The many faces of Pisces on the MC
It seems like most of the people coming to me for readings these days have either Gemini or Cancer rising as part of their charts. Cancer Rising are like the zodiac’s version of the canary in the coal mine. With their heightened sensitivity and psychic antenna, while being connected to the intense array of cardinal energy circulating through the skies of our lives, they are on edge. They want to know what’s up or down or just around the corner. But most importantly, they want to know what they can do with their lives. When we approach this subject, I look to their mid-heaven and lo and behold, there is Pisces, the great fish, staring back down at them through sea of stars.
The Pisces midheaven is one of the more difficult signs for the MC, even if there are planets hanging out in the 10th or even hugging it, coming in from the 9th. Why? Why does Pisces on the MC pose such a challenge and if you have it, what can you do with it?
First off, we need to discuss some of the traits of the Pisces/Mid Heaven character. There is often a vague sense of mission and purpose in the person’s life. They feel as if they have a calling, a mission, a purpose, but due to the misty and mystical nature of Pisces in such an important position of the chart it’s often very difficult to pin down or nail. Unlike say a Capricorn MC, where the individual would have a life plan and take all of the painfully necessary steps to execute it, the Pisces MC offers no such clues or maps. It’s a journey into the formless quest to find spiritual purpose and meaning. This can often lead to a quixotic journey, where the individual can try on any number of hats and vocations, looking for one to fit on the crown snugly enough, where work isn’t just work, but the fulfillment of the soul’s desire to touch the world with compassion, beauty, hope and redemption. These are not the traits and trends of the marketplace, especially in an increasingly Capricornistic Earth plane. But is just what the individual with Pisces on the MC must attempt and experience, time and again, often falling short of the mark, which is often the case.
Recently, I had a client share with me that they wanted to be like Gandhi or Buddha or Jesus and leave their spiritual mark on this world. Yep, Pisces on the MC. It wasn’t delusional at all, but these were the men and symbols of the type of energy that they were wanting to anchor and bring into the world. It’s the deepest desire and commitment that they are here to make and one of the most difficult. The Cancer AC gives them ample sensitivity to grapple with the world’s pain on a daily basis, the trick of course is to transmute that suffering into a life path.
People with Pisces on the MC must explore the avenues available to them that are intrinsically Piscean to accomplish this task. They need to experiment with art, especially the non-verbal forms of it, to channel the limitless spectrum of creation. By doing so, they will drop into archetypal spaces of emotions and the planetary dramas of our most common and universal themes; love, loss, betrayal, chaos, temptation and faith. To approach the Piscean MC with the artistic path, is to open the self to energies and powers that are not easily controlled and the individual must literally surrender to the experience of titanic forces, the grand cosmic tale being told through them. Not everyone has the spine and willingness to submit to this profound, yet rigorous process.
Another version, much more in tune with our times in some ways is the realm of the social worker/missionary. Here, people are able to take the desire of the Piscean impulse and apply it to a vocation which has a defined curriculum and career path, although at some level, it gets fouled with corruption and political manipulation, like just about anything else here. I cite the acting out of Cloward-Piven to game and overload the welfare system as just one example of how faith, hope and charity are leveraged for ideological muscle. In this case, the individual with the Pisces MC must be aware of the potential that the world will taint their work and vision of a more just and compassionate society. They would have to be happy with the gains and strides they could make within the system and simply forgive those that would not be able to see the bigger picture, the greater heart of all things.
