Transcript with Show Notes Embedded:
Kathy McCabe: What is astrocartography?
Helena Woods: It is the astrology of place and location. So just as you have a birth chart that shows you your timing in life and who you are, what you came here to do, what’s the story of your partner, all of those things. You also have based on that exact birth time, a map of the world that shows you the places where the planetary influence is most strong and powerful.
Kathy: This is Kathy McCabe. Welcome to the Dream of Italy podcast. You know me from the PBS travel series Dream of Italy and the award-winning website and publication. Join me as we explore the sights and sounds of Bella Italia. From the canals of Venice to the piazzas of Puglia. From the fashion houses of Milan to the vineyards of Tuscany. Hop on, it’s going to be a great ride. Andiamo!
This is where my worlds converge, I am so excited to talk to Helena Woods today. I’ve been following her for a long time. I’ve always thought she’s a star and then we got in touch sort of randomly and I said, “I have to talk to you because what Helena does is one of the greatest tools we can use to figure out what to do with our lives and where to do it.” She is an astrologer, but her specialty is astrocartography. Helena, welcome.
[01:31]
Helena: Thank you for having me on. I’m so excited to talk about one of the coolest niches within astrology that’s so practical and not often talked about.
Kathy: So first of all, set the scene and tell us what is astrocartography?
Helena: It is the astrology of place and location. So just as you have a birth chart that shows you your timing in life and who you are, what you came here to do, what’s the story of your partner, all of those things, you also have based on that exact birth time, a map of the world that shows you the places where the planetary influence is most strong and powerful. And so some places in the world, you might have Venus in a very strong position on the map and so that place might feel really luxurious or appreciative, you might feel more joyful in that location. Versus if you go somewhere like a Saturn line or where Saturn is influencing the area, it can be a place of work and drive and focus, serious pursuits. So the planets all represent something very specific, whether it’s joy, travel, learning, education, love and romance, money. Each of the planets represent something and so wherever they fall on your map, it shows kind of your power places of what the themes, but also the energies that are in that location for you in the world.
Kathy: And do these change over your lifetime or they’re permanent?
Helena: They’re permanent forever. So it never changes, but there are going to be times in your life where you’re going to experience the timing of a place. So think of it kind of as a location gets activated or becomes alive or there’s something about the story that becomes really loud and obvious in your life.
Kathy: So I think I’ve shared with you before that I’ve done, I’ve gone to an astrocartographer. Two years ago. Julian Lee. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of him.
[03:32]
Helena: Yeah, definitely.
Kathy: He’s so cool. He is so cool. And then I’ve also put in my information to Claude. But we all know Claude has moments. And he’s trying, but the results were super similar. As you know, my great passion in life is Italy and I’m planning to move to Italy. Am I doing, when you look at my chart, am I doing the right thing?
Helena: Oh yeah, so when I pull up your map, you have three astrocartography lines, so three power lines going through Italy. One is Jupiter, and Jupiter is the planet of abundance, joy, wisdom, but also confidence and having a really strong self-esteem and happiness. It’s also a planet that’s associated with travel and the joy of being abroad or being in a foreign country that’s not your own. And so Jupiter is on you, meaning you’re exuding Jupiter, which is confidence and joy and magnetism and this sense of being a teacher or a guide can be for other people. You also have a Mercury line and Mercury is setting, so it’s about a relationship in your life, it’s about a person or connections, relationships, people, friends that you’re going to make in Italy. So it’s a very busy, very social place where you’re talking a lot with people.
Kathy: Very social. Yeah.
Helena: And then you also have a third line and this is a career line for you specifically and it’s Neptune. And Neptune is all about the dream, the ideal, it’s romanticizing life, but it’s also associated with media. And so working with cameras, photography, being on camera…
Kathy: Wow, is that dead on or what?
Helena: Yeah, being on camera, being someone that shares media with the public, you could become very known and very popular for media work or anything online. And so you have three lines, I would say the one that’s the best is perhaps the one, the Jupiter line and that one is more north and it’s specifically going through the cities of like Bologna, Parma, Verona and Venice, Milan, Turin. And you also have some beautiful energy in Rome specifically. The only area that I don’t really recommend as much even though you do have a Jupiter line there is Florence and Livorno latitude. And this is because we have what’s called paran lines and paran lines are the lines that go out of latitude. I don’t know if you can see on my map.
[06:02]
Kathy: Oh, so cool.
Helena: But they look, they look like latitude lines.
Kathy: Yes. So that’s I see the one through Florence and Livorno, I see the one through Rome. And what does that say, does it kind of muck it up?
Helena: Yeah, it gives you the energy but also the story that’s taking place at that latitude. So for instance, in Florence, you have a Mars-Pluto which is drive and ambition and having a lot of energy. But it’s also frustration, anger, agitation or irritability. So there can feel like this is an explosive place emotionally or just other things feel a little off putting to you. You also have a Mars-Node line there too which is amping it up even more. So too much Mars in a location can be kind of conflict heavy or just disagreeable overall. Whereas when you’re up in the northern part like Milan, it’s very creative, it’s great for writing. If you like fiction writing or poetry or music or just channeling intuitive abilities will grow here because you have Mercury and Neptune in that latitude of the Milan-Verona area.
