The Tenth House

Top of the chart

Ask most people what they do, and they will tell you their job. Ask what they are known for, and you get something slightly different: the thing their name is attached to, the reputation that walks into the room before they do. Both answers belong to the Tenth House.

This is the most public part of the chart. It is the CV, the job title, the plaque on the door, the gossip in the trade, the boss you answer to and the authority you eventually become. It is the part of your life that strangers can see.

The Tenth House is the house of career and reputation: your work in the world, your standing, honour and achievements, the people in authority over you, and, traditionally, the mother.

It sits at the top of the chart, opposite the Fourth House, the private foundations. The Greek astrologers named it after the Midheaven, the point where the zodiac crosses the meridian above the horizon, and counted it one of the two strongest places in the chart. Where the Fourth is where you come from, the Tenth is what you do with it.

What the Tenth House rules

Career and vocation

The Tenth is the house of your work in the world: the profession, trade or calling by which other people know you. It is different from the Sixth House, the daily job and the routine of labour. The Sixth is what you do every day; the Tenth is what it adds up to.

Reputation and honour

Traditional astrologers called the Tenth the house of honour: rank, dignity, preferment and fame. In modern terms it covers reputation, status and public image, good or bad. What you are known for, and how far your name travels, belongs here.

Authority

The Tenth covers the people above you: employers, managers, officials, and in older texts kings, princes and magistrates. It also covers the authority you come to hold yourself, and how you handle power and responsibility.

The mother

In many traditional texts the Tenth House is the mother, opposite the Fourth House, the father. Many modern astrologers swap the two, or give the Tenth to whichever parent represented the outside world. Chapter Four sets out the argument; this book gives both views.

Public life

The Tenth is the most visible part of the chart. Planets here act in public, and what happens here tends to be seen. In mundane astrology it is the government and the head of state.

The common thread

Everything here is about your place in the world as other people see it: what you achieve, what you are known for, and who you answer to. The Fourth House is your private base; the Tenth is your public peak.

The Tenth House through history

The general story of the houses is told in A Short History of the Houses. This section follows the Tenth House's own part in it.

The Midheaven

The Greek astrologers called the tenth place the Midheaven (mesouranēma), from the point where the zodiac crosses the meridian above the horizon. With whole sign houses, the tenth place is the tenth sign from the rising sign, and the Midheaven degree usually falls in it, though not always (see below).

They counted the tenth place, with the first, as one of the two most powerful places in the chart. Planets here were said to be at their most active and effective: this was the place of action, achievement and reputation. It saw the rising sign by square, a strong if demanding aspect.

Regnum

In the medieval Latin memory rhyme the Tenth House is regnum: kingdom, rule, royal power. For a medieval astrologer the obvious example of public honour was a crown, and the house still carries something of that sense of authority and rank.

William Lilly

Lilly's Christian Astrology (1647) gives the Tenth House kings, princes, dukes, earls, judges and all in authority; honour, preferment, office and dignity; trade, profession or calling; and the mother. For the body he gives the knees and hams, and for its colours red and white. He names Capricorn and Mars as consignificators, and notes that Jupiter and the Sun are fortunate there.

The modern Tenth House

Twentieth-century astrology kept career, reputation and authority at the centre, and added vocation and life direction: not just the job, but the contribution a person wants to make, and their sense of what they are for. It became the house of ambition, public image and the relationship with authority, including the authority of parents.

Many modern books pair the Tenth with Capricorn and Saturn. Lilly's consignificators show that the Capricorn link is old, but it is a secondary association, not an equation. This book keeps houses and signs separate, as explained in A Short History of the Houses.

What has survived

Honour, rank, career and authority have stayed with the Tenth House for two thousand years. A modern reader looks here for a vocation rather than a crown, but the question is the same one the Greeks asked: what will this person be known for?

Where the Tenth House sits

At the top of the chart

The Tenth House lies at the top of the chart, above the horizon, opposite the Fourth. With whole sign houses it is the ninth sign on from the rising sign: Libra rising gives a Cancer Tenth House, Aries rising a Capricorn one, and so on.

