01 · The starting point
Your birth details.
Your life context.
Your birth date, local time, and birthplace time zone give us the inputs for a chart. If you don’t know the time, you can still begin with a limited profile.
You bring the rest: the project you keep postponing, a difficult conversation, or a habit you want to understand. The chart cannot know those circumstances.
02 · From chart to question
Follow one example.
The tradition is BaZi, also called the Chinese Four Pillars. Here is how our free Snapshot uses it.
Calculated · The chart
For our fictional sample, born 15 June 1990 at 10:30 in London, the calendar produces four pairs of characters.
The first character of the Day Pillar is 辛, Yin Metal. This is the Day Master, the starting point for the free interpretation.
Interpreted · A traditional theme
Discernment and refinement
You may notice subtleties and take care with the quality of what you create.
Refinement can become a demand for perfection that delays participation.
Reflected · A question for you
What is ready to be shared before it is perfect?
The chart is calculated; the English introduction is fixed editorial text based on traditional associations. This is a symbolic framework, not a scientifically validated personality assessment.
03 · Put it to use
Try it against
real experience.
For the question above, recall a time when polishing your work helped, and one when it held you back. If neither fits, set the theme aside.
If it does fit, choose a small experiment: share one unfinished draft with someone you trust. Did the feedback help more than another round of polishing?
Your answer comes from what happens in your life. Use the reading to open a question, then let experience shape your next step.
04 · A closer look
The details, when you want them.
Explore the calendar conventions, the traditional framework, and how our text is written.
Calculation rules & uncertain birth times
- Calendar: Gregorian birth dates from 1900 through today. We use the open-source 6tail lunar-typescript library, pinned to version 1.8.6.
- Place and time zone: enter the recorded local clock time and select your birthplace from the city list to fill its named IANA time zone. You can adjust the zone or enter an unlisted place manually. Historical offset and daylight-saving rules come from the runtime’s time-zone database through Temporal. We do not guess the zone from your current location.
- Year and month: the Year Pillar changes at Li Chun; Month Pillars change at the relevant solar terms. We convert the birth instant to Asia/Shanghai before using the library’s Chinese-standard-time solar-term calculations.
- Day and hour: we use the birth location’s civil date and clock time. Day changes at midnight (library sect 2). The library advances the Hour stem at 23:00; this late-Zi-hour convention may differ from other practitioners.
- No solar-time correction: we do not adjust for longitude or the equation of time. Birthplace does not secretly apply a true-solar-time correction.
- Unknown or approximate time: we omit the Hour Pillar. We compare the start and end of the birth date for a Year or Month change and leave any affected pillar unresolved.
- Clock changes: exact or approximate local times that repeat or do not exist during a clock change are rejected. You can use an unknown-time profile instead. Historical records and time-zone databases may themselves be incomplete.
Method version: civil-time-1.0. These choices make the computation repeatable; they do not scientifically validate the interpretation.
Four Pillars, Five Phases & annual cycles
四柱 · Four Pillars
BaZi, often called Chinese astrology or the Four Pillars of Destiny, uses a traditional Chinese calendrical and interpretive system. The year, month, day, and hour each have a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. Together, they form the eight characters of a birth chart.
日主 · Day Master is the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar. Its yin or yang quality and phase provide a starting point for interpretation. It is not equivalent to a Sun sign or a validated personality type.
五行 · Five Phases
Wood 木, Fire 火, Earth 土, Metal 金, and Water 水 are often called the Five Elements. “Phases” emphasizes relationships and change rather than literal substances in your body.
生克 · Generating and Regulating Relationships describe traditional relationships among the phases. The Snapshot counts only the visible stem and branch phase assignments. It does not weight seasons or hidden stems, and these counts are not a measure of balance, health, or Day Master strength.
流年 · Annual Cycle
A traditional annual cycle offers symbolic themes to reflect on. It cannot establish the probability of an event, identify a safe investment, or determine a relationship’s future.
The free Snapshot does not calculate longer luck-cycle direction or starting age and does not need sex assigned at birth. If a future reading includes those calculations, it will explain the chosen convention and offer a core-profile-only alternative.
Interpretation sources, AI & human review
The free Snapshot uses ten fixed editorial introductions, one for each Day Master. Their starting points are the stems’ yin–yang and Five Phase associations. The sample’s annual comparison uses the generating and regulating relationships between phases.
We have not documented a source-by-source lineage or practitioner review for these introductions. We therefore do not attribute them to a named classic or claim to represent a particular school. The calendar library supports the chart calculation; it does not supply or authenticate the English descriptions.
What is modern wording?
Descriptions such as “Clarity and resolve” and questions about flexibility, boundaries, or work are our contemporary editorial language. They are not translations of quoted classical passages or psychological findings.
How we handle different readings
The Snapshot stays within its stated Day Master scope. It does not resolve disagreements about seasonal strength, useful phases, or a complete chart. Before a paid reading offers those judgments, its author must identify the method, explain its basis, and flag material alternatives. Where that work is missing, we leave the conclusion open.
AI and review
Free Snapshots use fixed editorial text for each Day Master, attached to calculated chart data. No birth data is sent to an AI model. The complete report is a separate product in preparation; its AI assistance and named human review will be disclosed before purchase.
Common questions
Do I need to know anything about BaZi?
No. Your Snapshot explains the traditional associations in English and gives you a question to reflect on. BaZi, also called the Chinese Four Pillars, is the birth-chart tradition behind the prompts. The calculation details on this page explain how the chart is formed.
Does a birth chart describe who I really am?
A chart cannot establish your personality, abilities, or future. BaZi is a traditional symbolic system, not a scientifically validated assessment. Treat the interpretation as a starting point: compare it with your experience, including the parts that do not fit.
What if I do not know my birth time?
Choose the unknown-time option. We omit the Hour Pillar and show a limited profile. We also flag uncertainty near calendar boundaries, rather than inventing a precise time.
Is this personal coaching or therapy?
The current product is a self-guided reflection tool. It does not include a coaching session, a therapist, or professional medical, psychological, financial, or legal advice. The planned Complete Blueprint is a written report, and orders are not open yet.
What happens to my information?
Your free Snapshot is calculated in your browser without an email address. Birth details are sent to our service only if you choose to request an email copy when that option is available. Separate launch signups collect your email and consent, not your birth details. Our Privacy page explains retention and deletion.