Kathy: So what was interesting, I think this is fascinating. What was interesting with Julian that he told me and I don’t know if you find this, he told me and I didn’t tell him what I did for work, like he got my information, then we made an appointment. He said most people are usually wrong about where they want to move. Obviously like I’ve been doing Italy stuff for 24 years so I was right. And like that’s where I get my energy, but do you find that where people aren’t necessarily correct where they are trying to move?
[07:37]
Helena: I do find that well I believe that the places you’re called to go to and if you follow that call, it’s for a reason. You were meant to go there. I don’t believe that you can make mistakes, like your free will I think is a reflection of what you’re meant to do. And that’s kind of the natal promise of astrology. The natal promise is this idea that there is a written promise in your birth chart and your astrocartography map that shows what is to come. And it’s a matter of allowing the timing to activate that story. And so I really believe that you can’t mess up, you can’t miss what’s for you. If you’re meant to go somewhere, you’re going to go there. But I do see a lot of clients that come to me, they book readings with me or they start learning astrocartography through my courses because they went somewhere and it was very challenging for them. They feel stuck, they feel lethargic, confused, they’ve lost their direction, their business has tanked. You know they can’t find their partner because they’re in a place that’s not advantageous for meeting someone. And so they come to me usually at the point where they’re like, “What’s going on, everything changed when I moved here.” And that’s where pulling up an astrocartography map is really helpful.
Kathy: Yeah because Julian, when he looked at it, I’ve lived in Denver for a number of years. And it was great at the beginning but it’s been sort of like being in molasses. And he really picked up on that for me and he was, you know, it was so interesting, it was like almost like he had you described my life when you talked about Italy, he described my life in Denver when he looked at this.
Helena: Yeah. And when I look at Denver, you have Chiron and Uranus opposing each other in your chart and so on the map it’s reflected and what this represents is this feeling of can feel like feeling stuck, but it’s a place of healing for you. And with healing there comes growing pains, you know, there’s a lot of acknowledging oh like this is something that, you know, I’ve been affected by and like processing that emotionally and coming to terms with it on your healing journey.
Kathy: Well I’ve been here a long time, but I moved here to heal from something, I’m currently healing from something and yeah and it served its purpose I think, but it’s so fascinating to me. So how do you suggest if someone’s watching this podcast and certainly you’re welcome to please share your resources with them and they’re curious about where to move, maybe they’re looking internally like they already know Italy or Portugal or Spain or something. What tools like how should they what would you recommend they do?
Helena: Yeah, I would first start by looking at Venus and Jupiter lines on your map. And you could go to a free website like astro.com and if you scroll down to the bottom with once you make your account, you will need to have an accurate birth time within 15 minutes. So if you don’t have an accurate birth time, you’ll need to get a chart rectification reading where an astrologer will help you find the right birth time.
Kathy: Oh interesting, I didn’t know that was possible.
Helena: Yeah, totally. And Patrick Watson is always the guy that I recommend to everyone.
Kathy: Okay, this is learning a lot. Because you know when you’re like into well you’re married now but if you’re interested in a guy and you don’t know what it was that you.
[10:55]
Helena: Yes. And you want to be able to know his birth time and his birth chart because you’ll be able to not only pull up your synastry which shows okay how do you guys get along, do you communicate well, how is that, how do you guys handle each other’s love differences, but a composite chart too is the third chart that shows when you blend together and it’s like what’s the story of the relationship. You can track the timing of it, it’s so cool. But it’s good to know the lines that person’s on because it’ll give you more context as to what story you’re opening up by going there.
Kathy: Okay and so back sorry to, sorry to diverge, so people they can go to astro.com, they need their, they need their birth time if they don’t have it, they could try this chart…
Helena: Rectification, chart rectification.
Kathy: Rectification. Okay and once they do that, you said to look for those two lines, Venus and Jupiter.
Helena: Yeah, so I would look to Venus and Jupiter lines, they’ll be indicated by a bright purple line, it’ll be a bright purple line on your map will be Jupiter which represents growth, abundance, joy, happiness, growth in your life. And then Venus will be dark green on the map and Venus represents appreciation, values, romance, the simple joys, connecting with life in a more pleasurable way.
Kathy: Where is Venus on my chart?
Helena: Venus on your chart, let’s see, you have Venus, oh, you have it in Alaska.
Kathy: Where I’m going on Friday.
Helena: Oh my God I love it!
Kathy: Beautiful.
Helena: Yeah, I am going and it’s not, it’s never been like I need to go to Alaska, but friends of mine and their extended family are going and they invited me and it’s so interesting because when I put this through Claude, Claude was like Vancouver is one of your places. And we’re flying into Vancouver. So I will see how that feels.
[12:45]
Helena: Yeah and it’s another place, Puerto Rico is very relaxing for you, a nice vacation spot.
Kathy: I went to a wedding, one of my old friends is Puerto Rican.
Helena: I’m not surprised you have a Venus node going right through Puerto Rico.
Kathy: I probably somewhat, I’m very like, I’m very Italian but I would say I’m very Latin, like a very warm and take care of.