It sits in the upper half (public life), where the Sun stands around midday. It is the most visible part of the chart, and the house most associated with what the world sees of you.

The Midheaven is a point, not the house

The Midheaven (MC, from the Latin medium coeli) is a calculated point: the degree of the zodiac crossing the meridian, the north–south line through the sky, above the horizon at birth. As the Slogit course stresses, it is not the point directly overhead; it is where the zodiac meets the meridian.

With whole sign houses, the Midheaven usually falls in the Tenth House, but it can fall in the Ninth or Eleventh, especially at higher latitudes. In quadrant systems such as Placidus, the Midheaven is always the start of the Tenth. So a chart can have the MC in the Ninth by whole sign but at the top of the Tenth by Placidus. Keep the point and the house separate when you read either.

In this book's example chart they coincide: the Midheaven is at 4°43′ Cancer, inside the Cancer Tenth House.

An angular house

The Tenth is angular, and with the First it was counted one of the two most powerful angles. Planets here act strongly, visibly and with lasting effect, which is why the Tenth was linked with honour and achievement.

Square to the First House

The Tenth is three signs from the rising sign counted the other way round, a square. The square is a demanding aspect: it produces effort, ambition and pressure. So the Tenth is in strong contact with the self, but the relationship is one of striving rather than ease. Career and reputation push the person, and the person pushes back.

From the Tenth, the four houses that cannot see it are the Ninth, Eleventh, Third and Fifth.

The partner: the Fourth House

Directly opposite lies the Fourth House: home, family, roots and private life. The axis between them is the axis of private and public. The Fourth is where you come from; the Tenth is where you are going. A life spent building a career at the expense of home, or giving up ambition for family, is a story told along this axis. Traditionally it is also the axis of father and mother.

The Midheaven and the IC sit at the two ends of the meridian, always exactly opposite each other. In this chapter's example they fall at 4°43′ Cancer and 4°43′ Capricorn.

The twelve signs on the Tenth House

The sign on the Tenth House describes the kind of work, reputation and authority that suits you, and how you handle ambition and public life. With whole sign houses it is always the ninth sign after your rising sign, so each entry names the rising sign that produces it. If your Midheaven degree falls in a different sign, read that sign too.

These are symbolic tendencies, not job recommendations. Plenty of people with Leo on the Tenth are not actors. Read the sign with any planets in the house, the Midheaven, and the house's ruler.

Aries on the Tenth House

Cancer rising. You want to lead, start things and be first. Careers that need courage, speed or independence suit you, and you are known for drive.

• Strengths: initiative, leadership, decisiveness.

• Watch-outs: clashes with authority, and impatience with slow progress.

• Ruler: Mars.

Taurus on the Tenth House

Leo rising. You build a career slowly and solidly, valuing security and tangible results. Work involving money, land, food, craft or beauty suits you, and you are known for reliability.

• Strengths: persistence, practicality, steady achievement.

• Watch-outs: resistance to change, and staying too long in one role.

• Ruler: Venus.

Gemini on the Tenth House

Virgo rising. You want variety, ideas and communication in your work, and may have more than one career. Writing, teaching, media, trade and anything with words suit you.

• Strengths: versatility, communication, adaptability.

• Watch-outs: scattered ambitions, and a reputation for changing direction.

• Ruler: Mercury.

Cancer on the Tenth House

Libra rising, as in this book's example chart. You want work that cares for people, or that feels like a family. Careers in caring, food, homes, history or the public suit you, and your reputation may rise and fall with public mood.

• Strengths: care, sensitivity to the public, loyalty.

• Watch-outs: taking criticism personally, and a changeable public image.

• Ruler: the Moon.

Leo on the Tenth House

Scorpio rising. You want to shine and to be recognised. Leadership, performance and creative work suit you, and you are known for warmth and presence.

• Strengths: confidence, generosity, natural authority.

• Watch-outs: pride, and needing applause.

• Ruler: the Sun.

