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Reviews
As reviewed by Philip Graves
A few months ago, I happened to be chatting with Erin Sullivan about the Arkana Contemporary Astrology series of books that she edited for Penguin in the 1990s, after posting an album of pictures of books from the series in the library here on my Facebook page, when she mentioned that one of her books that was not a part of the series but rather published by the CPA Press, a study of locational astrology entitled ‘Where in the World? Astro*Carto*Graphy and Relocation Charts’, had fallen permanently out of print. She was therefore seeking a new publisher to take it on.
Margaret Cahill of Wessex Astrologer, one of the leading active publishers of English-language astrological books today, was pleased to do the honours, and has now republished it in the paperback edition shown, whose cover design takes after the colour of the original volume while adding dramatic title lettering with the creative touch of substituting an image of the globe for the ‘O’ in ‘WORLD’ as seen.
Erin’s study of locational astrology is therefore once again available new in 2020 after being unavailable for the best part of 15 years or so since the original edition sold out; and the new edition is eminently reasonably priced.
The hardbound CPA edition (also pictured) has become highly sought-after by collectors second-hand, resulting in inflated second-hand asking prices that don’t offer good value for money for typical working astrologers. A quick check just now found only one copy on Alibris, priced at an outlandish US $321, and none on either Abebooks or Amazon UK. This underlines the case for Margaret’s new edition.
I’m delighted for Erin that this book of hers is on the market once more. My thanks also to Margaret for sending me a review copy of her new edition, which will be integrated into the library here as soon as I’ve catalogued it!
Margaret Cahill (Publisher)
I’m so excited to have played a part in this. Thank you Philip Graves for getting me together with Erin Sullivan so we could get this book back out where it belongs
Wessex Astrologer. Publisher UK.
As reviewed by Mike Harding.
As inhabitants of the so-called Global Village we live in a rapidly shrinking world. Many of us can routinely visit places our parents could only dream about, and as we are increasingly able to experience life in different parts of the world so do techniques such as Astro*Carto*Graphy become evermore relevant.
But where to start learning? Anyone whose mind has ever boggled at the sight of an ACG map now has a personal tutor to help make sense of it all. Starting with the natal chart itself, Erin Sullivan unravels the theory and practice of mapping our birth onto the surface of the world. And what an experience ti turns out to be, for Astro*Carto*Graphy is one of astrology’s most challenging, and rewarding techniques. Using ACG with which we can located areas of the world which have particular affinities with our own chart, in fact those areas where — at the moment of our birth — planets were rising and setting, culminating or on the IC, all creating a picture which demonstrates (conclusively for this reviewer) that we and our world are one.
This book, like other CPA titles, is a transcript of a day’s workshop, and herein lies much of its strength. The questions you would like to put to Erin are placed by members of her audience, and answered clearly in a non-technical and highly readable manner. The spontaneous observations and personal anecdotes of both Erin and her students strengthen the text with valuable every-day examples, all helping to cement one’s understanding of the approach, and flesh out the ideas presented.
For many years Erin worked closely with Jim Lewis, the originator of the computer ACG map, and her experience is very much in evidence. Although her humour is very present on the page, she takes us methodically through interpretations of all the planets, and the issues of interpreting locations East or West of an ACG line, something many more experienced astrologers will welcome. We explore the significance of planets’ latitude, and are given examples of working with progressed and transiting bodies, as well as charts for eclipses and ingresses.
Of course, the ACG map is also a way of looking at locational astrology. Here the birth chart is re-set for a new location, where the planets will invariably find themselves in different houses. With different interpretations now called for, Erin gives clear examples of this approach when used in addition to the overall ACG map. Many students provide telling examples which do help give a deeper understanding of how old and modern approaches overlap and reinforce their findings.
There seems little doubt that certain parts of our planets bring literal aspects of ourselves to life, and we may wish (or need!) to know where on Earth these might be. I have only fainted once in my life: within 15 minutes of arriving at the one point on the planet where my Uranus rose and my Neptune set (Ebertin gives “the elimination of the waking consciousness” for the UR/NE midpoint.) What more proof do you need?!
This book is rich and full of wisdom. When we finish the last page we recognise we have spent a day with a highly gifted astrologer, giving generously of her skills. This is a must for anyone new to Astro*Carto*Graphy, and probably a must for many others besides.
As reviewed by Chris Lorenz, in Dell Horoscope Magazine, April 2000.
One of the most exciting astrological innovations over the last few decades has been the development of AstroCartoGraphy. Based on the recognition that planets near the horoscope’Äôs angles dominate the chart, AstroCartoGraphy (A*C*G) maps reflect the locations around the world where specific planets would be angular.
These locations appear as lines on the global map, and describe planetary influences according to the projected horoscope. Jim Lewis first popularized AstroCartoGraphy with the notion that you can change your fortune by changing your location. Looking for love? Move to where a Venus line is angular. Want to become famous? Your Sun line shows where this becomes possible.
