The Tenth House in Astrology

Today we will take a look at Astrology’s tenth house. 

There are four houses known as the Cardinal Points which are the first, fourth, seventh and tenth houses.  These four energy channels are considered action points in the Horoscope.  The first house cusp or the Ascendant and the tenth house cusp (Midheaven also known as the MC) are the two most active areas in a Natal chart. 

When Transiting Planets (the location of the planets today) cross these areas of life (as all houses define areas of life) events take place.  Much of what takes place depends on the planet crossing this area and the energy it represents.  Every house cusp defines a particular area of life and these areas of life are enhanced when Transiting Planet’s or Progressed Planet’s energy enters each house (crosses over the cusp).  The Tenth and First house cusps far outweigh the other remaining ten areas of life which are represented by each house cusp.  We usually experience a shift as the Outer Planets cross this threshold.

The Tenth House cusp or the MC describes your occupation.  The ruling sign often is suggestive of the type of work you should be doing in your life, not necessarily what you are doing with your life.  When doing an occupational profile this area of the Chart is the first place an Astrologer would look to define what we should be doing.  I should, however, pointed out that the Moon’s Nodes are also very depictive of what we should be doing with our lives.

The Tenth House deals directly with your worldly ambitions and your outer goals.  It often portrays the ego and some of its characteristics, although the Ascendant Sign is even more descriptive of this.  When a planet in transit crosses this energy point, quite often there are changes to our occupation and our status in life.  As the fourth house cusp is always directly in opposition to the MC, when a planet crosses the tenth house cusp, it is also in Opposition to the Fourth House Cusp.  During these transformational transition periods, the home and family will also be affected by what is taking place within the occupation.

The sign ruling the tenth house cusp (especially if it is a Cardinal Sign) can depict public recognition, (especially if it is in a Cardinal Point which is between 29 degrees of the Mutable Sign before the Cardinal Sign or 0 to 1 degree of the Cardinal Sign).  An example of this would be having a Midheaven sign of 29 degrees Virgo on the MC or 0-1degree Libra on the MC.

Natal Planets in this house and aspects to these planets can provide the Astrologer with input into how the energy of this house will be relayed to the outside world.  It also indicates if the individual will have an easy time in work related ways and in his status in life or whether it will be challenging.  Quite often a Gemini or Pisces MC suggests two completely different occupations during the course of the individual’s life.  It is important, however, to understand the concept of “success”, for success does not always pertain to material worldly success.  

In most cases, we must have Natal Aspects that closely mirror events in the Transiting Planetary Energy for something of significance to happen, but in many cases, even when there are no Natal links to Transiting Planets crossing over the MC or the Ascendant, “things” may still happen.  As suggested earlier, these two areas are action areas of a Chart and are very significant when deciphering potential life issues when Transits or Progressions pass over these very important areas of our Charts.

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