Lilith in the 10th House: Where Lilith is Shape-shifting Boss

Layla, you’ve got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind.

I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down.
Like a fool, I fell in love with you,
Turned my whole world upside down.

                                                                -Eric Clapton “Layla”

A Note on Names 

Layla, Leila, Delilah, Liliann, and Lily are all names derived from Lilith.

A Note on the BML Cycle:

Lilith takes a little over 9 years to circle the zodiac, moving much more slowly than the Moon itself.


Keywords For the 10th House

Enchantress, envy, home wrecker, deceit, shape-shifter, 1^st wife of Adam, Anti-Eve, patron of illegitimate children, miscarriage, death of infants, lithe body of a dancer

10^th House Lilith

10^th House Lilith is a grab-bag.  It shows up so many different ways that it can be hard to get a handle on – Lilith’s penchant for shape-shifting is very strong in the 10^th House.

Looking around on the Internet, and reading ideas from a number of astrologers, I get the sense of the urge for power as an underlying theme of 10^th House Lilith.  The native may experience envy and/or possible marginalization in his or her career – he or she may need to be aware of peers who might become Adam and Eve.  Or the native may enjoy manipulation of others through the career or creative output.  Or Lilith’s literal capacity for fluid shape-shifting may show up as distinct athletic or dance ability.  But the need for power is the common denominator. 

This makes sense when one considers the natural Capricorn Saturn energy of the 10^th House – one commentator noted that Lilith does well within Saturn’s inherent power of structure, and that here the “sharpness of the Black Moon can flourish as intelligence and wit”.  The 10^th House Lilith is not easily fooled, and knows how to respond to almost all situations. 

Recall that the 10^th House is what is immediately obvious to others – it is hard to hide what is in the 10^th.  Lilith in this house is interesting because she normally hides in the shadows and protects her privacy, and at the same time inspires the fascination of her peers, many of whom want a piece of her – no wonder envy becomes such an issue!

My Observations on 10^th House Lilith

The 10^th House and the 9^th House are the only two houses where Lilith is distinctly visible.  Unless something else intervenes, like a very tight planet or fixed star conjunction, Lilith isn’t as obvious for many natives of the other ten houses in the zodiac.  Take 6^th House Lilith Hillary Clinton, for example – most people have no idea how Lilith manifests in her life. 

People with the 10^th or the 9th house placements get Lilith’s gifts as well as the problems associated with her dark shadow.  A lithe body, a natural affinity for movement and dance, or a shape-shifting ability to act or make music – these skills are the hallmarks of Lilith in the two most visible houses of the horoscope.  So is a huge range of shape-shifting in terms of invention and innovation, or a remarkable sense of timing in politics.  Having Lilith up here can give a real boost in terms of the talent needed to make a career from Lilith-like qualities.

The downside of 10^th House Lilith can be chronic career problems.  A person with a visible Lilith will have to deal with her energy, and learn how to use it, so that they are not “cast-out” in terms of career.  People with a 10^th House Lilith don’t have a choice – they must confront Lilith, compensate for Lilith, or find a way to tap her power instead of her poison.

With a 10^th House Lilith, it can be helpful to consider a lot of different examples, and try to draw some conclusions. Since Lilith shifts shape so easily here, a large sample helps pin her down and bring her out of the shadows.

·         Power Urge Lilith 

10^th House BML Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world at present.  She holds a doctorate in physical chemistry – at its most basic, physics is the study of motion and chemistry is the study of changes in the states of matter.  Merkel has Lilith within a degree of the MC.  Interestingly, Issac Newton, the father of modern physics, is also thought to have a 10^th House Lilith, depending on the accuracy of his birth time.

10^th House Will Smith was named the most powerful actor on the planet by Newsweek.  He is one of the very few performers who have enjoyed success in three major entertainment media – music, television, and film.

Mother Teresa not only worked with those at the bottom of society but was also said to be manipulative and difficult to work with.  While Lilith is more often associated with promiscuity, her influence in the career choice of nuns should not be underestimated – these are women who don’t identify strongly with Eve roles.

Vladimir Putin

He is a master manipulator, and one of Russia’s most powerful leaders in history.  Putin has BML conjunct Pluto, with Pluto a little over a degree from the MC,, and BML partile conjunct the MC, if his birth time is accurate.  Pluto has a brilliant understanding of power and wealth, and Lilith is capable of endless, manipulative, shape-shifting.  Not a combination to be underestimated!

