Bazi | What has Nature got to do with our Personality and Health?
In the decade that I have been practicing as a Bazi and Feng Shui consultant, I have been posed questions and comments by friends, colleagues or acquaintances that they cannot or should not know or learn about Feng Shui or Bazi due to their religion, since this 2,000-year-old metaphysical study is based on superstition. In fact in the older days, some old folks used to say that we should not “divulge the secrets of heaven”.
I must say I had a lot of doubts and suspicions when I first investigated this study but curiosity overcame me and I decided to research and understand more what this traditional study entails. In the end, what I found fascinated me. Though the terms may sound esoteric, the foundation of traditional Chinese metaphysical studies seems logical. The basis of this 2,000-year-old Bazi system has its roots in:
3 Harmonies
1.Heaven – here we are talking about weather patterns and conditions as well as planetary movements. For instance, the Sun, Moon and the rest of the planets in the solar system. For example, if the Sun moves any nearer or further from the Earth, it will have various effects on living things like plants, trees, animals including human beings.
2.Earth – our living or work environment, that is, whether it is favourable: plenty of fresh air, tall buildings, mountains or if there are any toxic energies such as radiation that can cause us harm.
3.Water – movement of traffic, that is air, water, etc.; brought about by rivers, roads or any channels and transport system.
Yin and Yang Balance
•Yin – represents inactivity, femininity, coldness, compression, darkness, submission and the Moon.
•Yang – represents activity, movement, masculinity, expansion, heat and the Sun
•This duality must be in balance or else disease of the mind, personality and body will occur.
Five Elements
•Earth,
•Metal,
•Water,
•Wood, and
•Fire
The Five Elements[1] – 五行 in Mandarin and Wǔ Xíng in pinyin, are also often referred to as the Five Phases/ Five Agents/ Five Movements/ Five Processes, and Five Steps/Stages, is a fivefold conceptual scheme that is widely used in traditional Chinese fields to explain a wide range of phenomena such as the cosmic cycles, internal organs’ interactions, and even the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicines. The five elements include: Wood (木 mù), Fire (火 huǒ), Earth (土 tǔ), Metal (金 jīn), and Water (水 shuǐ). This concept became more developed during the Han dynasty, somewhere during the first or second century BCE, being used in Geomancy or Feng Shui, Astrology (including Bazi), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), music, military strategy and martial arts.
Of all these applications, TCM uses the Five Element theory as an essential component as a healing system[2]. The Five Elements theory provides a stucture which allows the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of all health issues including the body, mind, emotions, and spirit.
In the Five Elements theory, health issues arises because of the imbalance between the interconnected and interacting relationships of the internal organs. As such, TCM practitioners will provide treatments based on the balancing of these relationships between the organs. Every diagnosis is a “Pattern of disharmony” that affects one or more organs, such as “Spleen Qi Deficiency” or “Liver Fire Blazing” or “Invasion of the Stomach by Cold”, and every treatment is focused on correcting the disharmony.
Chinese Medicine and The Model of the Body is founded on the balance of the Five Elements. The elements are infinitely linked, consuming and influencing each other. Each element corresponds to different organs in the body and the organs act as representatives of the qualities of different elements, impacting the physical and mental body in respective ways. Categorized as either Yin or Yang, the organs’ energies of Yin and Yang are conflicting yet inter-reliant and again, any inappropriate dissonance will create health and emotional issues.
As alluded in a previous chapter, in understanding our personality through the Bazi system, we utilize the Five Elements to understand the characteristics, motivations and interaction style of each person. The different profiles in the Bazi personality profiling system[3] approach life, interact with others and are motivated in different ways. Similar to the Big Five Personality traits[4] described in modern psychology, Bazi studies classify personalities into:
5 elements
•Metal – Factual,
•Water – Flexibility,
•Wood – Nurturing,
•Fire – Passion, and
•Earth – Trust
5 different Bazi structures[3] (or approaches to human interactions )
•Manager (Action)
•Systems (Process)
•People (Network)
•Output (Create)
•Resource (Think)
10 different Bazi profiles[3] which define the roles that one is best suited for
•Director
•Pioneer
•Diplomat
•Warrior
•Friend
•Leader
•Artist
•Performer
•Analyzer
•Philosopher
Just like traditional Chinese medicine, within each person’s Bazi personality, there will be varying components of the five elements with some key elements influencing the person’s character and approach to life. For instance, if a person is born on the day of the Earth element, the person will generally be more sentimental since trust is the key characteristic of the Earth element. If a person is born on the day of Fire, the person usually needs to be driven by passion in whatever they do, with a generally positive outlook in life.
On the flip side, if a person’s chart has too little Fire element and too much of the Metal and Water element causing a discord and “in-balance”, the person’s outlook of life and things in general will be more pessimistic.
The interactions amongst the elements create the different profiles and thus, affects the role one is best suited to perform from a career, social and family perspective.
In the case of a Director[3] Main Bazi Profile, the element that influences the person’s personality creates a more performance driven, task-oriented and hands-on character. He or she will be more suitable in a job role and environment which recognizes and rewards the effort that they put in. Similarly, from a balance perspective, if the element influencing the person’s Director Main Bazi Profile is too strong, this can act as a de-railer to the person’s characteristic, causing them to show more of their negative behaviours. Therefore, one of the key aims in Bazi studies besides understanding ourselves and intrinsic talents, is to know this “in-balance” and manage our behaviour so that it does not hinder our pursuit of success, good health and happiness.
Finally, let us now focus on nature. Where do the Five Elements exist in nature? It is everywhere. The Wood element: the trees and living plants, where we see the nurturing behaviour of a tree – providing shade and habitat for others. The Fire element: the Sun and light – providing warmth and direction in darkness. The Earth element: Mother Earth and fertile soil – providing the numerous food source, minerals and opportunities for human kind. The Metal element: the minerals, steel, iron-ore and precious metals – mined and utilized by mankind. The Water element: Ocean, water ways, rain and mist – provided mankind’s early means of transport and trading, nourishment for the plants and living things on earth. When there is an “imbalance” of any of these elements on Mother Earth and in our environment, we see drought, famine, human and natural disasters as well.
So what does Nature have to do with our Personality and Health? Lots. In fact, I learnt the most about human behaviour when I observe nature and the Five Elements’ inter-connectedness, interactions and interfaces.
Thank you for taking time to read my post as I embark on the quest to simplify and explain the principles of this 2,000-year-old metaphysical study on human behaviour. For more information and details about the 2,000-year-old Bazi metaphysical study, you can click on:
https://happyandsuccess.com/about-bazi
If you would like to know your unique personality profile based on the time-tested Bazi – Asian personality profiling system, you can get the following personalized reports online:
- Your Career Bazi Profile Suitability Report – https://happyandsuccess.com/product/career-suitability-report
- Your Personalized Good Directions for Success – http://bazicalculator.janetyung.com/
Janet Yung (amazon.com/author/janetyung)
Feng Shui and Bazi Consultant. Author. Harmony Adviser.
References:
[1]Wikipedia. Wu Xing. Retrieved on 19 August, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing
[2]TCM World Foundation. The Five Elements. Retrieved on 19 August, 2015 from http://www.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/the-five-elements/#sthash.vLsttKwJ.dpuf
[3]Terms utilized from Joey Yap’s Bazi Personality Profiling System.
[4]Costa, P.T., Jr. & McCrae, R.R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