Virgo on the Tenth House

Sagittarius rising. You want to be useful and to do the job properly. Careers in service, health, analysis, editing or skilled craft suit you, and you are known for competence.

• Strengths: precision, skill, reliability.

• Watch-outs: perfectionism, and undervaluing your own achievements.

• Ruler: Mercury.

Libra on the Tenth House

Capricorn rising. You want work that involves people, fairness or beauty. Law, diplomacy, design and partnership suit you, and you are known for tact.

• Strengths: diplomacy, charm, a sense of justice.

• Watch-outs: indecision about direction, and depending on others' approval.

• Ruler: Venus.

Scorpio on the Tenth House

Aquarius rising. You want work with depth and power: research, investigation, finance, medicine or crisis. You may keep your ambitions private, and your reputation can be formidable.

• Strengths: determination, depth, resilience.

• Watch-outs: power struggles, and secrecy about your aims.

• Ruler: Mars in traditional astrology; Pluto in modern astrology.

Sagittarius on the Tenth House

Pisces rising. You want a career with meaning, scope and freedom. Teaching, law, publishing, travel or religion suit you, and you are known for vision and optimism.

• Strengths: vision, enthusiasm, a broad outlook.

• Watch-outs: overpromising, and restlessness in a career.

• Ruler: Jupiter.

Capricorn on the Tenth House

Aries rising. You are ambitious, disciplined and built for the long climb. Management, government and established professions suit you, and you are known for responsibility.

• Strengths: ambition, discipline, authority.

• Watch-outs: coldness, and putting status above everything else.

• Ruler: Saturn.

Aquarius on the Tenth House

Taurus rising. You want work that is independent, original or for the common good. Science, technology, reform and group causes suit you, and you are known for doing things your own way.

• Strengths: originality, independence, a progressive outlook.

• Watch-outs: trouble with hierarchy, and an unpredictable reputation.

• Ruler: Saturn in traditional astrology; Uranus in modern astrology.

Pisces on the Tenth House

Gemini rising. You want work that serves, heals or inspires. The arts, caring professions and spiritual work suit you, and your public image may be hard to pin down.

• Strengths: compassion, imagination, inspiration.

• Watch-outs: drifting career, and an unclear sense of direction.

• Ruler: Jupiter in traditional astrology; Neptune in modern astrology.

Planets in the Tenth House

A planet in the Tenth House works in public, through career, reputation and authority. Because the house is angular and was counted one of the most powerful places, its planets are strong and visible: whatever they mean, other people see it. The benefics and malefics are explained in Chapter One.

The Sun in the Tenth House

The Sun here is at the top of its daily arc, the place it holds at noon. Career and public life are central to identity, and you want to be recognised for what you do. Leadership comes naturally.

• At its best: achievement, authority, a strong public presence.

• Under strain: living for status, and difficulty stepping out of the spotlight.

• Tradition: a luminary on the strongest angle, read as honour, high office and favour from those in power. Lilly counts it fortunate here.

The Moon in the Tenth House

The Moon here puts feelings on public view and makes you sensitive to public mood. You may work with the public, in caring or popular roles, and your career may change several times. The mother may be a strong influence on your direction.

• At its best: popularity, responsiveness, a gift for public service.

• Under strain: a changeable reputation, and taking public life personally.

• Tradition: a luminary on an angle, read as public favour, many changes of fortune in work, and dealings with the common people.

Mercury in the Tenth House

Mercury here makes a career of words, ideas, trade or skill. You may work in writing, teaching, media, sales, law or technology, and you are known for what you know and say.

• At its best: skill, eloquence, a versatile career.

• Under strain: too many directions, and a reputation for cleverness over substance.

• Tradition: read by its sign and aspects; often a career as a secretary, scholar, merchant or lawyer.

Venus in the Tenth House

Venus here brings grace and popularity to public life. You may work in the arts, beauty, hospitality, diplomacy or anything that pleases people, and success often comes through charm and goodwill.

• At its best: popularity, ease, success through good relationships.

• Under strain: relying on charm, and a career chosen for comfort.

