For my recreational reading, I often choose biographies of women. Having recently read An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison, I’ve been thinking about the Fire element and people with Fire imbalances.
Kay’s BaZi is impressive due to the sheer amount of actual and potential Fire present, and because she made it through the Fire. It’s an extreme case. Kay is an example of how an overload of a particular element can bring both heightened talents and overwhelming challenges. She’s a 74 year old successful psychologist who is living with bipolar disorder. With great talent comes great instability? Sometimes. Maybe the lesson here is to realize how your big challenge gives you a special insight into the solution. Because it does. Trust what you come to know and never give up on yourself. Innovate on your own behalf.
If you want to learn more about Five Elements and how to read them, start by paying attention to the words and imagery people use. You’ll find that there are themes that run throughout their communication. Music is the place where this stands out to me the most. You can read more about that here.
As I was reading Kay’s book, I was reminded of another chart with heavy fire. That’s the BaZi of Kanye West. What immediately comes to mind for me is his sampling of Chaka Khan’s* “Through the Fire“ in his song “Through the Wire“. It seems very significant that he would choose that particular song to sample in what might be his most important song ever, career wise.
In Through the Wire, the wire Kanye is referring to is the one holding his shattered jaw together. A little over a year before his first album was released, Kanye had a car accident and almost lost his life. That was October 23, 2002, a Water Horse year. According to the story, he was on his way home from the studio after a long day and fell asleep at the wheel. Given that he survived, I think the hour of the accident was Pig.
I picture Kanye listening to Through the Fire on repeat during his recovery while he was putting together The College Dropout. He recorded Through the Wire while his jaw was still wired shut – literally speaking through the wire. The lyrics and samples are uncannily descriptive of his BaZi.
Kanye West
June 6 1977 in Dragon hour (my estimate)
| Hour | Day | Month | Year | Current Fate | |
| Water | Fire | Fire | Fire | Metal | |
| 壬 | 丙 | 丙 | 丁 | 辛 | |
| 辰 | 申 | 午 | 巳 | 丑 | |
| Dragon | Monkey | Horse | Snake | Ox |
The presence of the Horse creates a big potential risk for Kanye, especially when it comes to making decisions. When that Horse is clashed by Water, uh oh. That was 2020. The solution for Kanye is in the Ox. With the Ox present he has more support for helpful routines. It’s nice to see he’s got one in his current Big Fate. Hopefully this will bring more stability for him.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian married on May 24 2014. That was a Wood Horse year which makes me think Kanye may consider marrying again in June. Thinking of his children, I hope he would choose September if he’s going to do it.
With his super Fire heavy BaZi, Kanye seems to prefer women who can cool his chart down. Irina Shayk could do that. Although it looks like he initially approaches his love relationships with passion, a partnership with Irina looks similar to his marriage with Kim Kardashian. This would be a collaboration of equals, very much like a business deal or arranged marriage. Providing for the dynasty is important.
The main problem of the K & K marriage seemed to be public perceptions of one partner being more prominent or richer than the other, or one partner making the other look bad. Irina’s chart supports her partner’s fame and reputation more than her own, making her possibly more compatible with Kanye than Kim was. I guess we’ll find out.
*Born March 23, 1953 (Water Snake year)
