Here’s what the midheaven is all about, how to calculate where yours falls, and what it means for your career and life path. As the AstroTwins explain, this portion of the chart is all about your “career, worldly ambitions, public image, and status.” It’s the most public part of your personality out in the greater world, and it can lend some insight into what career path you might want to pursue, what you’ll be known for, or where you could succeed professionally. Whenever the AstroTwins offer career readings or classes, for instance, they note that what people “really long to do—their secret wish if they had a million dollars and could start tomorrow—is what their midheaven shows.” And while both your midheaven and rising sign are similar to an extent, as they’re both outer-facing aspects of one’s personality, the rising sign is more about first impressions and interpersonal aspects of your personality, while the midheaven is much more about public image and legacy. As astrologer and author of Cosmic Health Jennifer Racioppi explains to mbg, it’s also a good idea to take note of where Mars is in your chart, since it rules the Aries midheaven. “Understanding your Mars sign is a great thing for anyone with Aries on the midheaven because they’ll need to access a healthy version of their Mars to move forward in the ways they want to impact in the world,” she says. And as Pennington explains, this placement also wants a career that’s grounding, so probably not idea-based, but rather tangible, such as something you can do with your hands or body. “I think of things like cooking, even something like party planning—things that are very pleasurable and have to do with the senses, so even a musician, arborist, or interior designer,” she tells mbg. Racioppi notes if you have a Gemini midheaven, you’ll want to find Mercury in your chart and figure out how you best communicate, as it’ll be important for your public life. “It’s really important that they’re doing something that allows them to excel in communication. Anyone with a Gemini midheaven is somewhat of a linguist—but that’s really for them to define [in their own way],” she says. “There’s something about providing a service that allows people to feel cared for when it comes to how you show up in the world and what you’re known for,” Racioppi explains, adding, “Don’t be afraid to work from home, because Cancer is [all about] the home, and you may be your most famous self from your couch.” Whether it’s being on a stage, or performing in any way, really, that’s where this placement will thrive. This could also mean leaders or managers of some kind, as they like to be “out in front,” Pennington adds. “So people who are in charge of a lot of other people, performers, or even teaching others to be on stage too,” she explains, adding, “I would associate this with someone who is in front of the camera, rather than behind the scenes.” That precision and attention to detail makes this placement great for fields like science, medicine, design—really anything where they can get down to the nitty-gritty and work with things that are grounded or material, according to Pennington. “The Virgo mindset is going to see the bigger picture, all the way down to the kind of granular or cellular level of things. They’re going to be able to put the time and care into it—and Virgo kind of sees things that that others don’t,” she adds. Pennington notes that Libra has strong listening skills and a sense of justice, as well as an ability to be empathetic and create a safe space for people. With that in mind, she says, they make great mediators, judges, therapists, or anything that otherwise brings people together. “They’re really able to put themselves in another person’s position and that’s why they’re good at socializing and listening,” she adds. Funny enough, Racioppi also notes the detective route makes sense for this placement, and adds it ultimately comes down to their ability “hold space for the dark, the ugly, the bereaved—all the darkness—and bring wisdom to the table.” This is a complicated placement, she adds, “because the midheaven is really where you shine, and Scorpio is where you’re private—so Scorpio midheaven really has to reconcile the need to be seen and the need to be of service with their own inner guidance.” Racioppi adds that a Sagittarius midheaven makes for someone who’s here to inspire and uplift others, as well, such as a coach, clergyman or woman, or professor. “It’s someone whose purpose in this lifetime is to inspire us to get up off the couch and out into the world,” she notes. The midheaven here will enjoy careers with a good amount of structure and tradition, potentially even opting for institutional jobs such as within the law or banking. This placement makes a hard worker who wants to get the job done right the first time, for results that last, Pennington explains. “There’s a sense of wanting it to be good and right—to be the best that something can be—but it has to be done right and you have to go slow, so nothing quick and sloppy,” she adds. “These are people who are here to do it differently,” Racioppi explains, adding, “Because they’re answering to Uranus, and Uranus is out-of-the-box thinking, think careers in broadcasting, astrology, humanitarian services—they want to conceptualize how to solve problems,” she explains. “But Aquarius is the designer, the engineer—not the actual person digging the ditch,” she adds. Pennington adds you can think about things like music, art, poetry, film, fashion—anything along those lines. “There’s a real artistic bent to this sign, and to me, that lets you ’tip things upside down,’ or see things from a completely different perspective,” she explains, adding, “Whatever career the Pisces midheaven takes, there’s a sense of artistry, flow, and lyricism in whatever they’re doing.”
