The planets stay; the houses rotate
Relocating a chart changes nothing about where the planets were. It changes the horizon and the meridian they are measured against, which moves every one of them into a different house.
That is the whole technique. Your Sun is in the same degree of the same sign in Lagos as in Helsinki; what differs is whether it was above the horizon there and how high.
What actually changes
The ascendant and Midheaven move, and with them all twelve house cusps. Bodies change house, sometimes several at once, and any planet that was near an angle may no longer be.
What does not change: every planetary position, every aspect, every orb. The aspect list of a relocated chart is identical to the natal one, because aspects are angles between bodies and moving the observer does not alter them.
| Changes with location | Does not change |
|---|---|
| Ascendant and Midheaven | Planetary signs and degrees |
| All house cusps | All aspects and orbs |
| Which house each body occupies | Retrograde status |
| Vertex and Part of Fortune | Lunar phase |
How to read it
Against the natal chart, never instead of it. The natal chart is the instrument; the relocated version describes how a particular place asks you to live.
The useful question is which bodies changed house. A Saturn that moves from the twelfth to the tenth describes a place where a private difficulty becomes a public role, which is a specific and readable shift. Bodies that stay put are telling you that place does not change that part of your life.
Longitude and latitude do different things
Moving east or west rotates the whole chart, because it changes the local sidereal time. Fifteen degrees of longitude is one hour and moves the ascendant about fifteen degrees.
Moving north or south changes the angle between the ecliptic and the horizon, which distorts house sizes without rotating the chart. That is why a move to a very different latitude can produce houses of wildly uneven size, and why Placidus can stop having a solution entirely.
Relocation against astrocartography
The map shows only where the four angular contacts fall, drawn across the whole world. A relocated chart shows every placement's new house for one specific place.
Use the map to find candidates and the relocated chart to examine one properly. The map answers where; this answers what it would actually be like.
What it does not claim
That moving somewhere changes you, or that a chart can recommend a city. What it describes is a different framing of the same material, and people who have lived in several places generally recognise their relocated charts without finding them prescriptive.
Nobody should move on the strength of a chart, and this site will not suggest it.
What you need
Your birth date, time and place as usual, plus the city you want to recast for. The birth time matters as much here as anywhere, because the entire technique operates on the angles.
Common questions
What changes in a relocated chart?
The ascendant, the Midheaven and all twelve cusps, so bodies change house. Nothing about the planets themselves changes.
Do my aspects change?
No. Aspects are angles between bodies, and moving the observer does not alter them. The aspect list is identical to your natal one.
How is this different from astrocartography?
The map shows only where the four angular contacts fall across the whole world. This recalculates every house cusp for one specific place.
Does moving east or north matter differently?
Yes. East or west rotates the chart because it changes local sidereal time. North or south distorts house sizes without rotating it, and can stop Placidus having a solution.
Should I move somewhere because of my chart?
No, and this site will not suggest it. A relocated chart describes how a place asks you to live, which people generally recognise without finding it prescriptive.
Do I need a birth time?
Yes, as much as anywhere. The entire technique operates on the angles.