The shadow side of of the Pisces MC is to lose faith in the process and potentially succumb to the very same things that the individual would be working towards. This loss of faith can lead to addiction or aberrant behaviors which could care less about rules and order. The outlaw, Jesse James had Pisces on the MC in addition to living a life of lawlessness, James was also a Freemason.
if the person with Pisces on the MC ever achieves any sort of fame, they can become the object of other peoples projections and even their covert manipulations. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leo Sun/Cancer AC/Pisces MC became the object of hero worship in the 80’s and 90s’, which led to the rise of his political career in the state of California, which began in a very Piscean Mc like fashion. The Governator was elected via a special election, because, apparently, then Guv, Gray Davis, was doing such a horrible job, that they just couldn’t wait a couple of years to kick his ass out. Well, that was the cover story. You see Gray Davis was sitting on some very powerful, inside info. Pete Wilson, who preceded Davis had conveniently taken a couple of key power stations offline, which put the entire California grid at risk. During the years of 2000 and 2001, California experienced a massive overload to it’s electrical grid and the state experienced brownouts and blackouts. Unable to meet it’s residents demand for power, Wilson bought power from nearby states and the company that brokered those deals was none other than Enron.
Fast forward to 2005 and California’s special election. In the weeks prior to it, Arnie meets with Pete Wilson, (the supposedly deceased Ken Lay) and Warren Buffett at a hotel in Los Angeles, where they would plot out his gubernatorial grab and once he was firmly ensconced in Sacramento, he would then eliminate any traces of Enron’s larcenous relationship to the state and it’s tax payers.
Completely in line with his Piscean Mid Heaven, Arnie ran against an army of freaks and geeks such as porn star, Mary Carey and the late, Gary Coleman. The only semi-serious challenger was democrat, Cruz Bustamante, but Arnie’s fat budget and celebrity were enough to crush him and just about anyone else. Ironically, this election helped out Arianna Huffington, Cancer Sun/Cancer Moon/Scorpio AC more than almost anyone.
I used Arnold as a example of the Pisces MC as both a symbol of projection and hero worship and the machiavellian machinations of the power elite, covering their tracks under the guise of some other cause celebre. It was pure, Piscean misdirection and manipulation.
Arnie is not the only actor with Pisces on the MC–far from it. Robert DeNiro, John Travolta, Kenneth Brannagh Angie Jolie and many other very successful and well known thespians have Pisces up there. It’s their ability to blend, merge, and dissolve into mythic archetypes through single-eyed vision of public perception that allows them not just fame, but a formal way for them to shape shift as a vocation, for better or worse.
But here we are now. How can the person with Pisces on the Mid Heaven truly find purpose and meaning? In the purest sense, they must commune with their soul aka higher self, which, ironically, has it’s closest point of access via the “MId Heaven.” Through prayer and mediation, through thoughtfully asking and humbly listening, the individual with Pisces on the MC can receive hints, clues, images, symbols and even synchronicities which will give them guidance and the right path to take, however, they must act on what they receive out of faith and then proceed to do the work, whatever they have been compelled to do. It might not always make sense to the outside world, but those with Pisces on the MC should not care what others think. Their goal is to make their work and purpose not of this world, but most certainly in it.
FAMOUS INDIVIDUALS WITH PISCES ON THE MC
The Dalai Lama, Madame Blavatsky, Richard Gear, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Harvey Oswald, Pope John Paul VI, The Planet Neptune, William Faulkner, Bill Gates, Joni Mitchell, Jim Henson, Stephen King, Larry Flynt, Dylan Thomas. Stephen Spielberg, William Blake, Robert Hand, Mel Gibson, Noel Tyl, Australia, Sharon Tate, John Travolta, Michael Jordan, Byron, Schubert, Babe Ruth, Boris Yeltsin, Einstein, Nureyev, Josef Mengele, Albert Speer, Roberto Assagioli, Douglas Adams, Van Gogh, Steve McQueen, Gary Oldman, Marvin Gaye, Jayne Mansfield, Max Ernst, Goya, Erich Van Daniken, Ram Dass, Kurosawa, Dali, Shakespeare, Charlie Parker, Iggy Pop, Rudolf Hess, Manhattan (New York, New York), Kanye West, Nick Drake, Gayatri Devi, Richard Strauss, Norman Vincent Peale, and Anton Mesmer.
