We tend to focus on personal tenth house matters only when imminent activity requires it such as when we change jobs or receive a promotion or an award. We all have a tenth house in our natal chart, immaterial of where we are in our working-life hierarchy and the manner in which we allow this potential to manifest in the world impacts on those around us. The ripple effect of ‘acting out’ our tenth house has far reaching consequences both internally and externally on a holistic level: our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing is altered through tenth house interaction, for better or for worse. The chart is dominated by the tenth house cusp or Midheaven and the significance of this is more profound than simply assessing the manner in which we can earn our daily wage.

Introduction to the Houses

The Astrology Chart is the means by which we bring the heavens down to earth and apply it to our mundane lives; square or round charts can be used and this is determined by the preference of the astrologer. The chart is divided into twelve mundane houses which are earthly reflections of the celestial houses, which in turn are the division of the sky into twelve and is named the zodiac. Everything that exists in the world is to be found in the mundane houses and for all charts the place, date and time of birth are required; it is that which pins the heavens to that moment in time, at that location. The chart always begins at the Ascendant (first house) where the Sun rose on that day, at that location and it is important to understand we are dealing with two separate kinds of motion: why are the houses numbered anti-clockwise, rather than clockwise?

We are dealing with the rapid motion relative to ourselves, visible by watching the Sun move around the sky and this primary motion starts in the East and moves towards the West, completing a full circle in approximately one day. This is the motion created by the Earth’s daily rotation and is called primary motion. Secondary motion is the movement of the planets through the signs of the zodiac, slower than primary motion and which proceeds in the opposite direction; this is the consequence of the planet’s movement around the Sun.

Tenth House Rulerships

The Midheaven is the natural position of the midday Sun and public accolades, success and glory are located here. While the tenth house and its planetary ruler can point us in the direction of the vocation to which we are best suited, the tenth house is an indicator of all action that we undertake ‘out there in the world’. It is also the house in the chart where we find our superiors, those that can make our working lives heaven or hell on a daily basis. While we may not be head honcho in our corporation, we will still be superior to someone else in the pecking order and therefore we in turn can be that angel or demon in the workplace for others. Our mothers are also located in the tenth house and for many, mother-child relationships are built on shaky ground and this relationship tends to colour everything that we are and all that we do.

Pride comes before the Fall

The tenth house depicts our activity out there in the world, that which we attract to us which may result in fame or even infamy, how we like to be governed and how we will most likely rule in return, and the manner in which we will interact with the world at large through work and through our physical manifestations while engaging with the world. The planetary ruler of the tenth house, any planets posited in the tenth and the signs in which they are placed will all colour this assessment. As with everything in life we have choices and if the chart portrays a tendency towards ruling autocratically, possibly even cruelly, a prudent man would choose a military career which could provide an outlet for this potential rather than become an over bearing husband or father ruling his kin with an iron fist.

The natal chart portrays the yearning of the individual for worldly interaction and it highlights the potential to abuse positions of authority. We have all been subjected to superiors, who filled with their own self-importance, treat their subordinates with malevolence, using bullying tactics to rule through fear and we have all encountered those who cannot rule at all, who appear to have been placed in the position by default and not on merit. We are all cognisant of the repercussions of both of those manifestations in our own lives at the time and in the deterioration of the spiritual, emotional and mental wellbeing of the recipients of this controlled form of abuse; self-confidence is eroded, frustration mounts and productivity comes to a grinding halt. The worst case scenario is that the abused then becomes the abuser when they enter their personal domain where they are top dog, be that at home or in a social environment.

The Wheel of Fortune

Jean-Baptiste Morin also known as Morinus, the 16th century mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer, writes that if we place the native at the point of birth or the Ascendant in the chart, he has a choice of travelling either clockwise or anticlockwise. When he goes anticlockwise he is carried by the motion of the planets in the way of descension and humility as shown by the downward motion involved. When he goes clockwise, he follows the direction of the Sun’s primary motion, travelling from the eastern angle up towards the Midheaven. Taking this route he walks the way of pride and of man’s unnatural aspiring to the heights of the Midheaven. He further adds that once man reaches the pinnacle of the Midheaven, according to the ever revolving wheel, there is only one place for him to go.

Tumbling into the Fourth House

To be placed in a position of authority even as a celebrity, is an honour, and is accompanied by responsibility which is too quickly forgotten; many celebrities turn to substance abuse to cope with this additional stressor or those who govern, eventually forget about the people they are meant to serve or they betray those who view them as mentors or role models. Many of these people should not have been thrust into the spotlight because their tenth house was in all likelihood not strong enough to withstand the glare of the midday Sun. When we abuse our tenth house position we eventually tumble into the opposite house on this axis, the fourth, where midnight and the so-called dark night of the soul reign supreme and which takes us back to our roots, to the essence of who we are inside. For many people it is due to the instability of that fourth house essence which results in exaggerated tenth house activity; the material manifestation tries to compensate for the spiritual lack and validity of self-worth is sought externally because the inner foundation is damaged and unstable.

Whether we tumble from Grace through the folly of believing our own publicity campaign or whether we do so as a result of abusing those in the lower echelons of the hierarchy so that they plot our downfall is immaterial: the result of losing everything that is familiar ‘out there in the world’ can be that of severe emotional, spiritual and mental trauma and it takes resilience, humility and courage to claw your way back up to the tenth again. Far better to adopt a balanced view and to embrace the tenth for what it is: a fleeting external manifestation, a mere drop in the vast infinite ocean of time.