Location. Location. Location

Once upon a time the questions most frequently asked of me during readings and consultations were “does he love me?” and “is he coming back to me?”

Then, as the years passed, the questions became more about work and career. Relationships still figure high on peoples list of concerns, but not anywhere to the degree they used to. A shift has occurred, perhaps in me, certainly in the people I meet.

But there has been another change, over the last five years; a rapid increase in people asking where they should go and live. These questions are not normally about whether to move round the corner, down the road or to the next town, but concern relocation to different parts of the country or the world. This trend accelerated in the UK after the 2016 Brexit vote and then ticked up for Americans throughout the Trump Presidency. But when Trump departed the questions only got more intense. The amount of people asking me about relocation increased further after March 2020, and by September 2021 I was dealing almost every day with people wanting guidance on where in the world they and their families should move to before society collapses.

Now the answer to this question is not universal. For example, it is not necessarily correct to say that somewhere remote yet advanced and cultured, like New Zealand, is the place to be. I mean it might be, for you, but not for everyone. Even if you believe the old theosophical prophecy that New Zealand will take on Britain’s role as the ‘keeper of the world energy’ it may still not be the place for you. This is because the question – where can I be to avoid the collapse? – is highly personal, a matter of individual vibration, and related to at least five factors.

VALUES & POLITICS

First, your values and/or politics are crucial. For example, you may have felt that the Kiwi government provided enlightened leadership with their (now abandoned) Zero-Covid policies. Or you may feel that the leader of NZ has overstepped the mark, or even suffers from a Messiah Complex. Or you may not have an opinion either way, which is of course fine, except that if you want to go and live there it might be a good idea to be properly informed first. The same applies with Canada, which so many people believe to be an enlightened paradise, but which others may consider to be a dystopian hell-hole. Same goes for Australia.

Looking closer to home, it has become increasingly popular among Brits disenchanted with the Tory-fication of England to believe that Scotland, with its wild open spaces, magnificent men in kilts and strange mixture of modernity-amid-tradition offers the way back to a simpler, slower and more authentic way of living. Having experienced many great Edinburgh days and nights I can see the attraction. But those thinking of departing North of the Border should at least investigate some alternative views about the state of Scottish politics. For example, it is probably important to know that a flagship policy of the SNP government is gender self-identification at aged four.

Whatever you think about this is up to you, but if you have, or want children, then perhaps it is something you need to know about. I say this because many like to portray Scottish politics as the grown-up big sister to the yah-boo foolishness of Westminster. And maybe that is true. But does this mean life in Scotland is necessarily any better or fairer?

Similarly, Scandinavia is often pointed to as a bastion of liberal tolerance, but anyone who knows anything about those countries will be aware that behind the warm smiles of Hygge and the welcoming embrace of Koselig there also exists a culture of conformity which considers individual conscience to be much less important than the wellbeing of the collective. These cultures are much more about WE, than they are about I. This may suit you, or it may not, but if you are drawn to any of these places then it is a probably a good idea to search beyond the mainstream news for information about political and social trends. This goes double if you are trying to live a politics-free life, because I am sorry to inform you, almost everything is being made political, whether we like it or not (and I for one do not much like it).

PAST LIVES

While politics and values both deal with the present, your Past Lives also play an important role in determining where you will feel most at home. For example, because I lived a past life in Germany this simultaneously makes Germany appealing (because it is familiar) but challenging (because the past lingers). This has been evidenced through my life, where every single interaction I have had with the nation or its people has thrown me a curved ball. I could have easily gone to live there, in this lifetime, but with hindsight I can see that this would not have been a good idea. Know your past lives, as best you can, and you will know where you are most likely to feel comfortable. When you visit places and suddenly feel at home it may be because you literally are. But that might be your past talking, not your future. Talk to me if you want help on this

YOUR NUMBERS

Encoded within your name and date of birth are the places and people that you are likely to gel with, as well as those which will rub you up the wrong way. By using numerology to analyse potential house numbers, streets, towns, cities and countries you can obtain an idea of where might be a good vibration for you to live. Numerology may also help you to clarify whether you should be trying to avoid a world collapse, or whether in fact you should strive to become a player in it (and if so, what your role might be). The answer to that will be different for everyone. I can help you with this if you wish.

