The four pillars
Your birth year, month, day, and hour each form a pillar made of two characters: a heavenly stem (천간) and an earthly branch (지지). Eight characters in total, which is why Koreans also say saju-palja (사주팔자), "four pillars, eight characters."
- Year pillar: your roots, ancestors, and early environment.
- Month pillar: your parents, career field, and social self.
- Day pillar: you (the stem) and your spouse or closest partner (the branch).
- Hour pillar: your later life, children, and inner ambitions.
The five elements
Every character carries one of five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. They feed and control each other in cycles. A reading looks at which elements are abundant, which are missing, and which one would bring your chart into balance. That balancing element is your useful god (용신), and it guides your lucky colours, directions, and choices.
The Day Master
The stem of your Day pillar is your Day Master (일간), the character that represents you. There are ten: Gap and Eul Wood, Byeong and Jeong Fire, Mu and Gi Earth, Gyeong and Sin Metal, Im and Gye Water. Each has a nature metaphor, like a great tree, the sun, or spring rain, that Koreans use to describe personality.
Luck cycles
Your life moves through ten-year luck cycles (대운), each with its own pair of characters. They do not change who you are, but they change the weather. A reading tells you when the wind is at your back and when to be patient.
How we calculate
Master Gat computes pillars using the 24 solar terms (절기), the same astronomical calendar used by professional Korean practitioners, not a simple lunar month approximation. Enter your birth time in the local time of your birthplace. If you were born far from Korea, your hour pillar is calculated from your local clock, which is the standard approach for overseas births.
A note on fate
Koreans consult saju before marriages, job changes, and new ventures. Not because it decides, but because it clarifies. Think of it as a weather map for your life, drawn in the language of your ancestors.