37 thoughts on “The Mystery And Challenge Of The Pisces MC, Part One In The MC Series”
Excellent post… I hope you go backwards or I will have to wait a long tome to read what you have to say about my Aquarius midheaven 😉 I hope you keep writing these and seems it may be time for Robert Phoenix’s astrology book … x x
Thanks Luna. 🙂
Great post! My Midheaven is technically in Aries, but my Moon in Pisces is in the 9th house near the MC. I really identify with the “quixotic journey” you describe.
I think because the Pisces realm is so nebulous and hard to pin down, it can make finding one’s vocation/career/calling especially difficult. Plus, like you say, these types of transpersonal energies and themes are so mysterious and deep, poetic/mystical, etc.. that they don’t easily fit into the Capricornian everyday realm of earthly facts and aims.
With Pisces up there, too, there’s such a longing to be of service at a high level — but because the calling is often so unclear — there can be a tendency to simply serve at any level — sometimes at a much lower level than is truly fitting for the person.
Anyhow, I’ve found my readings with you especially insightful and helpful in this department. I think I’m finally beginning to see and sense my way forward…
Thanks Catherine. I wish you well on your new trajectory.
An interesting read, Robert – thanks! I’m one o’ them – Cancer rising (natally) with Pisces MC (Jupiter close to MC). I can relate, albeit less dramatically, compared to the “celebs” you’ve named. In my youth I did investigate careers of some kind of service to fellow men – once almost went to be a psychiatric nurse but was persuaded against it after having been accepted. My long-lasting career, in the civil service, Employment Tribunals in the UK, was, to my mind, a satisfying way of fighting injustices heaped upon the ordinary person – that was what kept me there until retirement. I guess that fits, though it wasn’t at all mystical…lol…far from it!
I agree with Luna – a book, a book…my dollars for a book! 🙂
Twi, I think your Aqua Sun pulled some of that in too, in your own way. Thanks for the kind words.
Great post Robert, really enjoyed it. I have my MC at three degrees Pisces and I really identified with what you said. After a long career in advertising, which always frustrated me, I turned to writing and the esoteric world, and just as you said, the path is never clear- it’s like rowing through a soupy fog being guided only by intermittent horn blasts. But I row, hope for the best, and thoroughly enjoy the mystery. What really resonated with me was how you described the Pisces MC as needing a mission, and I think Gates is a good example of that. Windows certainly changed the world, but that wasn’t enough for him and his quest to have the mega rich sign away their wealth is clearly a Piscean obsession.
Best,
Robert
Thanks Robert. I have no doubt that your mystic path will unfold. As far as Gates goes, his big deal is vaccines, which could be considered quite Piscean.
I have exactly this!! Now i have to choose a Piscean path..
This hits the nail on the head for me… oy!
Having Pisces MC is so frustrating to me. I’ve also got Jupiter conjunct Chiron in 9th, and this conjunction is 2 degrees from MC. I’ve never known “what I want to be when I grow up.” Neptune (ruling my MC sign) is in Scorpio/5th. I still can’t seem to grasp what to do, and now I’m over 50! What *can* I do? Work for myself, probably, but what? In my younger years I had stable and interesting employment as an engineering secretary (Uranus/3rd influence, I think, opposing Jupiter/Chiron/MC); but I can’t seem to find that kind of work anymore. Astrologer, maybe? 😉 It has fascinated me for decades. Thanks for covering this topic.
Sorry it took me so long to respond to this comment. Astrology does have a connection with Neptune. Dip your toe in the waters. 🙂
Realy perfect explanation. Recently I’m thinking of going to meditation.meditation . in last two years I learned astrology on my own nd gave some suggestions to people which worked for them. I have 22 deg pisces on mc.mc . with jupiter in 9th in pisces. And sun mercury in 10th conjugate mc in pisces. Do not what will happen to me but I knw it’s spiritual..
Eh I feel really bad with this position , REALLY bad because sun/moon/venus/mercury/neptune are all in Capricorn , so at the same time Im practical and skeptical of all those mystic things , relligion etc but I kind of believe in astrology , yeah the irony .
