The Friends Palace in Zi Wei Dou Shu: What Kind of Friends Surround You
In the old texts this was the Servants Palace, covering the household staff and the people who worked under you; today it is usually called the Friends Palace. Our reading is: what kind of friends, colleagues and team members surround you, and how you deal with them. It sits between the Career Palace and the Travel Palace, and many friends are people you meet at work or out in the world.
How to read the Friends Palace
- Start with the major star. The star here describes what your circle is like: Tian Fu and Tian Xiang lean steady and reliable, Qi Sha and Po Jun independent and changeable, Tai Yang and Tian Liang towards looking after each other, Tan Lang towards a wide social life, Ju Men towards lots of discussion. Each of the fourteen is covered below.
- Compare with the Life Palace. Who you are often shapes who you attract, and plenty of people have a circle that neatly complements them.
- Look at the Career and Travel Palaces on either side. The Friends Palace sits between them, and your work partners and the people you meet out in the world often become your circle.
- Look at the Siblings–Friends axis and the trine. Opposite is the Siblings Palace: outsiders on one side, your own people on the other. The trine is the Children and Parents Palaces: the generation above, the generation below, and friends and team members, read as one group.
- Look at transformations and malefic stars. Hua Lu here means you are well liked and often get opportunities through friends; Hua Ji means you care a lot about friends and friction comes easily; malefic stars usually mean more differing opinions and more competition.
Fixed links to the Life, Career and Travel Palaces
The Life Palace is always five palaces backward from the Friends Palace, the Career Palace one palace backward and the Travel Palace one palace forward, and the fourteen major stars keep fixed positions relative to each other. So for 7 of the stars the Life Palace star is settled once you know the Friends Palace star, for 9 the Career Palace star is settled, and for 9 the Travel Palace star is settled.
| Friends Palace star | Life Palace always holds | Career Palace always holds | Travel Palace always holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zi Wei | Tian Tong | Tian Ji | varies |
| Tian Ji | varies | varies | Zi Wei |
| Tai Yang | Lian Zhen | Wu Qu | varies |
| Wu Qu | varies | Tian Tong | Tai Yang |
| Tian Tong | varies | varies | Wu Qu |
| Lian Zhen | Tian Ji | varies | varies |
| Tian Fu | varies | varies | Tai Yin |
| Tai Yin | varies | Tian Fu | Tan Lang |
| Tan Lang | varies | Tai Yin | Ju Men |
| Ju Men | Po Jun | Tan Lang | Tian Xiang |
| Tian Xiang | varies | Ju Men | Tian Liang |
| Tian Liang | Tian Fu | Tian Xiang | Qi Sha |
| Qi Sha | Tai Yin | Tian Liang | varies |
| Po Jun | Tian Liang | varies | varies |
For example, with Tian Liang in the Friends Palace, the Life Palace always holds Tian Fu, the Career Palace always holds Tian Xiang and the Travel Palace always holds Qi Sha: you are steady and good at keeping what you have, you play by the rules at work and have plenty of drive out in the world, and the friends around you are mature and love looking after others.
The fourteen major stars in the Friends Palace
What our sample shows
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 do not measure anyone’s popularity or how reliable their friends are.
Myth: a bad Friends Palace means people will work against you.
This site does not use classical warnings about "petty people". The Friends Palace describes your circle and how you interact; problems with people are handled with boundaries and communication, not by reading your chart to guard against them.
Myth: Hua Ji in the Friends Palace means friends will drag you down.
Hua Ji stands for caring and fixation. With Hua Ji here, you tend to care a great deal about friends and worry over relationships. Putting any money between you and friends in writing is the most practical step of all.
Myth: an empty Friends Palace means no friends.
About 16.2% of charts have an empty Friends Palace. You read it through the major stars of the Siblings Palace opposite and pay attention to Lu Cun, the transformations and the minor stars inside; it does not mean you have no friends.
A straight word: the Friends Palace is about how you make friends, not about who will do you harm
The Friends Palace describes your circle of friends, your colleagues and your team, and the way you interact with them. It cannot tell you which friend is reliable or who might work against you; classical warnings about "petty people" are not used on this site. Lending money to friends, guaranteeing their debts or going into business together should be judged on the actual situation: nothing on this site amounts to lending, guarantee or investment advice, and everything here is for reference and entertainment only.
Find out which star sits in your Friends Palace
Enter your date of birth and birth time to cast your chart, then tap the Friends Palace to see its major stars, transformations and four-way set.
Friends Palace: FAQ
What does the Friends Palace show in Zi Wei Dou Shu?
What your circle of friends, colleagues and team members is like, and how you interact with them. This site does not issue "petty people" warnings and does not predict who is reliable.
Are the Friends Palace and the Servants Palace the same thing?
Yes. Older texts call it the Servants Palace (Nu Pu or Pu Yi); today it is usually called the Friends Palace (Jiao You). It is the same palace.
Which palaces make up the Friends Palace's four-way set?
The opposite palace is the Siblings Palace, and the trine is the Children and Parents Palaces. The Friends Palace also sits right next to the Career and Travel Palaces.
How do you read an empty Friends Palace?
Borrow the major stars of the Siblings Palace opposite, and look closely at Lu Cun, the minor stars and the transformations inside the Friends Palace. In our sample about 16.2% of charts have an empty Friends Palace.