The Chinese have always been fascinated by the metaphysical theme of destiny. It is this deep curiosity about man’s path through life, a person’s journey, and the question of who are we, why are we here, and what are we supposed to do during our time on this planet, during our brief existence, that led the Chinese to study and search for methods to analyze the Destiny of a person. These later evolved to become two systems of Chinese astrology, known as BaZi (eight characters, also known as four pillars) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (purple star astrology).
What fascinated the Chinese centuries ago remains one of humanity’s ongoing and endearing pursuits, even to this day: to better understand ourselves, improve ourselves, and appreciate what makes each person unique and individual. And along the way, you might find out why they have put us on this planet! Go to a bookstore and you will see a proliferation of books (and these days, tests), all trying to explain to us, through scientific, psychological, biological, genetic or, in some cases, simply humorous methods, the question of WHO they are. And weighing the shelves in another section called ‘Self Help’, volumes and tomes that try to tell people how to improve themselves, beyond what and who they are.
These questions and many more, in fact, can be found by understanding a person’s Fate Code or their BaZi.
So what is BaZi?
BaZi is a target analysis system, which uses a person’s birth data, that is, their date and time of birth. By calculating and determining the elements that prevail at the time of a person’s birth, an eight-character BaZi table is derived. This BaZi chart is a kind of cosmic DNA if you like. A BaZi table is the individual and personal destination code of each person. Within those eight characters, it contains a complete, possibly complete, collection of information about an individual and their potential and capacity for life.
It may sound pretty incredible, but this is the genius of the Chinese astrology system. The entire life of a person – pitfalls, trials, tribulations, wealth, status, personality, characteristics, talents, abilities – is encoded within these eight characters.
The BaZi consultant, who understands what the various codes within the BaZi table mean, can determine what kind of potential or ability a person has in their life and also, determine the person’s luck cycle, that is, what years old is likely to be. experience good luck, and what years luck is likely to be less favorable. In short, by decoding a person’s Fate Code, a BaZi consultant can reveal what awaits that person in their life, just as medical scientists can determine a person’s eye color, if theirs will be browns and medical illnesses, analyzing their DNA.
BaZi and Feng Shui: diagnosis and prescription
At the level of professional practice, BaZi and Feng Shui are essential complementary disciplines. Just as all physicians must understand the biology of the body and the chemistry of drugs, all professional classical Feng Shui consultants will have BaZi or Purple Star Astrology, another fate analysis system, as a complementary or backup skill, to be used in tandem with Feng Shui. Some consultants will also use Face Reading or Mian Xiang as a third complementary discipline and backup system.
Many people do not realize that it is extremely important that before a person’s home or office is Feng Shui-ed, their BaZi must be taken into account. Why is that? Well, before a doctor can write a prescription, he first needs to know what happens to the patient, right? Before a Feng Shui practitioner deploys his Feng Shui skills, he must first know what the problem he is trying to solve is.
Of course, most of you will remember that a few weeks ago, I wrote about how Feng Shui is a goal-oriented science. The client, of course, must know what he wants to achieve by using Feng Shui. Sometimes clients will tell me that they have a certain problem (for example, business relationships are problematic, or they find it difficult to advance at work, or the most common problem: not making enough money!). But most of the time, customers are not sure what their problem is, or they only have a vague idea of what the problem is. Therefore, the Feng Shui consultant must verify his Destiny Code before proceeding with Feng Shui.
Sometimes clients know what they want (like that Abba song, Money Money Money) but even in these cases, the Feng Shui consultant should check the BaZi. Why? This is because Feng Shui is not some kind of cosmic steroid.
If you want to become Arnold overnight, steroids can help. But even then, you have to have the body and the physical composition that allow you to develop those types of muscles. Similarly, if you want to become Warren Buffett overnight, Feng Shui can only help you, if you have the Destiny to be a billionaire in the first place. In other words, you must first have, before you can be!
In my Feng Shui classes, I always tell students: to do the perm, you must first have hair. This refers to the extraction of Qi from the environment. If the environment doesn’t have Qi or doesn’t have good Qi in the first place, no matter how you try to harness it, no matter what formulas you use, you won’t get superior results. The principle of ‘to perm, you must first have hair’ also applies to the use of Feng Shui to enhance wealth or any other enhancement sought through Feng Shui. If in your BaZi, you are not destined to be a billionaire, or your BaZi does not reveal that potential for certain periods of time, then no amount of Feng Shui enhancement, no super-powerful formula, can make you one.
You must first have, before you can be.
What’s the use of knowing if it’s all bad news?
Some people are against the idea of knowing their destiny and believe that life should be experienced as it is. Most of the time, people are against knowing their destiny because they believe it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy and it will limit them. I have also met people who say that they would simply prefer not to know anything about the future, because they are afraid to know what it holds.
It is not all bad news. In life, there is only one certainty, and that is death. So also in BaZi and Feng Shui, there is nothing that is totally bad or totally good. There is no final destination, only travel. Some days the sea is calm, some days it is rough, so by knowing how the winds are blowing, you can steer your boat in the right way.
Similarly, I disagree with the argument that BaZi creates self-fulfilling prophecies, limits people, or in some way encourages them to kill their dreams. In the old days, BaZi was mainly used to determine the destiny of a person. In other words, the focus was on the hand that would be dealt to you and on knowing what kind of “life” you would have. Of course, as a society and a civilization, we have come a long way from that mindset and, furthermore, BaZi consultants approach this discipline in a very different way.
Nowadays, BaZi is not about knowing the hand that you are dealt, although that is part of the objective, but about playing that hand, to the best of your ability, with the best of the skills you have. It’s about understanding what you can and cannot do, at certain times, and taking the appropriate steps to improve your life. It’s about understanding yourself and those around you, and then improving your personal relationships, your opportunities, and your life.
BaZi informs you of your potential in life so that you can choose to do the right thing and not be disappointed and waste time doing something that you have little chance of success at. It tells you when disappointment hits, when you should WISELY throw in the towel, and when you should continue to fight the good fight. It does not destroy a person’s dream, it tells them which dreams to pursue because that is the one that can become reality.