Depending on the moment of birth, each person is calculated on a Destiny Chart in Ba Zi which is composed of four pillars, each of them having a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. We talked about these in our Ba Zi - Destiny Chart And Luck Pillars article.

We began to decode the information contained in these pillars in the previous article Ba Zi Decoding, explaining what the Day Master is and how we can determine which elements are favorable in our lives.

We explained what the auxiliary stars are in Ba Zi and started their presentation in the article What are The Auxiliary Stars in Ba Zi.

But things don't stop there and the next step in our journey to discover Chinese metaphysics is to understand the interactions that take place between the different pillars.

Yes, there are interactions either between Heavenly Stems or Earthly Branches. When the elements that interact are all (either 2 or 3) in somebody's Destiny Chart the person will feel the effects of the interaction (good or bad) for the entire life. It is also possible to have interactions between an element from the Destiny Chart and an element or two belonging to a Temporal Pillar (LP, Year, Month, or Day). In this latter case, the person will feel the effects only in the specified period. Such effects are analyzed when we are computing the Horoscope.

We'll first study the interactions between Heavenly Stems and immediately after those between Earthly Branches. We'll present below all the existent interactions but nowadays there is no need to upload your memory. It's enough to know they exist and what they mean because further, for each Destiny Chart, they will be identified much faster by the computer and presented to you for analysis only.

There are two types of interactions: Combinations and Clashes. If the effects of combinations could be either good or bad, the clashes have only negative effects.

The details of each interaction will be explained in all detail when we analyze either a Destiny Chart to determine somebody's profile or the horoscope of a person or during the compatibility study. We have chosen to do it this way because the effects of the interactions depend very much on the Stars and Gods involved and their strength and favorability.

Earthly Branches Clashes and Combinations

There are 5 types of negative interactions we have generically named Clashes: Pure Clashes, Punishments, Self Punishments, Harms, and Destructions.

Type	Interaction
Pure clashes These clashes are interactions between opposite Qi bodies, the strongest bad interactions.
Punishments These are considered to be the effects of wrong actions you have done yourself in the past.
Self Punishments They manifest in the way that you do wrong actions even if you know they are wrong
Harms They manifest as betrayals or unpleasant situations happening because of somebody else's actions.
Destructions Often they are actions somebody is doing against himself or his relationship.

Check now for free if there are such Clashes in your Destiny Chart and what are their effects in Ba Zi Advisor.

There are 2 types of Combinations between the Earthly branches. It is possible to find all three elements of a combination in the Destiny Chart and in this case, the effects will be for life. Anyway, the strongest effect will be obtained when the first element is in the Destiny Chart, the second in the Luck Pillar, and the third in the Yearly Pillar. The order of elements (which is the first, second, or third) is not important.

Each of the combinations below either produces an element or is characteristic of a season which also can be identified by an element. If this element is favorable to the Day Master the combination indicates very good relationships for the person but if it is unfavorable indicates complicated relationships.

Harmonical Combinations

Type	Interaction
Wood Structure The combination of these 3 Eartly Branches Qi produces the Qi of Wood.
Fire Structure Combining the elements of these 3 animals will result in Fire
Metal Structure Qi of the Metal appears as a result of this combination
Water Structure The principle of Water element is produced by these 3 Qi bodies

Seasonal Combinations

Type	Interaction
Spring Season Generally indicates growing but if the wood is unfavorable could mean gaining weight.
Summer Season It will have all the fire characteristics like elegance and so on.
Autumn Season It brings into discussion all the metal characteristics presented above.
Winter Season The winter season brings all the water characteristics which it is very strong

Productive Combinations

There are six such types of combinations, each one of them producing an element as you can see in the table below. It means that the two Qi bodies of the Earthly Branches involved were combining and the result was a new element. Again these combinations could bring beneficial influences if the produced element is favorable to the day master but could have bad effects as well if contrary it is unfavorable.

Make your Profile Analysis using for free Ba Zi Advisor to check the existence of such combinations in your Destiny Chart or Horoscope.

First Element		Second Element		Produced Element
子 rat	+	丑 ox	=	土 earth
寅 tiger	+	亥 pig	=	木 wood
卯 rabbit	+	戌 dog	=	火 fire
辰 dragon	+	酉 rooster	=	金 metal
巳 snake	+	申 monkey	=	水 water
午 horse	+	未 goat	=	日月 sun moon

Heavenly Stems Combinations and Countering

Heavenly Stems have also interactions but their effects do not last as long as Earthly Branches' interactions because Heavenly Stems represent only the more superficial prevalent Qi.

Productive Combinations

Effects of the combinations could be beneficial if the produced element is favorable to the Day Master. Their general meaning is related to good relationships and opportunities. It is also important for the produced element to be strong.

In certain cases, such a combination could give an indication of the quality of the marriage. It is the case when the result of the combination is the same element as the Spouse Element (Spouse Palace is the one located under the Day Master).

Similarly, we could obtain an indication of Wealth if the element resulting from the combination represents the Wealth Star.

First Element		Second Element		Produced Element
甲 yang wood	+	己 yin earth	=	土 earth
乙 yin wood	+	庚 yang metal	=	金 metal
丙 yang fire	+	辛 yin metal	=	水 water
丁 yin fire	+	壬 yang water	=	木 wood
戊 yang earth	+	癸 yin water	=	火 fire

Counterings

These interactions are related to the control cycle of the Five Elements. We categorized these interactions into Real and Special Counterings. They are not beneficial combinations but not as hard as the clashes.

Real Counterings

First Element		Second Element
甲 yang wood	<->	庚 yang metal
乙 yin wood	<->	辛 yin metal
丙 yang fire	<->	壬 yang water
丁 yin fire	<->	癸 yin water

Special Counterings

First Element		Second Element
己 yin earth	<->	乙 yin wood
戊 yang earth	<->	甲 yang wood