How To Choose A Career According To Astrology

Written by Joe G. Santos 

Everyone has asked themselves at least once throughout their lives, “why am I here?” With the philosophy of Nihilism increasing in popularity, the modern approach to this question is that there is no such thing as a pre-defined purpose. In fact, Nihilists would say that there is no purpose at all. This point of view would have you think that the Universe just happened by accident, and the way things work perfectly in sync with one another is a mere product of chance. Whether this point of view is accurate or not—like all other philosophies—is uncertain. Still, one thing is sure: this philosophy does not help us navigate the adventures we find ourselves in throughout our lives, especially when we are stuck and need a bit of external help to guide us toward the path of least resistance. Astrology, on the other hand, has been a tool that helped humanity understand the concepts of Fate, Purpose, and the Self for millennia. 

Although some may feel wary of practicing Astrology due to its relationship with Fate, we can gain much insight by embracing it. Destiny may not be referring to events as being 100% definite after all. When we bring the concept of Free Will into it, we begin to see that Fate only points towards the “most likely thing to happen.” It does so by looking at our behavioral tendencies in relation to our surroundings. When we look at it that way, this concept speaks of the future you are most likely to create.

Using these tools to find the answer to what we should be doing can help diminish the many confusing questions about the purpose of our existence. In the modern world, the primary indicator of this purpose is your career. Finding the perfect job is not always easy for everybody, though. Some people seem to be born knowing it, while others have no idea of where to start looking for it. If you are one of those who are a little lost, astrology can guide your hand.

Here’s a quick overview of how to look for the best career path for you by using astrology. 

Making A Natal Chart

If you are already familiar with astrology and have a natal chart built, you can skip this step. Still, for those who are just getting started and have only interacted with astrology through monthly horoscopes, here is what this is all about.

A natal chart is essentially the “picture” of the sky at the exact time you were born. It tells you exactly where all the planets and the astrological signs were in relation to one another. The constellations and some planets move relatively quickly, though, so the time you were born is just as important as the date. If you do not know the exact time to the minute, you can round it to the nearest 30-minute mark. 

You can use many tools to calculate your chart, but here’s a link for easy access to one of them. Fill out your information, and you should get something looking like this:

Where Do I Look?

Chances are you are very overwhelmed looking at all those symbols and lines. While there is a lot of information you can get out of your natal chart, we can narrow it down to one specific area since we are looking for career options. This area is called the Midheaven (or MC).

Assuming you have read a horoscope before, you are probably familiar with the idea of “being” a specific sign. The sign most horoscopes use to give monthly forecasts is the Ascendant sign (or AC). But people often think it’s their Sun sign. Whereas the AC tells us who we are and should also be considered when studying our most harmonious career option, the MC represents what we do. It is a symbolic representation of where our creative energies like to be expressed. Note that the sign you “are” is not the same as the MC. To find what sign rules your MC, look at the symbol closest to the MC indicator on the right-hand side.

Here’s a diagram of the signs correspondent to each symbol: 

What Does It Mean?

A few simple tools help us interpret the meaning of the zodiac symbol assigned to our MC. Each sign of the zodiac has two specific characteristics combined in 12 different patterns to give meaning to each astrological archetype. Those are Element and Mode. These characteristics can be used to interpret many areas of life, but when the question is your career, they can illustrate the following career attributes.

Elements

The Element of a sign comes from the four traditional elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. In your MC, they can describe how your actual career is made manifest in the physical world. It shows where our energies flow smoothly and what soil best suits our creative drives’ seeds.

Water

Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Water careers are best expressed through care and are highly connected to our emotions. An example of a Water career is nursing. Water jobs involve patience and empathy for both people and, at times, even things.

A person with a Water sign in their MC thrives in a work environment where they feel their role is essential and may struggle with mundane and mechanical jobs such as coding and accounting. 

Key careers: Gardener, nurse, teacher, psychologist, holistic healer, actor, customer service personnel, painting conservator, counselor, veterinarian, animal trainer, yogi, caregiver, clergy

Fire

Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Fire careers are best expressed through action and innovation. It best suits the roles of leadership and is often associated with entrepreneurship. Fire jobs tend to be fast-paced and can sometimes involve working in challenging environments. If you have a Fire sign on your MC, you likely dislike slow and unchanging jobs and thrive under healthy amounts of pressure. 

Key careers: Business owner, chef, personal trainer, public speaker, athlete, journalist, entertainer, event planner, influencer, manager, fireman, police person

Earth

Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Earth careers are best expressed through routine and the building of systems. They tend to be hands-on jobs and usually require precision and attention to detail. Though some may think of Earth jobs as tedious, they are often the careers that ensure society’s functionality. 

