Each entry has four parts: what it is, so what, what people get wrong, and the longer passage — why it means what it means and where you will notice it. This page explains words; it does not read anyone's chart. To see where these words fall in yours, sign in and make a profile.
Glossary
The glossary27 sets · 283 termsevery word in plain language
Every word a chart can print — Seven Killings, Nobleman, Ji transformation, Projector, rising sign — in two plain sentences: what it is and what it means for you, plus the one thing people most often get wrong about it.
Glossary
The ten heavenly stemsThe twelve earthly branchesThe ten gods (BaZi)Day-master strengthThe five elementsThe twelve zodiac animalsZi Wei starsZi Wei's twelve palacesThe four transformationsElement bureausThe nine starsCompass termsThe twelve signsAspectsThe nine grahasThe 27 nakshatrasHuman Design typesHuman Design strategiesInner authorityThe nine centersDefinitionNumerology numbersEnneagram typesThe 20 Maya day signsTarot major arcanaTarot suitsTarot ranksThe ten heavenly stemsThe twelve earthly branchesThe ten gods (BaZi)Day-master strengthThe five elementsThe twelve zodiac animalsZi Wei starsZi Wei's twelve palacesThe four transformationsElement bureausThe nine starsCompass termsThe twelve signsAspectsThe nine grahasThe 27 nakshatrasHuman Design typesHuman Design strategiesInner authorityThe nine centersDefinitionNumerology numbersEnneagram typesThe 20 Maya day signsTarot major arcanaTarot suitsTarot ranks
Sign in and make a profile: twenty-four systems read your birth data, and every word they print — this one included — is explained where it appears, with which traditions agree.
- JiaJia: a great tree. Straight, upward, first through the door.
- YiYi: a vine. Soft, but it climbs and it holds.
- BingBing: the sun. Bright, outward, the same to everyone.
- DingDing: a candle. Small, focused, warm to whoever is close.
- WuWu: thick earth, a mountain. Steady, slow to move.
- JiJi: field soil. Fine, feeding, practical.
- GengGeng: unworked metal. Direct, decisive.
- XinXin: a jewel. Refined, sensitive, exacting.
- RenRen: open water. Wide, moving, far-sighted.
- GuiGui: rain and dew. Quiet, soaking in slowly.
- Very weakVery weak: the chart gives you almost no backing; you stay wide open.
- WeakWeak: a little more to carry than you hold; you are often allocating.
- BalancedBalanced: what you hold and what you carry are close, neither extreme.
- StrongStrong: plenty backing you in the chart; you can push things yourself.
- Very strongVery strong: support to spare — hard to move, and hard to bend.
- Zi Wei 紫微Zi Wei: the star at the centre, setting the tone and settling things.
- Tian Ji 天機Tian Ji: a fast mind, working several moves ahead.
- Tai Yang 太陽Tai Yang: the one that shines outward, and gives in the open.
- Wu Qu 武曲Wu Qu: the hard one — execution, money, getting it done.
- Tian Tong 天同Tian Tong: the soft one, finding the comfortable place to sit.
- Lian Zhen 廉貞Lian Zhen: principle and appetite, pulling visibly against each other.
- Tian Fu 天府Tian Fu: the treasury — keeping, guarding, counting accurately.
- Tai Yin 太陰Tai Yin: the inward one — fine, soft, and remembering a lot.
- Tan Lang 貪狼Tan Lang: wanting many things, and actually going after them.
- Ju Men 巨門Ju Men: the mouth — accurate, and it lands where it hurts.
- Tian Xiang 天相Tian Xiang: the aide, keeping everything in order.
- Tian Liang 天梁Tian Liang: the elder — shielding people and speaking for them.
- Qi Sha 七殺Qi Sha: the one that charges, cutting the retreat first.
- Po Jun 破軍Po Jun: the old thing gets taken apart to make room.
- Zuo Fu 左輔A helper who arrives from beside you — a peer, an equal.
- You Bi 右弼The other helper — softer, arriving through goodwill.
- Wen Chang 文昌Writing and order — getting a thing down on paper clearly.
- Wen Qu 文曲Speech and craft — being remembered for how you put it.
- Tian Kui 天魁A patron, usually older or further up than you.
- Tian Yue 天鉞The other patron, arriving less visibly.
