everything that is to be sloughed off, merges and passes away. Through it the Ego becomes
concrete, as the operational base of the physical entity, the seat of the desire-nature - the
emotions and the passions. It is an index to the home and all domestic affairs; the imaginative
faculty; receptivity of mood; treasured recollections. It counsels him whether to remain in or
to leave his birthplace, and the advantages consequent thereon. Thus it defines the nature of
one's residence, while the Ascendant indicates in what direction it should lie. It has been
called the "grave" because it is so often concerned with hidden things: private affairs, old age,
the ultimate end and aim of terrestrial existence.
Considered in connection with the Ascendant, it affords an insight into the nature of the
native's early life, his childhood upbringing, the character of his home environment; his
domestic concerns throughout life, and their conspicuousness or obscurity; the nature of the
termination of every earthly concern: the last illness and demise, the ultimate disposition of
the body, the nature of the burial, and the general location of the grave.
It summarizes matters relating to lands, houses, estates, cities, mines, concealed treasures,
intimate concerns, curious personal secrets, things accumulated and stored up, leases, rentals,
real estate transactions, and similar matters.
In the Figure of a woman it generally characterizes the first child, and a heavily tenanted
Fourth House is often an indication that he will pursue a scientific career.
The Fourth House produces changes of environment within the disposition of the native,
wherein he can alter or upset his home conditions and those of such as are intimately related
to him. Only through this House can he build his reputation and lay the foundation of a
successful career, to find expression later through the Tenth House. While one cannot directly
control his fortunes insofar as they depend upon the good will of others, by laying a proper
Fourth House foundation in obscure beginnings, he can build toward a secure end.
To it is commonly assigned the native's father, his life, disposition and fortunes; and from it
are derived inferences relative to cousins on the mother's side. Which parent to assign to the
Tenth, its Ruler, and the planets therein, is, however, a moot question: and divergent opinions
variously assign (1) the mother to the Tenth in a day-birth, the Fourth in a night-birth - the
father represented by the opposite ends of the meridian; (2) to the Tenth the parent of the
same sex as the native, and to the Fourth the parent of the opposite sex; (3) to the Tenth the
father in a female, and the mother in a male Nativity; (4) on the basis that Cancer represents
the womb the Hindus assign to the Fourth the mother, and to the Tenth the father since
Capricorn indicates conservatism, repression and firmness; while yet other authorities
contend (5) that the determination of the House selected as the parent's significator is