Earth jobs usually require routine maintenance and can sometimes get thrown off balance under too much pressure. A workday without surprises is ideal for an Earth MC.

Key careers: Accountant, editor, construction, carpenter, business advisor, coder, scientist, dentist, surgeon, engineer, bookkeeper, copywriter, painter, sculptor

Air

Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

Air careers are best expressed through intellect and communication. They’re usually the philosophers and inventors, and similar to Fire, they tend to do well when working independently. Air jobs often require good problem-solving skills, usually not a problem for those with an Air sign on their MC. Jobs that require flexibility and autonomy are usually best suited for the air element.

Key careers: Writer, historian, teacher, mathematician, publicist, marketing consultant, linguist, web developer, public relations manager, government worker, activist, psychologist, philosopher

Modes

There are three different modes: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable. They can be interpreted as The Start, The Middle, and The Transformation. In career matters, Modality can dictate the preferred pace of a career or the actual products of your work. In other words, if the Elements are how your career manifests, the Modes represents what you manifest through your career. 

Cardinal

Signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn

Cardinal energy is excellent at starting new projects, laying foundations, and leading by example. A Cardinal career would involve the management of others and providing instructions in your field. Let’s take Aries as an example. Since we are dealing with a Fire sign, one of the careers that resonate with the Element is personal training. A Cardinal personal trainer would be interested in innovating their field through extensive research on unpopular topics. An example of a Cardinal personal trainer is Kyle Maynard (Aries MC), a para-athlete founder of the No Excuses Crossfit Gym, an inclusive and holistic CrossFit practice. 

Noteworthy examples:

• David Icke (Cancer MC) - Conspiracy theorist and new age writer.
• Carrie Fisher (Libra MC) - Actress and writer. Openly explored themes of mental illness and drug abuse in her autobiographical works.
• Frieda Hughes (Capricorn MC) - Poet and painter. Received an Invention and Innovation Award for her work titled Forty Years.

Fixed

Signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius

Fixed energy excels at the maintenance of systems. Though not very risk-taking, people with Fixed signs in their MC often work towards perfecting pre-existing techniques. John Maynard Keynes (Taurus MC) exemplifies this quality by further developing macroeconomics that changed the practice for the better. He is deemed the most influential economist of the twentieth century. 

Noteworthy examples: 

• Germaine Greer (Scorpio MC) - Writer, activist, and famous radical feminist writer Her books have become a staple of 20th-century Feminism. 
• Robert Crampton (Leo MC) - Journalist. Established the The Times’s Beta Male weekly column. The British Press Awards also gave him the Columnist of the Year award in 2002.
• Isidore Ducasse (Aquarius MC) - Poet. Though he only had two published works, they were extremely influential for the surrealist, philosophical, and artistic movements. 

Mutable

Signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

Mutable energy is flexible and self-sufficient. People with mutable signs in their MC may be a jack-of-all-trades type of person who does well in dynamic environments. An excellent illustration of these qualities is through Peter Wildeblood’s career (Gemini MC). He was a meteorologist, novelist, playwright, and gay-rights activist. 

Noteworthy examples:

• Coco Chanel (Virgo MC) - Fashion designer, businesswoman, and had close ties with British aristocracy. 
• Antonio Banderas (Sagittarius MC) - Actor, film producer, director, fragrance developer for Puig, and he also runs a winery.
• Lady Gaga (Pisces MC) - Producer, singer, and actress. She is famous for having albums of many different genres.

Summary

Looking for a career you are sure to thrive in can be challenging for many of us. We must ensure we are working with our strengths and weaknesses to have a thriving work practice while also finding a way to help the community that harmonizes with our inherent energy. Many people loathe going to work because the way our world runs today puts too much pressure on us to decide what career path we want to take at an early age. Hasty decisions are rarely accurate or beneficial, especially when they affect the flow of our entire lives. When we haven’t lived long enough to know ourselves, it is complicated to determine anything with certainty. Luckily, we have astrology to speed up that process and point us toward different options that resonate with what we are naturally good at doing. Hopefully, this guide taught you how to use your natal chart to help you with these tough decisions. Take your time and meditate on the information you just received, and you will find all the answers you are looking for; they are already within you. Best of luck!

About the author: Joe G. Santos

Writer, Thinker, and Visionary. Through writing, I aim to clarify the most pressing questions about human behavior and world issues, pointing to practical resolutions in an entertaining and accessible manner. You can find my work and contact me at https://www.joegwriting.com/.