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How to Read the Doushu Astrology Life Chart

🌷The Life Chart

🌿The Doushu Astrology Life Chart is a large rectangular box made up of 12 small boxes, each of which is called a palace or terra. Stars are placed in each palace based on a person's date of birth.

🏰The 12 Terras (Locations)

🌿 The 12 terras are named after the 12 Earthly Branches, each of which is associated with a Year Animal. There are a total of 12 Year Animals. For ease of memorization, this website uses the names of the Year Animals as the names of the 12 terras. The position of each Year Animal on the chart is fixed and is the same for everyone.

🌿 For example, the Snake Terra is always in the top left corner, and the Monkey Terra is always in the top right corner

🏰The 12 Palaces(Aspects of Life)

• 🏰In Doushu Astrology, a person's life has 12 aspects. Each palace on the Life Chart represents a specific aspect of a person's life.
• 🏰The 12 palaces follow a specific sequence and rotate counterclockwise on the Life Chart. The sequence is the same for everyone. Each palace is represented by a number, beginning with 1 (the Life Palace) and ending with 12 (the Parent Palace). The Life Palace can begin anywhere on the chart, depending on the person's lunar birth month and time of birth.
• 🏰The 12 palaces are: 1. Life → 2. Sibling → 3. Spouse → 4. Children → 5. Wealth → 6. Health → 7. Journey → 8. Friends → 9. Career → 10. Home → 11. Fortune → 12. Parents.

🌿 Note: In Doushu Astrology, the term "palace" refers to both the physical locations on the life chart and specific aspects of life. To avoid confusion, this website uses terra to refer to the physical locations on the Life Chart and palace to refer to specific aspects of life.

🏰Life Palace

🌿The Life Palace is the most important palace on the Doushu Life Chart. It represents the self (your inner self). The Main Star(s) in the Life Palace are considered your Personal Doushu Star(s). The Life Palace reflects your inner feelings, personality, and behavior.

🏰Journey Palace

🌿The Journey Palace, also known as the Outer Palace, represents your outer self—how you present and express yourself to others, and how others perceive you. It also reflects your personality, behavior, fortunes, and experiences when you are away from home, such as when traveling, studying abroad, working in a foreign country, or engaging in outdoor activities.

If there are no Main Stars in your Life Palace, it is called an Empty Palace. In this case, the two Main Stars in your Journey Palace serve as your Personal Doushu Stars.

This means your inner self aligns with your outer self—you present and express yourself in the same way as how you feel inside. However, this does not necessarily make you an open person who freely shares personal matters; it still depends on the stars involved.

If there are no Main Stars in your Journey Palace, then it is also an Empty Palace. This again indicates that your inner self aligns with your outer self, and you express yourself consistently with how you feel inside.

🏰Inner Palace

🌿The Inner Palace is the palace of focus or interest. It can also be referred to as the Self Palace or the Target Palace. The Inner Palace is the inner representation of a person or a matter.

🏰Outer Palace

🌿Every palace has an Outer Palace. The palace that is six positions away, either clockwise or counterclockwise from the Target Palace, is considered its Outer Palace. The Outer Palace is the external representation of a person or a matter.

Example:

The Wealth Palace is the Outer Palace of the Fortune Palace.
The Journey Palace is the Outer Palace of the Life Palace.
The Life Palace is the Outer Palace of the Journey Palace.

🏰Empty Palace

🌿If there are no Main Stars in a Target Palace (palace of interest), it is called an Empty Palace. In this case, the two Main Stars located in its Outer Palace serve as the Main Stars of the Empty Palace. For example, if the Life Palace is an Empty Palace, then the stars in the Journey Palace are used as its Main Stars.

🏰Trio Palaces

Every Target Palace has two companion palaces, which are very important when interpreting the Life Chart.

• The first companion palace is the fourth palace counted counterclockwise from the Target Palace.
• The second companion palace is the fourth palace counted clockwise from the Target Palace.

Together, the Target Palace and its two companion palaces are called the Trio Palaces.

Examples:

• If the Target Palace is the Life Palace, it is called the Life Trio. The Life Trio consists of the Life Palace, the Wealth Palace, and the Career Palace.
• If the Target Palace is the Spouse Palace, it is called the Spouse Trio. The Spouse Trio consists of the Journey Palace, the Career Palace, and the Fortune Palace.

🏰The Quartet Palaces

When the Target Palace of the Trio Palaces is combined with its Outer Palace, they are called the Quartet Palaces. The Quartet Palaces provide a more complete picture when interpreting a palace.

Example:

• The Life Trio plus the Journey Palace (the Outer Palace of the Life Palace) is called the Life Quartet.
• The Spouse Trio plus the Career Palace (the Outer Palace of the Spouse Palace) is called the Spouse Quartet.

🌿When interpreting the Life Palace or any particular palace, all the palaces of the quartet must be interpreted together, not individually.

🏰The Stars of Doushu Astrology

🌿In Doushu Astrology, the stars are divided into categories. More...
🌿There are a total of 14 Main Stars. A palace can have from zero to two Main Stars.
🌿The Main Star(s) in your Life Palace are considered your Personal Doushu Stars.
🌿If there are no Main Stars in a palace, use the Main Stars in its Outer Palace.
🌿The Outer Palace of the Life Palace is the Journey Palace.
🌿 If a palace has no Main Stars, its Outer Palace will have two Main Stars.
🌿 When the Main Stars in the Life Palace are combined with the Main Stars in the Journey Palace, a person can have from two to three Main Stars.
🌿 On the Life Chart, the Main Stars are shown inside a bold purple-bordered box.

🦋

The Four Converted Stars

🌿 During certain years, months, and times, specific stars are converted.
🌿 When reading a Life Chart, always look for the converted stars first.
🌿 Check if any stars in the Life Palace Quartet are converted.
🌿 When a star is converted, its characteristics change.
🌿 Converted stars can trigger events during Major and Annual Fortunes.

🦋 The four types of conversions:

💰 To Wealth: Usually increases a person’s wealth. The person becomes more generous and affectionate.
🗡️ To Authority: Increases a person’s authority. The person becomes hardworking, assertive, and inclined to take control.
🛡️ To Brightness: Increases a person’s visibility or fame. The person becomes more cautious. The To Brightness Star can also reduce the negative effects of the To Darkness Star.
🐌 To Darkness: Represents challenges, obstacles, delays, lingering issues, sticky situations, and uncertainties.

For more about the four converted stars, click here...

🏰Other stars in the Quartet Palaces

🌿 Finally, observe all the other stars in the Quartet Palaces, such as Auspicious Stars, Challenge Stars, and Miscellaneous Stars.
🌿 On the Life Chart, different classes of stars are represented by different background colors.