Im 30 and still dunno what to do or where to go and I have no clue to what I really want to do and that makes me nervous . I have a few ideas but its not like a direction , its like walking in the mist , I know I want and need to go somewhere but I dont know where it is or which path I should walk to get there ……I feel lost and stactic while I see all folks who I grew up with doing something meaningfull of their lives .
Well, a fair number of people are still experimenting with the lives at 30. It took Jesus 33 years to find his true purpose. 🙂
Don’t forget, Capricorns are late bloomers.
Hang in there and be kind to yourself.
I love my Pisces midheaven. I know my friends and family must think I’m strange for not passionately pursuing a career, but I like the freedom of knowing I could do anything. I am hoping to do some missionary work in Africa soon. I am 30 and do feel external pressure to do and be more, but I know my time will come.
I am a Gemimi Rising, Pisces midheaven. Why does this article refer to Cancer rising. Am I missing something? My midheaven is at 3degrees Pisces. Can someone help with this question? Thanks!
Because some people, by degree have Cancer rising and Pisces MC. Some Gemini Rising People have Aqua MCs. It’s all based on AC degree and the use of an unequal house system. Hope that helps.
This was really enlightening and a great read, thanks so much! I have Pisces Mc and Cancer Ascendant and this all rang very true. I’m 33 and still hopeful of finding my vocation. Mediation does help, I will explore a the arts as well, as you suggested.
Holy cow!!! You just nailed everything. I’ve never read it so detailed and explained to this extent. I appreciate your wisdom and thank you for writing this and sharing with the world! Sag sun cancer asc pisces moon. Pisces moon in my 10th with jupiter
Wow I am Pisces MC, Libra Sun, Pisces Moon and Cancer AC. I am a lawyer and very often feel like a round peg in a square hole. Maybe I should switch careers to art after reading this!
Pretty interesting and matching. I’m Cancer rising, Moon in Cancer, Pisces on MC and Scorpio sun sign, I would add a certain obsession in finding my life purpose, then 🙂
Thanks for that!
I have a piece I am publishing on Pisces.
Wow, I found this article to be so negative, discouraging, and unhelpful. It was probably one of the most biased astrology articles I’ve ever read. Way to make Pisces energy seem deficient, lazy, and weak :::sigh:::
LOL. That’s your problem not mine. Maybe you should read my OTHER piece on Pisces which lionizes the sign. In your case, maybe I’m right.
Brilliant post Robert!
This part gave me goosebumps “…Pisces on the MC can receive hints, clues, images, symbols and even synchronicities which will give them guidance…”
These have become daily diary entries since my 2015 Solar Return (and yes, they guided me into Astrology). So spot on!
I have Pisces MC at 11°11′ – no coincidence 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration! Neptune nods from South Africa.
Hi Robert! This is so accurate, I discovered that my hobbie was my life purpose a year ago, I’m 36, sun in sag, cancer asc and MC in piscis 11,12,… I have been watching repetitive numbers everywhere (messages) synchronicity, it’s a very tough path… Up’s and down very often, but I feel very motivated my these messages. Thanks for your post. Regards
I have pisces mc, pisces moon, virgo sun,cancer ascendant. This insightful article was just what I needed. Recently got into astrology to figure out why things, events, experiences and basically everyday life is so different then the norm. I’ve always kept to myself and had jobs with minimal interaction with the general public, recently I took a asset protection position (ironically I had applied for a different position but some how my application ended up in the exact opposite field I had applied for) Things like this are a total normal and everyday occurrence for me so I didn’t put much thought into it and assumed it was a sign and took the position. Few days into the new job its like a light was clicked on in my thoughts.seeing as Ive always been a introvert and avoided a lot of interaction with the general public, I could read people like a book, identify and address situations that arised in a very personalized manner. More so then my coworkers which seemed to have more confrontational interactions. Observing and analyzing how they approached things made me realize how different and to be honest overwhelming different everyday life was for me. This has been a blessing and a curse, nothing for me is mundane, its one extreme or the other. I’ve always had as you said in the article a feeling of a higher purpose but assumed everyone did with my limited knowledge and experience with the mass public. It has sent me on a mission to acquire as much knowledge as I can reguarding human nature, emotions, reactions ect.. Reading this was so comforting, my coworkers and regular customers have started to take notice how different everyday should be normal occurrences present themselves to me. Its gone as far as the office AP say