Struggles in the last 7 years

[Acvamarie]

In the last 7 years, basically the entire high school and college (arguably college has been worse), and ever since I was accepted into college, things slowly got worse. Financial struggle, worsened relationship with my parents, worsened health, bad grades, missed job/internship opportunities, slower to learn, thinking over past failures (from high school), comparison to my much better and successful peers (done both by myself and other people) ,and not a single relationship (not that I've had one in the first place). Although I am also grateful for the things that have happened and still have, they won't be around forever.

I'm set to graduate in the summer of 2026, and my future is uncertain.

Date of birth: 12th March 2003
Location: Iasi, Romania
Time: 11:15 pm/23:15

Thank you in advance!

[smsek]

Thank you for sharing this. What you've described is a profoundly difficult and painful period, and it makes complete sense that you feel uncertain about the future. Please know that your feelings are valid, and this struggle is not a reflection of your worth or your ultimate potential.

From a BaZi perspective, the last 7 years are not a random streak of bad luck. They align perfectly with your current 10-year luck pillar (大运), which you entered around 2017: 丁巳 (Ding Si).

Let's break down why this specific period has been so challenging, and then, more importantly, why your graduation year of 2026 is a pivotal turning point.

Why the Last 7 Years (2017-2024~) Have Been So Tough: The 丁巳 (Ding Si) Luck Pillar

This luck pillar is characterized by intense Fire energy. Remember, your chart is strong Jia Wood. Fire is your "Output" element (食伤), representing talent, expression, and creativity. However, when this energy becomes excessive and unbalanced, it creates specific problems:

1.  Fire Over-burns Wood (Burnout & Health): Imagine a strong tree in a forest fire. The fire (Ding Si) is so strong it burns the wood (you). This directly explains:
    ◦   Worsened Health & Slower Thinking: The "burnout" effect. Your mental and physical resources are being over-consumed. It's like your CPU is constantly overheating, leading to fatigue, brain fog, and difficulty learning.

    ◦   Overthinking Past Failures: The Fire energy forces constant "output" of thoughts—in this case, negative and repetitive loops about the past. It's your mind working overtime, but not productively.

2.  Fire Evaporates Water (Loss of Support & Resources): The Water element in your chart (年柱癸水) is your "Resource" star (印星), representing parents, support, calmness, and learning ability. The powerful Fire of your luck pillar "evaporates" this Water. This explains:
    ◦   Worsened relationship with parents: The supportive, nurturing energy (Water) is weakened.

    ◦   Financial struggle & missed opportunities: Water also indirectly represents the foundation for wealth. When it's damaged, financial stability and the ability to seize opportunities suffer.

    ◦   Bad grades: Your innate learning ability (Water) is being "dried up" by the stressful Fire energy.

3.  Intensified Competition: Your chart already has strong competitive energy (劫财). The Ding Si pillar adds more Fire, which is the "child" of Wood, further strengthening the competitive vibe. This makes the "comparison to much better and successful peers" feel especially intense and painful.

In short, this luck pillar has created a perfect storm: it has weakened your support system (Water), exhausted your core energy (Wood), and amplified your competitive anxieties, all while pushing you to overthink. It's not you; it's the cyclical energy you have been navigating.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel: 2026 and Beyond

Your feeling that "they won't be around forever" is astrologically accurate. This difficult luck pillar will end. The timeline you mentioned is the key.

•   Graduation in Summer 2026: This is highly significant. The year 2026 is a Bing Wu (丙午) year, a year of extreme Fire. While that sounds bad, it often represents the final, most intense phase of a cycle before a major shift. It's the "final exam" of this challenging period. Graduating and leaving the academic environment is a perfect physical manifestation of leaving this cycle behind.

•   Your Next Luck Pillar (approx. 2027-2036): 戊午 (Wu Wu) This is the game-changer. Let's compare it to your current one:

Current Luck Pillar (丁巳 Ding Si) 2017~2026 Next Luck Pillar (戊午 Wu Wu) 2027~2036

Element Excessive Fire (伤官) - burns you out Fire (伤官) sitting on a Bed of Earth (偏财)

Effect Talent consumes you. Leads to overthinking, burnout, resource depletion. Talent generates Wealth. Your skills directly create opportunities and income.

Life Area A period of struggle, learning through hardship. A golden period for career and establishing yourself.

