Spirit stars

Spirit stars are extra marks beside a palace or a star. The traditional lists are dense, and the tables disagree. They sit below the palace and the major star: when they conflict, keep the palace and the major.

Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fateshow · Editorial method

A spirit star is an extra mark

The major star says how the palace works. A spirit star, traditionally, hangs an old name on that work: a kind of interference, a kind of document, a kind of attraction. The name comes from a table. Another table can use another name. When you cite one, say which table, and whether the chart printed it.

What stays when the mark disagrees

If the major star says “hold” and the spirit-star name sounds restless, write: the major star is still holding, and this mark is a traditional story laid on top. Do not let the mark overthrow the star. A spirit star by itself is not a diagnosis, a lawsuit’s ending, or a moral verdict.

The mark is on the chart, or it is not

Illustration: one palace prints a spirit-star name. Read the palace and the major star first, then add half a sentence: this cell also carries that mark from that table. If you only remember a verse and the chart never printed the name, leave the half sentence out. The illustration is not an event that has already taken place.

Common mistakes

  • Making a medical or legal judgment from one spirit-star name.
  • Writing a mark the verse remembers and the chart never printed.
  • Deleting the major star when a spirit star disagrees with it.

Use it in fateshow

Zi Wei chart

Cast a Zi Wei chart and read the palaces, stars, and transformations it prints.

Open tool →

Frequently asked questions

Are spirit stars and minor stars the same list?

Both sit outside the majors. A spirit star is closer to an extra mark, a minor star closer to a small star placed in a palace. Use the names the chart prints. Do not merge the two lists.

Why do two books give a spirit star opposite meanings?

The tables differ. Check which table you are using and whether the engine placed the mark. Opposite adjectives do not rewrite the major star.

Should a beginner memorise them?

Learn palaces and major stars first. When a spirit star is printed, add it as half a sentence.

Sources and editorial basis

  1. 1. iztro Zi Wei Dou Shu engine

    Supports only what the current fateshow configuration actually calculates: palace placement, major-star arrangements, and the recorded year-boundary, leap-month, and transformation settings. It does not prove that any traditional school is uniquely correct.

  2. 2. Ziwei Doushu Quanshu (received editions)

    Used to cross-check palace names, star lists, and traditional wording. A received text can record a tradition; it cannot prove scientific validity or guarantee an event.

  3. 3. fateshow chart rule snapshot

    Each generated report stores the engine settings that produced it. Compare those settings before treating two charts as the same calculation.