Paran Crossings in Astrocartography
What are parans?
Parans are the latitude lines found on an Astrocartography map that form where two planetary lines cross on the local horizon. The word ‘paran’ derives from the Greek word paranatellonta, which means “co-rising stars/planets” or “rising together.”
In this image, you can see the vertical ACG lines and the horizontal paran lines in yellow.
How do parans differ from ACG lines?
ACG lines are longitudinal and correspond to where a planet was angular (on the Ascendant, Descendant, MC, or IC) at the moment of your birth.) Because of this, there are 4 types of ACG lines for each planet: Ascendant (rising), Descendant (setting), Midheaven (culminating), and IC (nadir.) The angle where a planet falls indicates the area of life that will likely be activated in that location.
For example, a Sun MC line shows where the Sun was exactly on the Midheaven when you were born. This line would be linked with Sun line themes of visibility, motivation, self-actualization, and confidence concerning one’s business or career path (all themes of the MC angle in the birth chart.)
Parans merge the energies and themes of two planets, luminaries, or celestial bodies whereas ACG lines are focused on one specific planet, luminary, or celestial body. It’s important to note, however, that a person could have several ACG lines near or crossing over each other in the same location, this is actually quite common!
Parans are typically more subtle energetically compared to ACG lines. However, some of my clients and I have reported significant experiences that align with the themes associated with a specific paran we have lived on.
Examples of different parans
Moon/Uranus: Exciting but tumultuous at the same time. Breaking free from routine and constraints but potential hastiness. Could be excellent for getting out of a rut and escaping the mundane. This combines lunar energy (emotions, connection, feeling deeply, feeling at home) with Uranus (disruptions, spontaneity, randomness.)
Chiron/Pluto: This paran can be very intense because it’s associated with confronting our deepest truths and fears, painful experiences can occur because it combines Chiron (healing, rejection, fear, emotional wounds) with Pluto (transformation, death, rebirth, intensity, loss, secrets being revealed.)
Venus/Neptune: Can feel creative and pleasant, good location for creative inspiration, somewhat spiritual. On the other hand, our sense of judgment in relationships can get clouded, and we may idealize people more than we should. Venus is about love, relationships, beauty, and harmony while Neptune is about dreams, illusions, spirituality, and the unseen.
Overall, there are supportive and challenging parans, and some can be more of a ‘mixed-bag’ if that makes sense!
