Chapter 23
The Four Pillars of Destiny, Part 2
In This Chapter
What is the Day-Master?
Determining the stars that rule your chart
Determining the timeliness of your Day-Master
Interpreting Bill Clinton’s and Princess Diana’s charts
Determining your life’s purpose
The stars that govern your chart
Now that you’ve obtained your chart online, how do you interpret it? Before you can obtain insight, you must know how to acquire information and where to look.
In this chapter, we’ll continue with the Four Pillars method and its application with respect to the five phases. In so doing, we will zero in on the Day-Master and reveal how it offers a particularly personal assessment.
The All-Important Day-Master
Although The Four Pillars of Destiny dates to the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.), when astrologer Li Xuzhong developed it as a way to represent a person’s birth data, the approach hasn’t stayed constant. Over time, there have been many alterations. Perhaps the most significant ones involved focusing on the Day-Master as a means of illuminating a person’s specific characteristics.
Focusing on the Day-Master, this method is also known as the Ziping Method after astrologer Xu Ziping and dates to the Song dynasty (960–1279 C.E.). The Day-Master helps you to identify to which of the five phases you belong. It can determine whether you have a strong or a weak chart. Knowing the relative strength of your chart can lead you to a broader understanding of your relationship to the five phases, as you’ll soon see.
Wise Words
The method focusing on the Day-Master, or Ziping Method, developed by Song dynasty astrologer Xu Ziping, analyzes the five phases in your Four Pillars chart in relationship to how each phase affects the Day-Master (the day-stem component of your Four Pillars chart).
Now, referring to your life chart you just obtained online, pinpoint your Day-Master. It is equivalent to the day-stem phase component. We’ll soon be analyzing the relationship between the phases and Day-Master. It might be a good idea to paperclip Appendix F, where you’ll find a diagram illustrating the three cycles of qi: productive, controlling, and reductive. Understanding the phase relationships is integral to successfully analyzing your chart.
Day-Master Relations
Because this chapter is rather involved, let’s review for a moment. In The Four Pillars of Destiny, there are eight components, one of which is the Day-Master. Each component is associated with a phase (fire, earth, metal, water, wood) and a yin/yang delineation. To interpret a life chart, you examine how the Day-Master is affected by the other components. How they relate to the Day-Master will lead you to understand many aspects of your life, including your purpose, finances, marriage, and relations with your family and friends, for example.
The first step is to learn about the five “stars” governing your pillars. They are …
1. Resource Star. If a phase produces or generates the Day-Master, it is the resource star. For example, if your Day-Master is fire, wood is your resource star because it generates fire. Resource corresponds to support (guidance, moral, and financial) from your parents, boss, or mentor. Resource also corresponds to knowledge and education, rendering you a means of support. An overabundance of resource suggests that you might be spoiled. It suggests you’re dependent on your parents, husband, or wife. It suggests that you might not be living up to your potential. On the other hand, a lack of resource means you are independent and self-supporting.
2. Performance Star. If a phase is produced or generated by the Day-Master, it is the performance star. For example, if your Day-Master is fire, earth is your performance star because fire generates earth. Perfor-mance corresponds to your productivity, talents, and accomplishments. A lot of performance means that you are a very talented and/or a highly accomplished person. You are recognized by others. Although your abundance of performance leads you to feel empowered and even rebellious, others are jealous of you. A lack of performance suggests that you’re not a risk-taker. It also indicates you procrastinate or that you’re a bit lazy.
Wise Words
The resource phase gives strength to, supports, and produces the Day-Master. The performance phase is produced by the Day-Master. The power phase controls, dominates, or empowers the Day-Master. The wealth phase challenges the Day-Master. The parallel phase is the same as the Day-Master.
