Ginger Post

Jerry King is a Fengshui consultant trainer in the Four Pillars of Destiny based in Vancouver, Canada. He consults in China, Hong Kong, North and South America.
In my Fengshui practice, many clients always want to know about their destiny which includes a consultation of their career, health, wealth and relationships. Many methods are used in Chinese Astrology. The one I rely upon often is called the Four Pillars (四柱), also known as Ba Zi (八字) referring to the eight characters denoting the year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth. The Chinese astrologists have used the Four Pillars for thousands of years and Westerners are beginning to utilize them too.

The eight characters in the Four Pillars are a combination of the 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches.* Some people might know the 12 Earthly Branches as the annual ruling animal, for example, for 2010, it would be the year of the Tiger. The 12 animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The 10 Heavenly Stems in the Four Pillars are composed of the Five Elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each of the five elements has a Yang and a Yin version. For example, Yang Wood is considered a big tree, while Yin Wood can be seen as flowers or shrubs.

In each of the 12 Earthly Branches, there are hidden aspects composed of one or more of the five elements. In addition, the 12 animals and 10 heavenly stems have a direction attached to them: fire is to the South, water is to the North, metal is to the West and Southwest, and wood is to the East and Southeast, earth is to the Southwest and Northeast. It is possible to understand a person’s characteristics by studying his/her Four Pillars chart.

Everyone has life energy. When a newborn takes his/her first breath determines the person’s specific type of energy. Thus the hour of birth is important as it helps to determine the flow of energy in the Four Pillars life chart. However, without the birth hour, it is still possible to look at one’s luck and cosmic flow.

Some people believe that having the elements balanced is good and having an even Four Pillars life chart is unfortunate. This is an incorrect approach. An experienced practitioner looks at the Four Pillars life chart for a client. Once the chart is understood by the practitioner, one of the most difficult parts of the process, it is possible to look at the luck cycle along with the annual ruling animal and the element. The luck cycle can change the energetic flow shown in the chart from bad to good, or vice versa.

By understanding the life chart of a person, the use of Feng Shui can reduce the impact of bad luck cycles or enhance one’s life in good cycles. The life chart can also allow Feng Shui practitioners to determine the best sleeping and facing positions. With the BaZi information, house selections, date selections, use of proper colours and shapes, and the timing of investments can be determined.
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* The ten characters known as “heavenly stem” (tiangan 天干) are jia 甲, yi 乙, bing 丙, ding 丁, wu 戊, ji 己, geng 庚, xin 辛, ren 壬, gui 癸. The twelve characters of the “earthly branch” (dizhi 地支) are zi 子, chou 丑, yin 寅, mao 卯, chen 辰, si 巳, wu 午, wei 未, shen 申, you 酉, xu 戌, hai 亥.