Kathy: Yeah it’s all the Leo energy.
Kathy: Oh it is Leo, we could get started talking about that. Well I have to ask you about one of the big topics you’ve been covering which is July, the astrology around July particularly in America. I’m you know traveling, I remember reading your warnings for a long time. But I was like well I’m more worried about California so I was like well Alaska might be okay. Just fill us in on what to expect in July.
Helena: Yeah, so July is an interesting transit for the world, but it’s specifically really personal to the United States. Because what’s going to happen and this actually starts June 29th, but it gets exact on the third and the fourth of July. And what’s going to happen is Mars which is a planet of you know conflict, arguments, divisiveness and you know can be like physical stuff like physical challenges. It’s going to be entering the sign Gemini. But what’s interesting about this is Uranus is there and Uranus takes about 84 years to come back around and hit a specific point in the sky. And what’s happening is the United States birth chart, so the moment that the Declaration of Independence was signed, at that moment it was a Mars-Uranus conjunction in Gemini. And so every 84 years when Mars meets up with Uranus in this zodiac sign of Gemini, there tends to be war or a conflict, a major conflict that’s very defining and historical for the country because it’s part of the promise of the birth chart. And so we had the American Revolutionary War this happened. We have the Civil War, this happened again and then the third time in history when this has happened was World War II, but specifically when the US got involved into the war.
Kathy: Entered it.
[15:06]
Helena: Yeah, into the war. And so what we’re having now is we’re having this again for the first time since then. Now this is going to be hitting this summer for the first time and then it’s going to be hitting again in 2028. And every two years it’s going to be another like point for the next about seven years until 2033 is when it’ll be over. And this when it’s in Gemini, it’s about two sides, two countries in conflict, two arguments, two, you know the Civil War was you know the two sides that were fighting. You know I’m wondering if this is a federal versus state conflict. Is there clashes between Fed versus state? Or is it possible that this could be an attack on U.S. soil from a different country and then the U.S. retaliates and then gets involved in a war. Now the other thing that’s really interesting, Jim Lewis who was the creator of astrocartography and he created this in the 70s. He wrote in his book the psychology of astrocartography that anytime a country is involved in war, you really want to look to the Mars lines that are with the president, the president that’s you know running the country. You want to, you want to pull up their astrocartography map so in this case it would be Donald Trump’s chart and his map. When you pull up the map of the president, the Pluto but specifically the Mars lines can show where a leader is getting involved in conflict. One of the biggest, one of the biggest spots that Donald Trump has… As I’m pulling up his map right now as we’re talking about this. Is he has it going through Venezuela. He has, yeah right through Venezuela, kind of crazy. He has it going through Washington DC. Butler, Pennsylvania where the near assassination attack was, that was like right on his Mars line.
Kathy: You’re giving me, I get chills you know intuitive.
Helena: I know. It’s crazy right? I know. He also has his Mars line going through, let’s see, Ukraine.
Kathy: My gosh.
Helena: Yeah, and he has the Mars line also going through China. So it’s interesting that these are the spots to kind of really look at in terms of if we were to get involved in a war, these are the places I’m really looking at. Russia I think could be part of this because Russia is having a lot of activations. Kind of waiting to see where that’s going this year in ’26, I think this will be more telling as to if Russia gets involved in some way. But, the fact that it’s in the United States and Vance also has a Mars line going right through the same area of the United States as Trump, and so it makes me wonder, is this more of a domestic conflict? I don’t know, we’ll see once we get into July. But what’s happening is there is a Mars Uranus world line so that transit that I’ve been talking about that’s happening July 4th, those lines on the map timing wise are going through California and the west coast of the United States. And it’s going really close to LA, close to San Francisco. Los Angeles, the birth chart of Los Angeles is going through some major stuff, I do wonder if there will be either an attack or an explosion, could be fires, but I don’t think this is just like wildfires because they happen every year in California, I think this is more like a much bigger thing and it just we’re kind of all astrologers are waiting to see what is happening in July.
[18:17]
Kathy: You’ve talked a lot about July, other astrologers have too and I’ve been following that. when you’re looking at this, how much of this is your intuition and how much of this is like this is like this is a very precise science?
Helena: This is just the science of astrology, I don’t have any intuitive knowing about this, I don’t feel anything. And I you know I am very psychic and intuitive and I usually do pick up on things. This I feel very clouded about it for some reason I haven’t. My intuition says it’s more fed versus state for some reason. But yeah it’s just the science, it’s just the astrology is what I’m looking at.
Kathy: Right, right, right. So then how much when you say this about Donald Trump and like, you know, the guy is born, who’s going to know what Venezuela would have meant right?
Helena: Yeah. Oh I know.
Kathy: So how much of our lives do you feel are is predetermined and how much is free will?