3. Power Star. If a phase controls the Day-Master, it is the power star. For example, if your Day-Master is fire, water is your power star because it controls (or extinguishes) fire. A lot of power means that you’re a natural-born leader. You’re able to take on a heavy workload. Those who seek to control you also empower you to strengthen and succeed. However, since the power star challenges (or controls) the Day-Master, you might feel overwhelmed, burdened, and constrained. A lack of power could mean a lack of ambition and discipline. It suggests that your career has nothing to do with power or status.
4. Wealth Star. If a phase is controlled by the Day-Master, it is the wealth star. For example, if your Day-Master is fire, metal is your wealth star because fire controls (or melts) metal. The wealth phase represents your material possessions (money, property, jewelry, for example) and your career. An abundance of wealth suggests that you may have a lot of money-making opportunities. The key word is “may.” Whether or not these opportunities will be made manifest depends on a host of factors that will become clear in successive chapters. A lack of wealth indicates that you must create opportunities yourself. It suggests you must use the strengths of the other stars to generate wealth. It does not suggest that you will not have money or a successful career.
5. Parallel Star. If a phase is simply the same phase as the Day-Master, it is the parallel star. A parallel phase assists the Day-Master to make him strong. The parallel phase also represents your friends and competitors. An abundance of parallel might mean you have to compete for everything including money and love. A lack of this phase suggests loneliness and a lack of assistance from colleagues and friends.
Are you with us so far? We know this stuff is complicated, but stick with it. In the end, it will be worth your while. Patience and perseverance prevail (say that 10 times fast).
Before you proceed, take this opportunity now to associate each phase in your chart with a star. You need correlate only each stem and the primary stems hidden in the branches (the second row of phases) with a star. For our introductory purposes, we will not analyze the lesser hidden stems in this exercise.
Star Cycles
It’s important to understand how the five stars (resource, parallel, performance, power, and wealth) relate to each other. Like the producing and controlling cycles relating to the five phases, the five stars have a similar sequence as follows:
Let’s analyze the productive cycle first:
Day-Master and parallel generate performance. Your motivation and the encouragement provided by your friends and competitors drive you to perform—to hone your talent and to be more productive.
Performance generates wealth. Your talent, productivity, and accomplishments generate an income.
Wealth generates power. With money, you can gain power and authority.
Power generates resource. Your authority is supported by others.
Resource generates Day-Master and parallel. With support and knowledge, you’ll gain respect from your friends and competitors.
Master Class
If a star(s) is not present in your chart, the cycle of qi is broken. However, when the star(s) in question appears on a 10-year or annual luck pillar (the subject of Chapter 26), the void is filled. When this happens, the star that’s missing will come to you. For example, if the power star is absent (or untimely) in your chart, you must wait until power appears on a luck pillar to gain power, authority, and respect—a factor particularly important for a politician.
The controlling cycle works the same way:
Day-Master and parallel control wealth. Your friends seek to take advantage of your money.
Wealth controls resource. With money, you can influence your supporters.
Resource controls performance. Your supporters (parents or other authority figures, for example) may prevent you from developing your talent.
Performance controls power. Your accomplishments and talent may cause people in an authoritative position (your boss, for example) to be jealous of you.
Power controls Day-Master and parallel. As a leader, you manage your subordinates.
In a Four Pillars analysis, it’s not necessary to study the reductive cycle. Take this time now to identify the relationship between the stars in your chart. Before you analyze the relationships, you first must learn about each star’s timeliness.
Too much or too little of a star will alter the forecasted prognosis. For example, let’s say you have an overabundance of resource. It means you rely on others for support. If you’re an adult and your parents are still supporting you, they are disabling you from being productive. On the other hand, you have no choice other than to be productive if you have very little or no resources in your chart. Get the idea?
The Timeliness of Your Day-Master and the Stars
Your month of birth determines whether a star is timely or not. Timeliness refers to the time of the year you were born—specifically, into which season you were born. For the sake of clarity, let’s reiterate. Wood corresponds to and is strong in spring; fire corresponds to and is strong in summer; metal corresponds to and is strong in autumn, and water corresponds to and is strong in winter. Earth is a special case, which we will deal with in a moment. Although the ancient Chinese used the four seasons to explain the strength of a phase, we know today there are places in the world that do not have four seasons. Also, in some parts of the world, the seasons are reversed. These factors do not mean that the five-phase theory must be modified. Understand that you’re studying energy coming from the universe and not just from the position of the Earth as it travels around the sun.
