Category: BaZi

Rooster Traits and Self Penalty

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

The Rooster is one of three animal signs in the Chinese Zodiac that consist of a single element. The other two are Rat (Water) and Rabbit (Wood). The energy of the Rooster is Metal, yin Metal that is. Being yin indicates a feminine quality, but plenty of our perceptions about Roosters have to do with an energy we might characterize as yang. Because the relationship of yin/yang is always shifting, or relative to the situation, there are unlimited ways to describe the energy of Metal. Here are a some examples.

General Traits of Metal

Exacting Nitpicking Principled Competitive
Fairness Underhanded Talkative Bitchy
Aggressive Brave Vain Strutting
Proud Trash Talking Exaggerating Fighting
Noisy Protective Warning Cutting
Defining Executing Precision Scorekeeper

Interestingly, you could take any one of the terms above and apply its opposite to the Rooster too. Try it. What if nitpicking became careless? Using extreme examples is helpful for learning but not every Rooster lives in the extremes. Think of all these words as clues rather than absolutes.

A simple approach to understanding the symbolic meaning of the Rooster’s possible “mistakes” is to consider the metaphors we use in our own language regarding roosters. Here are some common expressions:

  • Hatching rooster eggs: Wasting time or resources
  • Cock-eyed: turned or twisted to one side
  • Cock and Bull story: tall tales and elaborate lies
  • Cock sure: to brag
  • Cock of the walk: to be the boss
  • Strutting around like a rooster: to show off
  • Rooster games: preferring to fight instead of trying to work out a problem

The character Foghorn Leghorn, a famous Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies rooster, seems to embody the moment when the yin nature of the Rooster becomes so strong it turns to yang.

At the extremes this Metal energy could manifest as a person being too loud and self important, making a racket and attracting attention to themselves; attention that they expect you to pay. On the other hand, a Rooster who is too quiet is in trouble. If you love a Rooster, remember this. Listen to them and they won’t feel the need to talk so much.

Foghorn Leghorn: “Now let me know when I come to something that interests you.” He says this because he is going to keep talking until that happens. Roosters feel their words are important and they are. It’s hard not to listen to the opinion of the Rooster when they seem so certain. If that makes them cocky, so be it. You would be too if you were walking around with all that plumage, a loud voice, not to mention some shiny sharp talons.

Self Clash

The Rooster is one of four zodiac animals that carries with it the dreaded “self penalty”. This occurs when the Rooster encounters another Rooster, either in the natal chart or through timing.

A Rooster self penalty might closely resemble Foghorn Leghorn’s behavior in general, but in real life a self penalty is relative to your day master. If you have a Rooster in your chart, you have probably experienced the self penalty before. Depending on your day master the Rooster self penalty may show up in one of these five ways:

  • 木 Wood day master
    Power and control. Possibly a lack of self control or over controlling others. Or both.
  • 火 Fire day master
    Money. Bad decisions or reckless risk taking about money.
  • 土 Earth day master
    Output. Cockiness in speech, trash talking, too-sharp criticism.
  • 金 Metal day master
    Relationships. Fighting with coworkers, friends, peers, siblings
  • 水 Water day master
    Resources. Problems with food, drink, health.

Do you have a Rooster in your chart?*

Rooster Years: 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Rooster Month: September
Rooster Day: Depends on year and month
Rooster Hour: 5-7 pm (17:00-19:00)

Please contact me if you’d like to know your Four Pillars.

I’ll end this post with the natal chart of well known chef and restaurateur Michael Symon who has at least three Roosters in his natal chart. The Rooster often enjoys a good laugh and Michael Symon has one.

Ba Zi of Michael Symon
b. September 19th 1969
Life House
?
Hour
?
Day
Yin
Fire
丁
酉
Rooster
Month
Yin
Water
癸
酉
Rooster
Year
Yin
Earth
己
酉
Rooster
Big Fate
Yin
Fire
丁
卯
Rabbit

I say Michael Symon has at least three Roosters because I don’t know what time he was born. What if he has four?! His chart is already a special case where it looks like the Roosters (his wealth) take over the chart. In his career he has aligned himself with the “right people”, that is, the successful ones. Clearly that’s working out well for him!