• Tradition: the lesser benefic on an angle, read as honour through women or the arts, and a pleasant public life.

Mars in the Tenth House

Mars here makes a career of action, competition and drive. You may work in the forces, engineering, sport, surgery, or anything that needs courage, and you are known for getting things done.

• At its best: ambition, courage, leadership in action.

• Under strain: conflict with authority, and a reputation for aggression.

• Tradition: the lesser malefic on an angle, read as a career through force or conflict, rivals in authority, and sudden rises and falls, especially in a day chart, when Mars is out of sect.

Jupiter in the Tenth House

Jupiter here is one of the classic signatures of honour and success. Opportunities come through people in authority, and you may rise to a position of respect.

• At its best: success, good reputation, generous leadership.

• Under strain: over-confidence, and promising more than you deliver.

• Tradition: the greater benefic on an angle, read as honour, preferment and public esteem. Lilly counts it fortunate here.

Saturn in the Tenth House

Saturn here makes career a long, serious climb. Success comes slowly, through discipline and responsibility, and may arrive late. Authority figures can be demanding.

• At its best: lasting achievement, responsibility, earned authority.

• Under strain: setbacks, fear of failure, and a hard relationship with authority.

• Tradition: the greater malefic on an angle, read as rises followed by falls, and honour that is hard won or lost, especially in a day chart, when Saturn is out of sect.

Uranus in the Tenth House

Uranus, a modern addition, makes a career unconventional and changeable. You may work independently, in technology or reform, change direction suddenly, or clash with established authority.

• At its best: originality, innovation, independence.

• Under strain: instability, and rebellion against bosses.

• Tradition: none.

Neptune in the Tenth House

Neptune, a modern addition, makes a career idealistic or artistic. You may work in the arts, caring or spiritual roles, and your public image may be glamorous or hard to define.

• At its best: inspiration, compassion, artistic vision.

• Under strain: uncertain direction, and a reputation that blurs or misleads.

• Tradition: none.

Pluto in the Tenth House

Pluto, a modern addition, makes ambition intense. You may seek power, transform a profession, or go through dramatic rises and falls in your career.

• At its best: determination, the power to transform an institution.

• Under strain: power struggles, and ruthlessness.

• Tradition: none.

The Lunar Nodes

A Node in the Tenth House always means the other Node is in the Fourth, so these entries are about the balance between private and public.

North Node in the Tenth House

The direction of growth is toward public life, career and responsibility. You may be used to the comfort of home and family, and life asks you to step out into the world.

• Modern reading: growth through career and public contribution, with home life (the South Node in the Fourth) as the comfortable habit.

• Medieval reading: an increase in honour and preferment.

South Node in the Tenth House

Career and public life come easily, perhaps too easily. With the North Node in the Fourth, growth lies in home, family, roots and the inner life.

• Modern reading: growth through home and private life, with ambition as the comfortable habit.

• Medieval reading: a diminishing point, which Lilly says tends to deny honour.

The ruler of the Tenth House

The planet that rules the sign on the Tenth House shows where your career, reputation and ambitions lead. This book uses the classical rulers, with the modern ruler of Scorpio, Aquarius or Pisces as a second opinion. If the Midheaven falls in a different sign from the Tenth House, look at its ruler too. From the Tenth House, the four houses that cannot see it are the Ninth, Eleventh, Third and Fifth.

Ruler of the 10th in the 1st

Read more in Chapter One: The First House; compare the ruler of the 1st in the 10th.

Career and identity are the same thing. You are your work, and you may be self-employed, a public figure, or simply known for what you do.

• In life: the self-made person, the public personality, the founder.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests a career built on personal qualities; weak suggests identity too bound up with status.

Ruler of the 10th in the 2nd

Read more in Chapter Two: The Second House; compare the ruler of the 2nd in the 10th.

Career is linked with money and resources. You may work in finance, earn well from your profession, or choose work for its income.

• In life: the banker, the well-paid professional, the business owner.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests prosperity through career; weak suggests work valued only for the money.

