The midheaven is an interesting placement. It sits at the top of the natal chart, and while it’s often found in the tenth house, it can sometimes be found in the 8th, 9th, or 11th houses as well, depending on what house system you use and where you were born.

This placement is normally the first place people look to when asking questions about “career” or fame. While these are relevant topics to this placement, they only scratch the surface of what it represents.

What IS the Midheaven in technical terms?

For those who want to understand the “why” behind the what, here is what the midheaven placement actually is.

The Medium Coeli (meaning “middle of the sky”) is the highest point of intersection between the meridian and the ecliptic.

• The meridian is the circle on the Celestial Sphere that runs through both celestial poles and also, from any particular location, through the zenith and nadir.
• The ecliptic, from a geocentric point of view, is the path travelled by the Sun on its apparent path around the Earth. It is actually the Earth’s orbit projected onto the celestial sphere.

The midheaven (Medium Coeli) represents how we RESPOND to our environment, and therefore how others experience us in the world and what we become known for from a broader perspective. It is also sometimes referred to as the “legacy line” or a representation of our own personal highest potential.

Your midheaven placement is like your lookout tower. It’s where you’re able to see the most people from and where the most people are able to see you from. It’s also the first part of your “castle” that people are able to see from far away. You can try to reach the masses from the cellar in the basement (this is what you’re doing if you default to your Imum Coeli), but all that people will end up seeing in that case is your abandoned lookout tower going to ruin. Even if you’re not particularly interested in reaching a large audience, it is still worth your time to keep your look-out tower well maintained and in working order as well as making sure it’s communicating what you want it to communicate. Paying attention to what sign your midheaven is in can tell you the specific strengths of your personal lookout tower, and what adjustments you need to make in your communication in order to get your message out in a way that gets you the results you want. For example: if you have a cancer midheaven, people will automatically see your lookout tower as somewhere they should be able to feel welcomed, nurtured, and allow their emotional experience to be seen and accepted. It’s a place to go when you need to prioritize feelings over productivity, efficiency, or competition. If you let it go to ruin and people find that their emotional experience is not seen or validated here, they will take their leave quite quickly. This is why it’s important to take advantage of this placement.

So how does all this relate to going viral?

It is certainly possible to go viral without maintaining your lookout tower well. This may just result in the type of virality that is more destructive and negative. People may come to throw stones at your already deteriorating tower. So if going “viral” on social media is something you’re interested in, whether to drive traffic to your business, or become an influencer, or just for fun, going viral in a positive way is definitely something your Midheaven can help with. All this with the caveat that, it is completely possible to go viral in a positive way without understanding your Midheaven, but if Astrology is something you enjoy and would like to use, here’s how you can do so.

Here are some of the main ways the Midheaven can help you go viral:

1. By understanding and leveraging your unique Midheaven placement, you are setting yourself up to be received positively by your audience because you are giving them the experience they expect from you.
2. When you do the work of leveraging your Midheaven, it means you are balancing out your Midheaven/Imum Coeli axis. This gives you a more stable, grounded energy in general that is more attractive to people with positive intentions. Even if it does attract people with ill-intent, being more grounded means you are more equipped to deal with negativity.
3. No matter what your Midheaven sign is, choosing a direction and following it confidently is always more attractive and successful than moving forward with uncertainty. By showing up with a clear direction in mind from studying your Midheaven, you will project an energy of competence that allows people to feel like they can trust you, and when people feel safe they are much more likely to “convert”.

Practical Ways to Apply Your Midheaven to Your Social Media Strategy:

1. Take inspiration from your Midheaven sign when selecting brand colours. You do not have to select the “stereotypical colours” that are typically associated with the sign, instead try using the “feeling” of the sign to inspire your colours. If Leo is a bold and playful sign, select colours that feel bold and playful to YOU. If pisces is an imaginative and emotional sign select colours that evoke a sense of imagination and deep emotion. Likely, when you select your colours this way, it will feel a bit scary and vulnerable but also exciting and freeing. That’s how you know you’re on the right track.
   
2. Use the archetype of your Midheaven sign as a muse for your own persona. For example, Leo is often associated with monarchs, lions, kings/queens, etc. What would it look like for someone with a Leo Midheaven to approach their online presence as if it were their kingdom? Similarly, if Cancer is often associated with creating a safe and secure home base, loyalty, care, and maternal instinct, what might it look like for someone with a Cancer Midheaven to treat their online presence as if it were a safe space they were cultivating for others?
   
3. Apply the temperament of your Midheaven sign when establishing a posting strategy. If Taurus is slow, consistent, and grounded, what would that look like in a posting strategy? Maybe for the person with a Taurus midheaven, having a consistent posting schedule would be more effective than for someone with a Gemini Midheaven. Maybe a Taurus Midheaven person needs to make sure there is not a lot of movement of the camera when they are making videos, whereas the Gemini Midheaven person might find more success with movement and spontaneity.

These are merely a few of the ways you can apply your Midheaven to your social media strategy, but hopefully they give you a solid place to start as you explore this topic. Allow your Midheaven to inspire you rather than box you in. Think of it as your invitation to experiment outside your comfort zone and see what works. Don’t follow any astrological placement just because some astrologer says to, try it on for size and see if you like it. Ultimately, astrology is meant to help you get in touch with your own inner knowing about what is right for you.

Hannah