The Buddhist perspective on this topic is that families always share some form of karmic bond. Karmic bond can mean many things, and it could either be our biggest blessing or our greatest curse.

Time and again, I’ve mentioned that a family’s charts, and even a couple’s charts, will always be congruent. It will always paint a coherent story; it’s just that a different chart paints the story in the chart-holder’s perspective.

This post aims to help you appreciate that, and the chart-holder I’m about to use as a case study has kindly allowed me to share her story and charts.

The Background Story

This client was a special, emergency case because she’s a close friend of a close friend of mine. My friend asked for my perspective, and I gave it, which eventually led me to give her a pro bono reading. Surprise, because it’s not always about the money, and I do try to help friends and friends of friends when required.

My client is basically in a bit of a predicament. Unfortunately, her sister is a Cat. 4, and they never had a close relationship growing up. This toxic sister grew up with an eating disorder and body image issues. I understood it was bulimia, which eventually led to complications, and it was hypothesised that her kidneys were damaged. She even needed dialysis when she was pregnant. Fast forward a little, the sister’s kidney is failing, basically, and her being a Cat. 4, is subtly demanding that someone donate a kidney. Of course, the best option is the sister, my client. On top of all this, her father is hospitalised, and the mother has a history of cancer.

My client was seriously contemplating donating a kidney, but not because of her sister, but for the sake of her parents and niece, whom she knows will ultimately be burdened if the sister’s health were to take another hit. Things got to a point where my client’s husband got involved, and even he considered donating just so my client wouldn’t have to donate hers.

Everyone was basically trying to save a Cat. 4, when it was the Cat. 4 herself who drove her health downhill.

Naturally, my client’s friends were against it. I do not know who this client was before all this, and I am against it too. Something just feels off, and everyone is suffering unnecessarily because someone cannot get her life together.

The entire situation is a lot more complex than it looks because the parents, niece, my client’s husband, and my client’s own health need to be considered. My client does not have a strong constitution to begin with and is planning for children, so giving away one of her kidneys is not going to help with that.

The Client’s Charts: Decoding the Earth & Metal

The story of your life will always be reflected on the charts, albeit in abstract form. My client’s BaZi chart is a case of Yin Metal 辛金 suffering from 土厚金埋, where too much Earth appears to bury Yin Metal underground, rendering its value invisible. Some BaZi enthusiasts may accidentally classify her chart as a 印绶化煞 chart, which is incorrect. This is not a qualified 印绶化煞 auspicious structure because 化煞，to control 7-Killings, is not needed in the first place.

The 土厚金埋 trait comes from her Year and Month Pillar, which, in beginner BaZi theory, represents family and siblings. This naturally implies that the family will be a burden and inhibit her potential. Her 甲寅 10-Year Phase resolved the 土厚金埋 issue for a while, but in 2021 my client moved into her 癸丑 10-Year Phase, and there’s no effective remedy for Earth showing up anymore. In fact, this 癸丑 10-Year Phase will see her Year and Month Pillar get activated, which is why family issues are starting to crop up, especially as we enter the part of the zodiac cycle when Earth starts to strengthen.

Her Western astrology chart paints an uncannily similar picture, and I want to take this opportunity to show and remind everyone that all forms of astrology paint the same story and point towards the same direction.

What immediately stands out to me is her Saturn in the 4th House opposing her natal Venus, and her natal Venus is conjunct her Chiron. The 4th House is associated with family, and one’s roots, and Venus happens to be her 1st House Ruler. This immediately tells us that the family will be the main cause of a lot of the tensions in her life, where she has to choose between herself and the family – the Rulers of the 1st and 4th House are involved, after all.

The situation is made a lot more complicated because her Chiron is involved, and it even conjuncts her 1st House Ruler, Venus. To put it simply, there is a burden of expectations and the feeling of not being enough, and she often finds herself in situations where she has to choose between her own freedom and autonomy and her family. This is the 土厚金埋 from the perspective of her Western chart.