Why the next pillar is so much better:
The Earth element in the Wu Wu pillar is your Wealth star. The Fire of your talent (食伤) will now produce Earth (wealth), creating a virtuous cycle. This is the famous "食伤生财" (Talent Generating Wealth) pattern. The intense energy that currently causes overthinking and burnout will be channeled into productive, career-building, and income-generating activity.

What To Do Now: A Strategic View

1.  Survive and Protect: For the remainder of this cycle, your goal is not to "thrive" in the conventional sense, but to conserve your energy. See this as a marathon you are almost finished with.
    ◦   Health First: Prioritize sleep, gentle exercise (like walking), and nutrition. You need to protect your Wood (your core self) from being burned out further.

    ◦   Manage Expectations: Give yourself grace. Your grades and current opportunities are not defining your future. The goal right now is simply to graduate.

2.  Plan for the Transition (2025-2026): Use this time to prepare for the shift.
    ◦   Focus on Skills, Not Just Grades: Your future is in your practical talent (食神). What can you do? Start building a portfolio, learning a specific software, or developing a practical skill related to your field. This aligns with your ultimate strength.

    ◦   Reframe "Failure": The past 7 years were not a failure. They were a necessary, if brutal, training period mandated by your luck cycle. A strong tree like Jia Wood needs to be tested by fire to become resilient. You are building a resilience that your peers, who had an easier time, may not have.

3.  View 2026 with Hope, Not Fear: Your graduation is the exit door from this phase. The uncertainty you feel is because you are standing on the precipice of a major life change. The future is uncertain for everyone, but for you, the cyclical energy is shifting to a profoundly more supportive one.

In summary: You have been walking through a desert for 7 years. It has been harsh, draining, and lonely. But you are nearing the end of it. The map of your life (your BaZi chart) clearly shows that an oasis—a fertile and prosperous new territory—lies just ahead. Your task now is to conserve your water, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and know that the landscape is about to change dramatically for the better.

Your chart indicates a future where you are respected for your competence. This difficult period is forging the strength you will need for that future.

[coldpillow]

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[nin99]

Post to see

[Biscuit]

Post to read, the breakdown has been helpful to also understand my chart and its relationship

[eveereads]

H D M Y
乙甲乙癸
亥申卯未

This is the chart I've gotten, with one hour subtracted for daylight savings in Romania that year.

This chart shows a structure in which Wood (木) energy dominates, especially with strong Jia Wood (甲) during a Wood-dominant season.
Overall, it is a pattern of abundant Water and Wood.

When Wood meets Water—especially in a configuration like this, where Gui Water (癸) and Jia Wood (甲) appear together on the Heavenly Stems—it represents someone deeply interested in cultivating personal qualities and inner skills.
Such a person prefers solitary learning or creative self-development, often through activities like studying, reading, or crafts such as baking—things done alone and with focus.

But because this person's Luck Cycle (大運) proceeds in forward order (順行) and moves into Fire (火) luck later in life, the energy will shift from the person working alone to engaging in group or collective activities.
Fire represents social participation, systems, and structured environments—rules, deadlines, or organizational demands that did not exist when working solo.
Before, success depended only on their own ability; later, it requires cooperation and competition with others.

If the natal chart itself lacks Fire, that means the person is not naturally comfortable with those social and structured settings. And when thirty years of Fire luck arrive through major cycles, it signifies that life is urging them to adapt, to become familiar with collaboration and assert your place confidently within society.

As for why they may feel outperformed by others, notice that the earthly branches form a Wood trine (亥卯未) that generates energy toward Yi Wood (乙) rather than the Day Master Jia Wood (甲).
Likewise, the Year's Gui Water (癸) nourishes Yi Wood, not Jia.
Therefore, during Fire luck—especially the Si-Wu-Wei (巳午未) periods—it is Yi Wood’s time to act, not Jia's.
In such times, as Jia Wood, one's best role is to support, mentor, or guide the many active Yi Woods around them, those who are expressing and creating externally.

One's hardship does not come from bad luck; it arises from clinging to familiar ways when life asks them to engage with the world.
Once they recognize and accept that, no luck period will feel difficult.
Everything depends on one's willingness to adapt.

[coldpillow]

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[eveereads]

Hi coldpillow, thank you for letting me know. I probably should have been clearer about that, huh? I meant that when she enters the 丁巳 decade.

