The Tenth House

Our Public Role – How We Strive For Recognition – Career And Ambition – Relations With Authority – The Importance Of Status – The ‘ Disciplinarian’ Or ‘Teaching’ Parent
The Tenth House At A Glance
House Classification: Cardinal
Opposite House: Fourth
Natural Ruler: Saturn
Natural: Sign
Core meaning: Expanding self-awareness through public role
Outer Meaning: Status, reputation, vocation, authority

Perched at the top of the chart, the tenth house takes the insights gained from the ninth and applies them to the ‘real’ world of action. As it also opposes our most private world, in the shape of the fourth house, the tenth is where we present our most public face.

Commonly known as the house of attainment, reputation and authority, the tenth house describes our standing in the world in terms of how we would most like to be seen and the contribution we would like to make to society.

Traditionally, the tenth house of career, but this is only really true insofar as our career is an expression of our worldly ambition – that is, if we identify with what we do and are identified by it. If this is not the case, and it is just a means of earning a living, then it corresponds more to sixth house type of work.

Tenth house functions are strongly shaped during childhood by our parents, or at least by the one who most represents authority and discipline. Again, as with the fourth house, there are no fixed rules for determining which parent plays the dominant tenth house role – the consensus is that it is the parent whom we perceive to have taught us the ways of the world.

Later in life, this house shows our responds to authority figures in general and, if we make it to the top, how we handle authority n ourselves.

One point worth bearing in mind is that tenth house energies can reveal how our career expectations may be influenced by our parents, and how we can burden our children with our own unfulfilled ambitions.

Planets in the Tenth House:
Tenth house planets tend to stress a need for worldly achievement and recognition an a desire to be in control of our lives. But they are no guarantee of fame and fortune. With the Sun in the tenth, our sense of identity can become inextricably bound up with our public image, although success and social standing can just as easily be sought through a partner as through our own achievements.
Reference: Felix Lyle and Bryan Aspland