Ruler of the 10th in the 3rd

Read more in Chapter Three: The Third House; compare the ruler of the 3rd in the 10th.

Career runs through communication, writing, teaching, transport or the local area. Siblings or neighbours may play a part.

• In life: the journalist, the teacher, the local businessperson.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests a reputation for words or local service; weak suggests a career that never leaves the neighbourhood.

• Note: the Third cannot see the Tenth.

Ruler of the 10th in the 4th

Read more in Chapter Four: The Fourth House; compare the ruler of the 4th in the 10th.

Career is rooted in home, family, property or land. You may work from home, in a family business, or in property, history or farming. The ruler sits opposite its own house.

• In life: the family firm, the estate agent, the home-based professional.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests a career built on solid foundations; weak suggests family duties holding back ambition.

Ruler of the 10th in the 5th

Read more in Chapter Five: The Fifth House; compare the ruler of the 5th in the 10th.

Career is linked with pleasure, creativity, children or risk. You may work in entertainment, the arts, sport, education or speculation.

• In life: the performer, the teacher of children, the investor.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests a career you enjoy; weak suggests a career treated as play.

• Note: the Fifth cannot see the Tenth.

Ruler of the 10th in the 6th

Read more in Chapter Six: The Sixth House; compare the ruler of the 6th in the 10th.

Career is built on service, skill and daily work. You may rise through steady labour, work in health or care, or be known for your craft.

• In life: the skilled tradesperson, the nurse, the manager of staff.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests honour through useful work; weak suggests a career that never rises above routine.

Ruler of the 10th in the 7th

Read more in Chapter Seven: The Seventh House; compare the ruler of the 7th in the 10th.

Career runs through partnership and other people. You may work with a partner, deal with clients, or work in law, counselling or diplomacy. Rivals may shape your career.

• In life: the business partner, the consultant, the diplomat.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests success through partnership; weak suggests a career dependent on others.

Ruler of the 10th in the 8th

Read more in Chapter Eight: The Eighth House; compare the ruler of the 8th in the 10th.

Career is linked with other people's money, crisis or hidden things. You may work in finance, insurance, research, medicine or investigation, or gain position through inheritance.

• In life: the investment manager, the investigator, the surgeon.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests power through others' resources; weak suggests career setbacks through crisis or debt.

Ruler of the 10th in the 9th

Read more in Chapter Nine: The Ninth House; compare the ruler of the 9th in the 10th.

Career is linked with learning, belief, law, publishing or travel. You may work abroad, in a university or court, or in religion.

• In life: the academic, the barrister, the overseas professional.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests honour through learning; weak suggests a career that stays theoretical.

• Note: the Ninth cannot see the Tenth.

Ruler of the 10th in the 10th

The ruler is at home in its own house. Career and reputation are strong and self-directed.

• In life: the high achiever, the authority in their field.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests outstanding achievement; weak suggests a life consumed by ambition.

Ruler of the 10th in the 11th

Read more in Chapter Eleven: The Eleventh House.

Career comes through friends, networks and groups. You may work for an organisation or cause, get on through contacts, or achieve your hopes through work.

• In life: the networker, the charity director, the team leader.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests helpful patrons and a career that fulfils your hopes; weak suggests relying too much on connections.

• Note: the Eleventh cannot see the Tenth.

Ruler of the 10th in the 12th

Read more in Chapter Twelve: The Twelfth House.

Career happens behind the scenes or in institutions: hospitals, prisons, charities, research or spiritual work. Recognition may come late or quietly.

• In life: the researcher, the hospital administrator, the ghostwriter.

• Strong or weak: strong suggests meaningful work out of the public eye; weak suggests hidden obstacles to advancement.

The Tenth House beyond the birth chart

Natural significators

• The Sun is the natural significator of honour, authority and rulers, and of the noon position the Tenth represents.

• Jupiter is the natural significator of preferment, good fortune in office, and favour from the powerful.

• Saturn stands for ambition, structure, long effort and the weight of authority.