- Lu Cun 祿存The part that stays — the floor under your money.
- Tian Ma 天馬Movement — changing place, leaving where you were.
- Qing Yang 擎羊Sharp and direct — the force that cuts.
- Tuo Luo 陀羅Dragging and circling — a thing that sits where it is.
- Huo Xing 火星Heat that comes up all at once.
- Ling Xing 鈴星The banked kind of heat — the sort that doesn't flare.
- Di Kong 地空Thinking far out, and landing a piece short.
- Di Jie 地劫Something you'd counted on, taken partway through.
- conjunctTwo bodies in the same place, their pulls stacked.
- oppositeTwo bodies facing each other, pulling opposite ways.
- squareTwo bodies caught on each other, forcing a move.
- trineTwo bodies running with each other, easily.
- sextileTwo bodies that help each other, if you ask.
- returnA body arriving back where it stood when you were born.
- AshwiniA horse's head, already moving before the thought finishes.
- BharaniThe shape of a womb: it carries something until its time.
- KrittikaA flame and a blade: it burns off what is not clean.
- RohiniA loaded ox cart, slow because things actually grew.
- MrigashiraA deer lifts its head; the nose moves first. It is searching.
- ArdraA teardrop, and a storm: the air is only clean afterwards.
- PunarvasuArrows leave, and come back to the quiver.
- PushyaA cow's udder: others are fed first, and you come after.
- AshleshaA coiled snake: perfectly still, and missing nothing.
- MaghaAn empty throne; the people who sat in it came before you.
- Purva PhalguniThe front legs of a bed: lying down, pleasure, a day made good.
- Uttara PhalguniThe back legs of the bed: once agreed, they hold.
- HastaAn open hand: it can make things, and it can do sleight of hand.
- ChitraA jewel bright enough to sting, cut by hand, facet by facet.
- SwatiA young reed in the wind: it bends very low and does not break.
- VishakhaA victory arch, with the thing you want still on the far side.
- AnuradhaA flower out of mud; it opened because someone stayed nearby.
- JyeshthaAn open umbrella: whoever holds it keeps one shoulder wet.
- MulaA bundle of roots pulled up whole, soil still clinging to them.
- Purva AshadhaWater rising: quiet, and not easy to hold back.
- Uttara AshadhaAn elephant tusk: slow to grow, and not easily broken.
- ShravanaAn ear: everything is heard out before you speak.
- DhanishtaA drum: when it is struck, a crowd tends to fall into the same step.
- ShatabhishaAn empty circle: what it encloses, outsiders stay outside of.
- Purva BhadrapadaA fire burning in the dark: strong, and not careful.
- Uttara BhadrapadaA serpent resting at the bottom of deep water.
- RevatiA fish swimming ahead, leading whoever is lost back to shore.
- Type 1 · ReformerType One: the eye lands on what is not right yet, and wants it right.
- Type 2 · HelperType Two: you feel what someone needs and it is already given.
- Type 3 · AchieverType Three: getting it done, and being seen to have done it.
- Type 4 · IndividualistType Four: alert to what is missing, and to beauty because of it.
- Type 5 · InvestigatorType Five: step back, understand it, then approach.
- Type 6 · LoyalistType Six: you see what could go wrong, so you are better prepared than most.
- Type 7 · EnthusiastType Seven: several exciting options open at once, and no wish to be shut in.
- Type 8 · ChallengerType Eight: the one who stands in front, direct and unhedged.
- Type 9 · PeacemakerType Nine: keeping the peace, with your own view mentioned last.
- AceThe Ace is the suit's seed: just arrived, not yet unfolded.
- TwoTwo is a pair: choice, balance, a pull from both sides.
- ThreeThree is first form: collaboration, an early result.
- FourFour is stability: structure set, and possibly stuck in it.
- FiveFive is imbalance: conflict, loss, the system interrupted.
- SixSix is recovery: back to workable after the adjustment.
- SevenSeven is the trial: alone with it, needing strategy rather than force.
- EightEight is momentum: focus, repetition, speed built up.
- NineNine is nearly there: the result in hand and the cost with it.
- TenTen is full: this suit at its limit, ready to end or to turn.
- PageThe Page is the apprentice: curious, new, still practising.
