Interpreting ancient Ba Zi manuscripts

Constraint. Fire's sacrifice births Earth; Earth's womb bears Metal; Metal weeps Water; Water whispers to the seed of Wood; and Wood sings the spark of Fire anew. Constraint actually represents the five-ray star, used as a recognized sign of government authority. The Control Cycle mirrors nature's silent discipline — Wood's growth tamed by Metal's blade, Earth's stubborn bulk fractured by Wood's roots, Water's boundless flow shackled by Earth's embrace, Fire's wild hunger quenched by Water's kiss, Metal's strength softened by Fire. Here, destruction is not an end, but the art of balance: each element's excess met by its counterforce, weaving order from chaos.

The ritual of control traces a pentagram whose geometry defines the idea of state power. Fifty stars on the US flag, twelve stars of the European Community, five pentagrams forming the celestial scroll of China. Different mythologies hold one truth. The pentagram cycle commands its ritual at the altar of power.

A pentagram is a perfect tool to address the relations between everything in life. The seasons. Everything starts from spring — life manifests itself. This would be the Wood element, as you already guessed. It is also considered that Wood's taste is sour — maybe because it is the taste of brewed food kept long during the winter. Among the five visible planets of the solar system, Wood is associated with Jupiter, the massive giant, the biggest planet of the solar system, the most aggressive one, fed by neighbors which no longer exist. Wood as emotion declares itself as the claim to life. This emotion is, in truth, aggression. The aggressive entitlement to life. If we look at plants, they seize territory. If we look at animals, they reproduce. Even herbivorous animals reproduce in struggle. They fight to reproduce themselves. The whole world proclaims this to you actively through this form, which is connected to determination, aggression, and conquest. Thus, life itself is bound to aggression, and this is the most powerful energy that exists within the five elements. We could continue with the remaining elements, but I want to keep this hidden so as not to disturb your joyful reading of my book.

Now I want to go a little bit further. What if I say that all of you at a certain point are already predetermined by 5 and 12? (Especially those from the US, the EU, and China — the most powerful unions utilizing five-pointed stars as their state authority symbol.) I just spoke about the calendar we all use, and we are used to 12 months in a year. But why exactly 12? Because Earth's closest neighbor — the Moon — has a cycle of about 29 days, which gives roughly 12 lunar months in a year. And the biggest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, has its own year equal to 12 of ours. But this is not the end: an hour and a minute consist of 60 parts, and those 60 are 12 taken five times. Our calendar is boring precisely because minutes, hours, months, and years are plain numbers. China, until now, uses the colorful calendar (the so-called Gan Zhi). Its colors are, as you may guess, the five primal colors which we know before speech — and those you will be introduced to through my paintings.

This book is part of a larger project — a permanent exhibition at Fox Eat Broccoli gallery in Koh Samui, Thailand, where five textured paintings explore the same five elements you will meet in these pages. The book itself is an artifact: its cover reproduces the painting of Earth, the fifth and central element — and the original canvas hangs in the gallery.

Together, the book and the exhibition offer a single language — one that connects organs with emotions, seasons with tastes, planets with sounds, and colors with textures. A language that helps you understand your own life through the five elements, in both psychology and physiology.

And if you are curious — write to me. I can describe your main element, and the story behind it.