What Does Your Midheaven Sign Mean In Astrology And How Might It Inform Your Career

A natal chart has four points: the midheaven or medium coeli; the ascendant or rising sign; the imum coeli; and the descendant. Located at the top of your birth chart, the midheaven marks a very significant point. If you were to visualize a compass with these four points, the midheaven is due north. It relates to your career, professional life, and how you present to the outside world — your public face. But before we discuss the midheaven any further, let's briefly touch upon the other three points of the natal chart.

Your ascendant or rising sign refers to the zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth. The rising sign has to do with how you perceive reality and how you approach life. On the compass, your ascendant sign is due west. 

The imum coeli is situated exactly opposite the midheaven and is the buried, deeper part of your natal chart. It holds your profound truths; what makes you happy at your core; and also has to do with your genealogy and family tree. Think of this as the most southern point. 

In the eastern place on the compass is the descendant. It is exactly opposite your ascendant sign. Your descendant rules your relationships and what you desire out of them. 

Of all these, the midheaven helps you navigate your career path. It has to do with how you display ambition, what you want for your legacy, and what you hope to leave behind. It's worth delving into, particularly if you have career questions on your mind.

In addition to the four points, birth charts are made up of 12 houses, creating yet another piece of a very complicated puzzle. Each house is ruled by a zodiac sign. The midheaven shows up on birth charts in the tenth house, which is ruled by Capricorn. Each house deals with an intricate part of your personal makeup, but for our purposes here, we're looking at career impact.

The second house, for instance, is ruled by Venus and dictates how you relate to money and material objects. It influences what things you value and consider worth spending money on. The sixth house, influenced by Mercury, also deals with your work life, but it pertains more to your day-to-day work ethic. Essentially, the sixth house deals with the minutiae of daily life and what work you have to sometimes do in order to get by. In this way, it doesn't reflect the larger arc of your career. 

That's why the tenth house, where your midheaven is located, is so imperative in informing your career, because this house reflects the bigger picture of your career path. It has to do with your deeper calling when it comes to your professional life. The tenth house speaks to your ambitions, and what you want to achieve. So it looks at the larger scope of your life.

Since the midheaven has to do with the arc of your professional life, it's worth noting how different signs relate to it. People with fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) in the midheaven tend towards creative and enterprising careers. They do well as their own bosses and tend to thrive being in charge. Even roles like public speaking are a great fit. They're not shy about being visible. 

Those with earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) in the midheaven tend to be very grounded when it comes to their career paths. They are competent, sensible, and dependable. They are also trustworthy and thrive in positions of finance, management, and teaching.

People with air signs (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) in the midheaven do well in careers that require precise communication. They're thoughtful and social, and excel as writers, lawyers, and professors, since they love the balance of heady ideas and the effective communication required to transmit them. Think of the combination of a cerebral outlook and a talkative disposition. 

Those with water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) in the midheaven thrive on caregiving and harmonious relationships with other people. As such, they do well in childcare, parenting, and nursing. Even psychology can be a satisfying career path for those with water signs in the midheaven, as the focus is on attentive care for others. Emotional intuition comes naturally to people with water signs in the midheaven and a career that taps into this is very satisfying for them. 

Remember, your midheaven sign is different from your birth (sun) sign. As the midheaven is located in the tenth house, it can tell you a lot about your career. You can use a midheaven sign calculator to find out which sign is in your midheaven.