The 3rd House is associated with siblings, and its Ruler is Jupiter, which is in her 8th House of Taurus. Here’s what gets really interesting: Venus rules over Taurus, too, and Jupiter is in Taurus, which already paints a story of the sister constantly being in my client’s domain. Because Jupiter is in Taurus, it anwers to Venus, but we know Venus is being harmed by the planet governing family. In a way, her chart already indicates her sister’s self undoing.

Jupiter is opposed by Pluto from the 2nd House, suggesting a clash in values. The 8th House is also the 6th House from the 3rd using Derived Houses, meaning we can use the 8th House and its Ruler to assess the sister’s health. What this means is that, from the perspective of my client’s chart, Jupiter being opposed by Pluto and Venus being opposed by Saturn indicate that her sister will have health issues.

My client hopes to have a child soon, but giving away her kidney is going to affect her already weak health. Her natal Venus being opposes by Saturn, and Jupiter being opposed by Pluto, are already red flags to me. Donating her kidney is not going to help with this, especially when in Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, the kidneys impact reproductive health. Her BaZi chart reflects the same, with Water, both her Child Element and the element associated with kidneys, being harmed by Earth, especially via 戊癸合 which involves her parents and sister, and this is also called 无情之合。

癸 here is literally the element associated with the kidneys, and this 戊癸合 actually manifested in a way where someone is literally going after my client’s kidneys.

This 无情之合 is poetic as well as infuriating – because it seems like no one has spared a thought for my client.

The Husband’s Perspective: A Congruent Narrative

Please believe me when I say a couple’s charts will paint the same story and will not contradict. Because if it contradicts, the entire astrological system falls apart because things will not make sense.

This chart is a strong Yang Water Daymaster. The “Useful God” would be Yang Earth 戊土，and 喜神 would be Fire. Fire would be his Spouse Element, with the only source hidden in his 戌 Year Branch as 丁 Fire. There is no direct harm on Yin Fire (丁), thankfully, so I would not regard this as the conventional Spouse-Harming chart whereby the husband abuses the wife. That said, the threat to Fire is there, and the moment Fire is threatened, it’s a signal in his chart that the wife will start to hit a rough patch.

Now, it’s clear that his wife is going through a rough patch. Notice that he moves into a new 10-Year Phase in 2026, which is his 丙辰 10-Year Phase. Here’s what happens:

• 辰 here not only causes 子辰申三合水局 to form, which threatens Fire, there is also a 辰戌冲 showing up that threatened Yin Fire 丁火，his Spouse Element.
• 丙 Fire here should have been used to achieve 调侯 (Climate control & regulation), but 丙辛合化水 forms, forming another threat to Fire. 丙 here is his Indirect Wealth (偏财) ‘god’, which just so happens to represent one’s sister-in-law.
• The simultaneous interaction of everything mentioned above basically paints a picture of, “My wife’s sister is here to cause trouble and harm my wife”.

The timing is uncanny, because 2026 is the year where the sister is coming for some kidneys.

The Cat. 4 Sister’s Charts

This is one of those charts that will make any legitimate practitioner baulk a little, because it can be immediately identified as a very low-grade chart. Despite being born during winter, the Yang Fire Daymaster is still deemed strong. What this naturally means is that the 子午冲 that’s built into her natal chart devastating, and this is the part of her chart that shows challenges coming from the parents as the Year Pillar governs parents.

All theses said, the real “Useful God” (用神) in this chart is the 亥 Water, not 子 Water even though that’s her zodiac sign which everyone loves to harp about.

Now, if you pay attention to the timeline, this is what should scare and convince everyone that your BaZi is still very much relevant in your life: 2025 was an 乙亥 year, and 巳亥冲 showed up, harming her 用神。Note that 2025 was also the year she moved into a new 10-Year Phase, which is her 庚午大运 where 子午冲 form. Both 子午冲 and 巳亥冲 were present in 2025, and both sources of Water in her natal chart were harmed. Water is associated with the kidneys, so her kidneys failing in 2025 does not come as a surprise at all.

2026 is her 冲太岁 year, and I think anyone should be able to deduce this is not going to be one of those positive 冲太岁 cases.

The most worrying thing, right now, is the next 10-Year Phase which comes in 2035. That would be her 己巳大运 where 巳亥冲 forms with her 10-Year Phase, which makes an even more challenging period for her. It also marks a period where her relationship with my client should have some form of conclusion albeit in a negative form.

