Do You Have Any Growth, Cardinal or Graveyard Earthly Branches?

As those of you who are studying BaZi will have discovered, the process of learning and deciphering BaZi is akin to peeling an onion. This "onion peeling" analogy has been used, time and time again, to describe the process of BaZi study and interpretation.

Each concept in BaZi is usually first understood on a stand-alone basis, and next in a combined and usually interactive and dynamic manner together with other concepts.

However, life does not always have to be so complicated. Often, we can derive important information from just a single characteristic of the chart, for example one of the Earthly Branches or Heavenly Stems. The Day Master is probably the best (and most important) example of how a single, "one-dimensional" aspect of the BaZi chart can reveal such key and crucial information!

Our topic for this article is the 3 groupings of the Earthly Branches: the Growth, Cardinal and Graveyard groupings. As we know, the BaZi chart describes the BaZi owner's personality, behavior and pretty much all the circumstances of his or her life. As such, simply by identifying the make-up of the Earthly Branches, we can already surmise certain key information.

For example, the Growth Earthly Branches (namely the Tiger, Snake, Monkey and Pig) are indicative of movement, travel and even money-making activities. These branches denote exploration and growth in one's life that lead to discovery and excitement.

A chart devoid of any of these animal signs hence points to a more sedentary and "take-it-as-it-comes-along" type lifestyle and personality. On the other hand, a chart with 2 or more of these growths points to frequent changes, travel, movement and in general, a lack of stability in the person's life.

The Cardinal Earthly Branches (the Rabbit, Horse, Rooster and Rat - the Peach Blossoms) denote the pure Qi of each element, hence indicative of strong and usually extreme characteristics as represented by each element in question. As such, people with many cardinals (2 or more) are usually headstrong and exhibit "extreme" characteristics.

Thanks to the "peachiness" of the Cardinal Earthly Branches, it also goes without saying that these people are always somehow attractive to others (even if they are not physically so). However, this X-factor often leads to complicated and dramatic interpersonal and dramatic relationships.

The Graveyard Earthly Branches (the Dragon, Goat, Dog and Ox) denote not only stability (owing to the Earth element) but also the "mysterious" aspects of one's life. Since the Graveyards contain two other Hidden Stems, those with many Graveyards indeed tend to be complicated people! They usually are reserved characters but more so because they tend to have difficulty understanding and expressing their real, inner feelings - characteristics that lead to communication issues with those around them.

However, people with Graveyards typically have multiple, hidden talents, too! The complete absence of even a single Graveyard in the BaZi chart indicates a lack of grounding and oftentimes, practicality in one's life.

Toh Kong Eu
MA Instructor