Step 1: know what a line is
At the moment you were born, each planet was in one exact spot in the sky. Somewhere on Earth, that spot was just rising over the eastern horizon; somewhere else it was setting in the west; along one line of longitude it stood at its highest, and along the opposite one it was directly underfoot. An astrocartography map joins up those places. Each planet gets four lines:
| Line | Planet was | Life area |
|---|---|---|
| ASC, Ascendant | Rising | Self, body, how you come across |
| DSC, Descendant | Setting | Partners, relationships, other people |
| MC, Midheaven | Overhead | Career, reputation, public life |
| IC, Imum Coeli | Underfoot | Home, family, roots, private life |
So "your Venus DSC line runs through Lisbon" means that when you were born, Venus was setting on the western horizon as seen from Lisbon. Astrologers read that as Venus's themes (love, beauty, pleasure) meeting the Descendant's (partners), which is why the Venus DSC line is famous as a love line.
Step 2: combine the planet and the angle
Read each line as a sentence: the planet's nature plus the angle's life area. Jupiter (growth, luck) on the MC (career) reads as recognition and professional expansion. The Moon (feelings, belonging) on the IC (home) reads as a deep sense of home. Saturn (discipline) on the ASC (self) reads as a place that makes you more serious. Every one of the 52 combinations has its own page in the guide to every line.
Step 3: check the distance
Lines are not razor-thin. The usual convention is that a line is strongest within about 250 km (150 miles), still clear to about 600 km and fading out by about 1,000 km (600 miles). The map's reading gives the exact great-circle distance to every line within that range and labels it strong, moderate or mild. East–west distance matters most for the straight MC and IC lines; the curved ASC and DSC lines can pass close from any direction.
Step 4: look for crossings and parans
Where two lines cross, both planets were angular at once. Astrologers read the pair together, and they extend the effect along the whole latitude of the crossing: that band is called a paran. A Venus MC crossing a Jupiter ASC, for example, is read as a band of good fortune in public life at that latitude all around the world. Parans explained covers them in detail.
Step 5: weigh the whole picture
Few places sit on only one line. Read the strongest line first, then the others, then any parans. Notice which themes repeat. A place with Venus IC and Moon DSC nearby says home and close relationships twice. Then weigh the difficult lines honestly: a strong Mars or Saturn line doesn't cancel a Venus line, but it changes the mood.
A worked reading
Say your map puts a Jupiter MC line 140 km west of a city, a Moon DSC line 420 km to the east and a Saturn IC line 900 km away, with a Venus–Sun paran on almost the same latitude. The reading would go like this. Jupiter MC is strong at 140 km: career growth and recognition are the headline. The Moon DSC at moderate range adds warm, family-like relationships. Saturn IC is mild at 900 km: perhaps a sense of duty at home, but faint. The Venus–Sun paran adds charm and visibility along the whole latitude. In short, a good place to build a career and a close circle, with home life asking for some patience.
Step 6: check the relocation chart
Finally, open the relocation chart for your shortlist. It shows which planets are angular in each city and moves every planet into its local house, adding detail the lines alone don't show. Then, when you're ready, try the where should I live quiz to rank thousands of cities by the theme you care about.