All in all, this chart does not look great. The only consolation of this chart was that the 2005 壬申 10-Year Phase was good, but it’s a 福不耐久 kind of chart because everything just starts going downhill from 2015 onwards, and the transition into her 2015 大运 would have been a really nasty one because 2013 and 2014 were 癸巳 and 甲午 years.

Let’s see what her Western chart says:

What immediately stands out to me is the Saturn combust in 10th House Scorpio. Saturn is too near the Sun and its virtues are lost. Saturn and Sun here also happen to rule her 1st and 7th House, and they also oppose her Moon in her 4th House of Taurus.

The 7th House is associated with the outside world and how we deal with it, and also partnerships and marriage; and the 1st House governse the self. To see her Saturn and Sun placement, with Saturn combust, does seem like a chart whereby her identity and sense of “self” has to ‘hide’ behind what others think of her.

Saturn conjunct the Sun, in itself, is also an aspect which makes one wish to assert control and authority everything around her. Pluto being in Scorpio, unfortunately, adds a layer of ruthlessness to this.

Perhaps the biggest pity is this: Her Moon is exalted in her 4th House of Taurus, and the 4th House is associated with the home and family. Her Moon being here is a clear sign that her family is indeed her emotional safe harbour, but Sun and Saturn opposing her Moon is the part of her chart that makes hers not just take this for granted, but even exploit her family if she needs to, although she doesn’t make this overtly known.

Why exploit? Because her 10th House is Scorpio and Mars is its ruler, meaning her Sun and Saturn will be expressed through her Mars, which is the planet of assertiveness, courage, and aggression. Her Mars is in her 12th House of Capricorn which is a House of hidden things and agendas, and her Jupiter is unfortunately debilitated here as well. Her Jupiter rules her 2nd House which is associated with finances, personal values, and consumption (might explain her bulimia).

Saturn is about to enter Aries soon, which is her 3rd House associated with siblings. While on this transit, it will square her natal Jupiter and natal Mars eventually. Her values system, her relationship with her family, and especially her sister (my client), will all be tested.The

The Ethical Dilemma: To Donate or Not?

If you were in my position, or in the client’s position, what would you do?

Should my client donate her kidney so that her sister’s life can be back to normal, in hopes her sister will burden her parents less and that her niece will have a more present mother? But this also puts my client’s health at risk, especially when she is planning for children.

Should my client’s husband donate his kidney and solve everyone’s problem?

Should the sister bear the consequences of her actions and simply just go for dialysis?

Is it worth saving a Cat. 4? Is putting yourself first the right thing to do here?

What if a new kidney is given to the sister, but she screws up her health in other ways? What if my client can never conceive as a result of her health deteriorating?

This particular case interests me because of the nature of the event. I’ve not met such a shameless, toxic family member in a while who outright bullies and takes advantage of her sibling.

The other reason is this: I did try to look at where I, as an astrologer, fit into the picture. I tried to ‘find myself’ in the charts. What is the canon or fated event here? Was my client really supposed to donate her kidney, but transcended this event? Or was she meant to meet someone who will stop her from doing it.

We will soon find out.

The Weight of Astrology: Beyond Entertainment

I happen to be one of those friends where people go to when serious situations arise, and I wear that like a badge of honour because of their trust in me.

It’s Chinese New Year period now and it’s the time of the year where everything I hate about Chinese metaphysics shows up – the nonsensical zodiac forecasts, and ‘practitioners’ whom I know are absolutely s*** at what they do, but are able to put up such a good act.

Behind all the buzz and entertaining side of astrology are consultations like these that are solemn and sobering. There is absolutely nothing fun about it because you really do see people suffer, even when they are the nicest person on Earth. You will also see families being torn apart, people passing on, and more.

There is a light-hearted side to astrology for sure, especially when we talk about love and dating. But please remember astrology encompasses all aspects of life – the good and the bad.

By all means, given the right time, have fun with it.

But please respect the tool for what it is, grow a brain, and stop believing in the nonsense you see.

Last but not least, to my client and new found friend, please take care, and I hope you find comfort and clarity soon!

– Sean