The Six Auspicious and Six Sha Stars: Helpers and Trials for the Major Stars
The major stars decide what a palace is about; the minor stars decide how smoothly that plays out. The six auspicious stars are helpers, bringing support, order and patrons; the six Sha stars are trials, bringing friction, delays or disappointments. But a Sha star is not bad news in itself: in our sample nearly nine charts in ten see a Sha star around the Life Palace. Having them is normal.
The six auspicious stars: three pairs of helpers
| Star | Placed by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Zuo Fu, You Bi | birth month | Support and goodwill. Zuo Fu is steady, You Bi flexible; when the pair appears around a palace, you have people who help and people who follow |
| Wen Chang, Wen Qu | birth hour | Learning and order. Wen Chang leans to formal study, exams and documents; Wen Qu to eloquence, talent and expression |
| Tian Kui, Tian Yue | birth-year stem | Patrons. Tian Kui is the daytime patron, often an older man; Tian Yue the night-time patron, often an older woman |
The auspicious stars work best in pairs. When Zuo Fu and You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, or Tian Kui and Tian Yue both appear in a palace or its group, they are at full strength; one alone still helps, but less. People with Zi Wei in the Life Palace especially need Zuo Fu and You Bi; the classics say that without them Zi Wei is a “lonely ruler”.
The six Sha stars: three pairs of trials
| Star | Placed by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Qing Yang, Tuo Luo | birth-year stem (flanking Lu Cun) | Qing Yang is open conflict and competition; Tuo Luo is hidden delay and entanglement |
| Huo Xing, Ling Xing | birth-year branch and hour | Huo Xing is sudden and hasty; Ling Xing smoulders and flares up after long restraint |
| Di Kong, Di Jie | birth hour | Emptiness and loss; also unconventional thinking, common in creative and philosophical people |
Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always flank Lu Cun, one box ahead and one box behind (Qing Yang ahead, Tuo Luo behind). This is called “the Ram Blade and the Weight flanking Lu Cun”: wherever there are resources, there is competition. Di Kong and Di Jie are laid out from the Hai palace, one forward and one backward, by the birth hour.
A full page for each of the twelve stars
One page per star: its nature, a placement table worked back from this site’s engine, its relationship with its partner star, what it means in each palace from Life to Parents, and data from our sample.
Lu Cun and Tian Ma
Lu Cun is set by the birth-year stem and stands for steady income and resources. Its character is keeping: a palace with Lu Cun has stable resources, but because Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flank it, you have to guard them to keep them. Tian Ma is set by the birth-year branch and stands for movement and change. Lu Cun and Tian Ma together, “wealth and horse galloping together”, is the pattern of making money on the move.
Sha stars are the norm
How we counted: this site’s engine cast one Zi Wei chart for every day from 1960 to 2005 (birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample), 16,802 charts in all. These figures describe how chart structures are distributed; they say nothing about whether anyone’s destiny is good or bad.
Only about one chart in eight has no Sha star around the Life Palace, so “a Sha star means bad” does not survive the numbers: by that standard nearly nine people in ten would be unlucky. In a real reading the questions are: which major star does the Sha star sit with? Is that star bright or fallen? Are auspicious stars, Hua Lu or Hua Ke there to soften it? A bright major star is often spurred on by a Sha star. With Qi Sha and Qing Yang, for example, the classics describe a pattern called “a sword on the horse’s head”: Qing Yang in the Wu palace holding the Life Palace, read as someone who rises through competition.
Myth: Qing Yang in the Life Palace means a fierce temper.
Qing Yang is open drive and competitiveness; beside a bright major star it often shows as decisiveness and not shying away from conflict. In our sample 41.8% of people have a Sha star in the Life Palace; it is a very common arrangement.
Myth: Di Kong and Di Jie in the Wealth Palace mean you can never save.
Kong and Jie stand for loss and the unconventional. In the Wealth Palace they often show as spending on ideals or interests, or as an uneven income; what matters is whether Lu Cun, Hua Lu or a bright major star steadies things. None of this is investment advice.
Myth: the more auspicious stars, the better.
More auspicious stars mean more help, but also a risk of depending on it. Zi Wei needs Zuo Fu and You Bi, while pioneering stars such as Qi Sha and Po Jun often do their best work in adversity.
Keep reading
A straight word: a chart is a map, not a verdict
Zi Wei Dou Shu turns the moment of birth into twelve palaces and more than a hundred stars, which gives you a vocabulary for talking about your temperament, your relationships and the stages of your life. It can show tendencies and help you sort your thoughts, but it cannot make decisions for you, and it should never be used to frighten yourself. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment; for health, investment or legal questions, please see a qualified professional.
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Six Auspicious and Six Sha Stars: FAQ
What are the six auspicious stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu?
Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang, Wen Qu, Tian Kui and Tian Yue. Zuo Fu and You Bi are placed by the birth month, Wen Chang and Wen Qu by the hour, Tian Kui and Tian Yue by the birth-year stem.
What are the six Sha stars?
Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Ling Xing, Di Kong and Di Jie. Qing Yang and Tuo Luo are placed by the birth-year stem (flanking Lu Cun), Huo Xing and Ling Xing by the birth-year branch and the hour, Di Kong and Di Jie by the hour.
Is a Sha star in the Life Palace bad?
Not necessarily. In our sample 41.8% of people have a Sha star in the Life Palace and 87.7% see one across its palace group. A Sha star has to be read with the brightness of the major star beside it and any auspicious stars that soften it; a bright major star is often spurred on by a Sha star.
How is Lu Cun different from Hua Lu?
Lu Cun is a star, placed by the birth-year stem, standing for steady resources that need guarding. Hua Lu is a change that happens to a star, standing for resources and ease; the palace it lands in is the area of life that runs more smoothly.