Midheaven

The second most important point on the Astrological wheel is located at the very top. While some might find this ranking a bit counterintuitive, if you think of the line through the middle of the chart from the first house to the seventh as the "sunrise and sunset" line, it becomes clear why the Ascendant is the most critical point. However, the very top of the chart, known as the Midheaven, which is the line between the ninth and tenth houses, is also crucial in understanding the complete picture of a birth chart.

In short, the Midheaven represents a person's greatest achievements in life. It highlights the point where we all strive to find success in our lives to become professionally self-actualized. Traditional Astrologers refer to this point as the pinnacle of one's career. The Midheaven doesn't merely represent a person's job. It is actually all about professional purpose, which is a deeper way of looking at our reasoning for choosing a career in the first place.

Because the Midheaven has strong ties to the tenth house, there is a pervasive need to prove oneself in the world when this point is highlighted in a birth chart. Interestingly, financial success is not highlighted quite as much by the Midheaven. Instead, it can indicate career advancement or even a time when one becomes renowned in a specific field. Financial success is more a product of the second house.

The sign on the Midheaven in a birth chart can give clues to one's ideal career choice. Aquarius may favor science, while Cancer might want to work in home health care, for example. In a similar manner to the Ascendant, aspects to the Midheaven will not only affect career choice but also the likelihood an individual will reach their greatest potential without too much struggle. Saturn or Jupiter in harmonious aspect to the Midheaven is usually a very good indication of career success, with the former perhaps taking a longer time to materialize than the latter. Saturn takes its time, after all. Squares from Pluto or Chiron can indicate struggles with self-control and discipline needed to reach this level of success, or even an aversion to success, while Mars can indicate too much impatience when in a square aspect to the Midheaven, leading to many false starts.

Transits to the Midheaven work in a similar manner, with conjunctions from outer planets indicating a critical time in life when a career switch is imminent. There may even be a nudge by the cosmos to focus more on a greater sense of purpose in life rather than just a job. What gifts do you have to share with others?

In these times, it is wise to listen to these often challenging transits, which will not let you stay in a dead-end job or meaningless profession. You have so much more to give to the world than you might even begin to imagine.