The twelve palaces take turns governing ten-year stretches, much like BaZi's major luck cycles.
Everything so far described the natal chart. Now comes time. Just as BaZi has major and annual luck cycles, Zi Wei Dou Shu has decades (大限) and annual cycles (流年).
A decade cycle is structured so that the twelve palaces each govern ten years. The Life Palace governs the first ten years, the Siblings Palace the next, and so on through all twelve positions. A full circuit covers 120 years.
The starting age is set by the Five-Element Bureau. A Wood Three Bureau begins at age 3; a Metal Four Bureau at age 4. This is where the number from Chapter 4 is used.
Begin by asking which palace governs the current decade, then overlay what that palace means in the natal chart. A Spouse Palace decade brings relationship matters forward, but the period unfolds differently depending on the natal condition of that palace.
One more layer is added: the Four Transformations are reassigned for each period. A decade receives four transformations from its own stem, and an annual cycle receives another set from that year’s stem. A star quiet in the natal chart can therefore become prominent during a particular decade.
An annual cycle covers one year. It adds one year’s focus on top of the broader decade. If the decade is a season, the annual cycle is its weather. A year rarely overturns the decade; it usually adjusts intensity within the larger flow.
Enter your birth time to see which decade you are currently moving through and which stars it activates.
This content is for reference and entertainment, based on traditional Chinese metaphysics and astrology.