Bo Shi, Jiang Qian and Sui Qian

Three sets of twelve spirits

Besides stars, a chart has a few rows of "spirits". They're even lighter than minor stars, small labels added to a cell to remind you of that cell's small personality, or of this year's atmosphere.

• Bo Shi Twelve Spirits: natal, unchanging for life.
• Jiang Qian Twelve Spirits: move with the Annual Luck, showing this year's momentum.
• Sui Qian Twelve Spirits: move with the Annual Luck, showing this year's atmosphere.

The Bo Shi Twelve Spirits

The order is Bo Shi, Li Shi, Qing Long, Xiao Hao, Jiang Jun, Zou Shu, Fei Lian, Xi Shen, Bing Fu, Da Hao, Fu Bing and Guan Fu. Volume two of the *Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu* says they "start from the Lu Cun star; yang men and yin women push forward, yin men and yang women flow backward": Bo Shi starts at Lu Cun's cell, and direction follows yin-yang male and female. The *Quan Shu* writes a few names with different characters, which are the Fei Lian, Da Hao and Guan Fu in common use today.

Because it follows Lu Cun, Bo Shi is always in the same cell as Lu Cun. Lu Cun is steady wealth and Bo Shi is cleverness, and with the two together, the ancients saw that cell as a place of both brains and solid footing.

The same rhyme gives each spirit a character in a word or two: Bo Shi clever, Li Shi powerful, Qing Long festive, Xiao Hao in charge of small money, Jiang Jun martial, Zou Shu bringing good fortune. The "Tai Wei Fu" also says:

Zou Shu, Bo Shi and the transiting Lu are all auspicious. Li Shi and Jiang Jun with Qing Long display power and influence.

Xiao Hao, Bing Fu, Fu Bing and Guan Fu sound unpromising, but Xingge reads them as reminders: watch the small money, look after your routine, think one step ahead, say things clearly. Xiao Hao in the Wealth Palace, for example, is more like "subscriptions and delivery orders quietly add up" than losing money.

The Sui Qian Twelve Spirits

Starting with "Sui Jian" at Tai Sui's branch and running forward: Sui Jian, Hui Qi, Sang Men, Guan Suo, Guan Fu, Xiao Hao, Da Hao, Long De, Bai Hu, Tian De, Diao Ke and Bing Fu. Volume two of the *Quan Shu* includes only four of them: the "Rhyme for Placing the Four Flying Stars Sang Men, Bai Hu, Diao Ke and Guan Fu" says "two places ahead of the Annual Tai Sui is Sang Men, two places behind is Diao Ke", with Bai Hu and Guan Fu each opposite one of them. So the ancients placed them by the Annual Tai Sui. The "Tai Wei Fu" line "Qing Yang and Tuo Luo follow Tai Sui as it moves; Bing Fu and Guan Fu both stir trouble" also reads them within the Annual Luck.

Today's common charts place one set on the natal chart by birth-year branch, and another for each year by that year's branch, and Xingge does the same. This lesson only looks at the annual set, treating it as this year's weather.

The Jiang Qian Twelve Spirits

Placed starting from "Jiang Xing": for Yin, Wu and Xu years Jiang Xing is in Wu; Shen, Zi and Chen years in Zi; Si, You and Chou years in You; Hai, Mao and Wei years in Mao. The order is Jiang Xing, Pan An, Sui Yi, Xi Shen, Hua Gai, Jie Sha, Zai Sha, Tian Sha, Zhi Bei, Xian Chi, Yue Sha and Wang Shen. It shows the momentum of each cell this year: Pan An, for instance, favors climbing upward, and Sui Yi means lots of change.

This whole set isn't in the *Quan Shu*; later charts added it, and Xingge follows the common method.

How to read them

• Read Bo Shi natally: the spirit in your Life Palace is a small habit of how you get things done. With Zou Shu in the Life Palace, you may like to write things down before doing them; with Jiang Jun, you'd rather dive straight in.
• Read Jiang Qian and Sui Qian for this year: each new lunar year they're re-placed by the new year's branch. Sui Qian moves one cell a year with Tai Sui; Jiang Xing only ever lands in Zi, Wu, Mao or You, so Jiang Qian moves in jumps.
• All three sets are very light, always read after the main stars, transformations and auxiliary stars. For the ones with scary names, just treat them as small things to watch this year.