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Bushi Zhengzong · The Orthodox Tradition of Divination
Lines Holding Self and the Self–Response Pair
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Formula for the Various Lines Holding Self
A flourishing or supported Self line is strongest.
Undertakings go smoothly with great good fortune.
All kinds of plans and hopes fulfill the intention;
the Useful Spirit generating or combining is marvelous beyond measure.
Cycle Void and Month Break are not favorable;
control, harm, penalty, and clash are bad encounters.
Parents holding Self govern personal toil.
Seeking heirs is difficult even with many concubines.
With Officer moving and Wealth flourishing, take the examination.
With Wealth stirring, do not be anxious in seeking profit.
In a personal question, Wealth moving means no worthy wife;
there is also fear that the humble life span will not be high.
Descendants holding Self leave affairs without worry.
For seeking reputation, most avoid their sitting at the head.
In escaping disorder, safety is promised and lost things can be found.
Official litigation can now be brought to an end.
Generation without control makes all things favorable;
control without generation instead brings sorrow.
The Ghost line holding Self makes affairs uneasy.
In a personal question, if not illness, there is official trouble.
There is constant worry over lost money and possessions.
For achievement and reputation, Self wielding authority is most welcome.
Entering the Tomb brings anxiety and doubt without a day of release;
meeting Clash turns calamity into joy.
Wealth holding Self increases money and prosperity.
Brothers crossing or heavy must not be encountered.
If Descendants also move openly or secretly,
it benefits oneself, controls Parents, and damages literary prospects.
For office or litigation, entrusting the matter through Wealth is fitting;
moving and changing into Brothers or Officer makes all affairs unfavorable.
With Brothers holding Self, do not seek wealth.
If Officer rises, consider coming calamity.
If Vermilion Bird joins, guard against verbal disputes.
If the line stirs, wife and wealth must be harmed.
Parents generating one another bring longevity to the person;
changing into Officer or Ghost brings extraordinary calamity.
Reading note: These couplets contain the source readings 子身, 井临, and 夬母. Descendants, joining, and Parents follow their immediate relation-and-Self context; the Chinese graphics are not replaced.
Formula for Generation, Control, Void, Movement, and Stillness of Self and Response
Self and Response generating one another is favorable;
Self and Response controlling one another is unfavorable.
If their phases agree, the affair is middling,
and undertakings and plans may be used.
Response moving means the other person changes;
Response in Void means the other's intention is hard to share.
Self in Void or moving leaves my mind indolent:
the fear is only one's own reluctance to act.
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