Michael Symon started the 10 Year luck of Fire Rabbit in 2023. He’s experiencing clash in this decade but it doesn’t seem to be a problem. In 2023, a Water Rabbit year, he launched a cookbook – publishing a book is a Wood element activity. The Rabbit’s element is Wood.

One last thing: I hope you’ve noticed how throughout this post I’ve talked about Rooster qualities and energy, rather than Rooster people. There is no intention to criticize anyone here.

*Warning: Chinese calendar dates do not match up with the Gregorian calendar.

Thank you for reading! To be notified of future posts or receive them in your inbox, please subscribe to my Substack.

Using BaZi for Genealogy

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

family-tree

Earlier this year I was talking with a genealogist about a family tree she was researching. Genealogists collect lots of birth and death data as well as other documentation of a person’s life so I thought it would be fun to see if we could use Four Pillars natal chart analysis to ferret out new leads and she was open to it. We didn’t know the hour pillar (time of birth) but were still able to glean some clues from the chart that led to new information. The genealogist did know the man she was researching had been married once and some other helpful and significant details.

Remember, for this to actually work the birth data (year, month, day) has to be accurate but the hour pillar is not necessary.

I’m going to keep this next part general for the sake of privacy. Also, I want to make it very clear that none of my readings or research are ever intended to reveal scandals or skeletons in the closet. I do it to help by providing information when it is welcome, i.e. only when asked.

Here are the clues I found that would help the genealogist to find further information about the man’s residences, travels, wives and possible children:

When I looked at the chart I could see that the man who we were researching probably had two wives and married the first when he was pretty young. It looked like neither marriage would last very long. I shared this information with the genealogist and she said she thought the man had only been married once and that was in his 30s. I told her that the chart indicated that he was first married when he was younger than that. It turned out that he actually did marry for the first time at age 23. The marriage the genealogist already knew of had occurred when the man was married for the second time at age 33.

Adding this information about a second, formerly unknown marriage to a genealogist’s records is a big deal, not to mention so much fun for me. Opportunities to read charts and get feed back are always welcome. If you’re researching family genealogy and would like a no-frills natal chart analysis please contact me.

Yin Water Pig Month and the Water Element

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Thursday November 7th 2013 is the first day of the Yin Water Pig Month, also known as Gui Hai. Since the main element of the Pig is yang water, the pillar for the month is an entire pillar of water. In terms of Feng Shui and bazi the element of water represents many different things.

yin Water
癸
亥
Pig

The Water Element

The element of Water is yin by nature and represents wisdom among many other qualities. In a sense, Water is the last element in the Creative cycle of elements, therefore, you might call it the oldest, or closest to death. This gives people with a Water day or year stem a certain mindset. Sometimes they are the philosophers, sometimes they are the doomsayers. They know things. They seem to have one foot in the world of the living and one in the world of the dead.

The presence, location and strength of the Water in a chart can tell you something about a person’s intelligence. The Water element also represents the emotion of fear, the season of winter, cold, a salty taste, a putrid* smell, and the colors blue and black.

Water is easily influenced. Personality traits of Water are impulsiveness, flexibility, calmness, and a yielding or receptive nature, however, it’s best to understand you don’t know what it happening under the surface. It’s mysterious. The natural movement of water is downward, seeking the lowest point.

In general terms of Wu Xing and Bazi, Water is related to things that come out of us: emotions, words, talents, creativity. Too much output in a Bazi elementally works against a person’s self control. Lots of Water in a chart may also make it difficult for a person to sit still or stay put because of its inherent quality of movement.

The Water Pig Month

The month of the Pig will provide a big contrast to the fiery phases we experienced in month of the Dog that just ended. For some people the Water energy will provide a welcome respite from the Fire. For others it may “put a damper” on things. It all depends on your day master and your favorable elements.

