Everyone is a little woo woo. Whether it was your grandmother laying hands or your mother catching the holy spirit, spirituality and the act of connecting with the spirit are commonplace in Black religious and spiritual traditions. Although some of these practices have been misinterpreted, when performed outside of the church house, Black people and Black culture have always had a relationship with spirit, and astrology is one of those practices.
The esoteric practice of convening with stars, interpreting their patterns, and applying their knowledge to one’s life is a central tenet among numerous African cosmologies. From the Dogon people of Mali, who are revered for their astrological knowledge, to the traditional calendar of the Benin kingdom, where the months are dictated by a lunar cycle, the utilization of astrology is not a new phenomenon for people of the African Diaspora.
It is no wonder that their descendants would be at the forefront of astrocartography, the application of astrology to maps, which reveal which locations in the world are of influence to the individual, based on their natal chart.
For instance, Beyonce’s infamous “Drunk in Love” riff at the opening of the Atlantis The Royal in Dubai, responds to her Chiron aspected line, according to Shadonis Covington, an astrologer and entrepreneur based in Atlanta. Or Kehlani’s recent win for “Folded” at the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards, where she recorded the award-winning song, near her Sun MC line. Even Saweetie has incorporated the location-based astrology practice into a recent trip through West Africa.
“What artists usually encounter are experiences all over the world through travel with their work. They intuitively feel the difference. You can go to a different house down the street and feel different. If you’re tapped in, you [can] feel directional patterns of difference, north versus south, east versus west,” Shadonis told EBONY. “ That internal knowing is always churning, always reading. I think it’s what helps us navigate our environments. As women, we naturally have these intuitive feelings, and artists are no different. As they travel and interact with their fans in all these different situations.”
Prior to her recent GRAMMY win, Kehlani consulted an astrocartography session with the Atlanta-based astrocartographer, before their world tour. Shadonis described the emotion that artists feel after meeting with her as a sense of relief or greater understanding of why certain locations do not resonate with them.
For her, astrology is a language passed down from generation to generation. The New Orleans native grew up hearing her aunts talk about their sun signs, so when she started her astrology business in 2019, the esoteric practice felt natural to her.
She is not the only astrocartographer who attributes her spiritual development to the Black women in her life. Amber Finney-Allen, also known as Amber, the Conduit, was raised by a mother who took an interest in the intersection of art, culture, and spirituality. One of her earliest memories was making vision boards with her mother at the age of 12.
Still, like many people who are byproducts of the Great Migration, her ancestral roots are tied back to Georgia and South Carolina, where her great-grandfather was admired for his spiritual gifts, such as card divination, that he used to free himself from enslavement and built a renowned spiritual business with a multiracial client base. In her own practice as a psychic practitioner who works at the intersection of spirituality, glamour, and ancestral wisdom, she takes an intuitive approach to the practice of astrocartography.
“When I look at the chart, my clear cognizance comes in. I’m intuitively pulled towards what to look at. Whereas some people look at the full spectrum of the chart, I’m being called and using my intuitive gifts to see where are the key transits or key placements that spirit is calling me to share with you, and could be a portal to your own personal healing or development,” she said. “ You can’t use a machine when it comes to intuition. It’s something that you have to feel your way through. I think it’s always best to come to the source.”
Since astrocartography is the latest trend in the astrology industry, which is estimated to be worth $3 billion, people are starting to use AI for astrocartography readings. According to GlobeTrender, nearly 50 percent of travelers consider spirituality in their travel plans, with Gen Z and millennials more inclined to consult a spiritual practitioner prior to booking. Nearly 20% of Black Gen Zers use astrology for useful information, and, compared to their Asian and White counterparts, Black Americans are more likely to believe astrology.
In addition to AI disproportionately impacting Black communities, Amber warns about the large language model’s inadequacies. “ If you put in your chart, you’re going to believe what AI is saying. They’re going to get everything completely wrong because you lack the ability to fact-check and see what’s factual, compared to what’s unfactual.”
A proper astrocartography reading consists of various planetary lines: Sun lines, Moon lines, Mercury lines, Venus lines, Mars lines, Jupiter lines, Saturn lines, Neptune lines, and Pluto Lines. As well as the four key angles: the Ascendant line, the IC line, the Descendant line, and the MC line. Each of these lines corresponds to a planetary energy that an astrocartographer can decipher and relay the information to their clients.
Gary D’Andre, spiritual consultant and author of Tarot for You and Me, credits astrocartography for his decision to stay in New York City, in lieu of a potential move to Georgia. His perspective on the location-based astrology practice is two-fold. The former being an activation. The latter being a calling. But the most important part is how intuition responds to the information being presented. “Astrology is half experience and half knowledge, and when you marry those two, anything can happen,” he said.
The Morehouse alum, who is a spiritual practitioner in his own right as a Reiki master, is currently studying astrology under the Astro Twins, the notable sister duo who have read for Beyoncé, among other notable celebrities.
Like the Benin people, D’Andre’s connection to astrology is centered around the moon. His candle Reiki work operates in conjunction with the phases of the moon. An ancestral connection that has surpassed time, but maintains relevance in the Black community today.
For those unsure of the relocation astrology practice, Shadonis suggests for individuals to tap into intuition and connect with the energies around the places that call out to them, such as cooking food from a different culture, playing music in a language that differs from yours, or simply adorning oneself in jewelry from a trip, and setting your intentions for the day with a simple mantra.
Astrocartography, like astrology, is our birthright.