Feng Shui/Substitute Star

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Substitute Star edit

A Substitute Star is used in place of the original star when the Sitting or Facing Direction falls within 3 degrees in some sectors as indicated below:

In the following table, sector South 2 (including S2_pre, S2, S2_post) is from 172.5° to 187.5°, but 3° from either side is known as the "_pre" and "_post" sectors. For example, sector "S2_pre" is from 172.5° - 175.5°, and sector "S2_post" is from 184.5° - 187.5°. The Substitute Star Chart for sector "S2_pre" is "S2_sub". There is no Substitute Star Chart for sector S2 since it is not within 3° of the edge of the sector. There is also no Substitute Star Chart for sector "S2_post", and this is indicated by "Nil" in the last column of the table. A "Nil" indicates that the original Flying Star Chart be used.

Sector From
(deg)
To
(deg)
Substitute
Star
Chart
S1_pre 157.5° 160.5° S1_sub
S1 160.5° 169.5° Nil
S1_post 169.5° 172.5° S1_sub
S2_pre 172.5° 175.5° S2_sub
S2 175.5° 184.5° Nil
S2_post 184.5° 187.5° Nil
S3_pre 187.5° 190.5° Nil
S3 190.5° 199.5° Nil
S3_post 199.5° 202.5° S3_sub
SW1_pre 202.5° 205.5° SW1_sub
SW1 205.5° 214.5° Nil
SW1_post 214.5° 217.5° SW1_sub
SW2_pre 217.5° 220.5° SW2_sub
SW2 220.5° 229.5° Nil
SW2_post 229.5° 232.5° Nil
SW3_pre 232.5° 235.5° Nil
SW3 235.5° 244.5° Nil
SW3_post 244.5° 247.5° SW3_sub
W1_pre 247.5° 250.5° W1_sub
W1 250.5° 259.5° Nil
W1_post 259.5° 262.5° W1_sub
W2_pre 262.5° 265.5° W2_sub
W2 265.5° 274.5° Nil
W2_post 274.5° 277.5° Nil
W3_pre 277.5° 280.5° Nil
W3 280.5° 289.5° Nil
W3_post 289.5° 292.5° W3_sub
NW1_pre 292.5° 295.5° NW1_sub
NW1 295.5° 304.5° Nil
NW1_post 304.5° 307.5° NW1_sub
NW2_pre 307.5° 310.5° NW2_sub
NW2 310.5° 319.5° Nil
NW2_post 319.5° 322.5° Nil
NW3_pre 322.5° 325.5° Nil
NW3 325.5° 334.5° Nil
NW3_post 334.5° 337.5° NW3_sub
N1_pre 337.5° 340.5° N1_sub
N1 340.5° 349.5° Nil
N1_post 349.5° 352.5° N1_sub
N2_pre 352.5° 355.5° N2_sub
N2 355.5° 4.5° Nil
N2_post 4.5° 7.5° Nil
N3_pre 7.5° 10.5° Nil
N3 10.5° 19.5° Nil
N3_post 19.5° 22.5° N3_sub
NE1_pre 22.5° 25.5° NE1_sub
NE1 25.5° 34.5° Nil
NE1_post 34.5° 37.5° NE1_sub
NE2_pre 37.5° 40.5° NE2_sub
NE2 40.5° 49.5° Nil
NE2_post 49.5° 52.5° Nil
NE3_pre 52.5° 55.5° Nil
NE3 55.5° 64.5° Nil
NE3_post 64.5° 67.5° NE3_sub
E1_pre 67.5° 70.5° E1_sub
E1 70.5° 79.5° Nil
E1_post 79.5° 82.5° E1_sub
E2_pre 82.5° 85.5° E2_sub
E2 85.5° 94.5° Nil
E2_post 94.5° 97.5° Nil
E3_pre 97.5° 100.5° Nil
E3 100.5° 109.5° Nil
E3_post 109.5° 112.5° E3_sub
SE1_pre 112.5° 115.5° SE1_sub
SE1 115.5° 124.5° Nil
SE1_post 124.5° 127.5° SE1_sub
SE2_pre 127.5° 130.5° SE2_sub
SE2 130.5° 139.5° Nil
SE2_post 139.5° 142.5° Nil
SE3_pre 142.5° 145.5° Nil
SE3 145.5° 154.5° Nil
SE3_post 154.5° 157.5° SE3_sub

Conditions Governing The Use Of Substitute Stars edit

  1. When the original star is a "5" in the central grid (also known as the Central Palace in Feng Shui parlance), substitute stars are not used. For example, if the Mountain Star is "5" and the Facing Star is "7" in the central grid, then the Mountain Stars in the all the nine grids will remain unchanged, whereas the Facing Stars may change. Similarly, if the Facing Star is "5" in the central grid, then all the Facing Stars will remain unchanged in the Substitute Star Chart.
  2. Substitute stars are not used in the following 8 Yin-Yin borders: (S2,S3), (W2,W3), (N2,N3), and (E2,E3).
  3. Substitute stars are also not used in the following 8 Yang-Yang borders: (SW2,SW3), (NW2,NW3), (NE2,NE3), and (SE2,SE3).
  4. Substitute stars are used in the remaining 32 borders, namely the 16 Yin-Yang borders, as well as the 16 Trigram borders.
  5. In is not considered auspicious for a Facing or Mountain Direction to fall exactly on a border (e.g. 360 degrees).

