What is the Gua Su star?

The Gua Su star has a cold-sounding name. The ancients always named things bluntly, after their most extreme form. It is actually a very light minor star, paired with Gu Chen. If Gu Chen is "I like to carry things myself," Gua Su is more like "I like to keep my feelings to myself": not many words, not one to say when you're tired, but that doesn't mean you don't care. Draw your chart first and see which palace your Gua Su is in.

What kind of star is Gua Su

Gu Chen and Gua Su are called "Gu Gua" together, and Xingge reads the pair as the need for time alone: in whichever palace they sit, you tend to handle that palace's matters yourself. Their readings are very close; Gua Su leans a little more inward, linked with being quiet, slow to warm up and slow to open your heart. The heavy-named stars lesson covers this group of minor stars.

How Gua Su is placed

Gua Su goes by the branch of your birth year, with the same groups as Gu Chen:

• Born in a Yin, Mao or Chen year: Gua Su is in Chou.
• Born in a Si, Wu or Wei year: Gua Su is in Chen.
• Born in a Shen, You or Xu year: Gua Su is in Wei.
• Born in a Hai, Zi or Chou year: Gua Su is in Xu.

The pattern: Gua Su sits in the palace just before your birth year's direction group, and Gu Chen in the palace just after it. So Gua Su only appears in Chen, Xu, Chou or Wei, the four "tomb" or storehouse palaces. The ancients often said these four palaces can keep things hidden away, which fits Gua Su's way of tucking feelings away. The placement verses of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) don't include this method; it is the same as Gua Su among the Bazi spirit stars, and the Lun Gu Chen Gua Su section of the San Ming Tong Hui, a Ming-dynasty classic of Bazi (Four Pillars), places it the same way. If you switch Xingge to Zhongzhou placement, the position doesn't change.

The Quan Shu calls Wu Qu "Gua Su"

The Quan Shu doesn't write about this star, but the words "Gua Su" do appear, used to describe Wu Qu. The Nü Ming Gu Sui Fu in volume one says:

The lodge of Wu Qu is Gua Su, the solitary lodge.

The ancients borrowed the term to point at Wu Qu's upright, independent side that isn't good at soft words. That's also a good reference for reading Gua Su today: it describes a character that doesn't lean on others and holds itself up, not a life spent alone.

Gua Su in key palaces

• Life Palace: quiet and slow to warm up, used to working through things yourself. It isn't coldness; you just need time to open up.
• Spouse Palace: in close relationships you need space of your own, and you don't often say what's on your mind. Try putting what matters to you into words, so your partner can actually catch it.
• Property Palace: at home you need a corner of your own and some quiet time. Let your family know that's recharging, not pulling away.
• Friends Palace: not many friends, but the close ones last a long time; few but good is a blessing of its own.
• Parents Palace: not many words and a bit of distance with the older generation. Reach out with a greeting first, and the relationship comes a step closer.

Gua Su with main stars, transformations and luck periods

• Main stars and the Six Auspicious Stars: Gua Su sharing a palace with Wu Qu or Qi Sha makes the independent streak more pronounced; with detail-minded main stars like Tai Yin or Tian Ji, it is often a case of thinking a lot and saying little. When it meets Zuo Fu or You Bi, there are actually people willing to help, so remember to ask.
• The four transformations: with Hua Ke or Hua Lu in Gua Su's palace, quietly getting on with things actually tends to get you noticed; with Hua Ji, worries tend to stay bottled up too long, so find someone you can talk to.
• Luck periods: when a Decade or Annual Luck period reaches Gua Su's palace, practitioners say you'll want more quiet during that stretch. It's a good time to settle, read and sort out your life; there's no need to read it as your relationships getting worse.

How different schools read Gua Su

Every school places Gu Chen and Gua Su the same way. Older readings judge Gu Gua separately by gender; the view cited in the San Ming Tong Hui is that men fear Gu Chen and women fear Gua Su, which was the standard of the time. Xingge doesn't split the reading by gender, and reads both as the need for time alone. The Quan Shu school doesn't discuss these two stars at all. On the Bazi side, the San Ming Tong Hui says that "whoever has Hua Gai in the chart is mostly solitary," and also calls Hua Gai "the lofty, solitary lodge in the heavens," so when Gua Su shares a palace with Hua Gai, Xingge adds a layer of high-mindedness and a rich inner world.