The 10th House depicts the summit of personal fulfilment, where the individual compares with the broader social and spiritual sphere.

The Midheaven (Medium Coeli), and its extension as 10th House, outline the top of extra-individual realisation. The process started in the 4th House as a still indistinct and unaware consciousness, recognises now its evolutionary power, the perspective of social or spiritual elevation. The 10th House shows the autonomy potentials that the individual can express in the course of his growth. However, we must not forget that it is still the opposite House that provides the ultimate meaning of being, which the Midheaven will translate into the formal, outer appearance, crowning its unveiling. Hence the importance that the family and a healthy intimate education have in the apprenticeship is required to fulfil one’s duties.
A debated topic among the astrologers’ community concerns the attribution of father and mother to the 4th-10th House axis. The current narrative favours the assignment of the 4th House to the mother by the symbolism of pregnancy and protection that it represents. At the same time, the father is the figure who provides the pattern of social fulfilment. According to the supporters, this contribution has the advantage of being inclusive of those situations that do not fall within the traditional family model. In this case, the parental figures lose their biological persistence in favour of their role: anyone who dedicates themselves to the care of children acts as a mother, whereas the father is the one who lends himself to form the offspring socially. A traditional attribution has it that, in male horoscopes, the father is assigned to the 4th House and the mother to the 10th House, while the opposite is true for female horoscopes.
This variety of contributions require a couple of considerations. The first is that the symbol has an unambiguous meaning. This uniqueness allows it to group the manifestations of human nature inherent in the symbolism itself under one flag, regardless of cultural circumstances. If these circumstances dictate the symbolic value in the name of alleged freedom of expression, we are in the presence of a conceptual deviation. Secondly, there is much confusion about the meaning of the terms father and mother and the role of parent.
In Hinduism, the term pitṛ (father) takes on numerous meanings. It can indicate the father as a parent; it can be synonymous with divinity or with the spirit of the ancestors; but in a general sense, it suggests the father as the protector of the children; therefore, it is not necessarily intended as a procreator. The same applies to the term mātṛ (mother), the divine mother personification of the energies of the various divinities, the mother in the biological sense, and the earth as matter and as a basis for the formation of the vital germ (cf. the Latin mater). With janitṛ and janitrī, Sanskrit indicates the biological father and mother (lat. genitor, genitrix ) instead.
Taking up the thought expressed for the 4th House, all the Indo-European roots of the words related to the procreation and care of offspring are included in the concept of family. The assignment well describes the role of the House as a constructive agent. Also, it leaves a fair degree of freedom in attributing educational roles to one or the other sex based on the social and cultural conditions in force. The interchangeable assignment of the fatherly and motherly roles to the two houses based on the sex of birth is also part of the same model: for male births, it is the imago mater (mother figure) that is committed to building the educational baggage to support the future independence of the child, while the imago pater (father figure) is the internalised frame of reference for the future role of pater familias; in female births, the father is the idealised figure placed to protect the procreative and realisation role, whereas the mother contributes to personal formation.
We are dealing here with derived images since the initial symbolic meaning of the House is the entry of the model carried by the male seed into the earthly matrix so that the latter is animated (endowed with a soul). The Tenth House represents, as opposed, the crowning of this process: the individual, now self-sufficient, introduces themselves to the world to form the social organism. In an esoteric sense, the Tenth House is intended as a new birth, this time in the spiritual realm; in this case, the limitations imposed by the human form are no longer necessary, and the being frees themselves from contingencies to access higher models of representation.
Attributions
According to tradition, the essential meaning of the 10th House is that of acts or works. These rather broad terms describe well the nature of the House: to realise the individual social plan; and it is also a reference to the Capricorn sign, the ruler of the peaks, and to the dynamic nature of Mars, exalted in the sign. The professions and honours are obvious references to public issues of the 10th House. For Fludd, the sense of the 10th House is in the commandments, or the act of commanding, the prerogative of those who, by dominating themselves, hold the privilege of authority over others; the same author always assigns to it the meaning of stolen goods, a clear connection to the opposite 4th House which rules household objects. The kings, the sovereigns and the aristocracy are the peak expression of the representation power concentrated on one or a few individualities; these references apply now to the abstract concept of the State, the entity exercising territorial power stably and independently.
The Tenth House in the Zodiac signs
The 10th House in Earth signs prioritise solid, concrete realisations, conquered step by step and with difficulty. The search for a social model based on exchanges, relationships, contacts, or activities in large groups will prevail in the Air signs. The Water signs incline towards actions and destinies that are visionary, romantic or artistic, broad-minded but sometimes faced in a disorganised way. Finally, the Fire signs prefer social experiences that show their ego, often acting without plans but with a hint of idealism.
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