What is Huo Tan Ge (Fire and Wolf)?

Tan Lang is the star of desire and opportunity; Huo Xing is the star of eruption: hasty, fast, sudden. With the two together, the ancients didn't treat Huo Xing as a problem but listed the combination among the noble patterns, because Huo Xing's ferocity lights up exactly what Tan Lang wants. Huo Tan Ge (the Huo Tan pattern) is most often described as "sudden success": opportunity that doesn't build up slowly but appears all at once. To see whether you have it, draw your chart.

The conditions for Huo Tan Ge

Xingge's detection is simple:

• Tan Lang is the main star of a palace (alone, or with Zi Wei, Lian Zhen or Wu Qu).
• Huo Xing is in the same palace.

Huo Tan Ge is an in-palace combination that can appear in any of the twelve palaces, and whichever palace it falls in is the area where things break out. About 1 chart in 12 has Huo Tan Ge in some palace; in the Life Palace it is much rarer, about 1 in 140.

The section on noble patterns in volume one of the Quan Shu draws it much more narrowly:

Tan Lang and Huo Xing meeting: the two stars guarding the Life Palace together, at Miao or Wang.

The classics' true form has two conditions: it must be in the Life Palace, and both Tan Lang and Huo Xing must be at Miao or Wang. By the brightness table Xingge uses, the only positions where both are at Miao or Wang are Wu and Xu, so the classics' Huo Tan Ge is quite rare: about 1 chart in 1,200. Huo Tan in other palaces, or with less brightness, still has its explosive power; the ancients just didn't count it as noble.

What the classics say, and how we read it today

Huo Tan appears several times in the Quan Shu, always in strong terms. The Gu Sui Fu in volume one says:

Tan Lang and Huo Xing at Miao or Wang: a name that commands many states.

When volume two introduces Huo Xing, it first says Huo Xing isn't good in most palaces, then turns:

Only together with Tan Lang at Miao or Wang does it soon win merit on the frontier; it is a pattern of wealth and office.

When volume two discusses Tan Lang's Decade Luck, it also says that when Tan Lang reaches the four "tomb" palaces, Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, "meeting Huo Xing, there is often sudden wealth." "Sudden wealth" means windfalls and abrupt success, not the step-by-step climb.

Today, a closer reading of Huo Tan Ge:

• Opportunities come suddenly. A project suddenly takes off, an investment suddenly doubles, a job change suddenly jumps several levels: leaps like these are more common in the palace with Huo Tan.
• You have to react fast. Huo Xing's window of opportunity is short; hesitate and it's gone. People with Huo Tan usually really are quick to react and willing to act.
• Suited to fast-paced stages. Sales, entrepreneurship, marketing, trading, entertainment and sport, fields where timing and explosive power count, are where it shines.

Where Huo Tan Ge tends to get stuck

The classics speak of "sudden wealth," usually followed by a reminder to hold on to it. Huo Tan Ge has two common blind spots:

First, fast in, fast out. If you don't secure things after a breakthrough, what you've gained easily scatters again just as fast. The challenge of Huo Tan Ge isn't how to break through, but how to keep what you've gained.

Second, treating breakthroughs as normal. Having tasted sudden success once, it's easy to keep waiting for the next one, and grow impatient with the days in between.

One suggestion for people with Huo Tan Ge: whenever an unexpected gain comes in, set part of it aside first, rather than staking it all again.

What weakens it

• Tan Lang or Huo Xing at Xian. For example, Huo Xing is at Xian in Chen, Shen and Zi; the explosive power is still there, but it reads more like impatience, and the direction easily goes astray.
• Hua Ji, Di Kong or Di Jie in the same palace or the San Fang. What breaks out more easily comes to nothing, or breaks and then falls apart.
• Qing Yang and Tuo Luo as well. With too many challenging stars, drive turns into meeting force with force, and more patience is needed.

A broken pattern doesn't disappear; it means reading those stars in too.

The difference between Huo Tan and Ling Tan

Huo Xing and Ling Xing are a pair, both among the Six Malefic Stars, and Tan Lang meeting Ling Xing is called the Ling Tan pattern. Both break out, at different paces: Huo Xing is an open flame, fierce and visible; Ling Xing smolders, rising later but with longer staying power. The Quan Shu also puts the two side by side: the Gu Sui Fu says "Tan Lang and Ling Xing guarding together: the fame of a general or minister." To learn about Huo Xing and Ling Xing themselves, see the Six Malefic Stars lesson.

How to check whether you have Huo Tan Ge

1. Draw your chart and find which palace Tan Lang is in.
2. See whether Huo Xing is in that palace.
3. If so, you have Huo Tan Ge; then check whether it is in the Life Palace and in Wu or Xu to know whether it is the classics' true form.

For Tan Lang's overall personality in the Life Palace, see Tan Lang in the Life Palace; Tan Lang is also one of Sha Po Lang, whose rhythm of change is covered on the Sha Po Lang page.

Common questions

What does Huo Tan Ge mean?

Huo Tan Ge is Tan Lang and Huo Xing in the same palace. Tan Lang stands for desire and opportunity, Huo Xing for eruption and speed; together, the ancients read opportunities that come suddenly and easy windfalls. The Quan Shu lists it in its section on noble patterns, a famous noble pattern.

Does Huo Tan Ge have to be in the Life Palace?

By the Quan Shu's definition it must be in the Life Palace with both Tan Lang and Huo Xing at Miao or Wang, and by Xingge's brightness table only Wu and Xu qualify. Xingge's detection is broader and counts any of the twelve palaces; whichever palace it falls in is the area that breaks out.

Does Huo Tan Ge mean getting rich overnight?

Not necessarily. Huo Tan Ge is about opportunities that come suddenly and needing to react quickly, not a guarantee of wealth. The classics also often warn that after a windfall you need to hold on to it, or it goes as fast as it came. With Hua Ji, Di Kong or Di Jie in the San Fang, what breaks out also more easily comes to nothing.

Which is better, Huo Tan Ge or Ling Tan Ge?

Both are combinations the classics approve of; the difference is pace. Huo Tan comes fierce and visible, suited to catching short windows; Ling Tan comes later with longer staying power, suited to things that need building up. Whether it is good depends on brightness, which palace it falls in, and whether the San Fang has Hua Ji or challenging stars.