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Glossary termBeginner

Midheaven

HellenisticRenaissance & early modernModern WesternEditorial synthesisTraditional doctrine

Definition

The point where the ecliptic crosses the local meridian: the zodiac degree culminating overhead at the chart's moment and place. Abbreviated MC (Medium Coeli); traditions associate it with public role and vocation.

Also called: MC · Medium Coeli

In more depth

The Midheaven is one of the four angles of a chart, along with the Ascendant, Descendant, and Imum Coeli. Like the Ascendant it is derived from the exact time and place, so it shifts continuously through the day.[1]

In traditional practice (for instance in Lilly's early modern manual) the Midheaven and the tenth house connected with it are read as signifying honour, profession, and public standing. That is a doctrine of those schools, presented here as such.[2]

References

Numbered citations in the text link to the records below; each record links to the full source registry.

  1. Chris Brennan. Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Amor Fati Publications. 2017. Modern practitioner interpretation View source record
  2. William Lilly. Christian Astrology, Modestly Treated of in Three Books. T. Brudenell for J. Partridge & H. Blunden, London. 1647. Historical primary source View source record