Helena: Yeah, I’m a traditional astrologer. In the sense that I believe everything’s fated. Which is very very intense, I know worldview, but I believe that like we do have free will and the choices that are presented in front of us, we’re going to make the choices that we’re meant to. And it’s just crazy because like you can’t avoid your transits. Like every time something shifts in my life or like something happens like my husband had our drone stolen and it’s like that it was in the chart. And like I looked back on it and it’s like oh my god, I mean I didn’t think to look at the chart and say oh honey you’re going to get something stolen from you. But it’s like the little things like I get sick every time a specific transit happens. I get a burn on the day that there’s an exact transit of that involves Mars which burns, you know Mars represents burns. And so it’s just like everything, I’ve tracked my transits for so many years that you can’t make this up and it really starts to make you think that we’re here for a bigger purpose, there’s something bigger out there. There’s something we don’t know what it is, who knows what this is, but there’s something about our lives being perfectly timed, whether, you know, is are you know, I kind of believe that it’s like the clock on the wall theory. The clock isn’t making it three, but it’s showing that it is three. And so that’s how we use astrology. We use astrology to see what are the patterns and correlations, what’s happening? And how is that impacting and affecting us? But it’s showing what is happening.
Kathy: So fascinating cause I have a really good friend who’s a psychic, so she’s not using astrology at all.
[20:38]
Helena: Uh huh.
Kathy: And she is like, Kathy, you would be shocked to know how much of our life is really fated and we have no choice.
Helena: Oh. My gosh.
Kathy: I think she does remote viewing but I think she might go into like the Akashic records. Yeah. She might not even call it that, she’s just accessing it. And so she’s so interesting because she feels like we have like 20%, 10, 15% free will.
Helena: Yeah. I believe it, I believe it too.
Kathy: Which kind of correlates to what you’re saying. So someone wanted to then like now I’m really fascinated and I wanted to study this. If someone wanted to like find out about their transits and track this, what would you recommend?
Helena: Oh yeah, well I will say I do have a lot of free resources and I have an amazing course called trust your timing, trust your timeline. And I actually do have a big year-long program we’re about to start with that but I teach you how to read transits, how to read zodiac releasing, how to read everything in my course. So if anyone’s interested in going in depth for a whole year with me or even getting the trust your timeline program that’s available now you can start learning it. But I would say one of the best ways to start is like I would get an app on your phone like I use Astro Gold. But there’s other apps too like there’s Time Passages, there’s Chani, there’s Startech, there’s there’s a lot of different apps you can get. But I would just start noticing like okay when Venus enters my second house of money, what’s coming up with money that month, you know like are we getting more money, is there more spending this month like what’s happening? And you know this is why I’m so passionate about teaching astrology cause it is very complex, there’s a lot to it.
Kathy: It is.
Helena: But you can learn it and it’s really amazing cause once it clicks and you learn how to read the transits it’s like you can pull up a chart for any moment in time and see what’s the story of what’s happening right now.
[22:20]
Kathy: I mean and I can think of so many practical uses like when should we film the TV show.
Helena: Exactly.
Kathy: When it looks good or when we should I contact sponsors and you know and I mean if there’s so many ways to use this in your work, in your life. But let’s talk about I think one trend that you’re just you were ahead of your time, you’re on the wave is Americans leaving America to live abroad.
Helena: Oh yeah.
Kathy: And I know your story a little bit that you just realized in like 2018 or 2017 you were like it’s going to be bad for a number of years.
Helena: Yeah.
Kathy: We need to go. And I don’t know if lots of people like to say it’s the president, is the reason, but I don’t know if that’s it, is that the only thing?
Helena: No it wasn’t the reason for me, I mean it wasn’t the president, the reason why I left was one I wanted to go back to school and I wanted to experience education without you know like I couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have any family support you know and it’s like healthcare costs and like I didn’t I biked everywhere in my town and I remember getting a cat scratch and like having to spend $300 for some Neosporin and a Band-Aid at the clinic and it’s like I just remember thinking there’s got to be an easier way to live life where like life is not stressful and a hustle and like I have to worry about healthcare or like my food quality, that’s a huge reason why I’m in Europe, it’s like the food is so much better. It’s really as simple as that. I mean you go to the States and the lettuce, the tomatoes, they don’t taste like anything.
[23:53]
Kathy: They have no, awful.
Helena: Yeah, you come to Europe and it’s like the flavor of this lettuce is just unbelievable. And it’s like you I just noticed the difference all the time when I go back home it’s like reverse culture shock. It’s like my body has a hard time adjusting to the food and just there’s a lot of life like for me it’s lifestyle. It’s like the lifestyle choice of like okay you can walk everywhere, the food is better, the healthcare, you know people have more time off like everyone takes off the month of August and like Sunday everything’s closed you can’t go to the grocery store, everything shut down, it’s like boring honestly. And it’s just like I like it because it’s encouraging me to slow down and remember what really matters and that you don’t always have to be working and hustling all the time and that’s been the biggest thing that living and moving to Europe has taught me. and it’s just it’s like the beauty, the architecture, the culture, like there’s just so much richness in Europe that I think is lacking in the States.
Kathy: And do you think people are noticing this, is this in the charts? Is this like a time of migration?
