Capricorn in Zi Wei Dou Shu: the steady climber can have a playful Life Palace
Capricorn birthdays fall in the eleventh or twelfth lunar month, with the eleventh slightly ahead. The table below shows which two palaces the Life Palace usually lands in for each birth hour.
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Capricorn: where your Life Palace sits by birth hour
| Birth hour | Life Palace usually in |
|---|---|
| Zi (23–01) | Zi 54%, Chou 46% |
| Chou (01–03) | Hai 54%, Zi 46% |
| Yin (03–05) | Xu 54%, Hai 46% |
| Mao (05–07) | You 54%, Xu 46% |
| Chen (07–09) | Shen 54%, You 46% |
| Si (09–11) | Wei 54%, Shen 46% |
| Wu (11–13) | Wu 54%, Wei 46% |
| Wei (13–15) | Si 54%, Wu 46% |
| Shen (15–17) | Chen 54%, Si 46% |
| You (17–19) | Mao 54%, Chen 46% |
| Xu (19–21) | Yin 54%, Mao 46% |
| Hai (21–23) | Chou 54%, Yin 46% |
Counted from one chart for every day and double-hour, 1950–2009; not population data. Life Palace stars are spread almost the same for Capricorn as for every other sign: about 8% for each of the 14 main stars and 16% empty (see all twelve signs).
Which of these is yours? Draw your chart to find out.
Capricorn is often called the most practical sign of the zodiac: patient, hard-working, eyes on a distant goal, climbing one step at a time, a little old for their age even when young. It is an easy picture to recognize, and in Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology) it doesn't necessarily hold. One Capricorn can have sociable, curious Tan Lang in the Life Palace, another easygoing Tian Tong, a third warm-blooded, artistic Lian Zhen. The difference comes from the birth hour and the lunar day.
The short version:
- Capricorn starts at the Winter Solstice, so Capricorn birthdays fall in the eleventh or twelfth lunar month, about 54% and 46%.
- About two thirds of Capricorns are born in January, and the lunar new year never comes earlier than January 21. A Capricorn born in January still belongs to the previous year in Zi Wei Dou Shu.
- With one chart for every day and double-hour from 1950 to 2009, each main star lands in a Capricorn Life Palace about 8.30–8.39% of the time and about 16.4% are empty, with no lean toward any star.
- Enter your Western birthday and hour in the form to cast a chart, or use the Life Palace star lookup for the main star alone.
What Capricorn is in Zi Wei Dou Shu
Capricorn begins at the Winter Solstice, the "middle" solar term of the eleventh lunar month, so Capricorn birthdays fall in the eleventh or twelfth month: about 54.0% and 46.0%.
The eleventh month sits in the Zi palace. The chart counts the first month from Yin because of the old month-branch system: the first month is the Yin month, and counting on from there, the eleventh is the Zi month, the one that holds the solstice. The Zhou dynasty once began its year with this Zi month. Zi Wei Dou Shu follows the calendar that starts the year at Yin, which leaves the solstice month in Zi.
So a Capricorn born in the eleventh month at the Zi hour has Zi three times over: Zi month, Zi hour, Zi palace. The hour count starts at the birth month's palace, the Zi hour takes no further steps, and the Life Palace stays in Zi. That is the 54.0% in the first row of the table above, and the January 10, 1991 example below works the same way. For the general picture, see the sun signs overview.
One day, twelve double-hours
As an example, January 10, 1991 is the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh lunar month of 1990. One chart for each of its twelve hours gives these Life Palaces:
| Double-hour | Life Palace | Main stars |
|---|---|---|
| Zi | Zi | Tian Ji |
| Chou | Hai | Tai Yin |
| Yin | Xu | Lian Zhen, Tian Fu |
| Mao | You | Wu Qu, Qi Sha |
| Chen | Shen | Tian Tong, Tian Liang |
| Si | Wei | Tian Tong, Ju Men |
| Wu | Wu | Tan Lang |
| Wei | Si | Zi Wei, Qi Sha |
| Shen | Chen | Tian Ji, Tian Liang |
| You | Mao | Tai Yang, Tian Liang |
| Xu | Yin | Wu Qu, Tian Xiang |
| Hai | Chou | Zi Wei, Po Jun |
This is an unusual day: all fourteen main stars take a turn in the Life Palace, and none of the twelve hours has an empty one. Three hours that show the range:
- Wei hour: Zi Wei with Qi Sha. Zi Wei is the emperor star and Qi Sha the general. This type holds a clear goal, sees it through once decided and rarely complains about the hard parts. It is the closest to the usual Capricorn picture, but the match comes from the hour. Shift a few hours and it is gone.