- KnightThe Knight is the pursuer: full speed one way, and prone to overshooting.
- QueenThe Queen is inward mastery: understanding this suit from the inside.
- KingThe King is outward mastery: able to answer for this suit and decide in it.
- ZiZi: midnight, deep winter. Everything still inside the seed.
- ChouChou: before dawn. Held in, waiting out the hour.
- YinYin: first light, the start of spring. Time to set off.
- MaoMao: sunrise. The shoot opens and grows fastest.
- ChenChen: mid-morning. Damp earth, everything gathering.
- SiSi: late morning. The heat rises; attention narrows.
- WuWu: noon. Fire at its peak, most visible.
- WeiWei: afternoon. Warm earth, things ripening.
- ShenShen: late afternoon. Metal rises; the turn begins.
- YouYou: sunset, harvest. Time to sort and sift.
- XuXu: evening. Dry earth, watching the gate.
- HaiHai: night. The water returns; rest is due.
- RatA Rat year: first of the cycle, busy before dawn.
- OxAn Ox year: the furrow gets finished, and no shortcuts are looked for.
- TigerA Tiger year: things get forced open — big moves, loud ones.
- RabbitA Rabbit year: knives get put away and tact does the work.
- DragonA Dragon year: the scale goes up; things rarely happen quietly.
- SnakeA Snake year: quiet on top, moving where you cannot see.
- HorseA Horse year: the road opens and people run at it.
- GoatA Goat year: things slow down — care, and small attentions.
- MonkeyA Monkey year: rules get turned over; clever outruns correct.
- RoosterA Rooster year: accounts get settled and things get said.
- DogA Dog year: loyalty counts, and who stood where gets remembered.
- PigA Pig year: last of the cycle — a full table, then goodbye.
- 1 White WaterA water year: it goes around obstacles rather than through them.
- 2 Black EarthA slow star — deep earth, the kind that feeds things.
- 3 Green WoodA new shoot: loud, fast, all beginnings.
- 4 Green WoodThe wind star — it carries word and relationships a long way.
- 5 Yellow EarthThe centre: the most powerful place, and the most easily upturned.
- 6 White MetalA metal star: order, and how things ought to be done.
- 7 Red MetalThe lake: pleasure, talk, and money.
- 8 White EarthThe mountain: stop, accumulate, then turn.
- 9 Purple FireFire: bright, visible, and clear-sighted.
- AriesAries: the first break of spring — move first, think after.
- TaurusTaurus: the pull to keep things — slow, solid, not hurried.
- GeminiGemini: seeing two sides of everything, talking fast, changing lanes.
- CancerCancer: a shell, a very soft inside, and a long memory.
- LeoLeo: wants to be seen, and genuinely gives warmth back.
- VirgoVirgo: you see what is not right yet, and want it right.
- LibraLibra: finding the point where two sides can both stand.
- ScorpioScorpio: not the surface layer — what is actually moving underneath.
- SagittariusSagittarius: eyes on the far distance, already picking the next road.
- CapricornCapricorn: you know exactly how high the hill is, and climb anyway.
- AquariusAquarius: standing slightly outside, asking how else this could be done.
- PiscesPisces: thin edges — other people's feelings come straight in.
- GeneratorYou run on a steady supply of energy that switches on when the right thing turns up.
- Manifesting GeneratorA steady supply of energy, with almost no gap between feeling and doing.
- ProjectorYou read people and situations well, without the stamina to burn all day.
- ManifestorYou can move on your own initiative, in bursts rather than steadily.
- ReflectorNothing in you is fixed; you work more like a mirror.
- EmotionalClarity does not arrive in the moment; it comes once the swell has passed.
- SacralYour answer lives in the body — the gut moves before the reasons do.
- SplenicA quiet instinct, usually arriving in the same instant as the thing itself.
- Ego (manifested)Your decisions run on what you actually want — and you hear it as you say it.
- Ego (projected)Your decisions hang on whether a thing is good for you — heard best out loud.
- Self-projectedYour sense of direction arrives out loud, when a sentence sounds like you.
- Mental / environmentalYou can talk yourself into most things, which is why thinking alone is not enough.
- LunarYour clarity assembles slowly, over roughly one lunar cycle.
- EgoYour decisions run on appetite, not analysis: wanting a thing is what fuels it.