Helena: Yeah. It is. And the reason I sense this many years ago was cause Jupiter was going to enter Cancer and where it’s now and Uranus was going to enter Gemini which is now. And this is a time of mass migration, transportation changes. I think the airline industry and transportation as a whole is going to change. I think cars, robots, like there’s going to be so much more new developments with transportation. But like people are traveling more with Uranus in Gemini. And then Jupiter in Cancer is like the desire to find home. Like where is my home in the world? Where where do I belong? And it’s interesting cause the guy that created astrocartography, he has Jupiter in Gemini and that’s when I noticed the first like big wave started with astrocartography was when the transit returned back to the creator of this technique and so that’s another way that astrology presents itself is like you know when something is created, when you birth something in the world, right like a creation, like astrocartography which is a technique. There’s a chart for that moment when the technique was born.
Kathy: Television, I know.
Helena: Exactly. And that was in the 80s when he created it. Or no I’m sorry the 70s.
Kathy: Yeah.
[26:05]
Helena: And so we’re having similar transits to when astrocartography was created. The Saturn Neptune conjunction and you know Jupiter and Gemini and so there’s just all this, that’s what astrology is, it’s symbolism of patterns and correlations. And it’s really really fascinating but I think yeah it’s just so cool and Jupiter in Cancer has been the transit I’ve been waiting for just people relocating and finding home abroad, that is literally the question on everyone’s mind with this transit.
Kathy: And I think a lot of people obviously watching or listening to this podcast are really obsessed with Italy. Are there certain places in the world that have like just good lines or it’s really dependent on the person?
Helena: It’s completely dependent on the person and their birth time cause everyone’s map is so different. You’re off by like 10 minutes. It’s a completely different chart, completely different map. But I will say there is something called that’s different from astrocartography, it’s called geodetic mapping.
Kathy: Oh interesting.
Helena: Yes, geodetic mapping basically assigns certain parts of the world with certain zodiac signs from 0 to 29 degrees. And so France is really connected to and Italy specifically is really connected to Aries. And Aries is initiation, it’s a fire sign, it’s bold, it’s warm, it’s you know courage, it’s action, it’s a fiery energy. So there’s a lot of passion and so that area can be connected to Aries.
Kathy: So, so interesting. So you’re fascinating to me and how did you get into this? What are you doing now and what do you want to do because your story is always so interesting to me.
Helena: Yeah, ou know I’ve been doing astrology since 2011. When I was a newborn my mom got me an astrology packet made and so when I was a little kid…
Kathy: This was not that popular, any of this.
Helena: I know it wasn’t the 90s, early 90s.
Kathy: Now it’s so much more mainstream, yeah.
[27:57]
Helena: Yeah. And so she had an info packet made for me and I always had that and I would go to the astrology bookshop around the corner from my house and I would always read astrology books so I this has been in my life my whole life, but it wasn’t until I moved to France that story became activated for me because of my chart and my map. And so this in France it’s a line that’s associated with stepping into your purpose and your authority and becoming an expert in something. And so that was what I activated and then in the chart I literally activated the house of teaching and astrology and so it’s just so crazy how that all happened once I moved to France and honestly who knows if I ever would have become an astrologer if I hadn’t moved here. Like moving here is literally what started the journey and the chart shows it.
Kathy: And that’s fascinating. I think people get like you know triggered like they did it just starts something in them.
Helena: It does. And it can be immediate too and you know what I want to do going forward is I teach my students in all my course programs, so I have a beginner’s birth chart course to help people understand their life story, that’s a natal promise, I have the locational astrology course which teaches on place, and then I have the timing course. So I kind of have three things that I’m really passionate about teaching is like the soul story, the timing and then the places. And really my dream going forward is I want to do TV. I would love to do like a travel show or an astrology show or cause you know I’ve done YouTube for years. I have my podcast Cosmic Compass, but it’s like I’m ready to take this mainstream. And so my goal for the next few years at least is to really just build hype around this work to get this available for more people and just to serve as many people as I can with my YouTube channel and all the different places I’m on.
Kathy: YouTube is a great way, you know we’ve talked a little bit about TV, TV is amazing too, but YouTube is also just such an incredible and immediate tool to reach so many people. So this TV, you want or hyping, you know what’s your chart telling you about this?
Helena: Well the next three years are big, like I’m going through a massive career change but also career growth over the next full year and then the year after that is audience growth. So like being way more seen and this happens once every 12 years I’ll have this transit and so this is like I’m not going to get this for another 12 years, I’m really wanting to take advantage of the next few years. And that’s because Jupiter, which is the planet of growth, abundance, bringing more access to something, it moves through an area of your life for one year. So there’s 12 zodiac signs, 12 areas of life and so it’s going to take 12 years to come back around. It’s going to hit each area of life once a year. And so you want to look at your birth chart and pull up the whole sign houses of your chart, so when you pull up the settings you just want to make sure it says whole sign houses. That’s just a technique thing. And wherever you have Leo in your chart is going to show you where you’re having a lot of growth over the next year.
[30:42]
Kathy: I have to ask you because I was watching stuff last night, you among other people, where is Leo in my chart?
Helena: 10th house of career.
Kathy: So this is the career moment.
Helena: This is the career moment.
Kathy: I mean I’ve had an amazing career the last 11 years, I’ve done this TV show.