Add to these phase/season relationships four possible conditions: ready, vibrant, retiring, and inactive. These conditions refer to the phase’s strength in the particular season into which you are born. Referring to the following chart, let’s take an example. If your Day-Master is wood and you were born in spring (February, March, or April), wood is vibrant because it is predominant in the spring. In summer (May, June, and July), wood is retiring. In autumn (August, September, and October), wood is inactive. And in winter (November, December, and January), wood is ready.
Now, what of earth? As we mentioned, earth is a special case. It’s a transitional phase, as you learned in Chapter 21. We cannot apply the same terminology (ready, vibrant, retiring, and inactive) to earth. Instead, we say earth is either strong or weak. Earth is strong in October, January, and April; earth is weak in August, September, November, December, February, and March. Earth is vibrant in summer. This is because fire, the mother of earth, is strongest in summer.
Use this time now to determine the timeliness of your Day-Master and the other stars (stem phases and primary branch phases) in your birth chart.
Bill Clinton’s Star Chart
Let’s examine former president Bill Clinton’s chart, tying together all that you’ve learned so far in this chapter. At this time, disregard the yin (-) and yang (+) phase delineations. You’ll learn about their meaning later in this chapter and in succeeding ones. Also, for the following analysis, we only included the main phase component comprising Clinton’s branches. An analysis of all the hidden phases in the branches requires advanced study.
Born on August 19, 1946, at 8:51 A.M., Bill Clinton’s Day-Master is wood. For Clinton, wood represents self and the parallel star (friends and competitors). Wood born in August is inactive. Fire is his performance (talent and accomplishments) star. Fire born in August is retiring. Earth is his wealth (money and career) star. Earth born in August is weak. Metal is his power (power and leadership) star. Metal born in August is vibrant. Water is his resource star. Water born in August is ready. Although Clinton does not have resource stars in the stems or primary branches, he does have deeply hidden resources, which is not illustrated and which we will not discuss.
Bill Clinton’s main asset is vibrant power (metal). Referring to the illustration earlier in this chapter of the cycle of the five stars, vibrant power is generating support (resource) from citizens of the United States and from world leaders. Vibrant power metal is also controlling wood (self/friends/competitors). It is breathing life into and empowering his inactive self to lead the nation. The self is spurring his performance star to succeed. (Clinton’s retiring performance star [fire] will burn brighter during fire years.) Performance generates wealth, which is weak, but abundant. The fact that his wealth stars are located on the branches means that wealth (money and career) is secondary to his urge to be powerful. Finally, the abundance of wealth feeds his power.
Master Class
Stars that appear on the stems represent outward expression—what is noticeable to others. Stars that appear on the branches represent inward expression—what is not noticeable to others.
Princess Diana’s Star Chart
Born on July 1, 1961, at 7:45 P.M. (adjusting for DST puts her birth hour at 6:45 P.M.), Princess Diana’s Day-Master is wood. For Diana, wood represents self and the parallel star (friends and competitors). Wood born in July is retiring. Fire is her performance (talent and accomplishments) star. Fire born in August is vibrant. Earth is her wealth star. Earth born in August is vibrant. Metal is her power (power and leadership) star. Metal born in August is ready. Water is her resource (support) star. Although water (resource) is not present on her stems, a trace amount of it is deeply hidden in her branches. We’ll discuss how her lack of water affects her well-being in successive chapters.
Diana’s main assets are vibrant performance that generates vibrant wealth that generates ready power.
