(62) Branch Interaction: Saju of a Student Applying to University
By Janet Shin
The 12 branches interact to generate penalties, clashes, assemblies and combinations by certain forces in their relationship.
We have learned to put water energy at the bottom owing to its fluidity, and to put fire energy at the top for its explosive characteristics. According to the flow of five elements, the 12 branches can be mapped out in the chart below. Starting from ja water, it circulates to myo wood, to o fire at the top, to yu metal and back to ja water. The earth energy (chuk, jin, mi, sul) is placed with the other four elements respectively.
Then the energy flows to create the six combinations as follows:
Ja-chuk In-hae Myo-sul Jin-yu Sa-sin o-mi
The assemblies are:
• Hae-ja-chuk to make water assemblies
• In-myo-jin to make wood assemblies
• Sa-o-mi to make fire assemblies
• Sin-yu-sul to make metal assemblies
The clashes are created when the opposite branches are met,
Ja-o clash Myo-yu clash In-sin clash Sa-hae clash Jin-sul clash Chuk-mi clash
If you compare these branch interactions in association with branch diagram, you will find certain consistencies.
While we have learned the properties of clashes and how they are generated, now we are will learn the instances to make them disappear.
Here is the saju of a lady born on Dec. 10, 1990 (Chart 1).
Chart 1
She was born with the energy of gi earth, while her birth month is ja water (money star-father).
At a glance, we can notice ja-o clash in her month and year branch.
With this clash, if you were able to infer that her mother and father might have been divorced or had similar misfortune, you are already a semi-saju expert.
But it is only half is done. Let's see what other instances happened in her saju.
Her mother fell in love with a man who was already married to another woman. In Korean society, it is not easy for a man to break up his marriage just because he finds another love. When she was born, her father was still married to another woman. Her mother and father continued their troublesome love life and consequently they were not able to raise their daughter in an appropriate educational environment.
From ja-o clash in this lady's saju, we can infer her parents' misfortune (money star means father and knowledge star means mother). We may also presume that she would not have been able to study in an appropriate family environment.
By the way, this year (gi-chuk), chuk combines with ja of her month branch. Then this protects `o' from `ja-o' clash. O is her knowledge star, and when she asked if she could enter the university, we can answer with a yes.
Indeed, she received admission to a university she applied to.
Then, will she be able to live away from the ja-o clash influence going forward? The answer is partly yes and partly no.
Yes, as she is already of age, and would be free from the clash phase more and more.
Year and month pillars stand for the person's age until thirties.
No, as four pillars, saju itself is one's fate that is constituted by the energy from the universe and earth when the person was born.
Those who study saju will have to challenge dynamics of each letter and understand how they interchange. As you study further, you may sometimes find it equivocal because you need to be very intelligent to apply the right logic in right situation and right time. Understanding the penalty, clash, combination and their activities in relationship with stems are one of the barriers you must overcome to continue your study.
Penalty, clash, assembly and combination are something with great dynamics and you must use your brains quickly to understand their activities. Once you overcome the wall and realize these principles, you will feel great joy. I encourage you not to give up but to study diligently to discover the splendid phase of saju study and experience the feeling of accomplishment to know the truth of universe and how it affects on human lives.
The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea. She is the author of Learning Four Pillars. She offers saju courses to all who are interested. For more information, visit her Web site (https://blog.naver.com/janet―shin) or email janetshin@hotmail.com