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The core terms of Jyotish, BaZi, the I Ching and the 22 Major Arcana, each explained in plain language in a sentence or two.
Below are the core concepts of each of the four systems. A detailed analysis of each term, with examples, will appear on separate pages.
Lagna. The rising sign, the first point of the chart. The whole structure of the houses is built from it.
Bhava. A house. An area of life. There are 12, from the body and character to loss and liberation.
Nakshatra. A lunar mansion, one of 27. A finer grid than the signs, and the whole system of periods rests on it.
Pada. A quarter of a nakshatra. There are 108 in all.
Vimshottari dasha. The main system of periods, with a full cycle of 120 years.
Mahadasha and antardasha. A major period under one planet, and a sub-period within it. In different periods, the same person behaves like different people. It isn't the character that changes, but the background.
Navamsha and Dashamsha. Divisional charts. The first is about marriage and the true strength of the planets, the second about profession.
Atmakaraka. The planet with the highest degree. It points to the soul's main task in this life.
Rahu and Ketu. The lunar nodes: points where orbits cross, not physical bodies. Rahu is the hungry drive forward. Ketu is letting go, and experience already lived through.
Ayanamsha. The gap between the tropical and the sidereal zodiac. Different schools give different values, and the calculation depends on which one you choose.
BaZi. Eight Characters. A chart of four pillars, from the year, month, day and hour of birth.
Pillar. A pair: a Heavenly Stem on top and an Earthly Branch below.
Day Master. The Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar. Your personal element, the core of the whole chart.
Wu Xing. The Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Not substances, but kinds of movement of energy.
Yin and yang. The two polarities of each element. Yang is expansion and outward action. Yin is contraction and inner work.
Producing cycle and controlling cycle. The first shows what feeds what, the second what holds back what. All the dynamics of the chart rest on these two chains.
Hidden Stems. The elements inside an Earthly Branch. They often explain what can't be seen from the outside.
Ten Gods. The relationships between your element and the others: wealth, power, resource, self-expression and rivalry.
Yong Shen. The Useful God: the element the chart lacks for balance. Your whole life strategy runs through it.
Da Yun. Luck Pillars. 10-year periods that overlay the chart and shift the balance of forces.
Jie Qi. The solar terms. 24 points in the year that mark the change of months. The year begins not on 1 January but in early February.
I Ching. The Chinese Book of Changes, one of the oldest texts in the world. It describes how everything moves and changes.
Line. A solid line is yang, a broken line is yin. Every figure in the book is built from lines.
Trigram. A figure of 3 lines. There are 8, each standing for its own kind of force: heaven, earth, thunder, water, mountain, wind, fire and lake.
Hexagram. A figure of 6 lines, made from two trigrams. There are 64, and each describes a distinct kind of movement or change.
Centres. Areas of the body across which the hexagrams are laid out. They show how a person makes decisions and where their energy goes.
Stable and open centres. A stable centre works all the time and gives a steady quality. An open centre amplifies and reflects other people's states, and that's where other people's influence builds up.
Alignment signal and misalignment signal. Two states that tell you whether or not you're living according to your nature. The first feels like satisfaction and ease. The second feels like irritation, bitterness, disappointment or tiredness.
There are exactly 22, and the sequence shouldn't be cut short: its meaning lies in its completeness. It's the map of one path, from beginning to end.
The start of the path. The Fool, pure readiness to set out. The Magician, the ability to act. The High Priestess, knowing without words. The Empress, growth and abundance. The Emperor, structure and boundaries. The Hierophant, tradition and learning from elders.
Tested. The Lovers, a choice that changes the course of a life. The Chariot, moving forward by holding opposites together. Strength, mastering your own nature without force. The Hermit, a conscious withdrawal for the sake of meaning. Wheel of Fortune, cycles beyond your will. Justice, cause and effect.
The turning point. The Hanged Man, a pause and a change of perspective. Death, the irreversible end of a stage. Temperance, joining what can't be joined. The Devil, a dependence you take for your own choice. The Tower, the collapse of what stood on the wrong foundation.
Coming through. The Star, a quiet light after destruction. The Moon, illusion and fear, where you can't trust your eyes. The Sun, clarity and recognition. Judgement, awakening and a review of the life lived. The World, the completion of a cycle and a step up to a new level.