What is the Tian Xi star?

The Tian Xi star is one of the easiest minor stars to find on a chart: locate Hong Luan, and the palace directly across from it holds Tian Xi. The two face each other, one in charge of the heart stirring, the other of happy occasions. Tian Xi is a minor star. It won't change a palace's basic character, but it adds a bit more liveliness and a bit more good news. Draw your chart first and see where your Tian Xi lands.

What kind of star is Tian Xi

Tian Xi is one of the romance stars, and with Hong Luan it is called "Luan Xi." Xingge reads this pair as cheerfulness and likability. If Hong Luan is "my heart is stirring," Tian Xi is "I have good news to share": an engagement, a wedding, a new baby, or something like a promotion, a move or getting into a school, anything that makes you want to celebrate.

How Tian Xi is placed

Tian Xi isn't calculated separately. The An Hong Luan Tian Xi Jue verse in volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) first places Hong Luan, then says:

The palace you land on is Hong Luan's seat, and Tian Xi sits opposite without fail.

Hong Luan treats the Mao palace as the Zi year and counts backward to your birth-year branch; Tian Xi sits in Hong Luan's opposite palace. By birth-year branch, that gives Tian Xi in You for a Zi year, Shen for Chou, Wei for Yin and Wu for Mao, moving backward all the way round. Everyone born in the same year has Tian Xi in the same branch. Volume two also notes that "Hong Luan and Tian Xi belong to Water," so the two share an element as well.

Don't confuse it with "the Tian Xi spirit"

In the Zhu Xing Wen Da Lun chapter of volume one, the verse on Tian Xing has a line saying that "in its home palace it is called the Tian Xi spirit," meaning that when Tian Xing lands in the right place, it turns into something good. That line is about Tian Xing, not this Tian Xi star, so don't mix them up when reading the classics. The Xi Shen (Joy Spirit) among the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi) is yet another one, and carries even less weight.

Tian Xi in key palaces

• Life Palace: you come across as open and easy to be around, and there is often something worth celebrating around you. Hong Luan is then in the Travel Palace, so you also tend to meet warm people when you're out and about.
• Spouse Palace: the mood between you is relaxed, and you share many happy experiences. Hong Luan is then in the Career Palace, so romantic connections often come through work or school.
• Wealth Palace: money often has to do with celebrations and social obligations; sometimes you receive gift money, sometimes you give it.
• Children Palace: children and the younger generation often bring happy news; most of the family's cheer comes from that side.
• Property Palace: there are often happy events at home and the atmosphere is lively; moving house and buying big items count here too.

Tian Xi with main stars, transformations and Annual Luck

• The main star: Tian Xi next to Tian Tong is the happiness of someone who knows how to enjoy life; next to Tai Yang it is goodwill earned by generous giving. A minor star is only a touch of color; the main star decides what shape the cheer takes.
• The four transformations: with Hua Lu or Hua Ke in Tian Xi's palace, good news more readily comes true and gets noticed; with Hua Ji, a happy event may come with details to worry about, such as the budget and planning for an occasion.
• Annual Luck: the chart also has a Tian Xi that moves with the Annual Luck. Xingge changes the reading by age, in the same spirit as the Quan Shu's Luan Xi verse that looks at age: in your early twenties it means goodwill and plenty of invitations; from your twenties and thirties into middle age, it is often an engagement, a wedding or a new baby; later on, the happy events mostly happen at home, or come from younger family members marrying or a new grandchild. The Annual Luck lesson explains how the annual chart layers onto the natal one.

How different schools read Tian Xi

Every school places it the same way, in the palace opposite Hong Luan. The difference is in the weight. In the Quan Shu reading, Luan Xi has to be read with age. Some teachers pay special attention to the annual Tian Xi; Ling Donglai, for example, says that for married people, Tian Xi in the annual Life Palace most commonly means a new child in the family. Bazi (Four Pillars) spirit stars also include Hong Luan and Tian Xi, with Tian Xi likewise opposite Hong Luan, which you can use as a reference.