Los Angeles & Living on My Venus Lines
Sweet relief.
Seven months into living out of two suitcases as I traveled and one hurricane later, my nervous system was lowkey shot lol. It was like Spirit knew I needed some TLC, so next up in my adventure, I was led to Los Angeles, Californiaaaaaaa! After leaving for college, I never actually experienced home as an adult, on my own terms, so on top of being able to see family and friends that were well overdue for long hugs, good food, and my beloved Pacific Ocean, I had no clue what to expect.
According to my astrocartography, my Venus DC line is the major player here. Yes, the infamous Venus line!
Astro.com says our Venus lines are where “Love relationships are intensified, in fact, these are perfect conditions for getting married and enjoying one's honeymoon. Venus energy lines are great for one's outer appearance and a healthy sense of self-worth. Sensual appeal and erotic powers of attraction are intensified, and inhibitions disappear. We seem to trust the flow of life in a relaxed and easy manner, and delight in earthly pleasures.”
I’ll also point out that my True Node DC line is located not too far away, so I definitely want to acknowledge its energy. People have their opinions on how the nodes provide context about destiny! What were we doing in our past lives, what did we previously master, as well as what did we come into this world to learn and work towards? However, because its not an actual planet, there is much to be said about its actual effects, so for reference, I’m including it in my documentation because I do believe its energy was present.
Some life-changing experiences and connections happened while I was in LA, as always; I received clarity and almost a new wind that opened the road for what was next. Some truly aligned, destiny-filled shit was poppin off left and right, so I’d love to have more conversations with others about how they interpreted living on/near their True Node lines. I also want to note that beautiful reminder I keep repeating at the end of recent entries about how I believe it’s beneficial to have some understanding about our birth chart and astrology basics prior to diving into astrocartography.
Some additional things to keep in mind while reading: Venus is my chart ruler, it sits in the same house one degree and some change away from my True Node which is another reason why I acknowledge it’s possible influence, both are DC meaning the focus was on communal and external development vs internal and personal development, AND this was around late August to early October, meaning Virgo season came to gather my ass up right on schedule as it annually does for the collective around this time.
Taking note of all the components, I had the perfect ingredients for a lock-in season that culminated my 2024 shenanigans and enlightened me on how to end the year strong. I’m a true believer in seasonal cycles. September comes to give birth to whatever we’ve been working on since January. October through December gives us time to slow down, finish up any open tasks or projects, so we can truly hibernate and let all that didn’t serve us die with the trees during winter (January through March). This practice is ancestral, especially when you consider so many of us whose ancestors came from West Africa were FARMERS. They knew the land and its cycles in such a specific way - it’s time we get back to honoring those practices.
But anyway, let’s get to this Venus juiciness.
When you look good, feel good, and are surrounded by your people, it’s impossible to fail. I’ll take that to my grave.
My most recent trip home (re)grounded me in my purpose, while simultaneously opening the heavens for what the road ahead entailed. I guess that’s where that True Node came into play – I had what I needed to succeed. It wasn’t just strategy that I had clarity on and felt grounded in, I had my workspace, nourishing food, people who loved me and gave me my daily dosage of laughter and hugs, a beautiful fling with a man who had an energy of just gratitude to be able to cross paths and take care of me for even a temporary time in space, access to spiritual tools and community that new friends from Puerto Rico connected me with, I had elders and ancestors to appease, I had art and Blackity Black spaces that many will imitate but never duplicate, I had carne asada fries and establishments that stayed open past 9 pm! My goodness, living in the Bible belt will have you really wondering what age we live in, both politically and socially.
I forgot how good it felt to have what I need at my fingertips yo. Living in Southern California, it truly never rained (pre-recent climate change shifts), we took annual trips to the snow up in Big Bear, the ocean was just 20 to 30 minutes over the 405 freeway, the biggest trends in the world came through LA first, and there was literally always something to do. Blame it on my Sagittarius Sun/stellium but this is what fed my foundational understanding of what freedom could mean. Anything you needed or had sudden interest in was a coo lil drive up the freeway - what is the word no?
On top of that, growing up with my family dynamics meant having a very expansive understanding of what I consider “home”. Home is where the water is, it’s where the palm trees are, home is where the niggas are! With a global community, I grew detached from calling California home because its traditional definition didn’t resonate. So with that being said, I LOVE me some California and I’m an advocate for if you don’t love California, you didn’t do it right. Scratch what I said about not vibing with a certain place because your energy just isn’t aligned - if you don’t like California, you’re a hater! LOL.
We are the vibe creators, our ancestors who built LA were some of the most gangsta, forward-thinking motherfuckers who transitioned from the south. I have a deep reverence for LA, and how it holds me every time I decide to go home. I hope you hear the adoration in my tone. Nothing was forced during my time spent there, even though the energy felt big and life-changing – it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.
I pray that if you decide to travel or relocate to places that align with your specific comfort, you have the tools you need to be great. I pray that if you’re currently somewhere that feels energetically funky, that you’ll always be brave enough to get up and go find somewhere that gets you just as hype as I feel about California (if possible). I pray that if you’re not able to relocate permanently, you’ll always create mini pockets of space for yourself to be held. A short trip to planetary lines that support rejuvenation is better than nothing <3
Trip Highlights
123 Farms for their Lavender festival! Lavender is currently a favorite fragrance and tool, but they have various festivals throughout the year.
