The Ten Gods (十神) are the vocabulary BaZi uses to talk about real life — money, work, support, friends, partners and self-expression. They are not deities: each "god" is simply a name for how another character in your chart relates to your Day Master.
Five relationships, two polarities
Take your Day Master's element and compare it with any other stem. Through the generating and controlling cycles there are only five possible relationships: the same element, the element you generate, the element you control, the element that controls you, and the element that generates you. Each splits in two depending on whether the other stem has the same yin/yang polarity as you or the opposite one. Five times two gives the ten names.
| Relationship to you (the Day Master) | Same polarity | Opposite polarity |
|---|---|---|
| Same element | Friend (比肩) | Rob Wealth (劫財) |
| The element you generate | Eating God (食神) | Hurting Officer (傷官) |
| The element you control | Indirect Wealth (偏財) | Direct Wealth (正財) |
| The element that controls you | Seven Killings (七殺 / 偏官) | Direct Officer (正官) |
| The element that generates you | Indirect Resource (偏印) | Direct Resource (正印) |
What each group stands for
- Friend and Rob Wealth — peers. Siblings, friends, colleagues and competitors; also your own drive and independence. Many of them make a chart self-reliant; too many can mean sharing or competing for resources.
- Eating God and Hurting Officer — output. What you produce: talent, creativity, speech, enjoyment. Eating God is relaxed and generous; Hurting Officer is sharp, expressive and unafraid to challenge rules. In a woman's chart, traditional texts also link this group with children.
- Indirect and Direct Wealth — what you manage. Money, property and the things you work on. Direct Wealth is steady income and careful saving; Indirect Wealth is opportunity, trading and windfalls. In a man's chart, traditional texts also link Wealth with a partner.
- Seven Killings and Direct Officer — pressure and order. Authority, rules, responsibility and status. Direct Officer is structure and reputation; Seven Killings is pressure, challenge and courage under fire. In a woman's chart, traditional texts also link this group with a partner.
- Indirect and Direct Resource — support. Learning, protection, mentors and the people who look after you. Direct Resource is nurturing and conventional learning; Indirect Resource is unusual knowledge, intuition and independent study.
The partner links above come from classical texts written for a very different society. Fate Hall mentions them where tradition does, but reads them as "the people you share your life with" and does not assume any particular kind of relationship.
Lookup table
To find a Ten God by hand, find your Day Master in the left column and the other stem across the top. For a branch, use its main hidden stem (listed in the branches guide). The table is generated from the same function Fate Hall's BaZi screen uses.
| Day Master ↓ / Stem → | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 Jia | Friend | Rob Wealth | Eating God | Hurting Officer | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth | Seven Killings | Direct Officer | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource |
| 乙 Yi | Rob Wealth | Friend | Hurting Officer | Eating God | Direct Wealth | Indirect Wealth | Direct Officer | Seven Killings | Direct Resource | Indirect Resource |
| 丙 Bing | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource | Friend | Rob Wealth | Eating God | Hurting Officer | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth | Seven Killings | Direct Officer |
| 丁 Ding | Direct Resource | Indirect Resource | Rob Wealth | Friend | Hurting Officer | Eating God | Direct Wealth | Indirect Wealth | Direct Officer | Seven Killings |
| 戊 Wu | Seven Killings | Direct Officer | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource | Friend | Rob Wealth | Eating God | Hurting Officer | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth |
| 己 Ji | Direct Officer | Seven Killings | Direct Resource | Indirect Resource | Rob Wealth | Friend | Hurting Officer | Eating God | Direct Wealth | Indirect Wealth |
| 庚 Geng | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth | Seven Killings | Direct Officer | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource | Friend | Rob Wealth | Eating God | Hurting Officer |
| 辛 Xin | Direct Wealth | Indirect Wealth | Direct Officer | Seven Killings | Direct Resource | Indirect Resource | Rob Wealth | Friend | Hurting Officer | Eating God |
| 壬 Ren | Eating God | Hurting Officer | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth | Seven Killings | Direct Officer | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource | Friend | Rob Wealth |
| 癸 Gui | Hurting Officer | Eating God | Direct Wealth | Indirect Wealth | Direct Officer | Seven Killings | Direct Resource | Indirect Resource | Rob Wealth | Friend |
Reading them in a chart
A single Ten God says little on its own. What matters is how many there are, where they sit and how strong your Day Master is. A strong Day Master with good Wealth and Officer stars is said to be able to "carry" money and responsibility; a weak Day Master facing the same stars may feel stretched and needs Resource or Friend support first. The month pillar, which sets the season, carries extra weight, and the day branch — the spouse palace — colours close relationships.
Ten Gods also come and go with time. Each year and each Luck Pillar brings its own stem, which plays one of the ten roles for you. Fate Hall's daily, yearly and wealth readings are built on exactly these relationships.
Common questions
Is Seven Killings a bad sign? The name sounds dramatic, but it describes pressure, not misfortune. Handled well it is the star of soldiers, surgeons, founders and anyone who thrives under challenge.
Why is the Day Master itself called Friend in the table? Comparing a stem with itself gives "same element, same polarity", which is the Friend relationship. In a real chart your Day Master is simply "you", and only the other seven characters get Ten God names.
Related guides
- The Ten Heavenly StemsJia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui: the element, yin or yang and traditional image of each Heavenly Stem, and what it says as your Day Master.
- The Five ElementsHow Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water feed and control one another, which stems and branches carry each element, and how to read the balance in your chart.
- The Sixty Jiazi and NayinAll sixty stem-branch pairs from Jia Zi to Gui Hai, with their animal, Nayin element and years from 1924 to 2043, and how the cycle counts years, months, days and hours.