- No definitionNone of you is wired into a fixed block; everything stays in motion.
- SingleEverything fixed in you is wired into one piece.
- SplitTwo settled areas in you, with an unbridged gap between them.
- Triple splitThree settled areas in you, none of them joined up.
- Quadruple splitFour settled areas in you, each going its own way — an uncommon build.
- Imix (Crocodile)Imix, the crocodile: the first ground under the water, holding everything up.
- Ik’ (Wind)Ik’, the wind: the breath that comes in, carrying words and something new.
- Ak’b’al (Night)Ak’b’al, night: the quiet inside a house after the light goes.
- K’an (Seed)K’an, the seed: the one still in your palm, not yet in soil.
- Chikchan (Serpent)Chikchan, the serpent: the body knows first, the head catches up after.
- Kimi (Death)Kimi, death: one thing closes so another has somewhere to stand.
- Manik’ (Deer)Manik’, the deer: a steady hand that catches what is passed to it.
- Lamat (Star)Lamat, the star: the last one still burning before dawn.
- Muluk (Water)Muluk, water: full to the rim, one nudge from spilling.
- Ok (Dog)Ok, the dog: knows the road home, and knows its own people.
- Chuwen (Monkey)Chuwen, the monkey: plays at the work until the work turns into something.
- Eb’ (Road)Eb’, the road: the path under your feet, worn in by many.
- B’en (Reed)B’en, the reed: hollow, straight, and able to hold up a roof.
- Ix (Jaguar)Ix, the jaguar: moves without sound, waits, then takes the one step.
- Men (Eagle)Men, the eagle: high up, far-sighted, and a little cold about it.
- Kib’ (Owl)Kib’, the owl: the eyes that stay open in the dark.
- Kab’an (Earth)Kab’an, the earth: the slow shift of ground far beneath you.
- Etz’nab’ (Flint)Etz’nab’, flint: one stroke, and the cut comes away clean.
- Kawak (Storm)Kawak, the storm: the rain that arrives after a long, heavy stillness.
- Ajaw (Sun Lord)Ajaw, the sun lord: noon light, filling the whole day.
- CompanionBi Jian, the companion: someone walking the same road, shoulder to shoulder.
- Rob WealthJie Cai: the same road, but this one reaches for your share.
- Eating GodShi Shen: what grows out of you unforced — craft, output, appetite.
- Hurting OfficerShang Guan: the same talent, but this one answers back and shows off.
- Indirect WealthPian Cai: money in motion — chances, contacts, the one-off windfall.
- Direct WealthZheng Cai: the kind you earn by the hour and can count.
- Seven KillingsQi Sha: the force pressing on you — deadlines, rivals, the unavoidable.
- Direct OfficerZheng Guan: the one with proper authority over you — rules, office, duty.
- Indirect ResourcePian Yin: someone who looks after you oddly — distant, few words, unusual.
- Direct ResourceZheng Yin: the one who covers you — teaches, protects, keeps a way back.
- Ming 命宮The Ming palace is you yourself — character, bearing, the base.
- Xiongdi 兄弟宮The Xiongdi palace is siblings, peers, whoever stands beside you.
- Fuqi 夫妻宮The Fuqi palace is partnership and intimacy.
- Zinv 子女宮The Zinv palace is children, students, and what you make.
- Caibo 財帛宮The Caibo palace is how money arrives and how it leaves.
- Jie 疾厄宮The Jie palace is the body, and where pressure settles in it.
- Qianyi 遷移宮The Qianyi palace is travel, elsewhere, changing surroundings.
- Jiaoyou 交友宮The Jiaoyou palace is friends, reports, the circle around you.
- Guanlu 官祿宮The Guanlu palace is career and standing — where the world files you.
- Tianzhai 田宅宮The Tianzhai palace is home, property, your base.
- Fude 福德宮The Fude palace is inner comfort — interests, spirit, ease.
- Fumu 父母宮The Fumu palace is parents, elders, the layer above you.
- Five Yellow (五黃殺)The Five Yellow star sits here this year, or this month.
- Dark Sword (暗剣殺)Dark Sword is the direction directly opposite the Five Yellow.
- Your own star sits here (本命殺)Your own birth star is sitting in this direction.
