The astrological tenth house sits right at the top of the chart wheel. Because it represents the place where the sun is highest in the sky this house has come to be associated with things that elevate us in the eyes of others – my career, reputation, and social standing within my community.

The meaning of the tenth house in both traditional and modern astrology has stayed fairly consistent. Modern astrology puts an emphasis on career, while older texts lean more towards one’s social position and therefore will judge things like marriage from transits to the tenth, since marriage changes one’s social status. The tenth house also is associated with honors, power, prestige, and advancement.

The fourth house, at the bottom of the chart, represents our foundation; the roots we put down in order to create a stable base from which we can move up and into the world. The tenth house then shows what we manifest out in the world. It’s the visible result of our actions (first house) and the tenth house from any other house will show its result or logical conclusion.

The tenth house is an angular house and therefore planets placed here have the power to act more directly in our lives. Those energies are also more visible to those around us since this house is place high up in the chart.

Traditionally the tenth house is the house of the mother, while the fourth is the house of the father. Again, the mother/father debate is a big one in astrology and there are many different ways of looking at which house represents what parent. Some will say the “dominant” parent is represented by the tenth; or the “conditional” parent, who’s approval and love were dependent on our behavior and choices is the tenth. Find what works for you.

In horary astrology the tenth house represents the querant’s job/career, honors, awards, and promotions. In the sale of a house the tenth house represents the price. In a lawsuit it represents the judge.

In mundane astrology the tenth house represents those in authority- the president, king, or dictator. It’s the national reputation, credit, and influence.

In medical astrology the tenth house represents the cure. It represents the knees, calves, shins, and hamstrings.

See a listing of blog posts for all of The Houses

Throughout my articles on the astrological houses I’ve talked about how traditional and modern astrology differ, at times, on the meaning of the houses. I believe some of the house meanings differ because of the modern psychological view of the world.

If you think about life before the 20th century it was a pretty tough going for most people. The average life span was much shorter than it is today; childbirth was risky for women; and farming and labor were average occupations. As a species we were still existing within the lower level on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

It wasn’t until Sigmund Freud and the birth of modern psychology that we understood anything about the subconscious, the ego, or notions like the “authentic self.” We’ve come to understand that we “create” our world with our thoughts- unlike our ancestors who took life at face value. Through modern psychology we’ve come to expect that we can outsmart fate and avoid the typical, sad pitfalls that people less “self realized” have to endure.

While I believe that’s true to a degree, I also believe that regardless of how advanced, how self-actualized, or how psychologically healthy we can become we still live on earth. And that means we will still be subject to the nastier side of life and experience things like pain, separation, and death.

The eighth house is one of those nastier houses that put us in contact with those inevitibilities of life: death, woe, and indebtedness.

The second house from the ascendent (me) represents my resources and money. Therefore the “second” house from the 7th house cusp (the house of “other people”) represents their resources and money. The seventh house also represents people like clients or customers; and so the 8th house represents the client’s money. In horary astrology we look to the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the 8th house to determine if the client has any money (and what may happen to it).

The 8th house also rules debt and  taxes – i.e. money on account with someone else.

Many modern astrology books refer to the eighth house as the house of sex as well as inheritace; however there are no traditional references to this. Sex (the act) is attributed to the fifth house (the house that includes pleasures and recreation as well as children) and is placed rightly there because much of astrology gets its meaning from the principle of correspondences. Inheritance, too,  is found in the 5th house – the “second” (resources) house from my 4th (the house of family and father).

The eighth house is your spouse’s, customer’s, enemy’s, or business partner’s money. The eighth house may also show where our loss can become another person’s gain.

The eighth house is also the house of death, endings, and decay.

The eighth house is a succedent house. It’s not considered a favorable position for planets.

In horary astrology the eighth house also represents death, loss, grief, and financial matters as they related to the “other.”

In mundane astrology the eighth house represents national debt, the collection of taxes, and danger to people through war or disaster.

In medical astrology the eighth house represents the sex organs.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses

In my last blog post about the fifth house I talked about how modern and traditional astrology differ in their interpretation of the various houses. If you’re new to astrology or a student of astrology I’d suggest you use the traditional meanings. I find they’re much more straightforward than the modern meanings and more accurately reflect the historical roots of astrology.

The astrological sixth house is yet another house where the modern and traditional meaning have diverged. If you’ll remember from my first post in this series about the ascendent I said that traditionally the ascendent was the entire horoscope. The ascendent and first house represent the person in question. And its the first house that represents the body, its health and vigor, and general constitution.

The sixth house is the house of illness, servitude, and small animals. Health has nothing to do with the sixth house. One’s good health is shown by the first house. One’s illness is shown by the sixth. The word one does in the world, whether that’s flipping burgers at McDonald’s or as the president of a company is shown by the 10th house. The sixth house is not your work. Those who do menial work for you (your contractor, your maid, etc.) is shown by the sixth house.

The sixth house is considered to be an unfortunate house because it receives no aspect from the first house (and when we talk about aspects we’re talking about the five Ptolemaic aspects: conjunction, sextile, square, trine, and opposition) and it is cadent (that is, having fallen away from the angle of the western horizon). Planets found in the sixth house have little power to act and at times may act against the native.

The sixth house is the house of pets (small animals) while the 12th house is the house of large animals (horses, elephants, etc.). While this may seem irrelevant in modern times it was certainly important when astrology was developed and more people had animals at their disposal. Nowadays the main consideration given to animals is to lost pets.

In horary astrology the sixth house is the house of pets, contractors (those whom you hire), tenants, uncles and aunts (that is, the third from the fourth (father)).

In mundane astrology the sixth house represents a nation’s food reserves and the farming industry. It represents the working class and civil servants (e.g. police). National epidemics or widespread disease is also a sixth house matter (whereas public health is the first house).

In medical astrology the sixth house and its ruler will generally describe the nature of the illness. The sixth house rules the lower part of the belly and smaller intestine, the guts, liver and kidneys.

Mars finds its joy in the sixth house.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses