You may be familiar with your star-sign: signs like Capricorn, Virgo, Aries are based on how the stars align with your date of birth in Western Astrology. Similar Astrological practices exist all across the world, such as Chinese Polestar Astrology (Zi Wei Dou Shu).
In Chinese practices, Polestar Astrology is very complex, basing itself in the cycles of life, seasons, and Qi. As discussed in our previous article about Ancestry, Chinese Polestar Astrology uses an individual’s birth date and time in order to predict their fate through an Astrology Reading. According to the practice of Buddhist and Daoist scholar Liu Ming: ”Fate is not demanding, it is just a predisposition.” Therefore, Polestar Astrology reveals an individual’s predispositions rather than attempting to tell their fortune.
Astrology Readings are one of the many services Aelita Leto provides. During an Astrology Reading, Aelita will walk through the “Twelve Houses” which make up one’s natal chart. These Houses use Confucian ideas to determine the big picture of how our fate influences personal relationships and our place in society.
The Twelve Houses are intricate and just the beginning to Polestar Astrology, but we will provide a brief summary about each one.
1. Ming Palace
The First House creates a centralized image of one’s primary Fate. The stars in this House dictate what scholar Gregory David Done calls the “gravity of our Fate.” Essentially, this is a Fate’s predestined responsibilities which will limit an individual’s freedom. One’s fate may be “heavy” with many responsibilities, or “light” with few karmic obligations. The Ming Palace also alludes to if those responsibilities will be resolved in this lifetime. This House is usually read first during an Astrological Reading and reviewed at the end of the reading.
2. Youth Palace
On the surface, the Youth Palace represents early life development; but at its core, this House communicates connections with siblings. In Chinese tradition, siblings share a deep karmic connection which can transcend lifetimes. One’s fate may gravitate towards caring for their siblings and sharing a special bond. Therefore, this House reveals the atmosphere of one’s childhood and the prevalence of their sibling relationships.
3. Partners Palace
The Partners Palace refers to long-term romantic relationships, both in regards to marriage and one’s own nature in relationships. Traditionally, the Partners Palace was applied to the marriage ceremony, which was more of a unifying ritual between two families than the romantic event it is in Western culture. Today, readings of the Partners Palace may reveal attributes of your destined partner or possibilities of divorce. It is common for the Partners Palace to be read in tandem with the Offspring Palace.
4. Offspring Palace
In the Fourth House lies Fate’s relationship with childbirth and legacy. If you are predestined to raise a child, you must sacrifice freedom to complete your obligation towards the child. The Offspring Palace suggests one’s predilection towards parenting and how to be a parent. In the cases where an individual does not and will not have children, this House can be about legacy: a project can be nurtured in the same way a child can, fulfilling this Fate. It is important to remember that this is an individual’s fate as a parental figure, and not the child’s fate.
5. Wealth Palace
How we view “wealth” today is dramatically different from how it was interpreted in ancient China, where agricultural cycles determined the cycles of natural wealth. Therefore, “wealth” is more than financial security. Still, this House can predict if you will be paid appropriately for your work efforts, and even the directness of your income. However, the disconnect between the original purposes of this House and our modern association of wealth with income makes interpretations of the Wealth Palace modest. This House is read with the Property Palace in order to reveal one’s overall prosperity.
6. Health Palace
As one of the broadest Houses, the Health Palace is the most difficult to interpret. Stars in the Health Palace may be used to predict illness, but also may predict prowess in the medical field. The broad ideas communicated in the Health Palace align with the philosophies of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and may reveal ancestral patterns of illness. It is vital to note that Polestar Astrology Readings do not provide medical diagnosis.
7. Career/Travel Palace
The Career/Travel Palace communicates one’s relationship to the world as a professional, breaking down how significant work and travel will be to your life. The stars in this House may suggest your destiny lies in career accomplishments or perhaps in an eye-opening journey to a new country. Ultimately, the Career/Travel Palace is about one’s life journey.
8. Assistants Palace
While the Assistants Palace ties into the Career Palace, it reveals a broader relationship with people. Confucian tradition describes a “web of dependence” in which people have a social responsibility to each other. The Assistants Palace helps to determine the significance of your Fate with friends, co-workers, and subordinates. This may reveal elements of your career through how much work you do behind the scenes to assist others. If that is the case, your life is oriented towards service.
9. Superiors Palace
Like the Assistants Palace, the Superiors Palace relates to career. The ninth house reveals leadership ability, relationships with mentors, and the fulfillment of career. These relationships are built on trust, respect, and karmic cause and effect. If one’s Fate heavily gravitates towards the Superiors Palace, they have the potential to be a successful leader and contributor to society.
10. Property Palace
The Property Palace describes an individual’s relationship with their physical space and the home. It can reveal how Feng Shui impacts an individual’s lifestyle through their relationship with the land. The tenth house is one of the most straightforward ones, providing insight on your Fate to own, buy, and sell property.
11. Pleasure Palace
The Pleasure Palace is arguably the most important House, as it communicates experiences of enjoyment and our relationship to happiness. While we pursue satisfaction, some people may be fated to never be satisfied and continually chasing pleasure. Other people may be fated to be grumpy. Whatever one’s relationship to happiness is, the stars in the Pleasure Palace can detail on how an individual may seek out enjoyment.
12. Ancestor Palace
The final House is the Ancestor Palace, which affirms how an individual is profoundly connected to their genetic past. As described in the previous article on Ancestry, this House reveals not only our affinity with our parents, but a greater spiritual relationship to previous generations of family members. If one’s Fate lies in the Ancestor Palace, then they may spend their entire life feeling blessed by their ancestors; however, one may not possess any connection to their ancestors. In that case, their Fate lies in another House.
Now that you know about Chinese Polestar Astrology, you are ready to fully grasp your fate with a reading from Aelita Leto!