Your Life’s Purpose
The star on the month-branch is very important because it tells you your purpose. Said another way, if a table represents your life, the centerpiece is the month-branch star. It is the focal point. Innately, it is that for which you strive. If the month-branch star is resource, you strive to be knowledgeable, usually through education. It could also mean you seek to be supported. If the month-branch star is performance, you go after fame and respect through your accomplishments and talent. If the month-branch star is parallel, you strive to be a self-confident, capable, and reliable individual. If the month-branch star is wealth, making money is your goal. If you’re male, wealth in the month-branch could also mean you strive to find an ideal wife. Finally, if your month-branch star is power, you seek, well, power and authority. If you’re female, it could also mean that you seek a perfect husband. Referring to Bill Clinton’s four pillars chart presented earlier in this chapter, the star on the month-branch is power. Princess Diana’s month-branch star is performance. Uncanny, isn’t it?
Feng Facts
The star on your month-branch is always vibrant.
Take this time now to locate your month-branch star. Does it match what you strive for?
Star Relations
The five stars can be matched with a human relationship. With respect to how the other stars relate to the Day-Master, the star relations are as follows:
Resource Star = Parents
Performance Star = Children
Parallel Star = Siblings, friends or competitors
Wealth Star = Wife (or women) for a male only
Power Star = Husband (or men) for a female only
Your parents create or generate you (Day-Master) and your siblings (parallel). You create or generate children (performance). The genesis of the wealth and power stars is controversial. In old China, a man had total control over his wife. Therefore, the star the Day-Master controls represents his wife (wealth). Conversely, for a woman, the star that controls the Day-Master represents her husband (power). There is no human correspondence for a male’s wealth star. And, there is no human correspondence for a female’s power star.
Let’s take a look at Bill Clinton’s chart:
When equating human relations with the stars present in a person’s birth chart, it’s best not to be literal. For example, the fact that Clinton has two children stars doesn’t mean he has two children. It means his child (or children, if he had more than one) is prominent in his life. His love for Chelsea (his daughter) is more visible—or more important—than his love for his wife, Hillary. Regarding his wife stars, just because Clinton has three of them doesn’t mean he’ll marry three times. His wife stars are abundant. They’re hidden in the branches. They’re underground. The day-branch component represents Hillary, the star closest to Clinton’s Day-Master. The other wife stars represent his lovers.
Now let’s take a look at Ronald Reagan’s (born on February 6, 1911, at 2:04 A.M.) chart:
As you’re learning, you read a Four Pillars chart from top to bottom—from stems to branches. You also read a chart from right to left—from year to hour. With this in mind, the wife star on the year-stem represents Reagan’s first wife (Jane Wyman). The wife star on the month-stem represents Nancy Reagan. The wife star on the hour-stem represents other women who were prominent in his life. Unlike Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan’s children are underground. They’re out of sight.
Finally, let’s take a look at Princess Diana’s chart:
The husband star on Diana’s year-stem represents Prince Charles. Although he is prominent, he is far away. In fact, her siblings and friends on the month-stem stand between she and Charles. The sibling star also represents competitors (Camilla Parker-Bowles, for example). They are also prominent. Her lovers and children are underground. Her relationship with them is private.
Take this time now to study the relations in your own Four Pillars chart. You’ll learn more about analyzing your mate (or prospective mate) in Chapter 25.
If you don’t have the husband or wife star in your chart, it does not mean you’re destined to be unmarried. When the phase the star is correlated with comes on a 10-year or yearly luck pillar, you have a chance of finding a mate. You’ll learn about your luck pillars in Chapter 26. Finding a suitable mate is also discussed in Chapter 25.
In the next chapter, you’ll learn how each star’s yin (-) and yang (+) delineation impact your luck and destiny.
The Least You Need to Know
Your Day-Master is the key to interpreting your life chart.
The timeliness of your Day-Master depends on the month in which you were born.
Each of the five phases represents a different aspect of your life: your resources, friends, talent and accomplishment, power, and wealth.
A human relationship can also be matched with a star.