Your 10th House In Astrology Holds The Key To Your Success

One of the most common reasons astrology newbies turn to the stars is to seek direction in their path. What are you meant to do, and what’s your purpose? For those feeling lost, the 10th house in astrology may be the lighthouse they’ve been searching for.

Each of the 12 houses in astrology relates to a specific facet of life. “They’re grounded concepts that we all experience throughout our lives,” professional astrologer Taryn Bond tells Elite Daily. “Everyone has all 12 houses, but everyone will have a unique distribution [of signs and planets] across their houses.”

By looking at the happenings of your own houses in your birth chart, you can understand more about yourself than the zodiac signs and planets alone could ever tell you. You’ll even be able to tap into predictive astrology, aka horoscopes, by understanding this concept. Think of it this way: The planet is the dancer, the zodiac sign is the dance, and the house is the stage where this energy is playing out.

“Let's say you have your moon in Pisces and it's placed in the 10th house,” offers Camila R. Quintero, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist and professional Vedic astrologer. “We know that your moon is your emotions [and] the 10th house is all about your career, so that means your emotions are very tightly correlated to your career,” she explains. “The planets really develop in the areas of whatever house they’re in.”

According to astrologers, the first six houses are personal and pertain to your inner life. The last six describe the areas where you branch outside of yourself. At the tip-top of your circle birth chart, the 10th house is the most visible to the outside world and describes how you’re seen in the public eye. Here’s everything to know about the house of career and reputation, according to professional astrologers.

How Do You Know Your 10th House In Astrology?

To understand the full scope of your 10th house, you’ll need to pull your natal chart from an online birth chart calculator like Astro-seek.com. While just your birth date will score you plenty of cosmic deets, an exact birth time and location are required to spill even a drop of tea on the houses.

Once you have the accurate info, you’ll need to make a decision on which housing system to use. Unfortunately, the ever-complicated nature of astrology strikes again. There are multiple methods to divvy up the 12 houses across the signs. The two most common systems are called Placidus and Whole Sign, each with its strengths and weaknesses.

It’s a matter of personal preference which system you use, but Bond suggests looking at numerous charts with both systems to decide which one resonates with you. Whole Sign delivers a bit more simplicity and predictability — especially for people born at extreme latitudes. There’s no “right” or “wrong” housing system, but it’s important to be aware of which one is used when calculating a chart because one website may default to method X, while another app uses system Y. Different systems can leave you with slightly different charts, which can be all kinds of confusing if you don’t know why.

What Is The 10th House In Astrology?

A birth chart contains four “angular” houses that anchor the chart in place. The first, fourth, seventh, and 10th houses divide the chart into quadrants and identify key points in the sky when a person was born. According to Bond, the angular houses “dictate the non-negotiable parts of people’s lives.” To illustrate, picture a horizon with a tree at the center. The eastern horizon is the ascendant or first house, and the western horizon is the descendant or seventh house. These represent the self and the other, respectively. Then you have the unseen roots of the tree as the fourth house, which opposes the highest point, the 10th.

“The 10th house is basically the highest the tree of your life can reach,” Bond says. “It’s your aspiration, what people are going to see from afar, [and] what you’re striving toward. Typically people’s highest ambitions will already align with the 10th house.” This area represents a person’s greatest potential and tangible success in life. Basically, you really want to use your 10th house to inform any career moves.

When examining the happenings of your 10th house, you’ll want to look at the sign it’s in, any planets present, and aspects. “Understanding the flavor — the sign — of your 10th house will allow you to understand the energy of your destiny,” traditional Hellenistic astrologer Dalanah, of the Moon Matters astrology podcast, tells Elite Daily. “It’s the energy you need to be able to embody to step into the role of your fated path.” Planets in the 10th house offer more insights as well, but even if you have none, Dalanah recommends looking at where the planetary ruler of your 10th house sign is placed.

As this house is all about public life, it also represents fame and esteem, so it makes sense that celebrities often have major 10th house activity in their birth charts. Because this is how they’re seen from a distance, people in the public eye may give off the energy of their 10th house and have the most success by leaning into it. For example, actor Ian Somerhalder has a Scorpio 10th house that made for a *chef’s kiss* performance as the dark, edgy, and seductive Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries.

Bond’s advice for creative professionals and entrepreneurs? “Go with the energy of your 10th house because that’s your brand,” she suggests. “That’s the vibe that will get you the most favorable response.” (If the eternal Damon Salvatore fandom is any indication, this strategy works.)

The 10th house also represents your curated self. “Someone’s Instagram feed — because it’s so curated — that would be someone’s 10th house,” says Bond. “It’s what they want to show and how they want to come off.” This is not to be confused with the persona of the first house, which is how you come off instinctively when thrown into an unfamiliar situation. The 10th house is your prepared self: It’s how you’d show up for a job interview or a big meeting.

“The 10th house is honestly a gold mine,” Bond notes. “It shows you what your ticket to success might look like. It can help people understand how others may view them professionally and give hints to what your purpose may be.”

Which Sign Rules The 10th House?

Depending on the type of astrology you practice, the houses may be energetically linked up with a zodiac sign. In Vedic and some modern systems of astrology, each house matches with the correlated sign in zodiac order. Aries goes with the first house, Taurus with the second — you get the idea. But this isn’t an across-the-board astrological belief. If you’re taking the traditional Hellenistic approach, for example, the houses and zodiac signs are taught as entirely separate entities. Just like choosing a housing system, to each their own.

If you consider the zodiac and house-linking methods, the 10th house would be ruled by the sign of Capricorn. There is a running theme of work and ambition between the sign and house, but there’s even more to be said when looking through a Vedic lens, which is part of a larger ancient Hindu spiritual practice. According to Quintero, each element and its respective three zodiac signs and houses represent one of the four Hindu goals of life. The earth houses — the second, sixth, and 10th — are all about wealth, work, and possessions. According to Quintero, the second goal of life is called Artha. “Artha is the earth houses,” she tells Elite Daily. “It's what we do in this lifetime, our legacy, [and] what we do for a living.”

Transits To The 10th House

Transits are what happens when planets pass through certain areas of your natal chart. For example, if you have a Taurus 10th house and Jupiter moves through the sign of Taurus, Jupiter is transiting your 10th house. Why is this important? Well, you can become something of a fortune teller when you fully grasp the idea of transits. This is how astrologers write horoscopes — and how they’re so scary spot-on with them.

When you see a 10th house transit approaching, Dalanah says you can expect shifts to your public life. “You can expect big changes in your job,” she says. If the transiting planet is harmonious and good-spirited like the lovely Venus, for example, “that could be a promotion because Venus rules money, [or] it could be just something good that happens, like a nice bonus at work.” Or if it’s Mercury passing through your 10th house, “that could be a reevaluation of your career path, or it could be some new insights because Mercury [represents] communication,” she says.

Each transiting planet will bring its own energy and significations that can be applied toward the 10th house area of your life, so you’ll want to study up on the planets for accurate transit predictions.

The 10th house is one of the cornerstones of your birth chart and is essential for unlocking the secrets of your cosmic destiny. Don’t sleep on this house — it might just hold your personal recipe for fulfillment, purpose, and success.

Experts:

Taryn Bond, professional tropical astrologer practicing synthesis of evolutionary, modern, traditional, and intuitive techniques rooted in a humanistic, soul-based astrological approach

Dalanah, professional Hellenistic astrologer and host of Moon Matters astrology podcast

Camila R. Quintero, LCSW, licensed psychotherapist and professional Vedic astrologer