Helena: Yeah. But I will say, February, March, there is and specifically March of 27, there is going to be and we’re all going to be feeling this in our lives, but some of us will feel it more than others because it’s more personal to us. But there is something that you’ll be really letting go of, could be your home, could be an old way of working, but it’s hitting your son and your son rules your career and it’s about your goals and ambitions in life. So there could be a big pivot of something you want to shift out of, maybe you’re tired, maybe there’s just a lot of something and you’re ready to kind of move forward. You’ll be noticing what that is around like March is the big month for that, but you’ll get a little sneak preview in November. So for any of you guys listening, really note what is growing in your life but also there’s some challenges or irritations in November because that’s going to foreshadow whatever massive letting go you have to make in March.
Kathy: It might be my moving, and it might be, you know I’ve done this business 23, 24 years and I want to maybe do it differently.
Helena: Yes.
Kathy: And I have for a while, I don’t know that I’ll ever not do Italy but like maybe there’s a new technology or a new way of doing this or writing on one part of it, but I’ve been reading a lot like Leo in general, the sun, Leos, that something great is starting, maybe it’s that 12 year kind of cycle is starting now for the summer?
[30:42]
Helena: Yeah, it’s starting now, it starts the 30th, the 30th. I just made a YouTube video on it, it’ll be coming up later tonight. But the 30th is when it starts and that’ll be until next July.
Kathy: You know it’s so funny and I saw that wonderful podcast with you and your mom, you know I’m a fan.
Helena: Oh yeah.
Kathy: My mom used to say more about romance but about life that timing is everything.
Helena: Yeah.
Kathy: And this is so fascinating about how you can also use this as a tool to figure out what you should be doing at any kind of moment. And I find that even with my business, I’m sure you do too, like do you look before you launch?
Helena: Yes. Oh yeah, I have to pick like the best times in the year to announce things, new things especially because when you announce the first new project, it ‘s a birth chart, the birth chart is created the moment you announce it.
Kathy: I wonder what…
Helena: And so I will l stay up till 5:00 a.m. to launch something for like if I’m if there’s an hour or a minute when I need to launch and I plan the year a year in advance to you know figure out okay I want to do this, I want to do this. So the next kind of time that’s really nice is end of August, first couple weeks of September is like the next good time in the year.
Kathy: I never thought of that, you know I watched another astrologer who also does a lot of birth charts of nations.
Helena: Mhm.
Kathy: I never thought of having a birth chart for my company. So it’s the day it would be in 2002 that it was announced.
Helena: Yeah, so you would need to look at like the certificate of your business. Like what day was it, but also if you can get the time because that’s going to…
Kathy: That I announced it to the world or that I like registered it?
Helena: That you registered it.
Kathy: Oh.
[34:11]
Helena: Yeah. But yeah if you don’t have that then I usually just use like the email that I send when I’m launching something. And even my YouTube videos, my podcast, my social media posts, like I will wait until Venus is on the midheaven…
Kathy: Oh I want to do this. So now I want to or anyone watching or listening if I take your timing course, can I start with that or do I need the other courses?
Helena: So if you want to learn this skill specifically, it’s called electional astrology. And it basically tells you what’s the best moment in time, hour, minute, everything to get what you want, whether it’s money or fame or visibility or more views, like I always try to get Jupiter on the midheaven to get views. So I will wait until that time and then I’ll draft it so it’s ready to go and then I’ll get a little alarm notification on my, oh got to post real quick. And this works, like my most viral videos, they’re all posted when planets are on the midheaven so that I can get most exposure and visibility. It’s crazy how accurate and consistent it works, but I teach this in my course called Fate Accelerator. And it’s this idea of like okay your life is timed, there are going to be moments in time where they are perfectly divinely fated, but you can accelerate your fate by using electional astrology, astrocartography, all of it. So in this big deep dive course, this is like one of my biggest programs I offer. I teach you the timing of place, I teach you electional astrology, transits, all of that so you can really get a lot of information in that one course.
Kathy: Sign me up. I just you know you’re I’m always looking for I believe there are so many I’ll get emotional forces at work that we do not see.
Helena: Yeah.
Kathy: And I guess I think a lot of people are waking up to that, is that time too that there’s so much more happening, you know our own lives and how they play out is like what you see is so not what really, you know there’s so much going on behind the scenes. And so I’m really fascinated to take advantage of this and this must be when I had the reading with Julian it was two summers ago.
Helena: Mhm.
Kathy: And he told me I remember he’s like, move on September 29th, 2004, you know. Or 2024 and I was like Julian I can’t go yet. And I think he was and then he said and I’ll share this even though it feels strange, he told me if I did not move I would get sick in Denver.
[36:33]
Helena: Wow.
Kathy: And I got sick in November of 2024 actually from a mold exposure that like.
Helena: Well wait, what was the timing?
Kathy: November 2024.
Helena: November 24.
Kathy: I mean I might have been sick before that but like it culminated in November sort of around the election. but he was like so adamant you need to go at the end of September, I had the reading in July, I had the TV show, I couldn’t really do it. But now I understand why he was so adamant.
Helena: Wow, I’m just looking at your chart oh okay a Uranus and then okay Aries, I was looking at your chart here. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I see what he was looking at. the South node was going through the first in that location. So in Colorado the South node which is tiredness and drain and exhaustion of the body and it’s one of the number one things I see when I’m looking at a chart to see like are there going to be health problems for someone, it’s the South node on the ascendant in the in the chart for that place, but the timing of the place was it was being activated.