Astrologer Erin Sullivan’Äôs practice has taken her all over the world, and so she naturally investigated relocation astrology by using ACG maps. In 1997 she gave a seminar about what she has learned, and now these lectures have been published under the title Where in the World? Sullivan’Äôs expertise in relocation themes mixes well with her knowledge-base in other astrological areas.
Intermediate to advanced astrologers will be entertained and educated by the material presented here, and come away with a new respect for the art of interpretation according to location.
The first half of Where in the World is devoted to explaining the techniques and delineating the effects of the individual planets. One of the most important concepts is the idea of mundane squares, known as parans. For example, even if you don’Äôt have Sun – Jupiter aspect in your natal horoscope, somewhere on the globe your Sun line intersects with your Jupiter line, creating a specific location where you may experience the effects of a Sun-Jupiter combination. The Sun-Jupiter influence is particularly fortunate, and one may find success and material blessings here, or possibly the meaning of life or at least a better understanding of one’Äôs personal mission.
Other fascinating concepts are sprinkled throughout the pages. Most notably, readers are introduced to how transits and progressions can be mapped (known as Cyclo*Carto*Graphy or C*C*G), and how to rectify a horoscope using A*C*G. As an example of rectification, Sullivan investigates Princess Diana’Äôs competing horoscopes, concluding that the Libra Rising chart is most accurate. Another significant concept explained is the ‘Äúshadowed planet.’Äù An example of this would be Mars in the horoscope of serial killer Andrew Cunanan. In an amazing demonstration of the accuracy of A*C*G maps, Cunanan first killed when he left his comfortable Moon line in California and moved under a Mars influence in Milwaukee. His murder spree followed precisely his Mars line extending through Chicago and Minneapolis, and culminating in Florida where he killed designer Gianni Versace, and then finally himself.
The second half of Where in the World gets into individual cases. What actually happens when someone relocates to a Pluto line? Sigmund Freud’Äôs chart is explored, with discussion centering around his angular Pluto. Audience members share their stories, with Sullivan providing psychological and astrological insights. Solar returns, progressed lunations, and other interpretive techniques are used when looking at relocated planets. Readers will undoubtedly have many “Aha!” experiences while following along.
As reviewed by Kenneth Irving.
It is truly unfortunate that many of the best books on astrology either are available only in England or come to us via British publishers whose distribution channels are slow. The problem of bringing these books here is due partly to the facts of life of international commerce. However, I think it also may be due to the differences between the astrological readership in the two countries. American astrology tends more toward an indefinable “personal growth” of one sort or another, and tends to seek out authors who are friendly and unchallenging. Books that come out of the U.K. are replete with references and dense of type, carrying weight and meaning in every sentence, requiring the reader to be an active participant, rather than someone passively entertained.
Mind you, I’m only trying to point out a general difference and not one which distinguishes every book from England from every book in America. Heavy tomes are published on the west side of the Atlantic and fluffy, feel-good books are published on the eastern side, but by and large these go a bit against the grain in either case.
Erin Sullivan is certainly one of those authors who challenges the reader, and while this book is no exception, the fact that it is drawn from a workshop at the Centre for Psychological Astrology makes it a bit different from her written works, showing us the successful lecturer behind (or perhaps beside) the successful author. The subject, as one might guess from the title, is relocational astrology, including Jim Lewis’s Astro*Carto*Graphy.
Erin certainly knows the latter subject, having learned it from the master himself, as well as through direct experience, since she has traveled extensively. This gives her a unique perspective on ACG, as well as a deep understanding of its principles and practice, all of which comes through in the program presented here. Books based on lectures and workshops tend to be obtuse and difficult to read, since the mind works in different channels when speaking than when writing, but this volume is an exception to that rule. The information is given to the reader in a clear and direct fashion, not only because of the author’s presentation and the audience’s informed participation, but because the transcription on which it is based obviously has been very carefully edited.
The material is logically presented, working from the basics of angles, lines and crossings through shadowed planets, and ending with real-life examples. In the latter category, one chapter each is devoted to Andrew Cunanan (the bad-Mars poster boy for ACG), and Princess Diana. A final chapter brings in examples from the workshop group itself, showing us interesting cases we won’t find elsewhere.
The second part of Where in the World is a unique and valuable consideration of other aspects of relocational astrology. I say that because many people have the impression that ACG is simply angularity, and nothing else, while in fact it is a logical extension of an older idea that the birth chart in some sense “moves” along with us as we travel or change our residence. Jim Lewis taught that the reactions we might have to different planetary lines were colored by the total condition of each planet in the birth chart an idea most obvious in his work on “shadowed planets.” This is crucial to an understanding of how angularity and the birth chart work together, but there are quite a few other nuances to be understood in relocation work, most of which one will find considered here.
As with the section on Astro* Carto* Graphy, the author works through the points to be made in a logical fashion, bringing in ACG where there is a conflict to be resolved or a complementary point to be made. Diana is revisited as a celebrity example, but there are once again many individual stories drawn from the seminar participants, each bringing out some new and different facet of relocation analysis.
This book is not available at present in bookstores in the U.S., so you will have to order it based on the information at the head of this review. If you are want to deepen your understanding of relocation and Astro*Carto*Graphy, you can’t do without this book.
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