The year and month that are running
If the decade is the climate where you live, the year is this season's weather and the month is the sky this week. All three sit on top of your birth chart, and the app reads how they meet it.
Every year and month has a pillar
Each BaZi year has its own pillar (流年). It starts at , around February 4. Each month has one too, starting at a solar term between the 4th and the 8th of the calendar month. These pillars are the same for everyone. What changes is how they meet your chart.
How they meet your chart
- Themes. The year's stem and branch each play a role for your Day Master. If the stem is your Opportunity and the branch hides your Support, the themes read "Opportunity + Support".
- Elements. A year can bring more of an element your chart needs, or more of one it already has plenty of. That's mostly what the app model's rating looks at.
- Contacts. The year's branch can combine with, clash with, harm or punish your branches. These nudge the rating a little, and the readings mention them.
- Stars. A year can switch on one of your symbolic stars, like Peach Blossom or Nobleman.
- Repeats. When a year exactly repeats one of your pillars, the Years view says so.
Where you see them
- Today: "What surrounds you now" has three cards, Month, Year and Decade, each with its pillar, themes and dates. Tap one to open Timeline on that view.
- Timeline, Years: from two years ago to nine years ahead. Each year has its pillar, a short reading, its themes and its pips.
- Timeline, Months: the months ahead. Each opens with its solar term and the exact date and time it begins.
- Full reading: "Year by year and key moments" and "Month by month" go deeper.
About the pips
The pips are the app model's rating. The caption under the list says it plainly: "Traditional tendencies, not a forecast."
A year with fewer pips isn't a bad year. It can be a time to work quietly, rest or put things in order. A year with more pips isn't a promise either. It's a tendency, and your choices weigh more.
A question to carry
When a new month starts, ask yourself: what is this month asking of me? You can write the answer in the private note on Today. Looking back at those notes a few months later is often the best part.