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In many traditional sources, the mother is assigned to the 10th & the father to the 4th.
This has been called “outdated” and “heteronormative". More on that later.
The bottom line is, this framework works. L4 shows father, L10 shows mother. Here are just a couple examples.
This has been called “outdated” and “heteronormative". More on that later.
The bottom line is, this framework works. L4 shows father, L10 shows mother. Here are just a couple examples.
Nelson Mandela
Father: councillor to the monarch
L4: exalted in the 8th & co-present with the Sun (King)
Profections: In Mandela's 8th house year, activating Jupiter, his father lost his job due to corruption. In his Jupiter-ruled 1st house year, his father died.

Father: councillor to the monarch
L4: exalted in the 8th & co-present with the Sun (King)
Profections: In Mandela's 8th house year, activating Jupiter, his father lost his job due to corruption. In his Jupiter-ruled 1st house year, his father died.

Nelson Mandela
Mother: a devout Christian. She sent Mandela to a local Methodist school.
L10: Mercury in the 9th conjunct Saturn. Saturn is L3.
L10 conjunct L3 in the 9th shows the mother’s religiosity & decision to send him to Christian school.
Mother: a devout Christian. She sent Mandela to a local Methodist school.
L10: Mercury in the 9th conjunct Saturn. Saturn is L3.
L10 conjunct L3 in the 9th shows the mother’s religiosity & decision to send him to Christian school.
Steve Jobs
Bio Father: pursued a PhD. An activist as an undergrad, he went to prison over his political organizing work. When Jobs' mother got pregnant, she left suddenly & cut off all contact with the father before giving birth
L4: exalted Jupiter in the 11th, conjunct Uranus.
Bio Father: pursued a PhD. An activist as an undergrad, he went to prison over his political organizing work. When Jobs' mother got pregnant, she left suddenly & cut off all contact with the father before giving birth
L4: exalted Jupiter in the 11th, conjunct Uranus.
L4 being conjunct Uranus is shown in the controversial nature of his father's political organizing work, as well as Jobs' sudden separation from his father before birth. When connected to family signifiers, Uranus often shows a disconnect with that part of the family, here L4.
Steve Jobs
Biological Mother: Upon birth she immediately sought adoption thru one wealthy couple, but the couple changed their minds. A 2nd couple came forward, but she refused to sign adoption papers because they didn’t go to college; later she signed
L10: Mercury Rx in the 6th
Biological Mother: Upon birth she immediately sought adoption thru one wealthy couple, but the couple changed their minds. A 2nd couple came forward, but she refused to sign adoption papers because they didn’t go to college; later she signed
L10: Mercury Rx in the 6th
Jobs’ bio mother having to go with the second family is a great example of a retrograde planet ruling his 10th: the mother had to redo something. Additionally, her concern for the adoptive parents’ education is a Mercury signification... & doesn't her story just reek of the 6th?
Jobs’ adoptive mother called Jobs “difficult” (showing her experience in the 6th house) and was quoted as saying “… by the time [Steve] was two I felt we had made a mistake. I wanted to return him.” She didn’t return him, but this further speaks to the retrogradation of L10.
Beyond these examples, in client work I’ve seen the 10th & 4th consistently as mother & father, respectively. However I have not discussed family with the children of same-sex parents or the children of single parents. Need more research on how this works in those charts.
It’s true this trad framework builds in hetero norms. It’s also true that most people have hetero parents, so the framework is useful more often than not. However, that doesn’t mean it’s useless for people with different experiences.
Trad frameworks that use hetero & gender norms CAN still accommodate difference. Personally, I was raised by a single mom, I have Uranus in the 4th, showing an early separation from my father. Or imagine, someone with two moms having L10 in a double-bodied sign, or L4 if two dads
Just because a framework uses normative gender doesn’t mean it’s useless or reproachable. These trad frameworks are tested. “It’s heteronormative so it’s wrong” is a judgment, not a sound argument as to effective technique.
Instead of throwing out all trad frameworks that create friction with modern sensibilities, I want to recover those frameworks responsibly.
As a practitioner I can acknowledge a framework's bias AND accommodate difference in my work--I don't need the framework to do it for me.
As a practitioner I can acknowledge a framework's bias AND accommodate difference in my work--I don't need the framework to do it for me.
Queerness and tradition are not always antithetical.
