Six Spirits System in Liuyao Divination
Introduction
The Six Spirits (六神, Liushen), also known as the "Six Beasts" (六兽), are an important component of Liuyao divination, originating from six mythical creatures in ancient Chinese mythology. In Liuyao hexagrams, the Six Spirits are assigned specific symbolic meanings, primarily used to assist in judging the nature, causes, character traits, and detailed information of matters.
The Six Spirits themselves do not directly determine fortune or misfortune, but rather serve to enhance and supplement the analysis of the primary spirit and World line, making hexagram interpretation more comprehensive and specific. Mastering the Six Spirits system allows your divination to evolve from simple "auspicious/inauspicious" judgments to vivid descriptions of event nature, character psychology, and specific details.
Introduction and Basic Attributes of Six Spirits
The Six Spirits are: Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, Hook Chen, Soaring Snake, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise. They correspond to Five Elements and directions.
Basic Attributes of Six Spirits
- Azure Dragon (青龙): Element Wood, direction East, governs joy, wealth, official rank, pleasures, virtue; symbolizes auspiciousness, smoothness, growth
- Vermillion Bird (朱雀): Element Fire, direction South, governs speech, documents, disputes, news, communication; symbolizes speech, arguments, information
- Hook Chen (勾陈): Element Earth (often considered as Yang Earth), direction Center, governs land, property, prison, slowness, entanglement; symbolizes stability, stagnation, obstacles
- Soaring Snake (螣蛇): Element Earth (often considered as Yin Earth), direction Center, governs false alarms, strangeness, entanglement, deception, change; symbolizes falseness, unease, complications
- White Tiger (白虎): Element Metal, direction West, governs harm, mourning, bloodshed, legal troubles, fierceness; symbolizes danger, illness, injury
- Black Tortoise (玄武): Element Water, direction North, governs thieves, secrets, ambiguity, deception, speculation; symbolizes darkness, theft, desire
Arrangement Rules of Six Spirits
The Six Spirits follow a strict order in hexagrams: Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, Hook Chen, Soaring Snake, White Tiger, Black Tortoise.
Their arrangement depends on the Heavenly Stem of the divination day, following these rules:
Daily Stem and Six Spirits Rules
- Daily Stem A (甲) or B (乙): Starting from first line with Azure Dragon, second line Vermillion Bird, third line Hook Chen, fourth line Soaring Snake, fifth line White Tiger, sixth line Black Tortoise
- Daily Stem C (丙) or D (丁): Starting from first line with Vermillion Bird, second line Hook Chen, third line Soaring Snake, fourth line White Tiger, fifth line Black Tortoise, sixth line Azure Dragon
- Daily Stem E (戊): Starting from first line with Hook Chen, second line Soaring Snake, third line White Tiger, fourth line Black Tortoise, fifth line Azure Dragon, sixth line Vermillion Bird
- Daily Stem F (己): Starting from first line with Soaring Snake, second line White Tiger, third line Black Tortoise, fourth line Azure Dragon, fifth line Vermillion Bird, sixth line Hook Chen
- Daily Stem G (庚) or H (辛): Starting from first line with White Tiger, second line Black Tortoise, third line Azure Dragon, fourth line Vermillion Bird, fifth line Hook Chen, sixth line Soaring Snake
- Daily Stem I (壬) or J (癸): Starting from first line with Black Tortoise, second line Azure Dragon, third line Vermillion Bird, fourth line Hook Chen, fifth line Soaring Snake, sixth line White Tiger
Memory Formula
A-B Azure Dragon, C-D Vermillion Bird, E Hook Chen, F Soaring Snake, G-H White Tiger, I-J Black Tortoise.
Then starting from the first line of the hexagram, arrange in the cycle "Azure Dragon→Vermillion Bird→Hook Chen→Soaring Snake→White Tiger→Black Tortoise" going upward.
