Autumn Equinox has passed, daylight shortens and night lengthens, the energy of heaven and earth turns from expansion to contraction. This year, with Bingwu and the ninth period, fire energy is strong and overlapping, people's hearts are restless, everything seeks speed, brightness, and visibility. Yet the solar terms remind us: even the strongest fire must have a time to be contained.
In recent years, friends often ask me: since fate is innate and fortune is acquired, does human effort have any place? My answer is: yes, and that place is wider than most people think.
- Fate is a pattern, not a script
What the Bazi records is the distribution of heavenly and earthly energies at a person's birth. It is like the starting hand in a card game: the cards may be strong or weak, smooth or blocked, but how the hand is played is never determined by the cards alone. So-called "fate" refers to structure, tendencies, where this person tends to exert effort easily and where they struggle. It describes the starting point and inertia, not the endpoint or outcome.
The same chart, falling on a person inclined to self-reflection versus one inclined to blame others, will lead to very different paths. This is not consolation, but a variable inherent in the structure—the mind is that line not written in stone.
- Fortune is like solar terms, not a verdict
Fortune can be understood as the solar terms a person passes through. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter rotate; no one can stop winter from coming. But in the same winter, some hibernate and nurture energy, while others complain. The meaning of fortune is not to predict good or bad luck for someone, but to remind them: where the wind blows now, what you may watch for, what you may adjust.
This year, fire energy is strong; fire governs visibility, urgency, and clarity. Those in industries such as energy, electricity, dining, entertainment, online platforms, and optical imaging may feel a particularly fast pace, with opportunities and consumption amplified simultaneously. When fire is abundant, dryness comes easily; dryness leads to loss of focus. At this time, if one can deliberately slow down a bit, it is actually a form of clarity.
- People can help themselves—it is the blank space in the structure
"People can help themselves" is often taken as a motivational slogan, but in my view, it is a structural description. Fate gives the chassis, fortune gives the weather, and the person gives the steering wheel. The steering wheel cannot change the road conditions, but it can decide which road you take, at what speed, and whether to stop.
Classical fate theory emphasizes "knowing"—knowing one's own biases, knowing the trends of the times. Knowing is not for resigning to fate, but for no longer blindly being one's own enemy. Character changes thoughts, thoughts change actions, actions change destiny. This saying sounds simple, yet it is the most real freedom within a chart.
Autumn deepens. May we all, in this year of strong fire, leave a place of coolness for ourselves.
The mirror shows you as you are; the path is yours to walk. May you, at the moment you see yourself clearly, still have the courage to choose.