The Nine Substitute Stars edit

There are a total of nine substitute stars, and they are as follows:

No. Name Of Star Simplified
Chinese
Chinese
Pinyin
Traditional
Chinese
1 Greedy Wolf Star
(Tan Lang Xing)
贪狼星 tān láng xīng 貪狼星
2 Huge Door Star
(Ju Men Xing)
巨门星 jù mén xīng 巨門星
3 Rewards Star
(Lu Cun Xing)
禄存星 lù cún xīng 祿存星
4 Literary Arts Star
(Wen Qu Xing)
文曲星 wén qǔ xīng 文曲星
5 Honest & Loyal Star
(Lian Zhen Xing)
廉贞星 lián zhēn xīng 廉貞星
6 Military Arts Star
(Wu Qu Xing)
武曲星 wǔ qǔ xīng 武曲星
7 Broken Soldier Star
(Po Jun Xing)
破军星 pò jūn xīng 破軍星
8 Left Assistant Star
(Zuo Fu Xing)
左辅星 zuǒ fǔ xīng 左輔星
9 Right Assistant Star
(You Bi Xing)
右弼星 yòu bì xīng 右弼星

The nine substitute stars are named after actual stars in the sky, and are the names of the Nine Emperors.
In Xuan Kong Da Gua, all the stars, save for Star #5 ("Honest & Loyal Star" or Lian Zhen Xing), are used in Feng Shui determinations.

Determination Of Substitute Stars edit

Substitute Stars are obtained with the use of the following table:

Column 1
(Original Star)
Column 2
(Substitute Star)
Column 3
(Mountain
or Facing
Direction)
Column 4
(sign)
Column 5
(Heaven,
Earth
or Man)
3 2 E2 - H
3 1 E1 + E
3 2 E3 - M
1 2 N1 + E
1 1 N2 - H
1 1 N3 - M
8 7 NE1 - E
8 7 NE2 + H
8 9 NE3 + M
6 6 NW1 - E
6 6 NW2 + H
6 6 NW3 + M
9 7 S1 + E
9 9 S2 - H
9 9 S3 - M
4 6 SE1 - E
4 6 SE2 + H
4 6 SE3 + M
2 2 SW1 - E
2 2 SW2 + H
2 1 SW3 + M
7 9 W1 + E
7 7 W2 - H
7 7 W3 - M

The steps to plot the Substitute Flying Star Chart are as follows:

  1. Find a given Mountain direction in Column 3, and note the associated letter (H, E or M) in Column 5. For example, in the bottom row of the above table, for direction "W3", the required letter is "M". (In Column 5, the letter "H" is an abbreviation for Heaven, "E" for Earth, and "M" for Man.)
  2. Use the Mountain Star (number) in the central grid (which is also known as the Central Palace) of the original Flying Star Chart, and find this number in Column 1. There will be 3 rows that has this number in Column 1. For example, if the Mountain Star in the central grid is "3", then the top three rows of the above table will have this star in Column 1. However, only one of these three rows (namely the third row from the top) will have the same letter (namely "M") as that obtained in Step 1 above. The third row (from the top row) is therefore the required row.
  3. From the required row, we obtain the Substitute Mountain Star (namely "2") in Column 2, as well as the Direction of the Path of Flight (namely "-") in Column 4. When the Direction of the Path of Flight is "-", the Mountain Stars will traverse the 9-grid in decreasing order, decrementing by 1 each time the Star flies to the next grid. for example, if the Substitute Mountain Star is "2", then the central grid of the Substitute Chart will have a Mountain Star of "2", followed by a Mountain Star of "1" in the bottom right-hand grid. This will be followed by "9", "8", "7", "6", "5", "4", and "3" in each of the successive grids.
  4. When the Direction of the Path of Flight is "+", the Mountain Stars will traverse the 9-grid in increasing order, incrementing by 1 each time the Star flies to the next grid. for example, if the Substitute Mountain Star is "6", then the central grid of the Substitute Chart will have a Mountain Star of "6", followed by a Mountain Star of "7" in the bottom right-hand grid. This will be followed by "8", "9", "1", "2", "3", "4", and "5" in each of the successive grids.
  5. All the above steps are repeated for a Facing Star in order to plot the complete Substitute Flying Star Chart containing both Mountain and Facing Stars.

List Of Substitute Stars edit

  1. Substitute Stars Of Period 1
  2. Substitute Stars Of Period 2
  3. Substitute Stars Of Period 3
  4. Substitute Stars Of Period 4
  5. Substitute Stars Of Period 5
  6. Substitute Stars Of Period 6
  7. Substitute Stars Of Period 7
  8. Substitute Stars Of Period 8
  9. Substitute Stars Of Period 9

Note: With reference to Flying Star Feng Shui, the term "Period" can also be translated as "Age", and so "Period 1" can also be called "Age 1".