Zi Wei Dou Shu
Similar to the Four Pillars of Destiny Chinese astrology, Zi Wei Dou Shu or "Purple Emperor astrology" is extremely useful and provides great insight and understanding into a person's energy or qi. As with the Four Pillars of Destiny, Zi Wei Dou Shu uses the Heavenly Stems and Chinese zodiac animals, or as they are known professionally, the "Earthly Branches". However, calculating and reading a chart is very different. Firstly, Zi Wei Dou Shu uses the lunar calendar, so a birth date must always be converted. Secondly, the twelve palaces or "courts" and up to one hundred and forty four stars in the system are descriptive.
History of Zi Wei Dou Shu
The origins of Zi Wei Dou Shu system are unclear, but the first person to actually document the system was Chen Xiyi during the Northern Song dynasty (960 to 1127). During this time, charts were drawn in the form of a circle, similar to the Luo Pan or Chinese compass that current Feng Shui practitioners use, but reading a circular chart is impractical, so during the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644) Luo Hongxian devised the rectangular charts we use today.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, gifted astrologers and astronomers were employed to work at the Bureau of Astronomy in the Imperial Court. The astrologers observed the stars and noticed that one seemed to be stationary and the other stars revolved around it. As it was also the brightest, the Chinese courtiers named it the “Emperor Star”. That star we know today as Polaris or the North Star. Court astrologers were shown great respect and drew up astrological charts to determine the Emperor's fate, his successor, and by extension, his kingdom. During this time, Zi Wei was a closely guarded secret and rulers banned its practice outside the court. Even today, Zi Wei Dou Shu is not well known or widely practised and in fact, the art of Zi Wei lies in the ability to fully understand the subtle effects of the stars, depending upon their relationship with each other and where they are in the chart.
Example of a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart
This is John Lennons' Chinese astrology chart.
The location of his "Emperor star" and "Deputy star" is in the "Brothers palace". The Emperor denotes a person's major direction in life. The deputy is an able assistant and means working very closely with someone that appears as a brother, hence the legendary union between Lennon and MacCartney.
To the left is the "Life palace" containing the Intellect, Intelligence and Angel 1 stars. Its significance is one of teaching and educating people through communication, the result of which was the profound lyrics contained within his music about the way life ought to be. Had his Emperor star been in this palace, he could have achieved it on his own.
The stars to the right of the Emperor in the Marriage palace are Wedding, Fiery and Mercy. The wedding star appearing in the marriage palace meant that he would marry at least twice, whilst the Fiery star, although unlucky in nature, together with the Mercy star made him determined to find his soulmate the second time around. Opposite his Emperor is the Friends palace with his Flirting star, which made him extremely popular, particularly with females and perhaps accounts for the initial hysteria that greeted his earlier public appearances.
The most striking part of John Lennon's chart is that although he brought love and joy to millions, his own Happiness palace is empty. This palace is opposite his Wealth palace and connected to Travel and Marriage palaces. These influences governed his life between the year 1965 and 1974, the result of which was that he realised that wealth does not bring happiness. He got married, with no great success, but also traveled to India to see his guru who taught him that happiness would come from the joy and education of others. This was a major turning point in John's life and upon his return to the UK, he split with the Beatles and started his solo career producing such legendary classics as "Imagine" and "Give peace a chance". He also married Yoko Ono during this period.
His next life period was 1975 - 1984, under the influence of the Property palace and the Wicked star, the Health and Brothers palaces with its Calamity star and his Emperor stars. At the time of his death, these stars were activated by yearly and monthly influences, the result of which was that he was tragically assassinated outside his New York home.
