Sinsal Dictionary

The twelve symbolic stars follow a calculation. First, find which of the four Three Harmony groups your birth year's branch belongs to: Sin-Ja-Jin·Hae-Myo-Mi·In-O-Sul·Sa-Yu-Chuk. Starting at that group's Robbery Star position, count through the branches in order: Captivity Star·Heaven Star·Earth Star·Peach Blossom·Moon Star·Exposure Star·General Star·Saddle Star·Traveling Horse·Six Harms·Canopy. The table above lists all twelve positions for each group. Any matching branch in your year, month, day, or hour pillar receives the corresponding star.

Other stars do not use this position table; they appear only when a chart meets their conditions. Goegang applies to six day pillars: Gyeong-jin·Gyeong-sul·Im-jin·Im-sul·Mu-jin·Mu-sul. White Tiger applies when any pillar contains one of seven stem-branch pairs, including Gap-jin and Eul-mi. Ghost Gate uses branch pairs in neighboring pillars. Needle Star requires at least two pointed, needle-like characters: Gap·Sin·Myo·O·Mi. Red Charm uses a branch assigned to each Day Master. Seowoon uses six Goegang day pillars, including Mu-jin, checks Ghost Gate only between neighboring pillars, and counts only those five characters for Needle Star. Each entry also notes other schools' approaches.

In plain English, the twelve positions run from where things get taken (Robbery Star) to where things are gathered and kept (Canopy). The names are harder than their meanings. Peach Blossom draws attention, Traveling Horse sets off, and Canopy gathers things in. Interpretation generally depends on the pillar: the year pillar represents family background, the month pillar social life, the day pillar you and your partner, and the hour pillar children and later life.

Because the twelve symbolic stars cycle through twelve positions, every chart has two or three. No chart has none, and having more does not make a chart harsher. The symbolic star dictionary explains each star's rules and interpretation.

Seowoon's free “Symbolic Stars (sal, 煞)” reading shows which stars appear in your chart, when they may emerge, and how you might use them as strengths, across three chapters.

Saying “you need a ritual to ward off misfortune if you have a symbolic star” turns their meaning upside down. Here, sal (殺) is an old term for positions where energy is checked or concentrated, rather than a literal reference to killing. The twelve symbolic stars also include positions associated with leadership and support, such as General Star and Saddle Star.Recommending rituals or talismans based on symbolic stars goes beyond what the calculation says. Seowoon makes definite statements only about which stars appear in which pillars.