This chart is indeed a Yang Ren structure (陽刃格, Blade structure). But I didn't refer to it as such because the structure has already been broken (破格) for several reasons, which are:

1. The Xiangshen (相神, Corresponding Spirit,  in this case, the Partial Officer [偏官]) is absent from the Heavenly Stems.
The environment necessary for the Yang Ren to perform its proper function does not exist, and the Day Master itself lacks the mental discipline or direction to fulfill that role.

2. In the Heavenly Stems, there appears Yi Wood (乙木), which is both a Rob Wealth star (劫財) and the ruler of the birth month.
According to Ziping Mingli (子平命理), if a Yang Ren (陽刃) or Jian Lu (建祿) chart has Rob Wealth (劫財) or Companion (比肩) revealed in the Heavenly Stems, it causes 争財 (Zheng Cai, struggle over resources) and thus becomes a broken structure (破格).

3. There are multiple roots in the Earthly Branches.
This is called "Double or Multiple Blades (重刃)."
Even if a Yang Ren chart has a Partial Officer, once multiple roots appear in the branches, the chart is also considered broken.
The very fact of being born in a Yang Ren month already signifies freedom from official restraint.
When other branches further strengthen one's own element, it creates a structure that cannot be controlled, with or without an Officer star.

The original purpose of Yang Ren (陽刃) and Jian Lu (建祿) is to unite those who exist outside the established order and form a new authority. Achieving that goal, however, requires immense hardship, effort, and external support.

In Ziping Mingli, both Yang Ren and Jian Lu are categorized as Outer Structures (外格). That is, patterns that stand outside conventional social order.
They are also considered the most demanding structures to establish, since even minor imbalance or interference easily collapses them into broken structures (破格).

Could you tell me more about your comment, "but I'm not entirely sure if either one or both will be helpful due to the presence of Zheng Yin in year stem?"

Her chart structure is called 阳刃格 (Yang Blade), typically likes Sha and Zheng Guan (metal) the most, but I'm not entirely sure if either one or both will be helpful due to the presence of Zheng Yin in year stem.

I learned that what a Yang Ren (陽刃) structure needs most is not necessarily the direct presence of Officer or Killing in the chart, but rather the appearance of an Yin Star (印星, Resource) on the Heavenly Stems.

If an Yin Star is revealed on the Stems, then even if there are no Officer or Killing stars within the natal chart, the person will be prepared to protect the incoming Officer energy when such influences arrive through luck cycles.
For that reason, even when a Yang Ren or Jian Lu (建祿) structure is technically broken (破格), if an Yin Star exists on the Stems, it can later transform into a proper structure (成格) as life progresses.

Of course, in this particular chart, the Yin Star is too weak (not to mention it's yin), while the overall chart's luck cycles move into Fire (火) and the Companion stars (比劫) are overwhelmingly strong. So strong, in fact, that the Yin Star has been all but extinguished in my opinion.

[coldpillow]

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[ren]

Hey Coldplay,

Is the person in the November 30th 1983 chart someone well known?

Thanks,

ren

[eveereads]

Thank you for the Baidu page, coldpillow. I'm so glad that we have ChatGPT and other AI sites now, so I can understand different languages with less difficulty.

In a chart with 殺印相生 structure, the presence of Yang Blade will break the structure.
-> According to what I've learned,
in the Pian Yin–Pian Guan (偏印–偏官) type of Sha–Yin mutual generation, the Day Master must have a root for the structure to function properly.
That root may even be a Yang Blade (陽刃, 干與地同)—there's nothing wrong with that.

When the Day Master has a root, it possesses the strength to endure the pressure from the Pian Guan (Seven Killings) and to use the Pian Yin to help others, such as those represented by the Shishang (食傷) Stars.

If the Day Master lacks a root, then the person can only endure the hardship from the Pian Guan through the Pian Yin, without the ability to overcome it or extend help to others.
In that case, the person ends up living under the shadow of the Pian Guan, constantly restricted by external pressure instead of transforming that pressure into productivity, wisdom, and compassion. The person may want for nothing, living in an environment where everything is provided for them, but they would be like a princess locked in a castle.


From your explanation, Yin is confirmed beneficial for Yang Blade and it must be strong too.
-> The Yin Star (印星) must be revealed on the Heavenly Stems, yes. The magnitude of that Yin Star (its strength or weakness [旺衰强弱]), determines the scale of its reaches.


