By Janet Shin

The more I read people’s saju from all walks of life, the more I realize that the reading must be adjusted to the current socio-cultural environment. One major difference is seen in the saju of politicians.

Some are elected through the support of their party, while others are supported mainly by the voters. Usually, the power of the supporting party is crucial to win at elections but that isn’t always the case these days.

I have read the saju of many people who draw public attention, from historical figures to modern icons, so that I can judge the versions of one’s life. Among them, politicians mostly showed power energy (career star), until quite recently.



Some politicians who earn public support these days are showing diverse aspects. Expression and knowledge stars rather than career stars weigh more and more in popular politicians. Although there are higher possibilities of sudden falls in their popularity, more politicians with public support or an intellectual background, are inducted into the political world even though they lack a party power base.

Ahn Cheol-soo, once a doctor, became a famed software mogul and is the current dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology. He may be the hottest icon in Korea. He suddenly emerged as a potential candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election but announced Tuesday he would not run.



While the media were all reporting his possible candidacy, the public support for Ahn rose to almost 40 percent, which would even enable him to compete as a strong presidential candidate. Regardless of whether he will grow into a prominent figure in politics, he shook up both the established ruling and opposition parties. And people were busy arguing about reshaping the landscape of Korean politics according to the “Ahn factor.”

What makes him a respectable Korean when people thirst for a hero and why did he decline to run for Seoul mayor? What will his future path be?

According to Ahn’s saju, he was born with the energy of yin wood. People with a yin wood day master are sophisticated and thorough about everything. They seldom hasten to make decisions. They are not bold leaders. The yin wood may seem to be feeble outwardly because it is usually represented by flowers or vine trees. But those born in the month of yang wood have inner strength, like an iron hand in a velvet glove. Having two water elements in year and month stems implies abundant intelligence but those knowledge stars are losing their roots. Ahn kept pursuing unconventional paths although he studied and achieved success both in medical and computer fields.

One thing that draws our attention, especially when it comes to his political career, is that there is no metal element in any of his year, month or day pillar. The metal element stands for the power or career star, which we used to count for politicians. Even though we suppose there can be a metal element in his time pillar, Ahn would rather value his own creed than power.

When I was asked whether he would run for mayor before his Tuesday announcement, I anticipated that he would not, since there was no career star. If he decided to run, lots of struggles were foreseen.

Then what can be told of his future path. According to what he has done so far, I guess that fire and water elements may be placed in his time pillar. However, we need to watch his 10-year fortune pillar as the power energy is coming from his 50’s. If he eventually enters the political world, the strong support of the public, not just as voters but as his followers and colleagues who admire his intelligence and discretion, will be the major driving force.

It was told that his endorsement of Park, a liberal activist, was beautiful. To my personal knowledge, the word “beautiful” was mixed with his saju exquisitely.

Information: Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teaching about the “Four Pillars of Destiny”? Saju (Ancient Chinese Teaching - Four Pillars of Destiny) and face reading workshops are held in Itaewon, Seoul.
For further information, contact Janet Shin at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com.

The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of “Learning Four Pillars” For more information, visit her Web site at www.fourpillarskorea.com