Upheaval
Sudden change arriving from outside.
Universe · Library
Traditional markers
Classical saju has a family of markers: short labels laid over the animals of a chart. This app already shows three of them by name (the three-year cycle, movement and visibility). This page covers the rest of the family: what each one means, and which ones we actually print on your chart.
The twelve, and why they are one thing
Movement and visibility are not two separate lookups. They are positions four and ten of one twelve-step cycle, and your birth year’s three-harmony group fixes the cycle. Once you know where the group starts, all twelve follow in order. Nothing has to be memorised.
Every animal in every chart carries exactly one of the twelve. So they are a way of reading a chart, not a rare event. That is also why they are not printed on your Chart screen. A label that everyone has, four times over, tells you nothing about you.
Obstacle
Something blocking the direct route.
Weather
Conditions you did not set and cannot argue with.
Ground
Where you stand and start from.
Allure
Visibility and attraction, traditionally Dohwa.
Waning
Energy thinning out: a quieter stretch.
Exposure
Being seen more plainly than you chose.
Command
The position of most force in the group.
Saddle
Settled into a role, ready to move.
Travel
Movement and change, traditionally Yeokma.
Entanglement
Ties that hold longer than expected.
Canopy
Withdrawal, study, and things kept private.
Helping positions (Cheoneul Gwiin)
This one comes first because not everybody has it.
Two animals are read from your day element as helping positions: traditionally where support comes from outside rather than from your own effort. About 46 in 100 charts have a pillar sitting on one. For the rest we say nothing at all, rather than print an absence.
This one is a verse, not a rule: there is no arithmetic behind it, only a table handed down. So your chart shows its working: which day element was read, and which two animals it names.
Yang wood, yang earth, yang metal
Helping positions: Ox and Goat
Yin wood, yin earth
Helping positions: Rat and Monkey
Yang fire, yin fire
Helping positions: Pig and Rooster
Yang water, yin water
Helping positions: Snake and Rabbit
Yin metal
Helping positions: Tiger and Horse
Dragon and Dog never appear. In the tradition those two animals are the Gwaegang pair and carry no helping position at all. That is one of the checks we hold the table to, since a typing error in a table has no other way of being caught.
Almanacs carry two versions of the verse, and we follow the one in this table. The other gives yang metal the Tiger and Horse instead of the Ox and Goat. Neither moves any score.
Fifteen more stars
These are the ones a traditional almanac prints most often. On My Chart they appear as one line, and only the ones your chart carries. Tap a name to see what it means.
Blade
A sharp edge of your own element: drive and decisiveness that can cut both ways.
Read from: Your day element, one step past where it stands strongest
Golden carriage
Traditionally comfort and good support around you.
Read from: Your day element, two steps past where it stands strongest
Literary star
Traditionally a flair for learning, writing and ideas.
Read from: Your day element, three steps past where it stands strongest
Literary current
Traditionally a feel for words, art and expression.
Read from: Opposite your literary star
Study hall
Traditionally a love of study, and a place where learning comes easily.
Read from: Where your day element's cycle begins
Moon's grace
Traditionally a quiet protection: difficulties may tend to soften.
Read from: Your month's animal group
Heaven's grace
Traditionally a protective grace: help that may ease hard moments.
Read from: Your month's animal
Solitude
Traditionally a streak of independence that can feel like standing apart.
Read from: The animal just after your birth year's season
Seclusion
Traditionally a liking for your own space and time to yourself.
Read from: The animal just before your birth year's season
White tiger
Traditionally intensity and sudden force: energy that asks for care.
Read from: Seven particular pillars
Chief star
Traditionally strong will and leadership, with an all-or-nothing streak.
Read from: Five particular day pillars
Hanging needle
Traditionally precision and a sharp eye, sometimes a sharp tongue.
Read from: Five characters drawn with a hanging stroke
Red glow
Traditionally charm and a warmth that draws others in.
Read from: Your day element, from a traditional table
Great pole
Traditionally a pull toward depth and the big picture.
Read from: Your day element, from a traditional table
Stumbling step
Traditionally linked with haste and quick steps.
Read from: Your month's season
Almanacs disagree on a few of these, so we name what we follow. Blade is given to yin day elements as well as yang ones. Chief star is read on the day pillar only. Hanging needle counts five characters, not six. Red glow and Stumbling step follow the older of the two tables we checked. Three stars that often appear beside these mean mourning, condolence and a fall. They are left out on purpose: this app does not print a death or an accident as a reading.
Pairs and full groups among the animals
Beside the clashes and harmonies that do shape your themes, three more pairs of neighbouring animals are shown as labels: unease, sensitive gate and hidden bond. The first two come from traditional tables. A hidden bond is worked out: it is two animals whose main hidden stems combine.
When three of your animals complete a harmony group, or make up all three animals of one season, My Chart calls it a full group. It names the element the group gathers into. It is one of the strongest patterns a chart can carry, and it is shown, not scored.
What we do and do not claim
- These are folk labels, separate from the element balance, the ten gods and the strength reading. They do not move any score.
- The twelve are read from your year branch. Some schools read them from the day branch instead. Both are in use, and we name ours, the same way we name the midnight convention on four pillars.
- Helping positions are read from your day element. That is not one of the points where schools split.
- The fifteen stars and the animal pairs were checked, chart by chart, against two published almanacs, and match the one we follow on every chart we checked.
- Nothing here is a prediction. A marker is a leaning to notice, not an instruction.