A Dou Shu Divination: Riding the Buzz of the US Presidential Election
By 巫垚
AI translated from the original Chinese.
Generated by Gemini
Before the vote I had already cast a divination, and I believed Biden would win. But I only told a few friends in person and didn't discuss it on messaging apps. The only chat record I can find is from around 9:30 last night. The situation was still unclear then, but let's ride the buzz anyway. Readers needn't take it too seriously; just have a laugh.
As my teacher taught, Zi Wei Dou Shu can be used for divination, but when to cast it is an art in itself. Most importantly, Heaven has to be willing to give the diviner the information for it to be accurate.
In Taiwan's past few elections, I did discuss the results privately with my teacher and fellow students, but only privately, never in public. For domestic elections especially, publishing a divination might violate the Election and Recall Act and land me in real trouble, so we only chat about it privately.
Although I have no earlier chat records as proof, this divination was cast yesterday while things were still unclear. My reply was as follows. But let me stress first: please don't make an issue of my friend's reply, because whom one supports is everyone's own choice. This is purely divination; no need to fight about politics. Let's simply talk about how I arrived at this result.
The moment chosen for the divination matters. I believe the ballots for this US presidential election were sent out well before the official election day, so it isn't easy to find a moment to cast it.
Let's cast it for the time of the US presidential inauguration.
- Time: January 20, 2021, 12 noon
- Place: the White House
From this data we get the following chart:
Can we read this chart? Let's reshape it a little.
The president is the head of state, so naturally he is represented by 紫微 (Zi Wei), the Emperor Star, which sits in the 酉 Palace. Can we tell who wins from this? Not yet. Let's bring in Trump's and Biden's personal data.
Trump, born 1946; his chart:
A note: the red characters in the palaces are Trump's heavenly stems. We focus on 紫微, take the stems of its 三方四正 (three sides and four directions) and run the Four Transformations. Since the election is about gaining power, we look at 化權 (Quan, authority):
The three sides and four directions of 紫微:
- 辛酉 Palace, Trump's 丁酉: 天同 (Tian Tong) becomes 化權 in the 辰 Palace; no effect on 紫微.
- 癸丑 Palace, Trump's 辛丑: 太陽 (Tai Yang) becomes 化權 in the 午 Palace; no effect on 紫微.
- 乙卯 Palace, Trump's 辛卯: 太陽 becomes 化權 in the 午 Palace; no effect on 紫微.
- 丁巳 Palace, Trump's 癸巳: 巨門 (Ju Men) becomes 化權 in the 戌 Palace, flanking 紫微.
Tally: 紫微 has 1 化權
Biden, born 1942; his chart:
The three sides and four directions of 紫微:
- 辛酉 Palace, Biden's 己酉: 貪狼 (Tan Lang) becomes 化權 in the 酉 Palace, giving 紫微 authority directly.
- 癸丑 Palace, Biden's 癸丑: 巨門 becomes 化權 in the 戌 Palace, flanking 紫微.
- 乙卯 Palace, Biden's 癸卯: 巨門 becomes 化權 in the 戌 Palace, flanking 紫微.
- 丁巳 Palace, Biden's 乙巳: 天梁 (Tian Liang) becomes 化權 in the 子 Palace; no effect on 紫微.
Tally: 紫微 has 3 化權
Comparison
- Trump: 紫微 has 1 化權
- Biden: 紫微 has 3 化權
Conclusion: Biden is more likely than Trump to be inaugurated.
Finally, let me stress again: the timing of a Dou Shu divination matters, and what matters more is whether Heaven is willing to grant the diviner the answer. Casting a divination is just for fun. If I guessed right, it's only a coincidence; don't take it too seriously. If the election goes to the courts, Trump might even turn it around, so maybe next time my prediction will be wrong. As for Taiwan's elections, I won't publish any predictions. I don't want to be dogpiled. 😂