Kathy: Yeah.
Helena: Yeah.
Kathy: And I don’t want to make this all about me but what do you see now is it like if I go to Italy is it clear kind of clear sailing?
Helena: I would need to do so much research.
Kathy: Oh okay.
Helena: I can just look real quick. Let’s see the chart if I can pull up the chart. I usually cause I wanna make sure I give you an accurate prediction in terms of…
Kathy: No but it’s so interesting that you know astrocartography isn’t just the place but the timing of the place.
Helena: Yeah. Well the good news is yeah I mean I would wait till Pluto is past eight degrees for you to go there. and so I just want cause your ascendant in Italy is eight Aquarius and so Pluto will be hitting your physical body if you go before then, so I just want to see when I’m curious when is Pluto going to leave that eight degree mark. Let me see.
Kathy: This is very helpful.
[38:42]
Helena: This is 28, so once we get into the summer of 28 wow Pluto will start leaving but you know I mean you could go before then it’s definitely not nearly as bad as the chart for Colorado.
Kathy: Okay yeah I’m going before then the big health stuff was Colorado I’m not seeing that for this one.
Helena: And it was also like it was a mold exposure which I’m I’m like deadly allergic to mold so it was really truly the place. But you know what the cool thing is for this Italy location is Jupiter is going to be going through your house of meeting someone for the next year. So until end of next July of 27 you’re going to be having a transit that represents growth of meeting people and you’ll be on a relationship line in Italy being having that activation.
Kathy: Yeah I will be there regardless like if I’m moving, not moving or like I think I’m easing into this one. you know kind of like a still need to come back to it’s so fascinating to me it just and I really want to encourage people I think you know we just did a whole magazine issue about where to live and retire in Italy now I think people have a sense they want to go somewhere or they want to go to France or they want to go to Italy but then it’s like narrowing it down. This is such a great tool this is just and I think it makes people we are in a world that feels so out of control.
Helena: Yeah oh completely.
Kathy: And I remember watching your social media you were in Dubai when…
Helena: I know.
Kathy: Never forget that. Like talk about like they say having a serious you know things are happening and I’m like oh my god is she alive. You know each morning.
Helena: People still talk about that to this day and kind of like they put the blame on me for going out there during that transit but like who could have thought that Dubai I know would be hit, no one. Dubai is honestly it’s one of the safest places to be in the world like it is and so it’s just like that there was a Mars-Uranus just like we’re having in the US on the west coast this July it was a Mars-Uranus square and that was going right through Dubai and the Iran area when that happened it was like exact.
Kathy: So but tell people what you said you were in Dubai at a conference when all this started but you were not scared you kept saying, “I’m not scared.” Why?
[41:12]
Helena: No. Because my chart wasn’t being affected by it. Like there was no there was no illness, physical danger, physical injury, death, like you could literally find this stuff if you really search long and hard for things like this and it’s like there was nothing indicating any of that and I was just like there’s nothing to be afraid of I’m going to be fine. And I did have a lot of friends that would ask me to pull up their chart and some of them had some difficult things happening but it wasn’t physical safety it was more like one girl her audience kind of turned against her for some things she was saying and it was Mercury retrograde over her career and her reputation so it’s like well that’s what that is it’s not physical danger problem it’s your audience is kind of hating on you for this week problem you know and so this is why understanding transits with astrology is so important because you can literally prepare for things. Like July, the week of July, I’m having some nasty transits to me and it could be affecting physical body and so that’s why I’m not traveling, I’m not going on the road, I’m going to stay home and hunker down. I don’t usually like to hunker down but I’m going to for this transit. And yeah I’m kind of nervous that my predictions don’t happen and like everyone tries to like get mad at me on the internet because of my prediction. I’m hoping it’s not that. It could be cause I’m having a trend.
Kathy: You are not the only one talking about July.
Helena: I know exactly.
Kathy: You staked a lot on it.
Helena: I know I did.
Kathy: I kind of think of you when I think of July. Helena, meanwhile I’m flying but I’m not you know going to Alaska and I’m going.
Helena: Yes. Alaska will be fine, Alaska will be fine.
Kathy: Don’t travel but like yeah.
[42:56]
Helen: My advice when we’re having a Mars Uranus Mars Pluto transit so Mars Pluto Mars Uranus and I teach this I have a workshop called Astro travel with intention where I teach people how to travel for safety purposes so you don’t worry about transits and world stuff. But there’s we’re looking at Mars Pluto and we’re looking at Mars Uranus transits. You know if it’s you’ll see in your chart if it’s affecting your physical body it’ll affect your moon, it’ll affect your sun, or it’ll affect the ruler of your body or it’ll go in your sixth house of injury. If it’s not hitting one of those points no need to be concerned. Eclipses too I usually am very cautious about telling anyone to travel during an eclipse it’s like if you’re going to be somewhere new for an eclipse just get there before and then just be there.
Kathy: Again I have that intuitive friend who’s always like freaks out about the eclipses and I travel right with you know and let me ask you that as our final question I could talk to you forever. Obviously the people watching this podcast are really into travel how can we use astrocartography for travel?
