by Master HC Hung

Daily Flying Stars are governed by 2 cardinal rules:

• Starting from the onset of Winter Solstice (冬至) and until Summer Solstice (夏至) the following year, the Stars progress in a forward order (… 7,8,9,1, 2, 3, …), one day at a time; and starting from Summer Solstice up to the next Winter Solstice, the Stars progress in a reverse order (… 3,2,1,9,8,7,…).
• On the first 甲子 day after Winter Solstice, Star #1 will preside; and on the first 甲子 day after Summer Solstice, Star #9 will preside.

Now Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice do not, as a rule, fall on a 甲子 day. In order for the days between Winter Solstice and the next 甲子 day to abide by the 2 cardinal rules above, those days require the following treatment:

Starting at the said甲子 day and counting backwards, the Stars regress in a reverse order (1,9,8,7, …) up to Winter Solstice. On the day of Winter Solstice, there will be an abrupt break in the sequencing of Stars. The new Star takes over at the exact moment of Winter Solstice.

Likewise, the period between Summer Solstice and the next 甲子 day has to be treated as follows:

Starting at the said 甲子 day and counting backwards, the Stars regress in a forward order (9,1,2,3,…) up to Summer Solstice. Similarly there is a break in the sequencing of Stars on Summer Solstice day.

To find the Daily Flying Star at any of the 9 Palaces of the luoshu (洛书) chart, enter the presiding Star at the Central Palace and then fly the Stars according to the luoshu path.

In the period between Winter Solstice and the next Summer Solstice (in the following year), the Stars fly in the forward order. There appears to be universal agreement on that.

The dispute between different Xuan Kong (玄空) schools lies in the flight pattern of the Daily Stars in the period between Summer Solstice and the next Winter Solstice. Some schools advocate that the Stars will always fly in the forward order, whereas other schools adopt a reverse flight order in this period.

There may be yet other schools that teach differently.

(Article kind courtesy of Master HC Hung)