What is BaZi?
BaZi (八字), the Four Pillars of Destiny, is a system of Chinese astrology more than a thousand years old. While Western astrology reads the planets, BaZi reads time itself — converting the exact year, month, day and hour of your birth into four “pillars,” each made of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch.
Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches
Each pillar is built from one of the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches — the ancient symbols, each tied to an element and a zodiac animal, that the whole chart is written in.
The Chinese Zodiac
The animal of your birth year — your Chinese zodiac sign — comes from your year branch. It's the most famous layer of Chinese astrology, but in BaZi it's only one of twelve characters in your chart.
Your Day Master
The single most important character in your chart is the Heavenly Stem of your Day pillar — your Day Master. It represents you. There are ten Day Masters, each a pairing of one of the five elements with yin or yang: Yang Wood the Towering Tree, Yin Fire the Candle Flame, Yang Water the Ocean, and so on.
The Five Elements
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water flow through your chart in different amounts. Whether you overflow with one and lack another shapes your temperament, your relationships, and the kind of luck that helps or hinders you.
Yin & Yang
Each element comes in an active and a receptive form — yang and yin. That's how five elements become ten Day Masters, and how your polarity shapes the way you move through the world.
The Ten Gods
The Ten Gods describe how every other energy in your chart relates to your Day Master — your support, your talent, your wealth, your pressures and your peers. They're what turn a chart of elements into a portrait of a life.
Favorable & Unfavorable Elements
Some of the five elements help you and some hinder you. Which is which depends on your Day Master's strength — your favorable elements (用神) are why the same day can be lucky for one person and hard for another.
Luck Pillars
BaZi doesn't read luck as random. Your life unfolds in ten-year Luck Pillars, each bringing the energy of a new stem and branch. Knowing your seasons lets you plant in spring and rest in winter.