Neptune Astrocartography Line

Jeju-Do, South Korea: Neptune and Ketu conjunct the MC and Rahu conjunct the IC, Sun and Mars in the fourth house, Moon in the fifth house

My experiences living on my Ketu and Neptune MC line were aptly submerged in the oceanic. I lived on volcanic island Jeju-Do, where I was a Pisces rising, with my part of fortune also in Pisces, and spent a lot of time snorkelling.

Pisces rising placed the ruler of my chart Jupiter in Sagittarius in the tenth house, relevant as I had moved there to work as an English as a second language teacher. Sagittarius corresponds to teachers and the MC to vocation and heightened public visibility. I was the most publicly visible there that I have ever been.

I have a Mars-Sun-Rahu conjunction loosely opposite Ketu-Neptune in my chart, Mars-Sun-Rahu in Jeju Island was in my fourth house, the fourth house was named the subterranean place by ancient Hellenistic astrologers and associated with the home, parents and ancestors.

So for my life on Jeju island Mars-Sun-Rahu in the fourth corresponded to the once hot firey lava of the volcanic rock beneath my feet, and the subterranean lava tube caves and grassy ancestral burial mounds near the village I lived in. Not forgetting the ubiquitous, delicious and highly addictive spicy kimichi sitting in my home, in the fridge, with grandmother’s giant kimchi pots resting outside, guarded by a trine from eighth house Saturn, the lord/lady of time, the elderly, and slow fermented food.

Angular Neptune made itself felt through the sea with its thick lush kelp forests and colourful fish, overseen by the iconic Jeju matriarchal women free divers, the Haenyeo.

When a planet is angular in a relocated chart, the planet becomes stronger and its effects more emphasised and apparent in the persons life. Thus when someone moves to an astrocartography line, the planet positioned either on the AC, IC, DC or MC comes to the forefront of the person’s life, bringing all the qualities associated with it to centre stage. I did a lot of meditation, painting and snorkelling on Jeju-Do, Neptunian activities.

In my chart I have a Ketu-Neptune conjunction, which is convenient as they have very similar significations, Ketu in ancient Vedic astrology being associated with spirituality, magic, enchantment, loss, dissolution, martyrs, shyness, softness, gentleness, addiction and confusion, and Neptune in modern astrology having an almost synonymous meaning, but with a maritime slant and the additional significations of glamour, art, film, photography and music, which in Vedic astrology would be assigned to Ketu’s opposite point, Rahu.

There is a road traversing the foggy mountain heart of the island named The Mysterious Road, which creates and illusion that cars are travelling up instead of down. Typical for misty and illusory Ketu-Neptune.

I found Jeju Island to be a spiritual and enchanting place, with its strong tradition of shamanism, and abundance of Buddhist temples. Spirituality is interspersed with all facets of life, as it was commonplace to stumble across a guardian grandfather statue in a town or find a tucked away altar in a cave while hiking, and eating at one of the several temple food restaurants felt earthily sacred. Sitting on reed mats in a space carefully and devotionally adorned with calligraphy, ceramics, persimmon hand dyed cloth, natural wood and warm golden lamps.

The ancient animist shamanic traditions of connecting with spirits made it easy to feel their presence from boulders, rivers, mountains, forests or kelp groves, or even in the mighty fearsome wind that gave me anxiety. The fertility of the island with its balance of water, volcanic earth and well defined seasons nourishes this super fecundity and aliveness enjoyed by immersion in the island’s natural environment.

With the sun near my IC there in my fourth house, there was a sense of Jeju being a spiritual home, since the sun in a chart represents the soul and spiritual essence, the higher vision and purpose for life that you strive towards, where you can find fulfilment and purpose.

With the fourth house representing the more hidden internal and emotional parts of the inner self, as well as one’s sense of happiness and the physical home, living somewhere with the sun in the fourth house can bring a sense of locational rightness and aliveness that is unmatched by other places. The brightness and optimism of the sun can bring happiness and buoyancy to one’s inner emotional life and home.