YOUR PLANETS AND SIGNS

Then there is your Astrocartography. Through a complex procedure of projecting the natal astrological chart wheel onto a map of the earth you can see where certain activities become favourable. This can be very revealing. For example, the chart of JFK showed Dallas to be a danger zone, and that of Margaret Thatcher highlighted the Falkland Islands as significant. My chart reveals the middle of nowhere in Western Poland to be important. This meant nothing to me until I found myself there, by a freakish turn of events, in 1995, ready to experience a life changing event. I do not offer this service, but if you are interested then you can get your Astrocartography chart done here.

FAMILY

Lastly there is the matter of family. Most people, when relocating, are going to consider proximity to (or distance from!) their loved ones. However, as my late teacher Arthur said “Family is a very powerful force. But not always a positive one.” Many of the best things in the world are to be found within the warmth and love of a supportive family. But the family is where you will also see some of the very worst aspects of human behaviour. If your family is loving, caring and mutually supportive then I am happy for you, and I hope you can keep it that way. But there are many people who would improve their lives overnight by having nothing more to do with their family. It is different for everyone.

I mention these five things – Values & Politics, Past Lives, Numbers, Planets and Family – as ways to verify whatever your heart, or gut, is telling you. Of course, there are other ways, including Feng Shui.

When weighing up where to live you should be using your feelings, which will often provide valuable information. But in life changing decisions you should also check that you are not kidding yourself. For example, I might quite fancy moving to Costa Rica. And then my feelings about this might get mirrored by others, especially as it apparently the place to live cheaply and (relatively) freely. But hang on Richard, get real, Costa Rica is actually hotter, wetter and less sunny than I would really like. My numbers and planets say nothing good about Costa Rica, and I have zero knowledge or connection to the Latin American culture being, through both familial ancestry and past lives, firmly European. It was therefore fortunate that the great spiritual teachers Daryl Hall and John Oates stepped in with some advice while I was researching property in Costa Rica, repeating their words over and over “I can’t go for that.” But maybe you can. Just look before you leap.

Where we choose to make our home is a highly personal choice, and what is good for one will not necessarily be good for another. The magical energies of Ibiza, Glastonbury and Sedona – if they are even magical at all - will never work for everyone, and the good life promised in places like Florida or Singapore is far from universal. Sure, if you have money you may be able to buy your way into somewhere like Thailand, but what happens once you are there?

Though the choice is personal, the big urban centres of America will be no good for anyone if things deteriorate further. The USA is fast approaching its astrological Pluto Return, where the planet of darkness, destruction and transformation returns to the position it occupied at birth, in 1776. But again, let us be real; you do not need astrology to see that America is teetering on the brink of full-scale civil war. The alphabet media loves to promote the idea that America is waving, not drowning, but the truth is that a toxic mixture of incompetence and malice threatens the life of that nation and if it goes under it may take the whole world with it. This is not doom-mongering. It is impending reality.

The closing words on this matter should perhaps go to one who came before me, Michel de Nostredame, Nostradamus.

Now, always with Nostradamus there must be a serious reality check, a recognition that he wrote his predictions not only in cryptic rhymes but also in a language (Old French) which is no longer spoken. This is no small obstacle for those who wish to make sense of his words, yet if you read across the many translations and interpretations a sense of things starts to emerge. Everything to do with Nostradamus is shaky, but he does seem to suggest that England, not Britain, but silly old, backwards England, is the one place that manages somehow to hold itself above the worst of the coming world crises. Among Nostradamus’s other predictions for this century are the UK’s departure from the EU, the separation of Scotland from the UK and the fall or abolition of the British monarchy. One down, three to go.

So, all things considered, my money is on England as the place to be to avoid the worst of the coming storm. I am not saying that this is the best place to be, more like the least bad. And I do not say this because I like it here, because I do not, and after the behaviour of people over the last few years I like it even less. But trying to be as objective as possible, England seems like a reasonable bet, as a place to avoid the worst of what is coming. I think the road will be rocky, and things may get much worse before they get better, but at least for me this is the place to be. I was therefore intrigued to see ‘global experts’ on such matters starting to agree with me, Nostradamus and the survival instinct of thousands of refugees.

Of course, all this may be very different for you, and I may yet change my mind. But there is nowhere in the world that you can go to get away from it all, because you will still be there. And wherever you go, or even if you stay put, the questions will be the same. Are you going to help build the New World? Or are you just going to mourn the passing of the old? This will have to be answered, by each of us, wherever we are.

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash