than I ever did in Ireland – I live near a Mercury line here in Florence, so writing is accentuated. As is painting by my Venus line. My Jupiter line around 80 miles away, ensures a greater flow generally in my life.

So, relocating, even for a short while, can totally enhance your creativity. What is not to love about that?!