they will watch me specifically due to the nature of how differently the general public interacts with me. Its always a interaction with a meaningful undertone of purpose. It seems that I attract people, random coworkers with extreme character, opinions, personalities ect. I keep to myself and my personal life very private, I tried to stay off the radar for the most part but its a losing battle, I’ve been labeled the “shrink” because people feel compelled to approach me and volunteer personal issues, grievances, major life events ect. It can be a amazing source of entertainment or extremely exhausting due too the feeling I get of absorbing a little bit of that person and the moment. Still trying to understand and feel compelled that its a path I need to focus and develop, compassion is a learned nature that needs to be used more often. There is nothing more satisfying then hearing someone vent a obvious issue,struggle they have been dealing with and offering them a kind word or just a sympathetic facial expression that offers them comfort knowing someone understands and their not alone, most issues wont have a solution,and its hard to accept the reality of that but for some reason Im still trying to umderstand I seem to exude a calmness and comfort that draws people in and compels them to interact in a very personal way. Of course it all depends on their demeanor, goes both ways. So after 9 months of dealing with this everyday and the few coworkers I work closely with taking notice and confirming Im the kind of person only that would happen too. And being told constantly “Im not sure why I told you that, but thankyou I feel better” I need to understand and develop whats going on inside of myself. My calling really seems to be based on personal and meaningful interactions with peple that need guidence reguarding confussion of their lack of knowledge to their connection of their inner self. Its something very rewarding on a deeper level for me but exhausing, I feel like I take a piece of their hurt and replace it with a little bit of my inner calm or I guess understanding Ive been blessed to be aware of. Somedays are extremely exhausing and I come home mentally and emotionally drained, Ive read I need to learn to channel negative and draining energies away from myself. I feel compelled with compassion for those exact people and a deep desire to help them. So what Im asking to anyone who has made it this far into my vent session for some help. I would like to learn to control and understand all of this better. Its been 9 months of amazing synchronicities, profound epiphanies, deeply felt spiritual contections and emotions. Its so empowering and exhausing there seems to never be a inbetween and I accept it and realize not to resist or fight it. On the other hand most people are compelled to vocations of the matter form where theres school and mentors, a degree of completion and the option of moving on with general publics approval. This is based on trust of the unknown, your purpose comes from within a place inside of yourself. There will never be solid concrete physical understanding of it unless your intuned and again thats a feeling. Human nature finds comfort in answers and seeks them out. I need to find guidence, a mentor that can help give me have a better understanding of how I can refine my purpose thats so out of the ordinary but very necessary to the spiritual growth or awakening Im experiencing. Is it normal to be so compelled towards it? Would love to hear others stories, how they handled things, signs, how to deal with moments that are so profound and personal sharing them with just anyone would make you sound like a total lunatic. Ive been reseaching absolutely anything that has anything to do on the subject, the more I dig the more things start to connect in a bigger picture /higher level which is absolutely fascinating and unbeievably confusing to a newbie trying to understand how I am suspossed to tie into all it. Any recommendations on good reading, classes or just general advice is soooo needed and would be greatly appreciated. Since all this started my normal artistic outlet has been completely muted. Canvas painting abstract pieces was a passion of mine, a outlet for my stress levels and emotions and Ive struggled with my lack of inspiration. I deeply miss the connection I had with being able to take a negative emotion or feeling and release it into a work of art. It offered comfort and a reminder of that time and place, a personal trust and comfort to myself that all hardtimes will pass. Insight on how to possibly tap back into my creative side would be awesome,or possibly this block has happened to help me focus on whats going on currently? Lots of questions, could go on but feel compelled to leave it at this and hope someone was able to read threw and offer a bit of their inner self. Thankyou Robert for this amazing piece you have written, it takes courage to have the confidence in yourself writing about a subject you know will be felt and understood profoundly by some, but shunned and judged by matter focused skeptics.
