Fire and Greed, Bell and Greed: Tan Lang’s Sudden Force
Tan Lang is the star of desire and opportunity. Meet it with Huo Xing or Ling Xing, two impatient Sha stars, and the classics call it a good pattern: the Sha star becomes a catalyst, and opportunities come fast and hard.
Fire and Greed
Conditions: Tan Lang in the Life Palace with Huo Xing in the same palace (from the trines: a lesser form).
What strengthens or breaks it: Tan Lang in the four tomb palaces (Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei) is favored (the Complete Book prefers Chen and Xu); Tan Lang Hua Lu is better; adding Qing Yang, Tuo Luo or Hua Ji is often read as sharp rises and falls.
Sources: Gu Sui Fu: “Tan Lang and Huo Xing in their temples: a famous name across lands”; Ding Gui Ju: “Tan and Huo meeting: the two guarding the Life Palace, both bright”; Complete Book, vol. 3: “Tan Lang meeting Ling or Huo in the four tomb palaces: great family wealth”
Explosive drive and quick action, grabbing an opportunity the moment it appears. These charts often tell stories of a sudden rise in one year; what comes fast can also go fast, so holding on after the burst matters as much.
We treat Huo Xing in the Life Palace with Tan Lang as the full form (about 0.7%) and Huo Xing only in the trines as a lesser form. The Complete Book contradicts itself: its own table lists Chen as a dim place for Huo Xing, yet the same volume says Tan Lang with Huo or Ling is best at Chen and Xu, so we do not require Huo Xing to be bright.
In our sample about 2.7% of charts meet Fire and Greed.
Example chart: born 6 January 1960 in the Yin hour (a Ji-Hai year), Life Palace at Hai with Lian Zhen and Tan Lang. Helpers in the trines and opposite: Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wu Qu Hua Lu, Tan Lang Hua Quan. Sha stars, Hua Ji and dim stars: Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Lian Zhen (dim), Tan Lang (dim).
Bell and Greed
Conditions: Tan Lang in the Life Palace with Ling Xing in the same palace (from the trines: a lesser form).
What strengthens or breaks it: As for Fire and Greed: the tomb palaces are favored, Tan Lang Hua Lu is better, and Yang, Tuo or Ji add ups and downs.
Sources: Gu Sui Fu: “Tan and Ling guarding together: the name of a general or minister”
Ling Xing is as impatient as Huo Xing, but where Huo Xing is open flame Ling Xing is a smoulder: the drive is quieter and longer-lasting, often building unseen until it suddenly shows.
iztro says the Complete Book has no Bell and Greed pattern; that is wrong, the Gu Sui Fu line above has it. The same-palace form covers about 0.7% of charts.
In our sample about 2.8% of charts meet Bell and Greed.
Example chart: born 31 August 1960 in the Si hour (a Geng-Zi year), Life Palace at Mao with Zi Wei and Tan Lang. Helpers in the trines and opposite: Wen Qu, Tian Yue, Wu Qu Hua Quan. Sha stars, Hua Ji and dim stars: Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Ling Xing.
Tan Lang and Wu Qu Together
Conditions: Wu Qu and Tan Lang together at Chou or Wei, or one at Chen/Xu with the other opposite.
What strengthens or breaks it: Lu and helpers lift it; the Complete Book and one compilation welcome Huo Xing or Ling Xing.
Sources: Gu Sui Fu: “Tan and Wu walking together: awe on the frontier”; Gu Sui Fu: “Tan and Wu in the tomb: fortune arrives after thirty”; Complete Book, vol. 3: “Tan and Wu together (Chen and Xu best, Chou and Wei next)”
Wu Qu the wealth star and Tan Lang the star of desire, together in the tomb palaces: “fortune arrives after thirty”. Bitter first, sweet later, building slowly and paying off in the middle years.
Six layouts: Wu Qu and Tan Lang together at Chou or Wei, or one alone at Chen or Xu with the other opposite. One compilation describes the Chen-Xu form as “one in the Life Palace, one in the Body Palace”; the others say Life Palace and opposite.
In our sample about 4.3% of charts meet Tan Lang and Wu Qu Together.
Example chart: born 3 January 1960 in the You hour (a Ji-Hai year), Life Palace at Chen with Tan Lang. Helpers in the trines and opposite: Tian Kui, Tian Yue, Wu Qu Hua Lu, Tan Lang Hua Quan. Sha stars, Hua Ji and dim stars: Di Jie.
Myth: Huo Xing and Ling Xing are Sha stars, so meeting them is bad.
Fire and Greed is the classic case of a Sha star turned helper. What a Sha star does depends on the major star beside it.
Myth: Fire and Greed means winning the lottery.
The classics speak of drive and opportunity, not windfalls. This site gives no investment or windfall advice.
Other patterns
A straight word: a pattern is a one-line summary, not the whole chart
The old books gave names to star combinations that are common and easy to spot; those names are the patterns. They help you grasp the outline of a chart quickly, but no chart is good or bad because of a pattern name. The same pattern with different helpers, Sha stars and transformations can lead to very different lives. This site gives the conditions, the classical sources and the personality tendencies only, never verdicts on wealth, status, health or lifespan. Everything here is for reference and entertainment.
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Fire and Greed: FAQ
What are the conditions for Fire and Greed?
Tan Lang in the Life Palace with Huo Xing in the same palace is the full form; Huo Xing in the trines or opposite is a lesser form. With Ling Xing it is Bell and Greed.
Which is better, Fire and Greed or Bell and Greed?
The classics name both. The usual reading is that Fire and Greed bursts fast and visibly, Bell and Greed more quietly and for longer.
What is Tan Lang and Wu Qu Together?
Wu Qu and Tan Lang together at Chou or Wei, or one at Chen or Xu with the other opposite; the classics say fortune arrives after thirty.