What Costa Rica Taught Me About Letting Go (Through Astrocartography)
Places:
San Mateo, Costa Rica
Ojochal, Costa Rica
Dates:
February 2024 – May 2025
(with trips back to the US and elsewhere during that time)
Why We Went
Though the story took some real Costa Rican Adventure twists and turns, the general storyline is that we lived in two different areas, with the intention of beginning a building project on land we had purchased with my sister and her husband, who were on this Costa Rica adventure with us.
We had a magical Costa Rican dream: to build on 50 acres bordered by rivers, waterfalls, crystals, and jungle.
View to the distant ocean through one of the trees on our land in San Mateo, Costa Rica.
But as the months rolled by, we began to understand the practical enormity of that dream — in a foreign country where many obstacles seem placed in front of those wanting to build something that lasts. Maybe at a younger stage of life, we would choose the fortitude needed to realize the dream, but we're at a different life stage. 😌
I’d like to think we brought some positive benefit to that beautiful piece of land — land beset by centuries of in-fighting between family members and overgrazed by cattle. And she will be bought by someone who will love her.
Through our gradual education (with the help of an excellent Tico lawyer), we bought more land than we initially intended — but unified it into one cohesive parcel. We chose selective grazing, allowing the jungle to begin reclaiming some of the land.
There are so many magical, wild stories I could share about Costa Rica, but I'm going to rein it in and stick to the main astro themes for the purpose of this article.
My Costa Rica Astrocartography Themes
Mild Ceres and Vesta lines
Neptune–North Node paran
Moon–Neptune paran
Transiting Venus IC line
While there were some weaker astrocartography influences I’m already familiar with (Ceres and Vesta), the strongest themes in Costa Rica belonged to paran lines, with an added sweetness from a transiting Venus home line.
Paran lines are latitude lines formed where two planets or points cross each other on the map. That crossing point creates a latitude band encircling the globe, carrying the blended themes of both bodies.
They are subtle — but powerful.
And in Costa Rica, Neptune ruled the atmosphere.
Neptune–North Node Paran (San Mateo)
Volume up on everything Neptunian — the transcendent, the mystical, the imaginal.
A San Mateo, Costa Rica mountain view.
Neptune’s gifts:
Ego dissolution, spiritual growth, creativity, compassion, vision, transcendence, dreams, mysticism.
Neptune’s shadow:
Escapism, deception, illusion, projection, madness, confusion, boundary dissolution, ambiguity.
My Experience
I felt mildly “psychedelic” a good portion of the time — as though the membrane between dimensions had thinned.
Dreams were heightened.
Fractal vision was heightened.
One night, lying in bed with my eyes closed, I could distinctly see behind the 3D veil — and felt/saw the presence of unseen beings everywhere. It was not frightening at all. It was busy! I had the thought, “I’m glad I don’t see that all the time.”
Moon–Neptune Paran (Ojochal)
Emotional Moon meets spiritual Neptune — heightened feeling, fluidity, boundlessness.
View through one of the ocean caves near Ojochal, Costa Rica.
Donald A. Bradley wrote of this paran combo:
“To survive in this weird and hysterical climate, you must accept the presence of the collective unconscious in yourself, assimilate your past and hidden self, and forswear the pleasures of the ego…”
Moon + Neptune gifts:
Sensitivity, surrender, psychic awareness, tranquility, universal rhythm.
Moon + Neptune shadows:
Fog, emotional overwhelm, escapism, lack of grounding, difficulty with daily life.
My Experience
This was the second area we lived in, and we liked it a lot. (What's not to love having howler monkeys as your alarm clock and going to the ocean whenever you want?! 🙉⏰🌊)
And — for the first few weeks — every single day, at roughly the same time, tears would simply begin to flow — for no apparent reason.
It was wild. Like being pregnant without being pregnant!
My Mars-ruled-self chafed at the emotional fluidity. But Neptune steadily worked on the Martian armor until I softened — irreversibly — to what was. I learned to just let the tears flow.
There was also a time that I was ill for the better part of six weeks (confusing illness can also be Neptunian in nature).
And for the first time in my life, I did not fight it with pushing, judging or storytelling.
Just… surrender, lots of sleep, and a slow discovery of what my body needed.
The same was true when we packed to leave Costa Rica — an activity that normally triggers dissociation and old trauma in my system. Instead, there was steady gentleness.
During that time, I was guided toward two flower essences — Unblocked and Expanded — and two utterly profound days of Whole Woman Whole Pelvic Ceremonial Care with Breanna of Primordial Remembrance.
The land and astrology softened me.
The subtle-but-profound supports steadied me.
I had always held the philosophy of trusting life — trusting my body — in theory.
This time, it wasn’t a philosophy. It was in my cells.
I wrote at the time:
“The last few months have brought a subtle but profound inner shift. I am inhabiting more of my own body… and we be so good together 😊”
Venus IC Transit (San Mateo & Ojochal)
Throughout our time in Costa Rica, I had a transiting Venus IC line active to varying degrees.
By the time she weakened in the north (near San Mateo), we had moved south to Ojochal, where her influence strengthened again.
Venus on the IC is the “I love where I live” line.
And I did.
This transit cast a gentle rose tint over the entire experience. Even as we navigated architects, builders, permits, and bureaucratic impossibilities — there was sweetness.
My Venus, though mildly challenged in my natal chart, is in Taurus (her domicile) in a night chart — which gives her strength. She knows how to be herself.
And in Costa Rica, she did.
What Letting Go Really Meant
Letting go didn’t mean abandoning the dream — though we ultimately decided to sell our land (want to buy 50 acres of paradise in Costa Rica? 😉).
One of the many swimming holes bordering our property for sale in Costa Rica.
It meant softening my grip on how it had to unfold.
Costa Rica dissolved urgency, control, and the need to force outcomes in me.
And what remained was cellular trust.
If you are feeling called somewhere — or stuck somewhere — there may be something your body is meant to learn there.
Astrocartography doesn’t force change.
It reveals the curriculum.
And Costa Rica was a Neptune curriculum in surrender.
If you're curious what your location might be teaching you, let’s hop on a discovery call.
It’s a free, no-pressure way to explore how astrocartography might support your goals and desires for where you live — or where you’re being called next.