I appologize for the terrible grammer in my above comment. Lol I always proof read before posting, I got a little too anxious and excited by the potential insight I hope others will offer.
Hi, I just wanted to point out that Iggy Pop does not have a Pisces MC and his natal chart shows that his MC is Aries as his Cancer Ascendant is at 29 degrees.
That’s a fairly recent time adjustment and after I wrote the piece and it’s based on a time that Nick Dagan Best provided–it’s not an official time from Pop himself. I like Nick and generally trust his data. Thanks for the update.
Yes, I am Leo sun/Venus/Mercury/mars in the 2nd house and Aquarius moon with cancer rising and Pisces MH. I am 30 and have come to a point in my life where I am trying to get serious about my career, as I’ve always felt I’ve had this great calling but I can’t figure it out! I’m frustrated. But I’ve been meditating and doing yoga daily and really studying astrology so much lately and I know I am on the right path here. I just feel like parts of my birth chart are so, conflicting maybe?….. a lot of Leo and materialism with these quirky ways?!????
Great article! I have my pisces MC at 23 degrees and it is true that I am very sensible to all the good and bad things happening in the world, always thinking that maybe I could change just a tiny bit of it just to make the world a better place. I’m a libra sun with scorpio moon and virgo venus and I’m very much into animal welfare and humanistic topics in politics. I actually studied political sciences cause I dreamt about being the secretary general of the united nations and bring peace to the world 😀 well…a teenage dream. Now I’m in the HR business and not quite content although it is a really nice job. It just doesn’t fulfill my higher hopes and wishes. I think I want to start a business of my own someday and do something ‘good’ to help those who cannot help themselves…animals for example 🙂
This has actually been a struggle for me and now it makes so much sense. I’ve felt attracted to working with medicine for a long time, but at the same time I don’t like being around people as much. I go through spurts. I have such a feel of practical and yet it always seemed to be mystical in so many ways. I always experienced so much of a dramatic whatever in everything. I wanted to keep to my self and here I am in the middle of some scandal or gossip. I wanted to be just a regular stay at home mom, with two amazing regular kids- which they are. I wanted to not be in the spot light yet I get stopped and asked if my kids would like to have an agent. I try to stay out everything and yet i’m always asked to speak at something or run something. I have a fear of speaking. I’m now getting asked to travel and speak about medicine and aesthetics and there is no way. I just have a struggle with being around people yet I can stir of trouble just by speaking, looking in someones direction and told I have an air about me. Women even want me to not speak to their husbands yet I’m such a loyal person. I truly do not like my signs what so ever. I’ve been in a place where one minute I am so strong, can accomplish anything feeling and the next minute I just want to be left alone for days. Even went to my doctor and said, please give me meds.Started on some meds and within 5 days had a serotonin overdose, ended up in the hospital with a Parkinson disease effect. Find out I have too high of neurotransmitters. I am Pisces midheaven, Venus Libra, Aquarius something love, Cancer/Gemini cusp I think and Moon in aries. I truly hate moon in aries and Libra sun. I am mix-match of something else, that’s for sure.
thank you so much for this post! I have Pisces MC 19° and a Cancer AC and as I type this out, Neptune is currently conjunct my natal MC!
Love this article! Love the syncronicities. I was just searching for pisces midheaven and the universe brought me to this article, where i then read and I am a cancer rising/cancer moon/ taurus sun… and pisces midheaven. i relate to this so much…
I am a Pisces Sun, Gemini Moon, and Cancer rising with a dominant Pisces/water chart with a Pisces MC and this just clicked for me and made so much sense. Especially since i’m in the middle of career change and just have so many interests/passions pulling me in many directions.