Qi Sha in the Friends Palace: What Kind of Friends Surround You

Qi Sha in the Friends Palace means your friends are strong-willed and independent; the relationships are direct and forceful, with competition and mutual help side by side.

Friends, colleagues and team

People with Qi Sha here tend to meet forceful friends or team members. The old texts say many negative things about Qi Sha in this palace; we make no judgements of good or bad luck with people. The modern reading: your friends each have their own mind, so when you work together, split the work clearly and let each person own their part.

• Your circle: Independent friends with strong personalities.
• Colleagues and team: Forceful colleagues and team members who need a clear division of labour.
• Network and mutual help: Friends stand with you when it counts, but day to day everyone gets on with their own business.

You and your circle: the Life and Friends Palaces

With Qi Sha in the Friends Palace, the Life Palace always holds Tai Yin: you are sensitive and gentle, while the friends you make are strong-willed and quick to act.

This is built into the chart: counting five palaces backward from Qi Sha always lands on Tai Yin, and the Life Palace always sits five palaces backward from the Friends Palace. Further reading: Tai Yin in the Life Palace.

Your work network: the Career and Friends Palaces

Counting one palace backward from Qi Sha always lands on Tian Liang, and the Career Palace always sits one palace backward from the Friends Palace, so with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace the Career Palace always holds Tian Liang: your circle sits right next to your work, and many of your connections grow out of it. Further reading: Tian Liang in the Career Palace.

With Qi Sha in the Friends Palace, the Siblings Palace always holds Tian Fu: the people closest to you are steady and reliable, while friends from outside are full of drive. The Travel Palace star is not fixed.

Bright and fallen positions

Qi Sha is bright in most positions here: friends have real ability and stand shoulder to shoulder with you when it counts. Qi Sha is never fallen; sharing the palace with Zi Wei, friends or team members are even more inclined to take control. Brightness by branch, from the table of the Complete Book this site uses: Exalted: Chou, Yin, Chen, Wei, Shen, Xu; Strong: Zi, Mao, Wu, You; Neutral: Si, Hai.

Opposite the Friends Palace is the Siblings Palace (the Siblings–Friends axis: outsiders and your own people), and its trine is the Children and Parents Palaces; on either side sit the Career and Travel Palaces. The table shows the major stars of the Siblings, Life, Career and Travel Palaces for each of the twelve branches Qi Sha can occupy in the Friends Palace.

"Empty palace" means the palace has none of the fourteen major stars; in that case you read it through the stars of the opposite palace.

The six combinations

Qi Sha alone, facing Wu Qu and Tian Fu (Zi or Wu)

Zi: Qi Sha strong; Wu: Qi Sha strong. Opposite Siblings: Wu Qu and Tian Fu; Life: Tai Yang and Tai Yin; Career: Tian Liang. About 17.8% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Friends from outside are strong-willed and independent; with Wu Qu and Tian Fu in the Siblings Palace opposite, the people closest to you are practical and steady.

Lian Zhen with Qi Sha (Chou or Wei)

Chou: Qi Sha exalted, Lian Zhen fair; Wei: Qi Sha exalted, Lian Zhen fair. Opposite Siblings: Tian Fu; Life: Tian Ji and Tai Yin; Career: Tian Liang. About 18.0% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Friends have strong personalities and big ambitions, with competition and mutual help side by side. The old texts say Lian Zhen with Qi Sha in Chou and Wei builds wealth; the modern reading is that your network is built through hard work. Further reading: Lian Zhen in the Friends Palace.

Qi Sha alone, facing Zi Wei and Tian Fu (Yin or Shen)

Yin: Qi Sha exalted; Shen: Qi Sha exalted. Opposite Siblings: Zi Wei and Tian Fu; Life: Tai Yin; Career: Tian Liang. About 17.6% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Qi Sha is exalted in Yin and Shen, so friends have drive; with Zi Wei and Tian Fu in the Siblings Palace opposite, the people closest to you have vision and value security.

Wu Qu with Qi Sha (Mao or You)

Mao: Qi Sha strong, Wu Qu fair; You: Qi Sha strong, Wu Qu fair. Opposite Siblings: Tian Fu; Life: Tai Yin; Career: Tian Tong and Tian Liang. About 18.7% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Friends are tough and independent, each working hard for themselves; money between you can cause friction, so keep the accounts clear. Further reading: Wu Qu in the Friends Palace.

Qi Sha alone, facing Lian Zhen and Tian Fu (Chen or Xu)

Chen: Qi Sha exalted; Xu: Qi Sha exalted. Opposite Siblings: Lian Zhen and Tian Fu; Life: Tai Yin; Career: Tai Yang and Tian Liang. About 13.7% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Qi Sha is exalted in Chen and Xu, so friends are direct and forceful; with Lian Zhen and Tian Fu in the Siblings Palace opposite, the people closest to you are shrewd and dependable.

Zi Wei with Qi Sha (Si or Hai)

Si: Qi Sha neutral, Zi Wei strong; Hai: Qi Sha neutral, Zi Wei strong. Opposite Siblings: Tian Fu; Life: Tian Tong and Tai Yin; Career: Tian Ji and Tian Liang. About 14.3% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace fall into this group.

Friends or team members have strong personalities and like to take charge; the relationships have force, and neither side yields easily. Further reading: Zi Wei in the Friends Palace.

Birth-year transformations in the Friends Palace

Under the Four Transformations table of the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Qi Sha never transforms, so Qi Sha in the Friends Palace never carries a birth-year Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke or Hua Ji of its own. For transformations in your friendships, look at any other star sharing the palace, at Lu Cun, and at the Siblings Palace opposite.

Friendship advice

Respect your friends' independence; when you work together, divide the work first, then set off.

About 42.7% of charts with Qi Sha in the Friends Palace also have at least one of the six Sha stars in that palace, about the same as the 42.4% across all charts. Malefic stars in the Friends Palace usually show up as more friction and more differing opinions in your circle, which calls for firmer boundaries and more talking things through; they do not mean your friends are bad.

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.

Other major stars in the Friends Palace