Do you know if Water is a favorable element for you? Maybe you should have a Four Pillars analysis – OR – just keep track of events during the month and come to your own conclusions. You might be surprised by what you learn about yourself.

Very General Predictions by Day Master

If you don’t know what your Day Master or Day Stem is, just ask!
Wood Day Master

If you are a wood day master water is your resource. If water is favorable to you then you might find it easier to absorb and use information this month. You might feel smarter or feel your intuition is stronger than usual.

Fire Day Master

For fire day masters when water is a favorable element it can enhance your self control, power and fame. This might be a good time to ask for a raise, for a promotion or seek a new job.

Earth Day Master

If you are an earth day master and water is a favorable element in your chart you might find more money coming in November. If you are a man you may find you are more interested in or captivated by women this month.

Metal Day Master

Metal day masters who have water as a favorable element in the chart may find themselves more creative and expressive than usual. You could be a great communicator or teacher this month.

Water Day Master

For water day masters the element of water represents peers and friends. If water is favorable in your chart it could be a month where you get support and help from others, as well as enjoying socializing.

As always, none of this information applies unless you ACT. Don’t sit back and wait for good luck to happen. Keep things rolling along in the direction you want to go.

*Putrefaction is the stage of decomposition that changes solids into liquids – seems like the appropriate word choice.

Thank you for reading! To be notified of future posts or receive them in your inbox, please subscribe to my Substack.

Bazi of Roseanne Barr

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Roseanne Barr is an American comedian and actress known for her political criticism of the rich and powerful – the elite. That’s how she began anyway. When she became one of them, Roseanne’s jokes weren’t funny any more. In 2011 she became involved in poliitics, announcing that she would run for President of the United States. She made it onto the ballot in 2012 by way of the Peace and Freedom party.

Power was always a theme of Roseanne’s work, political and otherwise. You might have known her from her tv show “Roseanne” which was popular from 1988-1997. In 2016 she “flipped” and became a partisan of Trump. Now that I can read bazi, I’m not sure she was ever trying to win support for impoverished Americans. I say this having been a fan of hers prior to 2016.

Now I see that Roseanne Barr aligns with different forms of power at different times in her life.

She Devil

In her first movie She Devil (1989), Roseanne Barr plays Ruth Patchett, a home-making wife betrayed by her husband.

Watch as her rebellion against domesticity begins. This scene is a possible expression of the type of energy called 七殺 7 Killings. 7 Killings can manifest as a “win at all costs” type of approach to a situation, and Ruth is just getting started. Like Roseanne herself, she has hidden reservoirs of friends and strength.

As the plot unfolds, Ruth destroys her own house and even abandons her children as part of her plan to get revenge on her husband. She wants them to pester his new mistress. Roseanne’s inspiration in playing out her Medea fantasy seems to come from a deep place. This made me curious. I decided to check her bazi to see if this 7 Killings type of energy might be familiar to her. It is!

Roseanne Barr is a 癸 yin Water day master. Yin Water is rebellious and uncontainable, just to name a couple of qualities. As you read the rest of this post, keep in mind that Earth is the element that controls (or pollutes) Water.

Ba Zi of Rosanne Barr
b. November 3 1952 1:21 pm
Life House
Yin
Metal
辛
亥
Pig
Hour
Yin
Earth
己
未
Sheep
Day
Yin
Water
癸
丑
Ox
Month
Yang
Metal
庚
戌
Dog
Year
Yang
Water
壬
辰
Dragon
Big Fate
Yang
Wood
甲
辰
Dragon

The first thing that stands out is that Roseanne’s bazi contains all four Vaults: 辰 Dragon, 戌 Dog, 丑 Ox and 未 Sheep. These are all Earth signs.

