In a previous article I wrote about the five areas of influence in our lives. The one considered to have the most influence is Ming, which is Destiny or Fate. Ming is decided from the moment we take our first breath. Ming determines who our parents and family are, our position in society, and the result of past choices and decisions.


One way to determine one's destiny is through astrology. Over thousands of years the Chinese have developed several types of astrology, most notably Zi Wei Dou Shu, Four Pillars of Destiny, and Iron Plate. Astrology allows us to see the blueprint of our lives, based on the exact moment we take our first breath. If we are willing to look at ourselves openly and honestly, we can change our destiny to a large extent. We can determine the best times to move on a decision or project, or when it is better to be still and work quietly.


Zi Wei Dou Shu Chinese Astrology

I often say that when I bring up the subject of Zi Wei Dou Shu, people laugh and say "Gesundheit!" But
Zi Wei Dou Shu is a form of Chinese astrology that is widely used in China, but not well known in the Western hemisphere.

Zi Wei Dou Shu roughly translates to "Purple Emperor Calculation". The Zi Wei star is the Emperor star, the first star of the entire series, and its position in your chart determines where all the other stars fall in the chart. There are different schools of Zi Wei Dou Shu. Some schools use only 14 stars, some even 144.


While the Sun and Moon are used in Zi Wei Dou Shu, the rest of the planets are not. Among the stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu are those in the Plough, known as the Big Dipper to westerners.






Zi Wei Dou Shu is attributed to Chen Bo (or Chen Xi Yi), a Daoist philosopher and metaphysician who lived in the early Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). He wrote books on Zi Wei Dou Shu, Feng Shui, the Yi Jing and more.


As the story goes, when Chen Bo was a child he was unable to speak. One day when he was four years old, he met a lady in green robes by a river. She embraced the little Chen Bo and breastfed him. From then on, Chen Xi Yi was able to speak and he flourished in school. He eventually learned more than any of his teachers and subsequently traveled, studied and mastered a variety of subjects entirely on his own.


There were and are many sacred mountains in China where metaphysicians, monks and hermits lived, taught and meditated. When the emperor decided to build a fortress on the mountain where Chen Bo and many other monks resided, thus evicting them, Chen Bo challenged the emperor to a game of chess. If Chen Bo won, he and the other hermits could stay on their beloved mountain. If the emperor won, he could take over the mountain and build his fortress. One has to admire Chen Bo's courage at suggesting such a challenge to the emperor.


By using his divination skills, Chen Bo won the chess game, and the emperor kept his word. Chen Bo spent more than 20 years on the mountain. It is said that he could go for many days without food and that he lived over 100 years.


The Chinese Calendars

The Chinese have two calendars - the lunisolar, a lunar calendar that is adjusted for the seasons, and the solar calendar. Zi Wei Dou Shu uses the lunisolar calendar.


The 12 Palaces

Similar to Western and Vedic astrology, a Zi Wei Dou Shu has 12 houses or palaces, one for each important aspect in one's life. The chart shape looks somewhat like a type of Vedic astrology chart, with 12 boxes arranged in a rectangle around the page.





The 12 Palaces are:

Ming - The Destiny palace. This shows your basic personality and physical make-up, similar to the sun sign in western astrology.


Parents - This palace indicates your parents, boss, teacher or anyone else who has authority over you. Since we are born of our parents' DNA, this palace can also indicate your appearance.


Karma - Also known as Luck or Fortune, this palace shows your emotional state, spirituality, motivation, and ability to make money.


Property - This describes property you own or live in (house, land), and their qualities. Do you prefer to live in the city or the country? Do you want a house on the sunny beach or in a shady forest?


Career - What kind of work you do or would be good at, and whether or not you work better alone than with groups.


Friends - This palace was originally called the Servants palace, and indicates the people who help us. It shows your friends' characteristics, including whether they are supportive of you or not. This palace is especially important to analyze when I am advising a parent with a wayward child.


Travel - In ancient times, traveling was extremely arduous and dangerous, and rarely done for pleasure. So this palace can indicate the likelihood of accidents while traveling, and how helpful people will be to you as you travel.


Health - Sometimes called the Illness palace, this palace indicates the blueprint of your health from a Chinese medicine perspective. This palace can also show the likelihood of your needing surgery at some point in your life. This can be exceedingly helpful to know ahead of time so that you can stay at optimum health.


Money - How well you can make and keep your money.


Children - The personalities of your children, students or employees.


Marriage - This palace indicates what kind of mate you are likely to attract, and your ability to have a stable, long-term relationship. It can show whether you should marry later in life or even if you are likely to marry someone who is significantly older or younger than you.


Siblings - Your siblings' personalities and your relationship with them.


The 14 Major Stars

There are 14 Major Stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu. Each of the major stars has its own unique character and personality.


1. Zi Wei - The Emperor

Zi Wei is the emperor and likes to give orders, not take them. Zi Wei can be somewhat arrogant and prone to flattery. As long as it is treated with great respect and adulation, and placed favorably in your chart, Zi Wei is the beneficent king. Placed adversely, it can be quite lonely and even more imperious.


2. Tian Ji - Heavenly Machine

Tian Ji indicates someone who is very smart and active, and who learns quickly. It is good at mediation and negotiation. However, it is a somewhat unstable star, which can cause problems if it is located in your Spouse palace.


3. Tai Yang - The Sun

Like the Sun, Tai Yang is masculine and strong. It can indicate your ability to make a living and obtain fame, but can also be too blunt and even harsh.