- Wu hour: Tan Lang. Tan Lang people are curious and like a lively room. One interest leads to the next, and they have friends in every circle. Rather than climb one mountain, they would like to see what several look like.
- Chen hour: Tian Tong with Tian Liang. Tian Tong cares about a comfortable life, and Tian Liang is mature and protective. This type is good-tempered, calms everyone down first when something goes wrong, and doesn't care much about promotions or rankings.
Three Capricorns born on the same day: one who locks onto a goal and pushes ahead, one who wants to try everything, one in no hurry who looks after the people nearby first. If you want the Capricorn from the horoscope column, the one climbing step by step, only the Wei-hour one really fits.
Common Zi Wei types among Capricorns
Practical and hard-working is the Capricorn trademark. These three Life Palace stars give it a different look.
Lian Zhen in the Life Palace: the Capricorn with strong feelings. Lian Zhen has charm, loves beautiful things and keeps firm principles, with likes and dislikes out in the open. People expect Capricorns to be cool and hard to read. This type feels things intensely, works hard and can't hide who they like or don't.
Tai Yin in the Life Palace: the gentle Capricorn who saves slowly. Tai Yin is sensitive and values home and security, preferring a quiet life with some texture to it. This Capricorn plans just as far ahead, but the plan usually points toward a comfortable home more than a high position, and saving and tending to daily life happen steadily, a little at a time.
Po Jun in the Life Palace: the Capricorn who doesn't go step by step. Po Jun likes opening new ground and starts over when the direction feels wrong. Capricorns are said to climb one step at a time; this type is just as ambitious, but halfway up, if the mountain looks wrong, they switch to another one.
How to find your Life Palace
Find the row for your double-hour in the table above; your Life Palace is one of those two. Then cast a birth chart with the form. Enter your Western birthday as it is, and the new-year and lunar-month conversion is handled for you. If you don't know your hour, ask family or look for the time on your birth certificate.
FAQ
What star is a Capricorn in Zi Wei Dou Shu?
There is no single fixed star. The Life Palace star is placed from the lunar day, the hour and the Five Elements Bureau, and Zi Wei Dou Shu charting never looks at the sign. In one chart for every day and double-hour from 1950 to 2009, each of the fourteen main stars took 8.30–8.39% of Capricorn Life Palaces, with about 16.4% empty. Every one of them has a chance.
Does the Zi Wei year change on January 1?
No. The Zi Wei year waits for the first day of the first lunar month, which never comes before January 21, and by then Capricorn is over. So every Capricorn of one season, born in late December or in January, sits in the same lunar year, with the same zodiac animal, year stem and Four Transformations. Chinese Four Pillars (Ba Zi) changes the year at the Start of Spring in early February, so that hasn't happened yet either.
If I was born around the Winter Solstice, does the month change at the solstice?
No. The solstice is a solar term, and Zi Wei Dou Shu charts by lunar month, which changes on the first day of each month. The Winter Solstice falls inside the eleventh lunar month, so a few days either side of it are usually still the same month, with the Life Palace in the same place. Months that turn on solar terms belong to Ba Zi, and even there the change comes at Major Snow and Minor Cold, not at a "middle" term like the solstice.
Capricorns are often called late bloomers. Does Zi Wei Dou Shu show early or late success?
It looks at Decade Luck. Zi Wei Dou Shu divides life into ten-year stretches that move through the palaces one by one starting from the Life Palace, and the starting age depends on your Five Elements Bureau: age 2 for Water 2, age 6 for Fire 6, counted in traditional age. A decade that lands in a palace where the stars are strong and suit you tends to be the one where things fall into place. Whether that comes earlier or later shows up in your own chart, and your sun sign has nothing to do with it.
Sun sign, MBTI or Zi Wei Dou Shu — what’s the difference?See which of the 15 you are in 30 sec ›
Other signs
This is the general reading. On your own chart it shifts with the stars' brightness, the San Fang Si Zheng and the year you are in.
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