- Opposite your star (本命的殺)The direction opposite where your birth star sits.
- Year break (歳破)The direction directly opposing this year's branch.
- Month break (月破)The direction directly opposing this month's branch.
- Supportive element (相生)The star sitting there feeds your birth star in the element cycle.
- Surya (Sun)Surya, the Sun: yourself, and how you want to be recognised.
- Chandra (Moon)Chandra, the Moon: feeling, and the part that needs looking after.
- Mangal (Mars)Mangal, Mars: drive and courage — and temper.
- Budha (Mercury)Budha, Mercury: speech, learning, trade.
- Guru (Jupiter)Guru, Jupiter: expansion, teaching, being looked after.
- Shukra (Venus)Shukra, Venus: liking, beauty, pleasure, relationship.
- Shani (Saturn)Shani, Saturn: time, responsibility, slow work.
- RahuRahu: the hunger for what you do not have yet.
- KetuKetu: letting go of what you already understand.
- Wait to respondYour energy opens properly once something turns up to meet it.
- Wait for the invitationYou work best where you've been recognised and asked in.
- Inform before actingSay it out loud before you move — you moving changes other people's plans.
- Wait a lunar cycleGive a big decision about a month before you settle it.
- HeadThe Head centre is about QUESTIONS — the ones with no answer yet that keep surfacing.
- AjnaThe Ajna centre is about how a thought TAKES SHAPE — analysing, sorting, making sense.
- ThroatThe Throat centre is about SAYING AND DOING — every outlet for expression.
- GThe G centre is about DIRECTION AND IDENTITY — love, self, which way.
- HeartThe Heart centre is about COMMITMENT AND WORTH — what you will promise, what feels worth it.
- Solar PlexusThe Solar Plexus is about the SWING of feeling — not good or bad, a wave.
- SacralThe Sacral centre is about FUEL for doing — work, life force, staying power.
- SpleenThe Spleen is about INSTANT INSTINCT — safe or not, right or off.
- RootThe Root centre is about PRESSURE AND STARTING — the push that gets you moving.
- Number 1One is the starting number: independent, first through, from nothing.
- Number 2Two is the pairing number: waiting, listening, what two people do.
- Number 3Three is the expressive number: speech, making, company.
- Number 4Four is the foundation number: order, discipline, laid brick by brick.
- Number 5Five is the moving number: freedom, travel, the unplanned.
- Number 6Six is the caring number: home, responsibility, catching people.
- Number 7Seven is the inward number: solitude, study, thinking it through.
- Number 8Eight is the number of leverage: money, decisions, visible results.
- Number 9Nine is the closing number: ending, releasing, giving away.
- The FoolThe Fool is numbered zero: the step before anything has started or been named.
- The MagicianThe Magician: every tool is already on the table; what's left is using them.
- The High PriestessThe High Priestess: knowing and not yet saying — the half behind the curtain.
- The EmpressThe Empress: abundance and nurture — the face that grows things.
- The EmperorThe Emperor: order, boundary, structure set up.
- The HierophantThe Hierophant: tradition, institution, the established way.
- The LoversThe Lovers: not only romance — a choice between values.
- The ChariotThe Chariot: opposite forces harnessed to one vehicle and driven.
- StrengthStrength: not suppression but taming — holding the wild part gently.
- The HermitThe Hermit: carrying a lamp inward, away from the crowd.
- Wheel of FortuneThe Wheel: the cycle turns, and some of this isn't yours to push.
- JusticeJustice: the account balanced, cause meeting effect.
- The Hanged ManThe Hanged Man: a willing pause, and a reversed view.
- DeathDeath: a real ending — a change of season, not a disaster.
- TemperanceTemperance: two things blended into one, slowly.
- The DevilThe Devil: what binds you — and the chain is usually loose.
- The TowerThe Tower: a structure that couldn't hold, coming down fast.
- The StarThe Star: the quiet and the bearing that follow the wreck.
- The MoonThe Moon: the stretch you can't see clearly, where shadows are larger than things.
- The SunThe Sun: things lit, plain and unambiguous.
- JudgementJudgement: a reckoning, and then a call onward.
- The WorldThe World: a full circuit completed, whole and able to be handed on.
A word is a way in. What it means for you shows up on your own chart.