All four Earth branches are present in the chart and perfectly arranged to clash with each other. Often this can indicate problems with family (and other) relationships. Roseanne’s history would support that idea. She has a reputation for being willing to trash her relationships and even act crude or offensive to prove her point. When I look at her eyes I see how smart she really is. I think she knows exactly what she is doing.

For a woman who is a yin water day master, yin earth represents the “7 killings”, boyfriend or competitive and daring energy. This is what she carries in her innermost self and in her mind. The yang earth represents her “Officer”. Yang Earth for her is lawful, carrying career or diplomatic type of energy.

These Earths in Roseanne’s chart can also represent husbands or “boyfriends”. Having both yin and yang Earth energy in her chart makes it difficult for her to be successful in marriage type relationships. Have you ever noticed how Roseanne Barr is particularly outspoken about men in general trying to control her? She goes to extremes to express her agency.

Bazi isn’t ruled by the mechanics of counting up elements but in Roseanne’s case it matches up. There are four long term relationships with men in her history:

  • Bill Pentland: They married February 4, 1974 and divorced January 16, 1990 (Metal Horse)
  • Tom Arnold: They married January 20, 1990 (Metal Horse) and filed for divorce April 18, 1994 (Wood Dog).
  • Ben Thomas: They married February 14, 1995 (Wood Pig) and divorced in 2002 (Water Horse).
  • Johnny Argent – they met in 2002 (Water Horse) and started dating in 2003. Now they live together in Hawaii.

Almost every time the Horse year shows up in the year pillar she gets married and/or divorced. Next year is a Wood Horse year…will her relationship survive? Her hour pillar says there’s a good chance.

Good luck Roseanne.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

It wasn’t gardening, that’s for sure. I’ve got the weeds and mess to prove it. This was the first year that my young garden was able to survive with very little attention. Some things even thrived. My little forest is growing up. I’ll give some of the credit to this temperate year of the Water Dragon which has now turned very dry. About the only thing I’ve done regularly in my garden is water and I didn’t even start that until late August.

This summer I spent every spare moment (and some borrowed and stolen ones too) studying the art and science of ba zi or Four Pillars of Destiny. Ba zi is an ancient Chinese method of predicting one’s overall life path and personality traits based on the birth data. The 4 pillars consist of the birth hour, day, month and year.

The birth chart analysis is based on observations of over a thousand years of data, theories from the I Ching (Book of Changes), and 5 Elements theory. It is said that when you take your first breath you inhale your destiny, which is based on the elemental phases present at the time. Ba zi is often called Chinese Astrology but it can be better explained as a statistical and logical analysis of the data, used in conjunction with certain algorithms. There are software programs written to decode ba zi charts but none will ever be able to compete with a human brain when it comes to recognizing the subtleties of human nature.

Having your chart analyzed is a great way to get to know yourself better and make choices that will improve your life. It can also be uncomfortable as no one likes to think about the aspects of themselves they perceive as unattractive or undesirable. Every quality about us has both helpful and unhelpful characteristics depending on how we wield it. Ba zi is not about judgement. It’s simply meant to help us understand why we do what we do, why certain relationships in our lives are the way they are, and what our hidden talents may be. The goal is to provide a solid foundation of understanding so you can make the best choices for yourself.

For example, each person has favorable and unfavorable elements in their chart. These elements will also come into play through timing. Most of us end up choosing a career that corresponds to the dominant (not necessarily favorable) element in the chart. That doesn’t mean that you’re in the wrong career. It just means that you might be happier in a career that corresponds to your favorable element or you could take a fun new direction in your current career. As the BaZi Queen says (I’m paraphrasing): The point of the analysis is to find out what your special gifts are and set them free.

If you made it this far and you’d like to see what elements are in your chart click here and enter your birth data, including time of birth. If you were born when daylight savings time was in effect subtract one hour from your birth time.

Well – that’s enough of the technical stuff for now. I’ll be writing more about feng shui and ba zi in the weeks and months to come. If you’d like to know more about how I ended up in Seattle studying Chinese Metaphysics click here.