To get the most out of Astro Locality mapping it's helpful to understand the principles upon which it's based.
Astronomical Components of an Astrology Chart
At a basic level, in an astrology chart there are two main components:
a)The Sun, Moon, lunar Nodes & Planets. These are what comprise the immediate celestial environment - the bodies and points in space surrounding Earth in our Solar System.
The most obvious thing about our solar system environment is that there are these large bodies in the sky, and that they are moving. However we know the Sun doesn't move relative to the other bodies of the solar system. It is the central point around which all the remaining bodies (planets, asteroids etc) orbit around - except the Moon of course which orbits around us here on Earth.
And obviously one of these planets that orbits around the Sun is Earth itself. The nearly circular path that Earth takes as it orbits around the Sun is called the Ecliptic.
When this plane is extended out beyond the edges of the solar system as a 360° circle it is called the Ecliptic plane (usually just the Ecliptic for short).
As each planet orbits the Sun it travels on or close to the Ecliptic plane. And although the Moon and its nodes orbit Earth instead, they do so approximately in the same plane as the Ecliptic plane (so also travel on or close to the Ecliptic too).
The Zodiac is an approximately 8° band of space extending north and south either side of the Ecliptic plane like a 16° wide belt in space.
The 12 signs of the Zodiac (which are nothing to do with the constellations of stars by the same name) are arranged around the 360° Ecliptic, each sign being 30°, with the beginning of the first sign Aries being 0°, and the end of Pisces the last sign being 360°.
The Ecliptic, ECLIPTIC plane, and the Zodiac band
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We identify where a body or point is on the Ecliptic by how far around (along) the Ecliptic it is when observed from Earth, stated in degrees (of celestial longitude from 0° to 360°) e.g. 204°, or alternatively as a Zodiac Sign degree (from 0 to 30°) e.g. 19° Taurus.
So at any point in time each planet or node will be seen in a certain part (degree) of the Ecliptic (as well as being at a certain Zodiac Sign degree).
And these planets and nodes will all have specific relationships with each other (aspects).
This all comprises our immediate Celestial environment. Coming from (relatively) distant space as it does, the information we can get from a snapshot of this environment at any particular time, which is shown by the astrology chart, will apply to all people on Earth at that time.
NOTE: the Ecliptic plane is roughly in the same plane as Earth's Equator - it is exactly the same when Earth is at the beginning of Aries and Libra in its orbit around the Sun, otherwise when it's in different signs in its orbit it is a bit varied from that (peaking in variance at Cancer/Capricorn).
b)EARTH in relation to this Celestial Environment - more specifically, at any point in time, the relationship of a specific location on Earth to the Sun, Moon, Planets, Asteroids and nodes etc.
We determine this specific location on Earth using a coordinate system based on Earth's 24hr day/night spinning on its North-South polar axis, and the Equator, which is exactly midway between these poles at right angles (perpendicular) to the polar axis. The Equator thus divides the globe into the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
The Polar axis and its related Equator give rise to:
i.Longitude: measurement of distance around (along) the Equator (from 0 to 360°). With the starting point of 0° being anywhere in a north-south alignment with Greenwich in London, England. That location being just an arbitrary point decided upon to be the starting point.
So anywhere on the great circle that runs from the North pole, down through Greenwich, and further on down to the South pole, and returning up the other side of the globe to the North pole, is 0°. The degrees increase as one moves eastwards from this circular line (e.g. from England towards Russia).
For any location, the great circle running from the North pole directly overhead to the South pole (also crossing over the Equator at some point as it does so) is the Meridian of that location - each Meridian therefore having a specific longitude.
ii.Latitude: measurement of distance up or down from the Equator, towards the north or south poles (0 to +90°), with anywhere on the Equator being 0° and the North Pole being +90° and the South Pole -90°.
So any location on Earth will have a specific longitude degree and latitude degree.
And any specific location (a certain longitude & latitude) will also naturally have its own unique Horizon.
a)moving east or west changes your longitude, and with it your Horizon.
b)moving closer to or further away from the Equator changes your latitude, and also with it your Horizon.
The Interface of the Components
The ASC/DESC axis of a astrology chart is created where the Horizon (based on the longitude & latitude) of a location on Earth intersects with the Ecliptic.
The MC/IC axis of an astrology chart is created where the Meridian (longitude) of a location on Earth intersects with the Ecliptic.
So the ASC and MC of the chart are what anchors our local Earth situation into that wider Celestial environment (the Solar System).
In more detail...
The Meridian and the Horizon are both directly connected, and both "anchor" us to Earth.
Remembering that any Meridian is directly related to the polar axis (it joins the poles), and the Horizon is related to the Meridian (as it is always where we are that establishes our Horizon, and wherever we are the Meridian of the location always passes directly overhead from one pole to the other).
And it is where both the Meridian and Horizon of a location respectively intersect the Ecliptic that two core elements in the astrology chart are produced which represent our fundamental Earth location - the MC (where the Meridian intersects the Ecliptic) and the ASC (where the Horizon intersects the Ecliptic).
It is through these two points of intersection that the two components of the chart - our Earthly situation (local space), and our immediate Celestial environment (distant space) - interface. It is through these two points that the macro and micro come together.
We know the common basic meanings given to the ASC and MC in the chart. Aligning naturally to the Aries archetype, the ASC correlates to our instinctive and spontaneous approach to life and situations generally. It can indicate our likely appearance, the ways in which we assert ourselves, act independently and push out into new experience. It is the primary innocent (or naive) experiencing of ourselves just as we innately are.
On the other hand the MC aligning with the Capricorn archetype correlates to our external worldly life and public situations of all kinds, our responsibilities, achievements, reputation and status. It denotes the way in which we will make our peak contribution to society.
We can see how vital these two core elements of the chart are - they make the chart personally relevant to an individual, via the individual's location. Without these core elements the chart would mean much the same for anyone born at or close to that time. But these two core elements anchor the zodiac signs and their inter-relationships to a specific location on Earth. And all that needs to be done to make that anchor full and complete is to add houses to the chart.
Most house systems incorporate the ASC and MC as part of their system, with the ASC becoming the cusp (beginning) of the 1st house and the MC becoming the cusp of the 10th house. For these systems that leaves only four more houses to calculate and mirror, and we now have an astrology chart that fully connects the Solar System (distant space) with a specific location on Earth (our local space).
Changing locality on Earth (local space)
We have seen how we connect a specific location on Earth to the Solar System surrounding Earth, as part of the process of casting an astrology chart for any point in time. And how in doing that we can get information highly specific to us as an individual. All because the astrology chart anchors our local space into our wider celestial environment. But what happens when we move to a different location, i.e. our local space changes? Then along with that, all that information highly specific to us as an individual, also changes!
To measure or ascertain these changes AstroGold provides Astro Locality Mapping.
Simplified, in a nutshell this is basically just creating a new chart, based on the original one (the time remains the same), but changing the location used.
Since the location affects the longitudes of the ASC and MC (and usually thus the houses), when we change the location of a chart as well as the ASC and MC changing, the houses also all change. This also means the aspects from the Sun, Moon, Planets, Asteroids and nodes to the ASC, MC etc and house cusps all change as well.
Astro Locality Mapping gives us the tools to explore our actual current local space in detail. Plus ascertain what the changes would be if we moved to any other place on the globe. The advantage of this of course is that we can ascertain what the result of possible relocations etc. would be in terms of personal and public situations and experiences before making any decision to actually move to those locations.
Next Topic: Starting Astro Locality Mapping
