When it comes to reading bazi, the most popular questions are overwhelmingly inclined towards the ability, capacity, and potential for someone to attain wealth in life.
These types of questions are actually very appropriate in bazi as a person’s 8 characters enables us to peek into a person’s wealth potential and how that wealth (if any) can be achieved.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a gifted Chinese metaphysician to determine and identify wealth aspects in bazi.
You can do so by looking for the wealth element.
Wealth element
The wealth element simply refers to the element among the 5 elements that represent wealth to a person.
It is represented by the element that the self-element conquers. The term conquer can sometimes be alternatively labeled as control, destroy or counter. It really depends on which master you ask.
For example, if after plotting your 4 pillars, you find that you have the self element of Fire, then the element of metal is the element that you conquer and is therefore your wealth element.
In general, when this particular element is present in an individual’s bazi, it’s good news. Especially when it is a favorable element, or useful god, to the daymaster.
To determine whether an element is favorable or undesirable, the strength of the self-element must be evaluated.
Saying that, even when the wealth element is not favorable to a person, it might just mean that generating wealth is still on the cards. Just that the person might have to go through a much harder time getting there compared to someone who has it as a favorable element.
From the previous example of fire self-element, we can bring more specificity into the picture by identifying whether your self-element, or daymaster, is yin fire or yang fire.
If one is of yin fire, then yin metal would represent indirect wealth and yang metal would represent direct wealth. On the other hand if one is of yang fire, then yang metal would represent indirect wealth and yin metal would represent direct wealth. This is in reference to the 10 gods.
Direct wealth is associated with money earned through career, side lines, and generally working for others. Indirect wealth is linked to running of businesses, entrepreneurship, investments for passive income, windfalls, etc.
At this point it would also be helpful to determine the strength of the wealth elements in the bazi. It can provide a sign of the magnitude of these money luck.
This can be done by checking the whether it is in season against the month branch or be referring to the 12 growth cycle.
Where is it?
Now that you have identified your wealth element, the next step would be to see whether it is present in your bazi.
It is important to note that while the more times this element appears in a bazi conveys great wealth potential, it does not mean that those with just 1 appearance means less wealth.
The strength of the character has to be taken into account.
In addition, some people just need to be very successful in one thing to become rich. They don’t necessarily need to have a hand in various different types of businesses and investments.
The most favorable position for the wealth element to appear in bazi is usually at the hour stem or month stem. This is because these two positions are right beside the daymaster (which represents the individual).
Between these two positions, the month stem would slightly edge the hour stem as the month pillar is associated with career while the hour pillar is more inclined towards mindset.
It’s worth mentioning that if the month branch is made up of the wealth element, the potential and capacity for wealth is very strong since the month branch itself is one of the most critical criteria that determines the strength of each character in bazi.
When it only appears in the year pillar, it does not only mean that he/she would run into obstacles and road blocks that must be overcome, it can also mean that the bulk of his assets and money might originate from inheritance.
If the wealth element sets up shop at the day branch, then it would signify that marriage can play a primary role for the route to wealth for this particular person. This is because the day branch is known as the marriage palace within a bazi.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this person marry into a rich family.
Should the element that represents wealth not be present in any of the 8 characters, one should dig into the hidden stems of the earthly branches to see if any of them can be found.
When they are found inside, it signifies that the most probable route to full wealth potential would be via a third party.
Combinations
There are a flurry of combinations that can occur between heavenly stems and earthly branches. The most commonly cited of which are the 5 combinations and 6 combinations.
Sometimes the wealth element might not be visible in a bazi, but it is clearly present in the form of combinations.
For example, a person of Geng metal daymaster would have wood as the wealth element. While there might not be any characters among the 8 that are of wood element in his bazi, the presence of Ding fire and Ren water in the birth chart can ignite a combination that creates wood. This indicates a high potential for wealth. But to tap on this elusively obvious money luck, one must be able to recognize it. This is a typical case of what one is seeking is right under his nose. He just needs to be more aware of his surroundings.
It might mean that a family business is just waiting for him to takeover, or that he already has assets or skills of high value and in demand. Just that he is not cashing in and seeking other options except the ones right in front of him.
If you are still unable to locate any elements of wealth in your bazi at this point, then check for hidden combinations.
And if after that, there is still none, don’t fret. Because they can still arrive via your luck pillars and annual pillars.
It must be said that when there is no wealth element present in bazi, it does not necessarily mean that a person would be poor by default. It just means that the bazi does not offer much insight into the person’s life in this aspect.
No wealth elements?
If by some stroke of luck that you really have no elements of wealth in your bazi, then the next best thing is the element that your self-element produces.
This is because it is the element that produces your wealth element.
For example, if an individual has Jia wood as the daymaster, then the fire element would be the element it produces.
When one has a strong presence of this element in bazi but without the wealth element, it is like a water hose fully ready to blast… with just the nozzle stopping water from bursting out. Once the wealth element enters the picture, maybe via the luck pillars, the outlet is open and one can potentially experience an explosion of wealth luck for as long as the wealth element is in play.
When this is the case, it is best that the individual in question maximize his takings as the good luck would eventually fizzle out.
