Step two
斷局 (reading it): is this shape with you or against you
The grid that came out of step one is the same for everybody. Step two is the part that is yours — it lines that grid up against what you actually asked.
First, work out which symbol is you and which is the thing
Every square on the chart carries symbols. The first move is to pick out the one that stands for you and the one that stands for what you asked about. The term for this is taking the use symbol — which simply means “which symbol does this particular question turn on”.
There are fixed conventions for this. It is not a free choice:
- Asking about work: one symbol is you, another is the company or your manager
- Asking about a deal: one symbol is you, another is the other party
- Asking about money: one symbol is you, another is the money itself
- Asking about a relationship: each side has its own fixed symbol
So a question about work and a question about a relationship do not look at the same square of the same chart. That is why one chart can answer several different questions without the answers fighting each other.
Then look at how those two symbols sit
Once you have both, the real judgement is this: are they feeding each other, or draining each other.
That is what “generating and controlling” means. Do not let the words put you off — they are blunt:
| Generating | One side is giving the other strength. You feed it = this costs you effort. It feeds you = you are getting something out of it. |
| Controlling | One side is holding the other down. You hold it = this is yours to steer. It holds you = you are being led. |
| Level | Evenly matched, neither owing the other — usually a standoff, or a smooth ride. |
Add where each symbol has landed, what is next to it, and whether anything is blocking it, and you have the judgement on your question: is pushing on this right now swimming with the current or against it.
A few particular states also get checked
- 空亡 — the voidRoughly, “this square is empty right now and cannot exert force”. Usually it means what the other party said has not been made real yet, the thing is still hanging — not absent, just not due.
- 入墓 — entombedRoughly, “put away, cannot move”. Something that ought to be doing work is temporarily unable to.
- 伏吟 / 反吟 — locked and reversed伏吟 is roughly “stuck on the spot”; 反吟 is roughly “back and forth, changing its mind”. These two often deserve more attention than any single ominous gate, because they describe the rhythm of the whole thing.
Why two readers can read the same chart differently
Because step one is calculation and step two is judgement.
A cast chart has one right answer. But “which symbol does this question turn on” and “which of these relationships matters more” involve a choice. Two people who both know what they are doing can look at one chart and one leads with the risk while the other leads with the timing — neither is wrong; they weighted it differently.
Which is why three readings is a more honest thing to hand you than one official answer.
What it cannot answer
This step tells you whether the present situation is working for or against you, not how something will end. The more specific your question, the more it has to say. “Will I have a good life” is a question for a different tool.
Makes sense — but you would rather not cast one yourself?
These three steps were always a fixed set of rules; they just used to run in a human head and pass from master to student. We hand the arithmetic to a computer and the explaining to AI. All you do is write down what you are weighing.
Write your question奇門遁甲 is a traditional Chinese practice for choosing timing. This page is background reading — not medical, legal or financial advice, and it will not tell you how anything is going to turn out.