Ba Zi/Symbolic Stars

Symbolic Stars
Symbolic Stars are activated when they appear in the Luck Pillar or the Year Pillar of a Ba Zi chart. For example, a person with H2 as the Day Heavenly Stem, and E7 on any of his Earthly Branches will have an Academic Star. Similarly, a person with H6 as the Day Heavenly Stem, and E1 and/or E9 on any of his Earthly Branches will have a Nobleman Star.

Nobleman Star
A person with the Nobleman Star is intelligent, and will get a lot of assistance from people around him.

Academic Star
A person with the Academic Star is intelligent, and will enjoy tremendous academic success.

Sword Star
A person with the Sword Star is strong-willed, and will help the weak to fight the powerful.

Prosperity Star
A person with the Prosperity Star is strong-willed.

Peach Blossom Star
A person with the Peach Blossom Star is attractive, sexy, seductive and exhibits strong sexual desires. This person also enjoys good social standing.

General Stars
The key element of General Stars can be either the Day Branch or the Year Branch. For example, if the Day or Year Branch is E1, and there is an E5 in the Hour Branch, it implies that there is a Star of Arts in the Hour Pillar.

General Star
This Star symbolizes Wealth, Prosperity, and the probability of a good political career.

Talent Star
This Star symbolizes unique ideas, talent, skill, art, music, design and aesthetics of a talented person. Also can mean smart, philosophy, metaphysics, religion, knowledge, psychic nature. Life can live up to its highest potential to reach the goal. There is also a tendency towards being a loner, a monk or a hermit.

Travelling Horse Star
This is a good Star, symbolizing overseas working opportunities, travel and migration. However, it has the tendency to destroy other good stars, and aggravate the influence of bad stars.

Robbing Star
This Star symbolizes as person who is sharp and smart if it is a favorable Star. On the other hand, if it is unfavorable, it implies being robbed, though not necessarily in the literal sense.

Death Star
This Star symbolizes as person who has courage and ability in planning if it is a favorable Star. On the other hand, if it is unfavorable, it implies being lawsuits and misfortune to one's spouse.

Flower of Romance
This Star symbolizes "Internal Romance" (a loving relationship between husband and wife, if it appears on the Year or Month Branch. On the other hand, This Star symbolizes "External Romance" (extra-marital affairs) if it appears on the Hour or Day Branch of a person's Ba Zi chart.

As given in the above table, the "Location of the Flower of Romance" depends on the Year of Birth. For example, for a person born in the Year of Snake (E6), E2 or E10, the favorable direction for activating the Flower of Romance is in the South (E7).

Heavenly Virtue Stars and Monthly Virtue Stars
Heavenly Virtue Stars and Monthly Virtue Stars are auspicious Stars, and they imply the help of benefactors when a person is in danger. For example, if a person has a Month Branch of E2, and H7 appears in any of the four Heavenly Stems, then the person has a Heavenly Virtue Star.

Solitary Star and Lonesome Star
A person with a Solitary or Lonesome Star may appear solemn and unfriendly. It symbolizes doom for family members; a Solitary Star symbolizes misfortune to parents, and a Lonesome Star symbolizes misfortune to spouse. For example, a person with E2 in a Day Branch or a Year Branch, plus a E3 in any other Earthly Branch is deemed to have a Solitary Star.

Three Extraordinary Noblemen
The Three Extraordinary Noblemen are the Heaven, Earth and Human Extraordinary Noblemen. These Stars symbolize a person who is extremely intelligent, gifted in many areas, knowledgeable, learned and generous. He will have great achievements, and no adverse forces can cause him harm. If the Heavenly Stems are not in the order shown in the table below, these Stars are less effective.

Sixty-Year Cycle
The Sixty-Year Cycle is an infinite cycle, and can be arranged by Earthly Branch (E1-E10) as shown in the table below. An odd-numbered Earthly Branch is always matched with an odd-numbered Heavenly Stem, and an even-numbered Earthly Branch is always matched with an even-numbered Heavenly Stem. For example, a year can have a Stem and Branch combination of H1-E1 or H4-E4, but cannot have a Stem and Branch combination of H1-E2 or H4-E1.

Heaven Void
When the above Sixty-Year Cycle is arranged by Heavenly Stems (H1 to H10), six groups of Earthly Branches appear, as given in the following table. The Heaven Void consists of the bottom two rows, where are no Heavenly Stems to match the Earthly Branches, as indicated by "X".

The presence of Heaven Void is like a catalyst, and it can moderate or reverse the effect of an auspicious or inauspicious Star. For example, if there is both an auspicious Star and a Heaven Void in a Ba Zi chart, the auspicious Star will be less beneficial. Similarly, if there is both an inauspicious Star and a Heaven Void in a Ba Zi chart, the inauspicious Star will be less harmful.

To determine the presence of the Heaven Void in a Ba Zi chart, look at both the Stem and Branch of the Year Pillar and both the Stem and Branch of the Day Pillar. After this, look at the Earthly Branch of the other pillars to determine whether the Heaven Void is found.

For example, if the Year Pillar is H1-E1 (in Group One), then Heaven Void falls on E11 and E12, so if the Month Branch is E11 or E12, then Heaven Void is located in the Month Pillar. Similarly, if the Day Pillar is H2-E10 (in Group Three), then Heaven Void falls on E7 and E8, so if the Day/Month/Year Branch is E7 or E8, then Heaven Void is located in the Day/Month/Year Pillar respectively.