Arrangement Example
Assuming the divination day's Heavenly Stem is "G" (庚, like Geng-Zi day):
- First line: White Tiger
- Second line: Black Tortoise
- Third line: Azure Dragon
- Fourth line: Vermillion Bird
- Fifth line: Hook Chen
- Sixth line: Soaring Snake
Detailed Analysis and Application of Six Spirits
Azure Dragon
Positive Traits: Auspicious, smooth, joyful, official fortune, wealth fortune, marriage, birth, virtue, righteousness, handsome beauty
Negative Traits: Indulgence in pleasure, excessive enjoyment, lustfulness
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Wealth line: Indicates gaining wealth, or beautiful and virtuous wife
- With Official line: Indicates smooth work, having official position or promotion
- With Parents line: Indicates auspicious documents, contracts, certificates
- With Children line: Indicates entertainment, enjoyment, successful children
- With Siblings line: Indicates righteous brothers and friends, but may lose money through entertainment
Vermillion Bird
Positive Traits: Good eloquence, excellent expression, outstanding writing, well-informed
Negative Traits: Verbal disputes, arguments, lawsuits, slander
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Official line: Indicates verbal disputes at work, or legal troubles
- With Parents line: Indicates frequent documents, contracts, letters, phone calls, or document errors
- With Siblings line: Indicates arguments between friends and colleagues
- With World line: Indicates person loves talking, or currently arguing about this matter
- With Wealth line: Indicates disputes or lawsuits over money matters
Hook Chen
Positive Traits: Stability, persistence, reliability, real estate, property
Negative Traits: Delays, obstacles, entanglement, imprisonment, chronic illness
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Official line: Indicates stable work, slow progress, or lawsuits over real estate
- With Parents line: Indicates contracts and property-related matters
- With World line: Indicates steady personality but possibly stubborn, slow action; obstacles in matters
- With Wealth line: Indicates stable property, real estate investment, but slow capital turnover
Soaring Snake
Positive Traits: Meticulous thinking, strategic, research spirit (often used in divination, psychology fields)
Negative Traits: False alarms, strangeness, fickleness, entanglement, fraud, nightmares
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Official line: Indicates work or lawsuits are entangled, or encountering petty people
- With Wealth line: Indicates money from questionable sources, or anxiety over money matters
- With World line: Indicates person is suspicious, scheming, or currently anxious and fearful
- With Parents line: Indicates complex document procedures, or abnormalities in housing
White Tiger
Positive Traits: Decisive, fierce, authoritative, skilled technique (like surgeons)
Negative Traits: Harm, bloodshed, surgery, mourning, accidents, violence
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Official line: Indicates serious legal troubles, dangerous work (like military/police), or serious illness requiring surgery
- With Wealth line: Indicates major financial loss (like medical expenses), or fierce-tempered wife
- With Children line: Indicates children's injury/illness concerns, or need for physical exercise
- With Parents line: Indicates elders' illness/disaster, or housing damage
Important Warning: White Tiger moving and restraining World line or Primary Spirit, especially when divining health, safety, or legal matters, is a major inauspicious sign requiring extreme caution. In other divinations, it also indicates extreme pressure, harm, or severe challenges.
Black Tortoise
Positive Traits: Intelligent, clever, secret planning
Negative Traits: Thieves, deception, ambiguity, lust, corruption, speculation, lost items, forgetfulness
Meanings when occupying Primary Spirit/World Line:
- With Wealth line: Indicates windfall, gray income, or money from fraud
- With Official line: Indicates thieves, fraudsters, secret legal troubles, or romantic scandals
- With World line: Indicates person likes speculation, or this matter has unspeakable secrets
- With Parents line: Indicates forged documents, or property procedure problems
Analysis Combining Six Spirits with Line Positions
The same Six Spirit has different meanings in different line positions:
- Azure Dragon in fifth line (road): May indicate smooth journey
- White Tiger in second line (home): May indicate sick person at home or stove problems
- Black Tortoise in first line (feet): May indicate foot ailments or wanting to sneak away
- Vermillion Bird in sixth line (head): May indicate intelligence or talkativeness
- Hook Chen in third line (waist): May indicate waist disease or movement difficulties
- Soaring Snake in fourth line (chest): May indicate irritability or chest tightness
Core Principles and Important Notes
1. Six Spirits as Support, Five Elements Interactions as Foundation
This is the most important principle. Six Spirits can never replace the Five Elements interactions between lines in the hexagram. If the hexagram shows auspiciousness (Primary Spirit strong and generating World line), even with White Tiger or Black Tortoise, the final outcome is favorable - there may just be risks in the process or hidden circumstances. Conversely, if the hexagram shows inauspiciousness (Adverse Spirit strong and restraining World line), even with Azure Dragon, there may be "hidden daggers in smiles" or joy turning to sorrow.
