By Janet Shin
In order to study Saju, we need to work to set the four pillars first. It comes from one's born records ― year, month, day and time. This work is based on the lunar calendar. You may simply refer to the Internet to find out your four pillars by putting in your birth year, month, date and time.
However, here we may learn briefly how the Saju is set. Saju means four pillars, which actually is a Korean. Korean Saju developed its own territory to read people's destiny and anticipate fortunes. Even though the origin is same such as taiji, yin yang, five elements, etc. the recent Korean Saju scholars have analyzed and interpreted old theories in reasonable ways so that the general readers may approach Saju easily and friendly.
Sa means the number four and ju means the pillar in Korean. Saju is consists of 8 letters, i.e. 4 celestial stems and 4 terrestrial branches, so people also call it Bazi (8 letters). As mentioned, the ten celestial stems (also called ``ten stems'' ― pronounced ``sipgan'') and the 12 zodiac signs (also called `twelve branches'' ― pronounced `sibiji'') are combined to denote years in the sixty-year cycle.
The first stem and the first branch are combined to denote the first year, gap-ja. The second stem and second branch are then combined to denote the second year, eul-chuk. The series continues to the tenth year, gye-yu, at which point the heavenly stems return to the beginning, with the eleventh year being marked by the first stem and the eleventh branch, thus, gap-sul. The twelfth year is denoted by the second stem and the twelfth branch, eul-hae, at which point the zodiacal signs return to the beginning, and the thirteenth year is denoted by the third stem and the first branch, byeong-ja. Finally, the last year in the cycle (gye-hae) is denoted by the tenth stem and twelfth branch.
The 60-year cycle last recommenced in 1984, which was thus the year gap-ja. The next year gap-ja will be 2044.
Using this 60-year cycle, we set the four pillars of birth year, month, day and time to read the specifics of our fate. Since the day stem indicates the owner of saju, it is very important to understand the characteristics of a day stem first.
The characteristics of day stem Day stem is the base to read one's fate.
Gap people are stubborn, conservative and straight but they seldom hurt others. They are benevolent and try to help others. They like reading. They get pressure from life so they are highly nervous. Women are full of vitality and always support her family.
Eul people are cheerful and are full of ideas.
They look soft in their surface like seeds, but they will sprout from the soil. So they are patient and try to achieve their goals. They do not want to be ruled but like to get along with others. They are interested in religious issues.
Byeong is the symbol of brightness and strength. Byeong people are cheerful. They show great interest in art, writing and music. They are talented and enjoy eating. Sun represents the byeong fire and exists in the middle of heaven, so it is optimistic and naive. They seldom keep the secret.
Jeong people gather things together and bond them. They are good at collecting money. They are popular among friends. They easily fall in love with others and respect others well. They are dedicated and try to help others. They hate to lose something so they are jealous. Once things don't go as planned, they can hardly recover. They are good at entertainment business.
Mu people are faithful and sincere. But they are also noxious like a spear. Sometimes they are selfish. They are creditable but not so sociable. They often tell bitter words to others. They are sharp, intuitive and understanding. They desire success and they keep to themselves.
Gi people are clear about what is good and bad and what they like and hate. They keep clear memory about the past. They are patient and benevolent, which sometimes means 'religious'. They are capricious and adapt to environment very well.
Gyeong is like a well matured grain. They are solid and matured. They are decisive and have straight beliefs. Once decided, they seldom change. They have leadership, strong ownership and dedication.
Sin metal is sensitive, sharp, and solid. Sin people are stylish and fashion leaders. They look friendly in surface but on the other hand they are very sharp, accurate and firm. Owing to too much self-respect, others may criticize them from time to time.
Im means creativeness and pregnancy of new lives. Their mind is wide and they absorb everything, but we cannot figure how deep they are. They are also capricious, clever and have intuition to know what will happen in the future. They can become a secretary to plan and execute important national matters, but they cannot be king (president)
Gye water looks calm and gentle. But once they get angry, they are explosive. They read others' mind well and try to help others. They do not have strong executive ability but they are social and active. Gye women are beautiful.
The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea. She is the author of the book titled ``Learning Four Pillars.'' She offers saju learning courses to open for people who are interested. For more information, visit her Web site (https://blog.naver.com/janet_shin) or email to janetshin@hotmail.com