The Gathering Spot
I’ve been a member of the ATL location since 2019, so I loved being able to visit the LA office. Cafes with wifi have become a scary Hunger Games-esque situation for those wanting to leave their homes to work for a bit, so I believe investing in a workspace that offers what you need to lock in is bueno.
https://thegatheringspot.club/
Golf Bros
Ya girl learned the proper form for golfing! John from Golf Bros was a great teacher and a connection I made where? THE GATHERING SPOT lol.
Portos
I had a small gig in Glendale my senior year of high school, so it became a ritual to head to Portos for freshly squeezed orange juice, some potato balls, and empanadas with a grilled chicken Caesar salad. It made my heart so happy that they expanded this location!!! With businesses shutting down left and right, it was amazing to see the building still packed and bustling.
San Francisco
It’s a ritual for those craving a lil razzle dazzle in their routine to hop on the Pacific Coast Highway up to SF. The 17-mile drive from Monterey to Pebble Beach is a cute lil scenic situation, and from my understanding, going through Big Sur is still cut off from the mudslide. Coming back south, make sure to hop on the freeway so you don’t waste 4 hours going in the wrong direction!
Getty Museum and Villa
I didn’t get to visit this trip, but the Getty will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart.
https://www.getty.edu/visit/villa/
Appeasing Elders & Ancestors
Traveling from GA to California is hard, and not something easily done in a quick weekend trip, in my opinion. A 5 hr flight, a three-hour time difference (which doesn't seem like much but surely is JUST enough to slightly annoy tf out business and social arrangements), plus flying into LAX and then fighting traffic to the IE, the valley, or literally any other part of downtown eats up more time than you think.
This, on top of work, made quick trips home a little harder, which meant I was watching a lot of my elders grow older through the phone. Being home meant I could take my Aunt to brunch on the beach just to catch up, treat my Bigmomma to a weekend getaway, and coordinate a birthday celebration for my great-aunt's birthday. This also meant I could take time and go clean off our families’ headstones and pour libations at the cemetery since I knew they hadn’t had any visitors in a while.
I remember one night on a roof in Santa Monica looking to my left and seeing the ocean and to the right, seeing the purple mountains. 2 to 3 generations ago, elders on both sides of my family decided to get the hell up out of Ohio and Mississippi to see what life in California had to offer, and here I was, snuggled up to a fire enjoying the cool marine layer breeze while I traveled and worked from wherever. Because I practice ancestor veneration, this most certainly added to why I felt so grounded being back in California. There was an air of choice that led my ancestors and elders to CA, compared to how our families ended up in the South, which means I was born through a certain level of choice, pleasure, and autonomy that isn’t taken for granted.
When we respect our dead, we respect and honor our elders and seniors. We respect and honor the sacredness of the path we walk because of how many walked this path before us to clear the way. I am because they were, so yuuuuhhhh - Los Angeles will always have my heart, always and forever.
This is your reminder that it’s okay if you don’t vibe with a popular destination - your particular math (birth chart and energy) probably don’t vibe with the energy of the land or its ancestry.
Yes, California natives are being priced out, AND I think this is a time to really lean into community and get real about where you need to be location-wise to be in alignment with why you’re here on the Earth.
California has rent control, meaning your landlord can't send that annoying lil letter every year with a crazy upcharge in rent, which I be looking at jealously through the window here in GA.
I’ve seen miracles happen with rent because folks knew the right people, and they were where they needed to be. If you’re supposed to be there, do not let money deter you from that. Expand your capacity for miracles! Tell your spirits, Ancestors, and Orisas that you require mas moneys lol. This is why this astrocartography series is so important to me. The world is changing rapidly under this administration and with climate change, so movement is necessary. In addition to your intuition and what you know to be true, if you’re feeling an inkling to transition to a new location, astrocartography is a great tool to utilize and support your decisions.
Astro.com has a great astrotravel breakdown; tap in and don’t forget that any and all astrology interpretations are someone’s bias, and that your birth chart is a culmination of the synergy of a lot of different energies. Taking it a step further, when you apply that to your astrocartography, be mindful of the bigger picture our charts paint when considering planet lines.
Take time to get to know your birth chart first. Research astrologers to help you begin interpreting your chart and stay off ChatGPT. Then dive into astrocartography and use it as a way to be in tune and reflect on how you feel in certain places, not the end-all be-all of your travel choices.
After LA, I headed back to Mexico City to celebrate my Oya odun during Dia de los Muertos. It was a beautiful time of fellowship and such an expansive experience as an Isese practitioner in the diaspora.
May the ancestors continue to lead the way as we build relationships with different lands they called home, as we build relationships with different languages native to our DNA, and may they continue to lead the way as we build communities across borders.
After this celebration, I headed to Colombia to celebrate my 30th birthday, so in my next entry, we are going to talk about the radiance of traveling to sun lines!
See you there,
Janiece Ifasooto