Lu Cun and Tian Ma

How Lu Cun is placed

Lu Cun follows the heavenly stem of your birth year. The *Quan Shu* rhyme: "Born in Jia, Lu Cun is in Yin; in Yi, in Mao; in Bing or Wu, in Si; in Ding or Ji, it stops at Wu; Geng's Lu is in Shen, Xin's in You, Ren's in Hai and Gui's in Zi." The ten stems land in only eight branches, so Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei never have Lu Cun. Everyone born under the same year stem has Lu Cun in the same branch.

Lu Cun guards wealth; it isn't a windfall

The *Quan Shu* says Lu Cun is "the third star of the Northern Dipper, the lodging of the true person, governing rank and the foundation of longevity", and that "supported by the emperor or the minister it wields power; with Sun and Moon it adds luster": meeting Zi Wei or Tian Xiang, or Tai Yang or Tai Yin, its benefits are magnified. Among the twelve palaces, it says "only Body, Life, Property and Wealth are important", meaning it's most useful in the Life, Body, Property and Wealth Palaces.

The same passage also has a warning: "if it guards Life alone without good transformations, it is merely a miser." When Lu Cun sits in the Life Palace on its own, with no helpful stars or Hua Lu meeting it, the ancients called it a miser. In plain terms: very good at saving, but reluctant to use what's saved, so the money stays a number on paper and never becomes a life.

So what Lu Cun gives is the ability to hold on. Someone with an ordinary salary who sets aside a fixed amount every month is closer to Lu Cun; one-off chances to make a lot at once aren't its strength.

Yang Tuo Jia Lu

"Qing Yang before Lu, Tuo Luo behind": Qing Yang is always one cell clockwise ahead of Lu Cun and Tuo Luo one cell behind, so every chart shows these three in a row. Practitioners often read it as Yang Tuo Jia Lu, "wealth energy, but watched very closely": a solid foundation, lots of thought before spending, and the thing to watch is being so cautious that you miss chances.

How Tian Ma is placed

Tian Ma follows the Earthly Branch of your birth year: "For Yin, Wu, Xu people the horse is in Shen; for Shen, Zi, Chen people in Yin; for Si, You, Chou people in Hai; for Hai, Mao, Wei people in Si." Tian Ma only ever appears in Yin, Shen, Si or Hai, which the ancients called the "four horse grounds".

In the room where it sits, things often only progress once they get moving: in the Travel Palace, developing your life elsewhere; in the Career Palace, a job with frequent travel or a change of track; in the Property Palace, possibly moving house more often than most.

There are many kinds of horse

"What Does Tian Ma Govern?" sorts Tian Ma into several kinds by the stars it shares a palace with: with Lu Cun it's Lu Ma Jiao Chi; with Zi Wei and Tian Fu, the "carriage horse"; with Huo Xing, the "war horse"; meeting Tuo Luo, the "lame horse"; meeting the void, the "dead horse".

The meaning is easy to grasp. Everyone's running, but some run with resources, some run very hard, some get held back halfway, and some run all day and come up empty. Tian Ma itself only says "there will be movement"; whether the movement is worth it depends on who it's with.

Lu Ma Jiao Chi

The *Quan Shu* says Tian Ma "if sharing a palace with Lu Cun, is called Lu Ma Jiao Chi". Wealth energy plus a willingness to move: the ancients read it as wealth that comes through motion, and today you can picture overseas postings, cross-border freelancing, or working while traveling. Some books also count Hua Lu meeting Tian Ma as Lu Ma Jiao Chi, by the same logic: Lu is resources, the horse is action.

Even when the two don't share a palace, you can check whether they echo each other within the San Fang Si Zheng.

Two common misunderstandings

• Tian Ma in the Life Palace means a life of wandering. A closer reading is restlessness, needing a change of scene to feel motivated. It might be sales or frequent business travel, or just a love of travel.
• Lu Cun in the Wealth Palace means you'll be rich. Lu Cun is about saving and holding on, not money arriving on its own. How much you earn still depends on the main stars and transformations in your Wealth Palace.

If you're a saver, move a little now and then; if you love to run, save a little now and then. That's the reminder these two stars give.