The Ten Gods: How Other Characters Relate to You
The ten relationships that decide whether another character is a friend, wealth or work to "you".
How are the Ten Gods decided?
Taking the Day Master as the standard, you look at whether another character's element is the same as yours, one you generate, one you restrain, one that restrains you, or one that generates you. Adding whether its yin-yang matches yours or differs gives ten relationships, which are called the Ten Gods (십신, 十神).
| Relationship | If the yin-yang is the same | If the yin-yang is different | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same element as me | Friend (비견) | Rob Wealth (겁재) | Companions (비겁) |
| Element I generate | Eating God (식신) | Hurting Officer (상관) | Output (식상) |
| Element I restrain | Indirect Wealth (편재) | Direct Wealth (정재) | Wealth (재성) |
| Element that restrains me | Seven Killings (편관) | Direct Officer (정관) | Officer (관성) |
| Element that generates me | Indirect Resource (편인) | Direct Resource (정인) | Resource (인성) |
For example, for a 庚 (yang metal) Day Master, 丙 (yang fire) is an element that restrains me and has the same yin-yang, so it is the Seven Killings, and 丁 (yin fire) is the Direct Officer. 甲 (yang wood) is an element I restrain and has the same yin-yang, so it is Indirect Wealth.
What each of the Ten Gods means
| Ten God | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| Friend (비견) | Energy like mine. Friends, colleagues, siblings, pride |
| Rob Wealth (겁재) | Energy similar to mine but competing. Rivals, the urge to win |
| Eating God (식신) | Energy I produce. Talent, good fortune with food, ease |
| Hurting Officer (상관) | Energy I show. A way with words, wit, not being tied to a mould |
| Indirect Wealth (편재) | Money and chances moved on a large scale. A lover (for a man) |
| Direct Wealth (정재) | Steadily earned money and the household. A wife (for a man) |
| Seven Killings (편관) | Pressure and responsibility that drive me hard. A lover (for a woman) |
| Direct Officer (정관) | Rules, a job and honour that keep me on the right path. A husband (for a woman) |
| Indirect Resource (편인) | Unusual learning and intuition |
| Direct Resource (정인) | Elders who look after me, study, documents |
The interpretation that Wealth stands for a spouse in men and Officer stands for a spouse in women is a convention of traditional myeongni studies. Halmeoni follows this tradition too, but if you do not choose a gender, it speaks of a spouse without relying on gender.
Roles, not good and bad
The Seven Killings is pressure, but it can become a force that tempers a person, and Rob Wealth is a rival, but it can be the source of the urge to win. The Ten Gods are not a list of good things and bad things; they are a map showing which roles take up how much room in your life.