I also had Jupiter and Neptune transiting my IC in my natal fourth house at the time I lived there, which added to the sense of having found a spiritual home, and in the relocated chart Jupiter and Neptune would have been transiting my twelfth house. The twelfth house is associated with meditation and isolated remote places like retreat centres on islands (amongst other things). My mediations on Jeju island included attending a Zen Buddhist meditation retreat where we reflected on the question “who am I” which dissolved my sense of self into bliss.

When looking at relocation astrology, in addition to looking to see which planets are conjunct or aspecting the angles (these are the lines you see on an astrocartography map, e.g. my Neptune and Ketu MC line in Korea) it’s important to think about transits to natal houses, as well as cyclocartography, which is the transits to houses in the relocated chart. Examining all these things combined will help you get a complete idea for how your experience in a place might feel.

When considering astrocartography lines it’s also important to consider the aspects that a planet has to other planets, as that can significantly change the character of a line. In my case my Sun is closely conjunct Mars and more loosely trine Saturn, so I cannot go to a Sun line without getting a hefty dose of Mars too. Malefic planets Mars and Saturn do have significations that we can live with or even enjoy, like spicy slow fermented food enjoyed in my volcanic island home, but there is potential for a darker side too. Mars is associated with stress for one thing, and Saturn with fear. The ferocious winds aggressively rattling my windows caused fear and stress through my Gemini Mars (air sign).

By looking at the essential dignity of the planet in your birth chart and whether the aspect is a hard aspect (a square or opposition) or a soft aspect (a sextile or trine) you can get a better idea of whether the aspect can be manageable or helpful, or if it is best avoided altogether.

Unless you want to live life on hard mode, which some souls do want because of the strength of character they can develop! In which your intuition will tell you where to go.

I have Mars in its own bounds which is similar to being in its own sign (Scorpio or Aries for Mars) so for me living near a Mars line wasn’t too bad. I was physically active and did some adventurous things like ride a motor scooter and go snorkelling into deep dark rocky parts of the ocean, and I enjoyed the enlivening uplifting benefits of my conjunct Sun. I had some spunky and rambunctious children in my classes and a couple of strange encounters with randomly aggressive or threatening people from the street, but generally angular Ketu-Neptune cast a cocooning spell of softness, safety and wonder, and my relocated Jupiter in the tenth house allowed me to be seen positively and treated kindly.

I find it curious how chart placements correspond to minor physical details, in my case I was living with the sun in my fourth house on an island famous for citrus fruit production, citrus being an appropriate ritual offering to the Sun. The fourth house sun gave me cherished memories of my Korean friend showing me how to roast tangerine on the burner in her cosy jazz cafe, or receiving a sack of fresh tangy mandarins in the winter and eating them on clear snowy days. Jeju island even produces its own unique mandarin called a Hallabong, after mount Hallasan, due to the mandarin having a cratered top like the mountain.

In terms of societal themes I find Neptune relevant to Korea due to their film industry and K dramas, film being ruled by Neptune. Having Neptune on the MC in Korea means I easily enjoy romantic K dramas such as Crash Landing On You, Hometown Cha Cha Cha and movies like Forever. The male protagonists enact the Neptunian arc of subtle yearning and longing followed by perfect compassionate and martyrish love, experienced through themes of loss and sacrifice.

Neptune is also known for the five Ds, disillusionment, dissolution, disappointment, deception and dishonesty, and with an exact trine from Pluto for good measure, my own cinematic honeymoon island love affair with a man eventually cataclysmically dissolved into volcanic dust.

There was also a couple of instances of confusing potential trickery and deceptiveness from spiritual people or organisations in the wider community, like a spiritual centre that was rumoured to have raised their funds by falsely claiming to be building an orphanage, or on my return to Korea years later, an allegedly false monk pressing me to give him money.

If I had known about astrocartography at the time, maybe I would have told my (temporarily) Piscean self to be more suspicious and less open. I have no planets or angles in Pisces in my own natal chart but after the experience of being a Pisces rising I can certainly understand this sign better and the predicaments they can get themselves into through their boundless love. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to experience getting a whole new rising sign, although it can take us unawares; suddenly finding oneself a Pisces with no prior experience or preparation is a serious situation!