• The mother, in traditional astrology, is shown by Venus in a day chart and by the Moon in a night chart, read alongside the Tenth House (see Chapter Four).

Derived houses

• Counted from the Fourth House, the father, the Tenth is the seventh: the father's partner. This is the traditional logic for giving the mother to the Tenth.

• Counted from the Seventh House, the partner, the Tenth is the fourth: the partner's home and family, your in-laws, as Chapter Seven noted.

• Counted from the Fifth House, your children, the Tenth is the sixth: your children's work and health.

Horary astrology

In horary astrology the Tenth covers jobs, promotions and appointments ("Will I get the job?"), the employer or boss, people in authority, and in a lawsuit the judge. In Lilly's day it also covered the king and any question about office or preferment.

Mundane astrology

In charts for nations, the Tenth House covers the government, the head of state, the ruling party, and the nation's standing in the world.

Electional astrology

When choosing a time to start a job, launch a business, take office or make a public announcement, electional astrologers strengthen the Tenth House, the Midheaven and its ruler, and try to keep the malefics away from the Midheaven.

When the Tenth House switches on

The timing methods are explained in Chapter One. Here they are applied to the Tenth House. Because the house holds the Midheaven, a planet crossing that degree counts for a great deal: it is passing over the most public point in the chart.

Profection years

The Tenth House is activated in the year beginning on your birthday at these ages:

9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 69, 81, 93

In those years career, reputation and responsibility come to the fore. In the example chart, with Cancer on the Tenth, the lord of the year is the Moon.

Transits through the Tenth House

• Jupiter (about a year): opportunities, promotion, recognition and favour from people in authority, especially as it crosses the Midheaven.

• Saturn (about two and a half years): hard work, responsibility, a test of ambition, and achievement that has to be earned. Crossing the Midheaven, it often marks a peak or a turning point in a career.

• Uranus (about seven years): sudden changes of direction, independence, and breaks with employers or institutions.

• Neptune (about fourteen years): uncertainty or idealism about direction, and a career that dissolves or becomes more inspired.

• Pluto (twelve to thirty years): a deep and lasting transformation of career and public role.

The example chart through the years

In the 1955 Bangor chart the Tenth House is Cancer and holds the Midheaven at 4°43′ Cancer, but no planets. The house's timing is driven by planets crossing Cancer, and above all by planets crossing the Midheaven degree. Line the dates up, and something remarkable shows.

• Jupiter reached the Midheaven on 25 September 1977, 26 August 1989, 5 August 2001, 17 July 2013 and 1 July 2025. Every one of those dates falls in a Tenth House profection year: ages 21, 33, 45, 57 and 69. The reason is simple. Jupiter takes almost exactly twelve years to go round the zodiac, and the profection cycle takes exactly twelve, so once the two fall into step they stay in step for decades. Each time, the Moon, the Tenth House ruler, was lord of the year. The crossings drift a few weeks earlier each cycle; the next is due on 15 June 2037, still inside the age-81 profection year.

• Saturn crossed the Midheaven in October 1973 and June 1974, at 17 and 18, and again on 11 July 2003, at 47. Its 2003 to 2005 pass through Cancer went on to trine Mercury, the Sun and Saturn in the Second House in 2004 and 2005.

• Uranus dipped back into Cancer for a few months early in 1956, in this person's first year, and has not returned. Neptune and Pluto have not entered Cancer in this lifetime.

Jupiter left Cancer in July 2026, so as of today the house is quiet.

Worked example: Bangor, 16 November 1955

The example chart is read here with the eight steps from the contents page. This is the first chapter since Chapter One where the house holds one of the four angles, so the Midheaven gets its own place in the reading.

Step 1: the sign on the house and the Midheaven

With Libra rising, the Tenth House is Cancer, and the Midheaven, at 4°43′ Cancer, falls inside it. The house and the point agree, which keeps the reading simple. Cancer on the Tenth suggests a career that involves caring for people, communicating with the public, or building something that feels like a family, with a public image that can rise and fall with the public mood.

