Simple Bazi thoughts

It was taught that Output star equates wealth because Output star creates wealth. That is the philosophical explanation by Bazi scholars. However, can output star create wealth when it is negative? That is the problem with most interpretation in most classical text. It is often a one sided interpretation. In fact when Output star is negative it can only cause a loss of wealth. It can never create wealth when it is negative. It is talking about a bad investment, a failed start up, a quick temper person and an outspoken characteristic.

In the course of your Bazi studies, you need to question the followings:
1. How do we know if the Officer star is good or bad in a chart?
2. When is the Officer star good and when is it bad?
3. Can a good Officer star turn bad and vice versa?

It is often said that you do not mix the Officer and 7 killing stars [官杀混杂], what if the Officer and 7 killing stars are good? Then what is the problem with that?

Understanding Bazi Clashes

One of my clients was troubled because she has Chou earth clashing Wei earth in her Bazi chart. In traditional Bazi terms, it was always said to be a sign of cancerous cell and more likely the cancer of the stomach. She has this worry for some time now and she has also gone through checks to ensure that she can do something about it when it is discovered early. Till now, nothing was detected.

Looking at her chart, I could not find any indication that she would have cancer. I believe it is too generic to pin point an illness based strictly on a clash in the chart. Likewise for all the other five types of clashes. A Yin-Shen clash does not necessary mean a car accident as commonly taught. A Zi-Wu clash does not indicate heart attack. A Chen-Xu clash cannot always be an earthquake or stomach ache. A Mao-You clash is not necessarily related to cervical issues. A Si-Hai clash can be dangerous only if one of the two branches is your Useful Star. A Chou-Wei clash may not be cancerous after all.

My research cases on cancer patients do not reveal anything concrete about cancer associated to clashes. Most earth clashes look innocently normal. A combination can be the cause of all your troubles. What you must identify is whether the branches and stems involved are the Protective or Useful Stars. Clashes among the positive and negative stars are interpreted differently. Clashes can be for the better.

Bazi is a very practical art. It is not about creativity. It is the skill of understanding each of the stars and their characters, and the platform they operate on. There is no generic. The next time someone mentions ‘beware’, tell him to mind his own business first.

Four Seasons

The four seasons in Chinese Metaphysics is nothing more than a metaphor. Otherwise, you cannot really use it in equatorial places. There is no other season except summer. Whichever month you are born in, it is on assumption that there is a change of season. For example, if you are born in December, we cannot possibly say you are born in winter when it is really 'summer' here in Malaysia, Singapore and India.

The other question being the Northern and Southern Hemispheres as the seasons are reversed. It is also assumed that the current applications are based on the Northern Hemisphere because of the location of China. Should not a Bing Day Master born in July in the Southern Hemisphere be regarded as born in winter? How confusing. However the Chinese has always indicated that the south is above and should not the seasons follow the Southern Hemisphere? When we do not change the season of birth based on the Hemisphere, what qualify us to change time of birth based on the country of birth, let alone daylight saving and international dateline?

These scholarly arguments are basically intellectual in nature. They may not be the natural inclination of metaphysics. Just a thought.

About Bazi

There are many schools of thought in Chinese Astrology. Bazi or Four Pillars, being one of them, shares the same sources but they are so divided because of different interpretations. More often than not, the interpretation is not even tested. The Earth was once thought to be flat. When each theory is tried and tested, the results will speak for it. The same interpretation should tally in real life, perhaps with a little variation.

It is time to pick up ten Bazi charts of unfamiliar people and simply read the characteristics of those people. When your method is able to correctly pinpoint the characteristics of seven out of the ten people, then yours is a viable method. You can go back to read the charts after a month. You should be able to identify the same characteristics without the need to remember what transpired during the last reading. You will know that your foundation is sound when you can correctly analyse the characteristics with the same method, not relying on memory of any previous conversations.

Honesty, shrewdness and obedience are three good characteristics to start with. The method should enable you to differentiate honesty from loyalty; and shrewdness from cunningness. You cannot say that a suicide bomber is not obedient and loyal. Neither can you say a person is ill discipline simply because he has no Authority Star in his chart.

When you understand these, you will realise that Bazi is no longer about good and bad charts.