4. Wu Qu - The Army General

Wu Qu is the workaholic army general. Wu Qu can bring you a successful and distinguished career. But it is can also be tough on other people because it does not negotiate, thus making the person lonely.


5. Tian Tong - The Relaxed Lover of Life

Tian Tong loves all of the good things in life - art, leisure, spirituality, music, and good food. Tian Tong doesn't like to work very hard and is a romantic. This star has a good heart and is very sensitive, so its feelings can be easily hurt.


6. Lian Zhen - The Politician

Lian Zhen is the politician star and associated with "peach blossoms" - romance and social interaction. It is competitive, loves to win, and is attractive to the opposite sex. As you can imagine, like a politician, Lian Zhen can be slick and influenced by the wrong people. Lian Zhen can make you popular with its friendly and humorous personality, but when poorly aspected can indicate a problem with drinking, gambling or fidelity.


7. Tian Fu - The Emperor's Treasurer

As Tian Fu's English translation suggests, this star represents money and property, and can bring great wealth and power. Tian Fu generally thinks like a company president or CEO - it can look far into the future to strategize. Tian Fu well aspected is a competent, prudent financial manager. Poorly aspected, Tian Fu indicates a person who will do anything to achieve his/her goal, even embezzle or steal.


8. Tai Yin - The Moon

Tai Yin is the Moon. It symbolizes femininity, spirituality, the arts, and the mysterious. It is gentle and refined, and can indicate if someone is physically very attractive. Tai Yin does not have its own light, as does the Sun, so it can be easily influenced by others.


9. Tan Lang - The Hungry Wolf

Tan Lang is the hungry wolf - it wants everything yesterday! Like Tian Tong, Tan Long loves the good life - learning, romance, metaphysics, etc. But Tan Lang has a drive, a hunger, a craving to get what it wants, and it will not stop until it gets it. This star can be very helpful motivator as it is fearless and determined. But without clear and sound guidance, Tan Lang can become greedy, out of control and ruthless.


10. Ju Men - The Huge Door or "Big Mouth"

As you might imagine, Ju Men has to do with the mouth - your speech, eloquence and communication skills. However, since the "door" is big, Ju Men can easily get itself into trouble via its mouth. If you have Ju Men in your Ming you can often find yourself involved in poor communication with loved ones, gossip and scandals.


11. Tian Xiang - The Emperor's Minister

Tian Xiang is the follower, the person who prefers to stay out of the spotlight and work quietly. Its passivity keeps it from being an entrepreneur, but allows it to take orders and work at tedious tasks.


12. Tian Liang - Longevity

Tian Liang loves to help people, and can indicate someone who is a religious leader or in public service (but in the limelight). As longevity suggests, it has to do with a long life and getting through difficult times. However, because Tian Liang can turn misfortune into good, it requires you to go through the bad first before you can receive the good.


13. Qi Sha - The Risk Taker

Qi Sha is aggressive and loves to take risks! It is the bungee jumper of the 14 Major Stars. Qi Sha is very stubborn and wants to do what it wants to do. Qi Sha's irrepressible nature can bring unhappiness and isolation because it is so strong and does not like being regulated or controlled. This star needs careful guidance to help the person understand his/her nature more easily in order to get along with others and achieve success.


14. Po Jun - The Resistance Breaker

Po Jun is another strong character similar to Qi Sha. But while Qi Sha's nature is to stir things up, Po Jun's is to shatter and breaks things. All must be torn down whether for good or bad. Guided properly, the person can learn to create a new, better structure. Po Jun is also not easy to get along with because of its tough, aggressive and suspicious personality.


Interpretation

The key to basic interpretation of your Zi Wei Dou Shu chart is in analyzing the relationships among the stars and the palaces where they reside. You can think of each palace as a room where a party is taking place. Whether or not some stars like each other and get along well will indicate how comfortably and successful that party or palace will be.


If you have Zi Wei in your Ming palace, you want to be treated like an emperor/empress. If Zi Wei is in your Children palace, your child wants to be treated like royalty. Qi Sha and Po Jun's natures are not to be peaceable and to get along well with others, but this is necessary in every work situation, whether it is with our boss, our employees or our customers. Without hard work and careful guidance, having Qi Sha or Po Jun in your Career palace is going to bring major struggles or difficult changes in your career.


Are you going to use the best of Lian Zhen, the Politician Star, making you a good, fun-loving public servant, or will you use the worst, giving up morality and falling into gambling, infidelity, bribery or substance abuse?


The next step to interpretation is looking at the various cycles in your chart and the stars that are influencing you at different times in your life. Timing is everything! Tian Fu nicely aspected in your annual Career palace can indicate that this is the year to push that new project or change your career. Tian Tong here will suggest it is better to work quietly and make plans for another, more auspicious time.


We cannot control everything in our lives and cannot know our entire destiny. However, since Ming - Destiny - has the highest level of influence in our lives, having a clear and honest understanding of ourselves and those around us can help us improve ourselves and our relationships. Knowing and working with the timing in our charts allows us to make the best use of time to create the kind of life we want to have.


This might be the year to finally quit your job and start that new business, or it might be better to wait for a more auspicious time in order to achieve success. We are blessed to have Chinese astrology to help us determine when to pursue our goals and when to be patient and work quietly, how to work and communicate better to overcome difficulties, and thus live more happily and productively.

What do the stars hold for you?




Know yourself, and you shall know the Universe.
~ Socrates