The Sun
in the Tenth House
When it comes to horoscopes, the Tenth House is the place to be. It’s prime real estate: the deluxe apartment in the sky. Any astrological body placed here has exceptional power, not just involving the affairs of the Tenth House, but throughout the horoscope. Having the Sun placed here is particularly advantageous.
The Tenth is the sector that rules careers and finding one’s place in the world, so having the Sun sitting here would indicate that your job is to shine bright. According to both ancient and modern texts, the Sun in the Tenth conveys extraordinary ambition, honor, and public acclaim. If people born with the Sun in the First House win the astrological lottery, then those with the Sun in the Tenth are born into astrological royalty.
Of course, like every house placement, this one has its problems. Another thing that the texts seem to agree on with the Sun in the Tenth is that it creates a tendency toward arrogance and a lust for power and that it is an indicator of egotism. It is true that we have among our examples of people with this placement noted egotists like Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis XIV (known, appropriately enough, as the Sun King), but egotism as it is exhibited in this sector is very different from the willful “my way” egotism we saw with the Sun in the First. The egotism of the Sun in the Tenth House is less about personality and much more about the way in which the person identifies with his or her role in society, and with his or her calling.
Calling
People with the Sun in the Tenth often have a sense that society is calling them to do a certain task or fulfill a certain role. When the revolutionary government of France was collapsing, Napoleon felt the call to bring strong leadership to his country. Louis XIV took the throne in the midst of a civil war. He felt the call to restore order. The callings of other people with the Sun in the Tenth may not be this grand, but, in the minds of those called to do them, they are just as important.
Callings come in many forms. Some people feel called by a particular talent or skill. Others feel called by the example of a parent or mentor to enter a business or profession. Still others feel called by their society or times to perform a certain task. Even though tennis champion Billie Jean King was dubious when Bobby Riggs challenged her to meet him in a battle of the sexes, she felt called to strike a blow for equality for women athletes and women in general.
Not every call is a call to fame and fortune. For most people with the Sun in the Tenth, the call is to do a job for which they are particularly suited or fulfill a need that they can fill better than anyone else. Regardless of how mundane or insignificant that task might seem to an outside observer, the Sun in the Tenth person will regard it as crucial, and they will typically apply themselves to this task with complete commitment. There is no such thing as a small job when a person with the Sun in the Tenth is doing it.
Judgment
Because they see it as a calling, as something important, people with the Sun in the Tenth are usually very good at what they do. They typically excel in the workplace and are remarkably successful in their chosen field. However, no matter how successful they are, people with this placement often have trouble relaxing. They may say that their office, business, or shop couldn’t function without them (and many times this is true), or they feel that when they take a day off they are letting someone down.
With the Sun in the Tenth House, we are essentially putting ourselves on trial. We feel that our actions are being scrutinized by our peers, our society, and, in some cases, the world, and that we are being judged. Successes for the person with this placement are particularly sweet because they reflect a positive judgment, but failure, flaws, and mistakes can become a source of great shame and sorrow. For this reason, people with this placement work hard to avoid missteps or, in some cases, to conceal them.
For some people with the Sun in the Tenth, the weight of this judgment is just too much to bear. They give up. They hide from their calling, or they try to lessen the pressure through the use of alcohol and drugs. Others might respond to the pressure by taking shortcuts and bending the rules. There are also instances when this equation is turned around and Sun in the Tenth people feel compelled to judge others by the same harsh standards by which they see themselves being judged.
The bottom line is that, despite the glowing predictions of many of the texts, having the Sun in the Tenth House is not an easy placement. It brings burdens and expectations and even those who enjoy phenomenal success often feel driven by forces, both internal and external, that they can’t control.
Identification
People with the Sun in the Tenth often become leaders in their chosen field of endeavors. In some cases, they take their leadership to another level. They identify so closely with what they do that their identity and that role or function seem to merge. They are the coach, the sheriff, the teacher, or the plumber. Other individuals might fill these positions, but people with the Sun in the Tenth own them. We see several examples of this kind of identification with particular roles among famous people with the Sun in the Tenth House. When you think of scientists, how can you not think of Albert Einstein? The same goes for the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr., hip hop and Dr. Dre, and fitness gurus and Richard Simmons.
The same phenomena can apply to people in less public positions. Perhaps you are the person in your community whom everyone thinks of when the subject of gardening is raised, or fishing, or local history. We tend to think of the Tenth House as relating only to one’s career, but the Sun in the Tenth person might more closely identify him or herself with a hobby or avocation. Whatever role they take on, Sun in the Tenth people will make it their own.
Your Mission
Having the Sun in the Tenth House is not a guarantee of success. Other factors in the horoscope can get in the way. But, typically, people with this placement will strive, and because they strive, because they feel called to do something important, the potential for success here is always going to be a little higher than with other house placements. Therefore, the mission of the Sun in the Tenth would seem to be finding your calling and striving to make the most of it.
However, in reality, that is only part of your mission, and, in most cases, that is the easy part. Your calling might make you a leader in your community and beyond, but it can also leave you feeling confined and burdened. The idea that you are being judged by your peers, by your superiors, by your parents or your mentors can make even the highest office and the greatest accomplishments seem joyless. It can make you feel like a failure even when you are surrounded by trappings of success.
So the real mission with the Sun in the Tenth House is not just finding your calling and making a success of it, it’s also finding a place to stop. It’s finding a place where your ego can exist separate from what you do, a place where you can be simply a human being concerned as much with your own happiness as you are with your calling. This is not an easy thing for people with this placement to do. They succeed because they identify so closely with their role, their function, their calling, and there is no drug more addictive than success. For Sun in the Tenth people, sacrificing happiness and fulfillment in other areas of their life in order to continue striving for success can seem maybe not desirable, but certainly workable.
To get beyond this point and achieve a more balanced approach to living, you are going to have to make peace with your judges. You are going to have to say to them, truthfully and with confidence, “This is the best that I can do.” In some cases, these judges will be represented by real people, but most of the time their seat of power will only exist inside your head. To convince them, you only have to convince yourself.
People born with the Sun in the Tenth are given many gifts, but, as I said, this is in no way an easy placement. In order to get the best out of it, you have to understand that the goal is not success. It’s fulfillment. Success for its own sake, success that doesn’t give you fulfillment, is no better than failure. If you find fulfillment in your successes or even in striving for success, it doesn’t matter what your judges say. And if that sense of fulfillment filters down into your personal life and your spiritual life, you will be, by every measure, a winner.