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The Ten Gods: What Every Character in Your Chart Means to You

By Data Saju · Published October 3, 2026

The ten gods (十神, also called the ten deities or ten stars) describe what every other character in your chart is to you — measured from your Day Master. The same character means something different in different charts, which is what turns a chart into your own story.

Two things decide a ten god

Compare any character with your Day Master and ask two questions:

1. How are the elements related? Same element, the element you generate, the element you control, the element that controls you, or the element that generates you (the generating and controlling cycles of the five elements).
2. Is the yin–yang polarity the same? Same polarity gives the "indirect" (偏) form, Friend or Eating God; opposite polarity gives the "direct" (正) form, Rob Wealth or Hurting Officer.

For example, if your Day Master is 甲 Jia (yang Wood), 丙 Bing (yang Fire) is an element you generate with the same polarity, so it is your Eating God; 丁 Ding (yin Fire) is your Hurting Officer. 庚 Geng (yang Metal) controls you with the same polarity — Seven Killings — and 辛 Xin is your Direct Officer.

Lookup table by Day Master

Find your Day Master on the left and read across to see what each heavenly stem is to you. The table is calculated with this site's almanac engine.

A branch takes the ten god of its main hidden stem. With a 甲 Day Master, 寅 (main stem 甲) is a Friend, 午 (main stem 丁) a Hurting Officer and 子 (main stem 癸) a Direct Resource. See the earthly branches for the hidden stems.

The ten gods one by one

Friend (比肩): shoulder to shoulder

The same energy as you. It shows as independence, a sense of agency and the urge to do things your own way. It also stands for equals — siblings, friends and colleagues. Too much of it brings stubbornness and more people to share money and credit with.

Rob Wealth (劫財): the rival who shares the pot

The same element with the opposite polarity: like you, yet competing with you. It gives competitive fire, nerve and staying power in a crisis. Money is easily contested or split, so take care with partnerships, guaranteeing loans and joint investments.

Eating God (食神): the talent that makes and enjoys

The relaxed side of what you produce. It shows as good food and comfort, ease and a steady knack for making things. It brings the instincts of a specialist who goes deep into one craft, and is counted among the most fortunate of the ten gods.

Hurting Officer (傷官): expression that breaks the mould

The sharp side of what you produce: creativity and a way with words that challenge the status quo. It shines in planning, creative work and teaching, but easily clashes with bosses and rules (the Officer), so it pays to give your words one more pass.

Indirect Wealth (偏財): money in motion

The active side of what you control. It shows as a feel for where money is flowing — in business, sales and investing — and an easy way with people. It tends to earn big and spend big, so management is the key.

Direct Wealth (正財): money saved step by step

The stable side of what you control: steady income such as a salary, diligence and careful budgeting. It prefers the sure path to the adventurous one.

Seven Killings (七殺): the pressure that forges you

The rough side of what controls you, also called the Indirect Officer. It brings pressure and crises, and the strength, decisiveness and charisma that grow out of them. It does well as an organisation's troubleshooter, in crisis response and in fields with strict discipline.

Direct Officer (正官): the trusted position

The proper side of what controls you: rules and responsibility, reputation and trust. It suits climbing within a system — organisations and public service — where you are recognised step by step.

Indirect Resource (偏印): unusual intuition

The unconventional side of what supports you: original viewpoints, intuition and deep interest in niche subjects. It carries the instincts of an expert in fields few people enter — research, art, spirituality, technology. Too much of it means much thinking and slow action.

Direct Resource (正印): learning and care

The warm side of what supports you: learning and teaching, qualifications and documents, help from elders and mentors. It brings a gift for study and earns trust through character.

The ten gods and family

Traditional saju also reads family ties through the ten gods. The "spouse star" in our love and marriage reports comes from here.

These correspondences are traditional. Rather than mapping them literally onto modern relationships, use them as a hint about which kinds of bonds come into your life more easily.

Common combinations

• Output generates Wealth (食神生財): your talent and skills turn directly into money.
• Officer and Resource support each other (官印相生): the Officer feeds the Resource, which feeds you — recognition inside an organisation, smooth qualifications and promotions.
• Hurting Officer meets Direct Officer (傷官見官): friction with rules and bosses, so mind your words and manner.
• Wealth breaks Resource (財剋印): money and practical matters crowd out study and preparation.
• Peers fight over Wealth (比劫爭財): many Peers and little Wealth — many people to share with and little to share, so money breeds competition.

A worked example

Our sample chart (庚午 year, 癸未 month, 辛巳 day, 癸巳 hour) has a 辛 Xin (yin Metal) Day Master. The 癸 (yin Water) in the month and hour stems is an element Xin generates with the same polarity — two Eating Gods. The 庚 (yang Metal) in the year stem is the same element with the opposite polarity — Rob Wealth. Among the branches, 巳 in the day and hour (main stem 丙) is the Direct Officer, 午 in the year (main stem 丁) is Seven Killings and 未 in the month (main stem 己) is an Indirect Resource.

That gives two Eating Gods, three Officers (two Direct Officers and one Seven Killings), one Indirect Resource and one Rob Wealth. The Officer is the largest group, so responsibility and one's role in an organisation are big themes in this life, while the Eating Gods turn that pressure into talent.

FAQ

Are some ten gods good and others bad? Older texts split them into gentle ones (Eating God, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer, Direct Resource) and harsh ones (Rob Wealth, Hurting Officer, Seven Killings, Indirect Resource). Today any ten god is a strength when used well and a weakness when overdone. The Hurting Officer is a creator's best tool, Seven Killings a crisis manager's.

What if a whole group is missing from my chart? Develop that group's theme consciously — with no Wealth, for instance, your feel for handling money. Matters of that group tend to arise when 10-year or annual luck brings it in.

How do I read ten gods in my luck? The characters of your 10-year and annual luck get ten gods from your Day Master too. Wealth luck tends to bring money and results, Officer luck responsibility and position, Resource luck study. See how to read luck pillars.

Your ten-god counts with your strengths and weak spots are in chapter 1 of the complete reading, and the ten god of every character is in your chart table.

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