·         Obvious Lilith

I always think of Jennifer Aniston, who was brutally and publically rejected by Brad Pitt so that he could partner with Angelina Jolie, an Adam-and-Eve Hollywood couple if there ever was one.

·         Men Who Reject Their First Wives

Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela both have 10^th House Lilith.  Einstein treated his first wife, Mileva Maric, like a slave before finally rejecting her outright.  Mandela repudiated and then divorced his wife Winnie Mandela after her role in the murder of a teenage opposition activist became public knowledge.

·         Men Who Changed The Shape of Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Bob Marley are both 10^th House Lilith, and music was never the same again after these two.  Mozart was incredibly prolific – he wrote some 600 compositions, many of which were masterpieces in very different musical genres – everything from symphonies to operas to chamber music.  Marley’s music was unique, and it attracted an extremely diverse audience drawn to him as if by magic due to his personal charisma. Manipulation was also an important theme in many of Marley’s most widely remembered songs.

·         Private Lilith

Private Lilith is used by the native to its maximum advantage in the 8^th House, rather than in the 10^th House.  Yet actress Jodie Foster, one of the most private celebrities in Hollywood, is a great example of a more visible and yet very private Lilith.  Almost nothing is known about Foster’s children or their father.  Her early fame was also associated with strong Lilith roles – a pre-teen prostitute in the movie, Taxi Driver, and a rape victim in the movie, The Accused.

·         Grab-bag Lilith

Audrey Hepburn comes to mind.  Her aristocratic mother dumped her father after he was caught sleeping with her nanny – Hepburn finally located him as an adult, and supported him financially until his death, although they had little in common – he was a true Nazi sympathizer; Hepburn was not.  She was a serious ballerina by the age of 5, and a professional dancer before she ever considered acting – 10^th House Lilith gave her a precocious early gift for movement.   

As a teenager, she danced secretly for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch Resistance, and as an adult, she suffered five miscarriages.  (I wrote about miscarriage as a manifestation of Lilith in the life of Marilyn Monroe in Part Three of "Marilyn Monroe: A Lilith For Modern Times")  Hepburn was ultimately luckier than Monroe – both actresses had obvious gifts from the underworld Lilith, but Monroe paid a far higher price for them.

Chelsea Clinton is another 10^th House Lilith who was a committed ballerina during her youth.  Like Jodie Foster, Clinton has a deeply private side to her personality.  Her fear of a Lilith-type mistress is also reflected in a detailed pre-nuptial agreement which spells out stiff consequences for cheating.

·         Patroness of Illegitimate Children

Lilith is not only associated with miscarriage, but is also said to be a protector of illegitimate children.  Albert, Prince of Monaco, has at least two illegitimate children who cannot claim power in Monaco.  He does not have a legitimate heir, so his sister Caroline and her son remain the designated apparent heirs.

·         Getting a “Free Pass” on Lilith

Men in particular may sometimes get a “Free Pass” on Lilith by projecting her on to a female partner. John F. Kennedy had the 10^th House Lilith’s innate grasp of power.  He and Jackie Kennedy were an Adam-and-Eve political couple – these two recreated an Eden known as “Camelot”.  He also embodied the myth of Adam through his choice of a mistress – nothing less than the most famous Lilith of her era, Marilyn Monroe.  Monroe was at least somewhat consciously aware of her status as Lilith, and Jackie Kennedy’s identity as Eve, when she posed for a photo dressed like Jackie, and wearing a Jackie-like expression on her face.

Reader Response

I live for the sort of feedback that Jess Rose left me on the Astrodienst forum at astro.com.  It felt so wonderful reading this, and knowing I can share the knowledge that really means something to a reader who is looking for answers.

Jess Rose writes:

I just read your in 10th house, which I have @ 16° , it was so well written and insightful. I'm far too private to say exactly what resonated with me and why in detail, so let's just say a lot of it rings painfully true....Thanks to your hard work I'm starting to understand more about the previously incomprehensible and myself.

I'm going out dancing tomorrow    

Coming Up Next:

Lilith In The Ninth House:  The Sexy Serpent

What Did I Miss?

Lilith In The Eleventh House:  The "Loser"

SOURCES

For a look at celebrities with 10th House BML:

Astrotheme's Lilith in the 10th House