The Pillars of Destiny have been described by Raymond Lo as one of the 'Treasures of Chinese Metaphysics'. Derek Walters has traced their origins as far back as the Han Dynasty, although it was the Feng Shui fanatical Tang Emperors who developed it into the Art Form that it resembles today. It was devised as an alternative to the 'Grand Astrology', which was only available to the Emperor and which was based, like Western Astrology, on the position of the planets and stars at any given time. Because publication of Astronomcal Tables was punishable by death, another 'lesser' form of Astrology was devised, which became known as Fate Calculation. This unique method of divination is based on the Chinese Calendar, itself nearly 5000 years old. It uses a system based on cycles of 60 to represent time. Each 'unit' of time representing the year, month, day and hour consists of a pair of Chinese Charaters known as 'pillars'. The top character is known as the 'Heavenly Stem' and the bottom character is known as the 'Earthly Branch'. The 12 Chinese Animals represent the Earthly Branches and are coupled with the 10 Heavenly Stems representing the 5 Elements as either yin or yang. These are paired accordingly, yin stems with yin branches and yang stems with yang branches, resulting in 60 different possible combinations. 1999 is the year of the Earth Rabbit, the 'Earth' representing the Stem, and the 'Rabbit' representing the Branch. Last year was the Earth Tiger and although this year also has an 'Earth Stem', unlike the Tiger the Rabbit is considered to be Yin and therefore the 'stem' is Yin Earth and not Yang Earth, like last year. Using this system, the Ancient Chinese developed the Art of Fate Calculation by expressing the date and time of a person's birth, in the form of 'Pillars', to which they then applied various forms of calculations, in order to perceive a person's Fate, or destiiny. Initially known as the 'Three Fates', then as the 'Five Fates', it developed into 'Fate Calculation', or 'Pillars of Destiny', representing the year,month, day and hour of a person's birth. There are many ways of using this information and as in Feng Shui, there are many different schools, each using different methods to calculate various aspects of a person's character and destiny, as well as other information. One of the first calculations is to establish a person's element, and from that it moves to figuring out what areas of life the other elements relate to. Generally, this is determined by the element of the Stem in the 'Day Pillar' and if someone was born on a day when the 'Heavenly Stem' was the Wood element, they would be considered to be a 'Wood Person'. Having established what the personal element is, the other elements are allocated accordingly, depending of course on the particular 'School'. At first, it appears to be very confusing, but like everything in Chinese Metaphysics, it pays to remember that everything changes but the rules, and they never change. A person's mother, resources and support are represented by the element that generates their own personal element, and if you are a Wood Person, these are represented by Water, since Water generates Wood. The element that your personal element destroys or conquers represents Wealth - and if you are a Fire person, then Metal represents your Wealth, since Fire controls Metal. Relationships are more complex, and there are different rules for males and females, but generally it goes like this: the Husband controls his Wife, who then generates the Children, who in turn control their Father. The Man controls the Son, who in turn controls his Mother and she controls their Daughter, who in turn controls her Father. Using these principles, a woman's partner is represented by the element that controls her personal element and the element that represents her Wealth also represents her Father. A man's wealth element also repressents his Wife. The next set of calculations involves the 'Fate Cycles' and at what age these start, in order to determine what cycle we are in at any given time. The secret, as far as the Chinese are concerned, is to make the most from your good luck, and when things are not going well, to try and minimize the negative effects, until such time that things change for the better. After all, in the words of the Ancient Chinese Sage, 'bad times are only the seeds of good times'. If you are in a good fate cycle, you are more likely to make good decisions and if you are in a bad fate cycle, your judgement is probably at at its best. Whether you are in a good fate cycle or not depends on the 'Pillar' that you are in at any given time, and whether the elements and characteristics associated with this combination are favourable for you or not, according to your own personal 'Pillars of Destiny'. This system can be very complex and is very different from 9 Star Ki and other popular methods deployed in Feng Shui to determine a person's 'personal element', often derived from the 'Kua' number. These systes allocate a personal element, but they fail to take ito account the 'strength' or 'weakness' of that element or whether the person is excessively yin or yang - and they also assume that the other elements are all present. Fate Calculation allows a more in-depth view of an individual and is a much more holistic approach when deciding what element we are and what elements we need. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have all 5 elements in perfect balance and often, things go wrong when we become deficient in a favourable element, or when we hit a period influenced by an element we don't need. Many traditional Feng Shui Masters use the 'Pillars' to determine the personal element of their client, and depending on the strength or weakness of that element they then determine auspicious directions, places within the home, careers and so on. There are many fascinating aspects to this art. Master Chan offers his students another consideration when selecting a name for a new baby. By looking at the baby's 'Pillars', if the child is deficient in one or more of the elements, or if the personal element is weak, the correct use of vowels in the child's name can help to restore balance and harmony. Wood is represented by I, Fire by A, Earth by E, Metal by U and Water by O. This takes into account the principles of 'Form School Feng Shui', as closer examination reveals. The letter I is like a column, again very much the 'Wood' element. Rounded arches are considered to be the 'Metal Element' and the letter U can be viewed as an arch upside-down. Another consideration is to try and use vowels that are in harmony and if possible, try an arrange the vowels so that they follow a generative cyce and not a destructive one. The name Sonia contains O (Water), I (Wood) and A (Fire), which fits in very nicey with the generative cycle, but the name Enoch contains E (Earth) and O (Water) which of course clash, since Earth controls Water in the controlling or destructive cycle. An interesting example to demonstrate how we can adopt these ancient principles for modern living.


About the author:

Gary Quelch is a Feng Shui Consultant and is The author of Feng Shui Horoscope for Health, Wealth and Happiness, 1999, an excellent Daily Guide for each year which is based on the ancient T'ung Shu Almanac. His new book, The Hidden Destiny of the Bronte Family is based on the Bronte Family's Pillars. Gary can be contacted in England by telephone at: 01 729 825 863.

Also of Interest:

• Article: "An Insight into the Year of the Earth Rabbit", by Gary Quelch.
• More articles at the Feng Shui Directory.