2. Observe Whether Six Spirits Are Moving
If the line occupied by a Six Spirit is moving (old yin or old yang), its influence is greatly strengthened. For example:
- Vermillion Bird moving: Verbal disputes become more serious
- White Tiger moving: Higher risk of bloodshed
- Azure Dragon moving: Joyful events become more apparent
- Black Tortoise moving: Secret matters easily exposed
3. Comprehensive Analysis of Six Spirits Combinations
Must combine Six Spirits, Six Relatives (Parents, Siblings, etc.), line positions, moving lines, changing lines, monthly/daily branches to form a complete logical chain for accurate judgment.
4. Distinguish Primary and Secondary Relationships
In a hexagram, distinguish between primary and secondary spirits; Six Spirits' effects should also have priority. Focus on Six Spirits occupying Primary Spirit, World line, Response line, with other line positions as reference.
5. Combine with Specific Divination Content
The same Six Spirit combination may have completely different meanings in different divinations:
- When divining wealth: Azure Dragon with Wealth line indicates gaining money
- When divining health: Azure Dragon with Official line may indicate liver/gallbladder disease (Azure Dragon belongs to Wood)
- When divining marriage: Azure Dragon with Wealth line indicates beautiful wife
Practical Application Examples
Example 1: Divining Wealth
Hexagram shows: World line with Azure Dragon, Wealth line with Vermillion Bird moving to generate World
Analysis:
- World line with Azure Dragon: Seeker has optimistic attitude, helpful people
- Wealth line with Vermillion Bird moving: Gaining wealth through eloquence, documents, promotion
- Vermillion Bird moving to generate World: Wealth-seeking process requires much talking and promotion
Judgment: This wealth can be obtained, but needs to be acquired through eloquence or document work.
Example 2: Divining Illness
Hexagram shows: World line with White Tiger, Official line (illness spirit) with Soaring Snake moving to restrain World
Analysis:
- World line with White Tiger: Signs of surgery, external injury
- Official line with Soaring Snake: Lingering illness, complex causes
- Soaring Snake moving to restrain World: Recurring illness, great psychological pressure
Judgment: Serious condition, may require surgery, prone to recurrence.
Example 3: Divining Work
Hexagram shows: Official line (work) with Azure Dragon strong and prosperous, World line with Hook Chen
Analysis:
- Official line with Azure Dragon strong: Excellent work opportunity with good prospects
- World line with Hook Chen: Person has steady personality, suitable for stable work
- Azure Dragon governs joy: Work results will be satisfying
Judgment: Can obtain ideal work, stable with good prospects.
Summary
The Six Spirits system is an extremely sophisticated "symbolic meaning" system in Liuyao divination that greatly enriches the information layers of hexagrams. Mastering the Six Spirits allows your divination to evolve from simple "auspicious/inauspicious" judgments to vivid descriptions of event nature, character psychology, and specific details.
The essence of the Six Spirits system lies in:
- Five Elements interactions as foundation, Six Spirits symbolism as application: Never reverse priorities
- Combining movement and stillness: Moving Six Spirits have stronger influence
- Comprehensive judgment: Must combine with Six Relatives, line positions, strength/weakness
- Varying by matter: Same Six Spirit has different meanings in different divinations
- Clear priorities: Focus on Six Spirits occupying Primary Spirit and World line
Through systematic study and practical application, you will be able to use the Six Spirits system to add more detail and depth to Liuyao prediction, making divination more accurate and vivid.
If you want to experience AI-assisted Liuyao analysis, visit: FateMaster.AI Liuyao Divination