How if the blade meets Direct/Partial Officer to control it or Hurting Officer to transform robbery into wealth creation?
-> This chart is a Jian Lu structure (建祿格) in which the Heavenly Stems display an interaction between Rob Wealth (劫財) and Hurting Officer (傷官).
There is no Yin Star (印星) present, only a Hurting Officer, and that Hurting Officer is even protected by the Rob Wealth.
Under such conditions, no matter how strong a Direct or Indirect Officer may appear later in luck cycles, it becomes impossible to restrain the Day Master and its Companions (比劫).

Furthermore, because the luck pillars move forward (順行) into Wood and Fire, this chart lives not by its structural designation, but by the interactions of the Five Elements and the Ten Gods.
For a Yang Ren (陽刃) or Jian Lu (建祿) native, engaging in Shishang → Wealth (食傷生財) does not mean living as a magnanimous person who seeks public good; it indicates someone who pursues private ambition and personal wealth instead.

If at least there were an Yin Star on the Heavenly Stems, it could restrain the Day Master's desire to generate wealth through Shishang, giving rise instead to a wish for honor (貴) rather than mere profit (財).
That is why, in both Yang Ren and Jian Lu structures, the Yin Star is considered the most desirable element.

(I really hope all this makes sense to you. To me, it does, but since I'm getting help from ChatGPT for the terminology, etc., I'm really not sure how it's translated to those who are more familiar with the Chinese terms and whatnot... :/)

[coldpillow]

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[eveereads]

Does it help if Yin only appears in the Earthly Branches?
The Branch itself is static, so the effect is limited. It may become active temporarily through combinations or clashes, but its influence remains external.

→ For Yin (印) to truly work, it must appear on the Heavenly Stems, because only then does it directly shape the Day Master’s consciousness and mindset.
In fact, the weaker the Yin, the stronger its psychological impact—like how a small wound on your pinky can occupy your attention all day.
This illustrates the relationship between 體 (the body) and 用 (its function): the weaker “use” (Yong) draws more focus from the “body (Ti)."

Elements in the Earthly Branches represent people and external circumstances.
So if Yin is buried in a Branch, it suggests someone close to you acts as your Yin—someone who guides, supports, or advises.
Whether their advice influences you, however, depends on you, not them.
Most people resist correction from others; true refinement must come from within.
Hence, a visible Yin on the Heavenly Stem signifies that this reflective awareness arises internally, not externally.

About the Yang Blade with the Hurting Officer–Rob Wealth combination on the Heavenly Stems

For a Yang Blade (陽刃) to fulfill its role, it must serve others and uphold collective good—placing public interest above personal gain. But when the Hurting Officer (傷官) appears, especially in the Hour Stem (which governs the mind and consciousness), the direction reverses: self-expression and personal ambition overpower restraint and responsibility.

This is why such a person struggles in leadership or management—the drive to express and dominate replaces the duty to guide and unify.


Also, both Yang Blade (陽刃) and Jian Lu (建祿) types are inherently competitive, individualistic, and self-reliant;
they stand apart from conventional society because:

They are born to compete, not to cooperate.

They tend to look down on others, not out of arrogance, but because their constitution is naturally strong and self-assured.

In classical terms, Yang Blade and Jian Lu belong to the "noble" or "extraordinary" types (外格)—individuals who live outside ordinary hierarchies and rarely fit comfortably within social institutions.

[coldpillow]

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[eveereads]

Regardless the severity of her blades, I think Metal luck cycle is still the best for the chart owner in this topic @Acvamarie

→ Yes, I agree, but not from a structural perspective. Rather, it's because of the Metal element within her Earthly Branches. For someone born in a Wood month, Metal represents the harvest, the culmination after passing through the season of Fire. Having Metal already embedded in the Branches means she naturally holds latent potential for material gain or tangible results when entering the Metal decades.

Judging from the hour and day branches, seems like her transformation will be influenced more by her future spouse and children?

→ I don't think this chart can fully develop into a proper structure, even though there's a Yin Star (印) on the Heavenly Stems, because of its placement—the Year Stem. I was taught that the Year Pillar represents destiny or energy that is generally beyond personal reach, accessible only to highly refined or enlightened individuals such as monks or priests.

To add to my earlier point: for a Yang Blade (陽刃) without Sha (殺) to later form a proper structure, it must have a Yin Star visible on the Month or Hour Stem—especially the Hour, in my view—since that pillar governs awareness and inner transformation.