What is the Tian Wu star?

In ancient times, a "wu" was the shaman who led rites and spoke with heaven and earth on others' behalf. Tian Wu (Heavenly Shaman) borrows the name, but later texts read it in two ways: the Zhongzhou school reads it as promotion and taking over what the previous generation leaves, while another school reads it as a strong feel for religion, the five arts of Chinese metaphysics, and things unseen. It is a very light minor star, and on its own it doesn't change a palace's personality. To find out which palace Tian Wu falls in, draw your chart.

What kind of star is Tian Wu

Tian Wu leans helpful, with two main readings that are often discussed together:

• Promotion and inheritance: Wang Tingzhi's table of minor stars says Tian Wu "governs promotion, and also governs inheritance." He says Tian Wu governs status rather than wealth, and points to promotion when it meets Tian Kui or Tian Yue (Heavenly Halberd); he also calls it a star that signals inheritance, such as taking over a family business, or an elder's craft or collection.
• Intuition and inner life: another school reads Tian Wu as a star of diviners and religion: an interest in astrology, religion and the five arts, and sensitivity to atmosphere and to people's moods.

The two readings don't conflict: one points inward and the other points to receiving from above. Look at which palace Tian Wu falls in to see which one makes more sense.

How Tian Wu is placed: by birth month

Tian Wu goes only by your lunar birth month, in a four-month cycle:

• Born in the 1st, 5th or 9th month: in Si
• Born in the 2nd, 6th or 10th month: in Shen
• Born in the 3rd, 7th or 11th month: in Yin
• Born in the 4th, 8th or 12th month: in Hai

So Tian Wu only ever lands in Yin, Shen, Si or Hai, the same four "horse" positions as Tian Ma. But Tian Ma goes by birth year and Tian Wu by birth month, so the two don't necessarily share a palace. Tian Wu isn't in the placement verses of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu); it is a small star added later, and Xingge places it on the chart by today's common method.

Tian Wu in key palaces

• Life Palace: an intuition for things unseen; you often think about the meaning of life, and take an interest in astrology, religion or psychology.
• Career Palace: both readings apply. One: you're readily promoted at work and handed bigger roles. Two: you suit fields that need you to settle in deep, such as research, religion, mind-body work and helping professions.
• Property Palace: often read as a bond with the family business, property or things handed down in the family, like taking over an elder's shop or keeping old family objects.
• Fortune Palace: a rich inner life. Meditation, reading, or stepping into a temple or a church may all help you settle.
• Parents Palace: you receive a lot from elders, whether a craft, a way of seeing things, or a responsibility.
• Spouse Palace: in close relationships you value a meeting of minds, and being able to talk about deeper things matters more than anything.

Reading Tian Wu with main stars and other minor stars

• Tian Kui and Tian Yue: Wang Tingzhi says Tian Wu most likes sharing a palace with Tian Kui or Tian Yue, when the sense of promotion and growing responsibility is clearest.
• Tian Liang: Tian Liang already carries the nature of caring for people and being someone to lean on. Wang Tingzhi says Tian Wu meeting Tian Liang in the Property or Parents Palace often means receiving an elder's protection; the religious school says Tian Wu meeting Tian Liang or Tian Ji points to a deeper bond with religion.
• Lu Cun and Hua Lu: Wang Tingzhi says that when Tian Wu signals inheritance, it likes to meet Lu Cun or Hua Lu.
• Hua Gai: the religious school often discusses Tian Wu together with Hua Gai, saying both carry a touch of craft and of life beyond the ordinary world.

Tian Wu goes by birth month and doesn't move with the Annual Luck. When the annual Life Palace reaches the Tian Wu cell, it can be read as a year when the need for an inner life is stronger, or when there's something in the family to take over or sort out.

How the schools differ

The month table for Tian Wu is much the same across schools. Where they tend to differ is the leap month: whether a leap-month birth counts as that month or the next varies, and if the month changes, Tian Wu changes cell. Xingge follows most modern charting: days 1 to 15 of a leap month count as that month, and days 16 onward as the next month.