What is Hui Qi?

"Why does everything feel sticky lately?" That feeling, where you can't say what's wrong but it's just heavy, has its own tiny label on the chart: Hui Qi (Gloom). The name sounds like bad omens, but it's about the weather of your mood, not about anything that will happen. To find which palace this year's Hui Qi falls in, draw your chart.

What Hui Qi is: second of the Twelve Year Gods

Hui Qi belongs to the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian) and comes second, one palace after Sui Jian. Sui Jian is on the year's branch, and Hui Qi is the next palace on: in Chou in a Zi year, in Yin in a Chou year, and so on. In 2027, a Ding Wei year, Hui Qi is in Shen.

In the Annual Luck it also has a fixed position: Sui Jian sits in the Annual Life Palace, so Hui Qi is the palace after it, the Annual Parents Palace. That's why Hui Qi is often read together with that year's elders, managers, paperwork and rules.

The Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) doesn't include Hui Qi; it only gives the placement of four: Sang Men, Diao Ke, Bai Hu and Guan Fu. Hui Qi was added later, when the full set was completed.

What Hui Qi means, in plain words

Now and then things don't feel quite right and your mood gets heavy; look at it from another angle and the gloom lifts. Some teachers read Hui Qi as darkness and obstruction. Xingge reads it as a feeling of being held up: things may not actually be going wrong, but you're more likely to overthink the affairs of that palace. It's very light. Whatever the main stars and transformations support, Hui Qi won't overturn; it just makes the process less smooth.

Hui Qi in key palaces

• Life Palace: you tend to be hard on yourself this year and feel progress is slow. Break your goals into smaller pieces and look only one step ahead at a time.
• Wealth Palace: you tend to overthink money and worry even when nothing's wrong. Write the numbers down, and your mind settles.
• Career Palace: there's often a hard-to-name snag at work: slow processes, slow replies. Do the parts you can move on first.
• Spouse Palace: feelings tend to get bottled up between you. Pick a relaxed moment to talk things through.
• Health Palace: you tend to feel tired and low on drive. Get out for a walk and some sun, and keep a more regular routine.
• Fortune Palace: your mood swings are more noticeable. Find one small thing that relaxes you and do it regularly.

Natal and annual, read separately

The natal Hui Qi is placed by your birth-year branch. It's background, and Xingge's palace readings don't cover it separately. The one read is the annual Hui Qi: on the first day of each lunar year it moves on one palace along with Sui Jian. Switch the chart to an Annual Luck, and the small label in the corner moves to that year's position.

Hui Qi is a little like Xi Shen in the Twelve General Gods (Jiang Qian): both are about low drive. But Xi Shen is about wanting to stop and catch your breath, while Hui Qi is about a heavy mood and things not flowing. They belong to different sets.