YANG EDGE (SWORD STAR)
Some people have an unhealthy thirst for power and influence. They then go about life bullying subordinates and those who are
below them in the hierarchy. Then there also those who find purpose in fighting the powerful to help the weak.
These types of strong-willed personalities often have the sword star (羊刃) in their bazi.
At it’s brightest, the presence of this star in a person’s bazi can indicate that he or she would make a great champion for those who
are disadvantaged in life. However, it also has the potential to be a double-edged sword. Thus, the name. At it’s worst, it can mean
someone who seizes power from immoral and unethical means.
In fact, from people who has this star in their 4 pillars, there tend to be more people who have been negatively affected by it than
positively benefited. Maybe that’s why truly great leaders and politicians only arise once in a blue moon.
When the star’s effects on bazi are deemed to be negative when arriving via the luck pillars, this star is often referred to by experts
as the goat blade instead, which is it’s direct translation from it’s Chinese name. This different naming can be attributed to the
different context in which the star is interpreted.
Unlike other symbolic stars, the sword star don’t tend to be more powerful when there are more than one in the bazi. This means
that having one is enough for a person to harness it. Having more can only increase the potential of clashes with other characters
in the bazi.
In general, one would only need one sword star to harness it’s positive effects. But negative effects can be compounded by the
presence of more than one.
Dynamics with other bazi characters
Sword stars tend to have the best positive effects when a person that has it also has a weak self element, and the star acts in
strengthening it.
When the self-element is strong, and the star clashes with it, then it can result in undesirable personal traits such as arrogance,
self-centered and scheming. When this clash is elemental by nature, then it can also lead to bloodshed.
Which pillar this star resides in also has implications according to the associations of the specific pillars.
For example, the earthly branch on the day pillar represents marriage. This means that an unfavorable sword star on the day pillar
can indicate a life full of conflicts with the spouse. And when it appears unfavorably on the month pillar, it can mean a person
who is disliked by people around him/her.
Should it land on a heavenly void, then the effects can be reversed under the right conditions.
While every individual has a character that represents the goat blade, when it appears in the bazi, it does not carry as much weight
in terms of it’s inauspiciousness as when they appear in the annual stars or luck pillars.
So regarding this symbolic star, pay attention to it’s timeliness and it’s arrival (if any) via the luck pillars when looking at your
bazi.
Once you have identified your goat blade, this can be interpreted in various ways.
One is via the annual characters from the Hsia calendar and your luck pillars as explained above.
If for example, this is a year where your goat blade star Hai (E12) arrives and it is an unfavorable element, then you should also
pay attention to meeting new friends who are of the pig zodiac… because this person might be the catalyst for the tragic event to
take place.