Step 2: planets in the house

With whole sign houses there are none. Under Placidus the Tenth runs from 4°43′ Cancer to 10°58′ Leo and takes in Uranus at 2°18′ Leo, which whole sign houses put in the Eleventh. A Short History of the Houses uses this as its example of how house systems differ. A Placidus astrologer would add an independent, unconventional streak to the career; this book notes it as a second opinion.

Step 3: the partner house

Directly opposite, the Fourth House (Capricorn) holds the IC at 4°43′ Capricorn and no planets, as Chapter Four found. Both ends of the axis are empty, so private and public life are read through their rulers: Saturn for the Fourth and the Moon for the Tenth.

Step 4: the ruler and where it sits

Cancer is ruled by the Moon, at 10°48′ Sagittarius in the Third House. So the ruler of the 10th is in the 3rd: career runs through communication, writing, teaching and the local area. The Third cannot see the Tenth, so the link is indirect: the work is done in words and everyday contact, and the public reputation builds up from there rather than being sought head on.

The Moon is conjunct Venus, the chart ruler, within 1°43′. So the planet of career sits beside the planet of the self. What the person does and who they are run very close together.

Step 5: the condition of the ruler

As Chapters Three and Four found, the Moon is in its joy in the Third House and is the sect light in a night chart, so it is in its element. It is neutral by sign in Sagittarius, a young waxing Moon just after New Moon, conjunct Venus (1°43′) and, at 6°38′, just outside the orb of the North Node. For a career ruler it is unusually comfortable: well placed, well supported, and working in a house it enjoys.

Step 6: natural significators

• The Sun, significator of honour, sits in the Second House with Mercury and Saturn. The Second sees the Tenth by trine, so honour, skill and authority all have easy access to the career, through earning and practical management.

• Jupiter, significator of preferment and exalted in Cancer, sits in its own joy in the Eleventh, next door to the Tenth and unable to see it by sign. By degree it sextiles the Midheaven (4°49′), an out-of-sign aspect, as Chapter Three noted. Neptune, at 28°53′ Libra, makes a similar out-of-sign trine to the Midheaven (5°50′). Both are optional extras.

• Mars, Lilly's consignificator of the Tenth, sits in the First House, square the Tenth by sign: drive and ambition press on the career from the self.

Step 7: derived houses

Counted from the Fourth (the father), the Tenth is the seventh: the father's partner, and so, traditionally, the mother. Its ruler is the Moon, which is also the traditional significator of the mother in a night chart. As Chapter Four found, every traditional indicator of the mother points to the same well-placed planet.

Step 8: timing

The profection years are 9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 69 and 81, with the Moon as lord of the year. As the chart above shows, Jupiter has crossed the Midheaven in every one of them from 21 onward, and is due to do so again at 81. Saturn crossed the Midheaven at 17 and 18, and again at 47.

Putting it together

The career is built through words, conversation, teaching and everyday contact (the ruler, the Moon, in the Third), and it is closely tied to the person's own character (the Moon beside Venus, the chart ruler). It has a caring, public-facing quality, and a reputation that responds to public mood (Cancer on the Tenth). Earning, skill and practical management support it (the Sun, Mercury and Saturn in the Second, trine the Tenth). The career's rhythm is unusually regular: Jupiter's crossings of the Midheaven have marked every twelfth year from 21 to 69.

What this example adds

This chapter adds three things. First, the Midheaven is a point and the Tenth is a house, and they need checking separately, even when, as here, they agree. Second, out-of-sign aspects to an angle are worth noting but should be labelled as such. Third, some of the most striking things in a chart only show up when two timing methods are laid side by side, as Jupiter's transits and the profection years are here.

The Tenth House at a glance

Further reading

• Chris Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology (2017). The Midheaven, the angles, and how the whole sign and quadrant Tenth differ.

• Deborah Houlding, The Houses: Temples of the Sky (1998). The Tenth House, and the father–mother question.

• William Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647). The Tenth House, and the horary chapters on office and preferment.

• Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses (1985). The modern Tenth: vocation, ambition and public image.