Helena: Yeah there’s a couple ways there’s timing your travel so that you’re going at the right time so it’s a more enjoyable experience, but then the other way you could you know use this for travel is like just locating your best lines. Like where do you have your best astrocartography lines going through where is your Jupiter and your Venus line for instance. And just note those countries those places where these lines are going through and that way you can plan your trips so it’s just a more enjoyable experience there’s no challenges with people in an area there’s no conflicts with your partner there’s no you know unsettled disruptive things I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve traveled or I’ve had clients that have traveled to Uranus lines for instance and it’s like they have to leave their Airbnb they have to change their living situation the electricity went out the air conditioner stopped working they had transportation issues and delays so it’s like just knowing your best places based on those lines you see are going to it’s going to be so helpful.
Kathy: So is Uranus a difficult line?
Helena: It’s often a difficult line, it’s disruption and unsettledness and yeah.
[44:55]
Kathy: I have to ask you one more to look where’s my Uranus line?
Helena: Let’s see so you…
Kathy: I would be surprised if it was Denver.
Helena: Yeah no it is there’s one in Denver. Yep there’s one in Denver. Close to Vegas there’s one it’s also close to Idaho. Yeah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Vegas, Sedona, Arizona that whole area is being affected by Uranus. You have a Uranus line going through Sydney Australia. You have a Uranus line going through Dubai and the Iran UAE Oman area as well.
Kathy: And that means it’s a difficult place to visit or live?
Helena: Not that it’s difficult but it’s just more unsettling, disruptive, chaotic. It’s hard to sleep, it’s hard to turn your brain off, it’s just…
Kathy: Oh my god I have to tell you the last three months I came back from Italy.
Helena: Mhm.
Kathy: I have not and you know I’m going through hormone changes but.
Helena: Uranus yeah.
Kathy: I have not slept through the night even taking pills and I keep thinking it’s the oxygen which it could be. Like I was in New Jersey for two weeks before I came back here I slept like a baby doll. I mean, so you know these things, these things we think and we think we’re crazy.
Helena: They can be. No it’s on the Astro map it shows you. Yup. I would move if I were you I would definitely yeah.
[46:20]
Kathy: I am. I am and I’ll keep you posted.
Helena: Awesome.
Kathy: I think it’s been a long time coming and I think a lot of people going through this right now it’s been a long time coming for them and they just are gathering information and I so want them to know that I mean Julian I recorded that call I forgot what he said about getting sick I left a few months later I listened to that I almost fell off my chair.
Helena: Wow, you know when we so we this is our second time recording this when I when we recorded this episode earlier I was on my Uranus line. And it didn’t work. And I had tech issues every day I couldn’t sleep I was having tech issues just things canceling it was left and right and that happened the last time I was there too.
Kathy: But you went there for a reason what line was there that you needed to go?
Helena: It was a Uranus midheaven line and it was about career new beginnings and like setting the tone for the new stuff I’m building and that’s literally what happened I like had so many meetings oh you had meetings. meetings I had important like meetings with people to start building things I had lots of ideas I had an endless flow of ideas of like new projects.
Kathy: That’s what I’m thinking is gonna happen in Alaska then I’m gonna do a lot of thinking I haven’t stopped and thought for a while. and you said and so like that’s what I think when we talk about travel when you want to take a vacation because life is so tough you need to go to a place like figure out the place that’s gonna be the calmest and the best so you can be in touch with yourself.
Helena: Totally.
Kathy: And figure out what’s next, I mean, it is such a gift. Okay so if people want to find you tell us all the places.
Helena: Yes, you can find me on Instagram I post their daily at mshelenawoods. I have my podcast, Cosmic Compass that’s on you know Spotify, Apple podcast and YouTube and then if you want to get my free cheat sheet I have a cheat sheet that they can get at helenawoods.com/ cheatsheet and that free guide will tell you what all the lines mean on your map so when you pull up your map on astro.com it’ll just give you a little description of what it means.
Kathy: Now what is this year course that you’re doing is that like to become an astrologer or is it just…
[48:25]
Helena: Oh the certification program that’s just to like master timing and there’s a test assessment so that you just know and feel comfortable knowing what you’re doing.
Kathy: I am so fascinated well I’m gonna look into the timing or what was the one you said I should take the fate?
Helena: Oh, Fate Accelerator, yes. It’s open now too so you can start learning it and we have live rounds of classes twice a year.
Kathy: That’s a great name.
Helena: Yeah.
Kathy: Do you enter how do you do like I always think the one of the best things I ever did was the name of my business.
Helena: Wow.
Kathy: Is there astrocartography to that I guess there’s certain places and times to that you can come up with a good name.
Helena: Yeah. I don’t remember when I came up with the name but yeah no I’m sure there are good times yeah.
Kathy: Yeah, yeah, okay and then everyone can find the show notes with everything you mentioned at dreamofitaly.com/podcast. Helena it’s such a pleasure, our second conversation but thank you for looking at my chart. Thank you for the information for me, but I hope people can see what they could literally find out if they did a session like this.
Helena: Totally. Thanks, Kathy.
Kathy: Thank you.