Astrology of Palm Springs
For most of my life, Palm Springs was this elusive, whimsical idea that when came to mind floated images of flamingos, neon lights, and pink Cadillacs. Although I’d never been, the flavor of Palm Springs was something vintage, bright, and tropical like a glass of rosé beside the pool. The landlord of my very first apartment in Portland was a wealthy elderly artist who prissily puckered her lips every time she said “I’m unavailable, I’ll be in Palm Springs.”
Palm Springs is known for being a mid-century modern multi-colored playground for mature women with fresh facelifts and men fruitier than their apple martinis. Needless to say, I felt right at home.
I recently moved to LA, living on my Mars Descendant line that sprawls across all of southern California, and took my first trip to Palm Springs this past weekend, and unsurprisingly, my intuition wasn’t too far off. The rainbow desert made me want to live my best Golden Girl’s life and I did, for 48 hours…
Locational Astrology of Palm Springs
For me, Palm Springs relocates my chart to have a Scorpio rising, just like any city west of Colorado. For that reason, it’s important to look deeper. I’ve included my astrocartography map of the area below. The Mars line runing straight through Southern California isn’t close enough to Palm Springs to be relevant there, which is why it’s important to look more closely.
Astro.com’s astrocartography map also includes aspects planets make to the four most important angles of the chart, the first (AC), fourth (IC), seventh (DC), and tenth (MC) houses. Palm Springs sits right on a line where Jupiter is in support of my ascendant (the natural face you present to the world). To go even more micro, I like to look at the city of reference to see what the energies spread across the region may deliver. For this, I use a Local Space map to look into the details. When the Local Space map is set to Los Angeles, where I live, Palm Springs is on a Jupiter line. There’s an abundance of Jupiter energy here for me!
KJ’s Astrocartography Map calculated on Astro.com’s AstroClick Travel showing the pink Jupiter line through Palm Springs, California and the red Mars line running through West of Los Angeles, California.
What does that mean?
A Jupiter line is a fun one! Jupiter is the planet of excess, expansion, abundance, and positivity. You’re very likely to have a good time on a Jupiter line and might even run into some luck. I have Jupiter in Capricorn, which isn’t Jupiter’s favorite place to be, so although I did try my hand at the Agua Caliente Casino, I didn’t come back with anything to show for it. However, I did indulge my mountain goat Capricorn Jupiter in other ways, such as luxurious cocktails overlooking the desert mountains at sunset and oysters on the half shell at Bar Cecil––highly recommend––Jupiter in Capricorn loves rare, fancy, and expensive.
I also received some good news that really changed the course of a current project I’m working on, a blessing from Jupiter. Over the course of the weekend, I lounged in the pool to stay cool, ate fancy food, lost money at the casino, and celebrated a few personal wins with my honey in decadent earth sign fashion.
Although Palm Springs is notoriously known for its sweltering dry summers, I felt quite comfortable in the 108° weather. I attribute this to something I’ve observed in locational astrology readings with clients. Whatever sign is on the 4th house of the chart, also known as the IC, illustrates the type of environment most comfortable for that person. I have an Aries 4th house so I enjoy hot desert climates! There’s a reason I avoid winter for the tropics every year just like my old landlord.
What is Palm Springs’ Zodiac sign?
Chart of Palm Springs calculated with iOS app Astro Future using the time and date 8:30am on April 20, 1938, Palm Springs, California
Archetypally, one might consider Palm Springs to be a very Aries kind of place. It’s playful, slathered in fun rainbow colors like the kid of the zodiac, hotter and dryer than most places in the US, and there’s plenty of debaucherous merriment to make! But there’s also something a bit ethereal about Palm Springs that makes the think about Neptune. At times, I genuinely felt like I had time-traveled to another decade where cell phones didn’t exist, disco was all the rage, and blender cocktails were trending. I almost got a fringe haircut.
Then there’s the classy, well-maintained, boujie energy of Palm Springs that you just can’t ignore. It reminds me of Dolly Parton, the Capricorn Queen! Interestingly enough, the date Palm Springs was founded as a city is April 20, 1938. This is the day the Sun turns from Aries to Taurus. If the city were incorporated before 10:00am, which is fair to assume, the city is a 29° Aries. The 29th degree of any zodiac sign is the shadow degree and is the most intense (it makes sense once you feel that hot air). I wouldn’t be surprised if the city were incorporated around 8:30 am and had a Gemini Rising chart–– Gemini loves rainbows and Palm Springs is a weekend destination for many, a Gemini signature. While we don’t know the time and therefore, can’t calculate the rising sign, other things are certain.
Palm Springs has a healthy Taurus Venus with a beautiful exact trine to Neptune in Virgo, giving it that ethereal flavor, especially with earthy matters like architecture and structure which is one of the main draws of the city. A friend said she enjoys driving around the city getting interior design inspo that makes her feel like she’s in The Jetsons, which tracks when you notice Palm Springs boasts an Aquarius Jupiter straight out of a science fiction fantasy. I was most pleased to see that the city also has a solid Capricorn Moon. And there’s the Dolly Parton signature! Just like people, places and business have birth charts.
What were my favorite things to do, see, eat, and drink?
KJ with the Popsicle art instillation at 605 E Sunny Dunes Rd, Palm Springs
Bar Cecil - sit at the bar, chat with the friendly bartenders, and eat a variety of snacks in this art deco eatery
Del Rey at Villa Royale - this speakeasy-style bar probably wants you to make a reservation, but who says you can’t sweet-talk yourself into a spot? I did. I never thought I would utter this sentence but here I am. Best meatballs ever.
4 Saints - the best place to sip, snack, and sunset. Thank me later. Google says it’s temporarily closed...it’s not
Palm Springs Art Museum - for a smaller museum, I was really impressed by several of the exhibits, especially the pieces by Travesia Cuatro which played with the dimensions of time and space
Sunny Dunes Antique Mall - the owner was incredibly nice and I walked away with a steal on some vintage carnival glass, music to my Jupiter Capricorn’s cold heart
Don’t wait until cooler weather to give Palm Springs the chance it deserves. Book your trip and a locational astrology session to work with your own personal energy vortices around the world.
What sign does Palm Springs remind you of and why? Tell me in the comments below.
