In BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny), Seven Killings is the element that controls “me” and shares my yin-yang polarity. For example, if the day stem is Jia (Yang Wood), it is Geng (Yang Metal). Metal can control Wood; Jia is yang and Geng is also yang, so they are of the same polarity, and Geng is therefore Jia's Seven Killings.
Although the name Seven Killings sounds ominous, when it is controlled and transformed it can turn misfortune into good fortune and form a pattern of great nobility. Next, let us continue with the Ten Gods in BaZi fortune-telling: Seven Killings.
1. The Meaning of Seven Killings
Seven Killings is Indirect Officer, and it is also written with another character for “killings,” but it is the same star. Traditional destiny analysis regards Seven Killings as an inauspicious sign, a mark of obstacles, hindrances, difficulties, and disasters. But when Seven Killings is controlled and transformed, it turns into favorable factors such as power, status, and fame.
Among the Six Relations, Seven Killings represents a man's son, because once one has a child one must shoulder the heavy burden of raising it, and such a burden pressing upon oneself is also an unseen form of control.
For a woman, Seven Killings is a lover: it can represent her paramour, or a husband considerably older than she, or a husband of rather fiery temper.
When Seven Killings is unfavorable, it represents petty people, enemies, harsh bosses, judges and police, local thugs and hoodlums, and so on. In real life, anyone who ruthlessly suppresses and strikes at the Day Master can be represented by Seven Killings.
Seven Killings and Direct Officer are both among the Five Elements that control the Day Master, but Seven Killings appears more violent and domineering than Direct Officer. If the Day Master is strong and Seven Killings is the Useful God, the person, if not in a military post, is sure to be a leading figure in the underworld.
2. The Characteristics of Seven Killings
Seven Killings represents the forces of darkness and evil and petty people; it must be subdued before it becomes useful. One Killings with one control (Eating God controlling Killings) is best. So when the Day Master is strong and Seven Killings is strong, one takes Eating God to control the Killings, and the person is one whose “talent surpasses virtue.”
When the Day Master is weak and Seven Killings is strong, one takes Direct Resource to transform the Killings and nourish the self, and the person is one whose “virtue surpasses talent.” This is what is meant by “when the many Killings run rampant, a single benevolence can transform them.” When Officer and Killings are mixed, Direct Resource is needed all the more; this is what is meant by “Resource relieves the distress of the two worthies.”
When the Day Master is weak and the Killings are thriving and meet Wealth, there is poverty and much hardship, even the calamity of a violent death at the hands of the Killings. There needs to be Resource or Indirect Resource to drain and transform them, so that Killings and Resource generate one another; then rank and fame are distinguished and one's career develops.
3. The Character of Seven Killings
The destiny books say, “None is cleverer than Hurting Officer, none is sharper than Seven Killings,” showing that people of Seven Killings have nimble minds and an instinct for changing course on the spot. Seven Killings is like a fierce tiger, but once subdued it turns misfortune into good fortune. A woman whose chart has Seven Killings without Eating God to subdue it is hot-tempered and competitive, and this easily brings trouble and disaster into her marriage.
(1) Positive Character
A sense of justice and a chivalrous spirit, a strong and unyielding character, full of drive, decisive and warm toward others, and bold in action.
(2) Negative Character
An odd temper, impatient as fire, willful and stubborn, and self-righteously aloof.
4. Favorable and Unfavorable Combinations for Seven Killings
(1) Seven Killings delights in the Blade Star (the Blade Star bearing the Killings): one who awes the frontiers, with the talent of a military general.
(2) Seven Killings delights in meeting a single Eating God (Eating God controlling Killings): controlling the Killings, one gains power, and food and clothing are abundant.
(3) Seven Killings delights in meeting Direct Resource: one holds real power and enjoys great fortune and great nobility all one's life.
(4) If Seven Killings comes with Kui Gang, and the day of birth holds the Blade Star, the person joins the army and is one who becomes an official.
(5) If Seven Killings is excessive or uncontrolled, the person is fond of wine and women, obstinate, and deaf to sincere advice. If the Day Master is also weak, the person instead becomes fearful, weak, incapable, and powerless—a timid person.
(6) If Seven Killings appears often, without Rob Wealth or a combination with the Blade, the person is sinister and crafty, suspicious of everyone.
(7) When Officer and Killings are mixed, a man brings disaster upon himself. A woman has many lovers, causing family conflict that ends in separation or divorce.
(8) When a woman's Killings star sits in the place of Birth, she has the power of a leader and is called a strong woman. Her husband is open-hearted and generous, and she has both wealth and rank.
(9) When a woman's Seven Killings falls into Void, she has no bond with her husband and is often neglected by him. When a woman has too many Seven Killings (four or more), her marriage is unhappy.
(10) A woman's Seven Killings dreads meeting a Six Combination; it mostly indicates tangled involvements with the opposite sex.
(11) When a woman's Seven Killings meets the Three Punishments in her chart, husband and wife are at odds and quarrel often.
(12) When Seven Killings appears on the year or month Heavenly Stem, one's fortune is thin, one's destiny shallow, and one's marriage poor.
(13) Seven Killings delights in appearing once in the hour pillar; this is a noble pattern, and one's children will prosper.
5. Seven Killings and the Strength or Weakness of the Day Master
A weak self most dreads Seven Killings; it indicates humble origins. With too much Seven Killings and a weak self meeting punishment and clash, one is bound to be poor. When heavy Killings control the self, there are hidden illnesses in the body. Those whose Seven Killings is strong while the Day Master is weak have much illness and disaster all their lives, and when the Annual Luck brings Seven Killings, misfortunes multiply.
A robust Day Master delights most in Seven Killings; when the Blade Star meets the Killings, it indicates wealth, rank, and glory all one's life. When a strong, thriving Seven Killings is controlled and transformed, one's power and eminence grow even greater.
6. Career Choices for People of Seven Killings
(1) In the Judicial Field
They are suited to being police officers, lawyers, judges, or detectives.
(2) In the Military Field
They are suited to being military officers or generals.
(3) In the Cultural Field
They are suited to being journalists or martial arts performers.
(4) In Business
They are suited to shipbuilding and construction.
7. Verses on Seven Killings for Reading Charts
Seven Killings in the year pillar makes a poor destiny; above it harms the father, below it harms the mother.
If the parents' destinies are too hard to be harmed, dangerous things fall upon oneself.
Seven Killings under control becomes Indirect Officer; with Killings and Blade meeting Resource one holds real power.
A weak self with much Rob Wealth is the sickness; where Seven Killings gather in numbers there is much injury and disability.
Indirect Officer in the month pillar offends petty people, and petty people draw disaster down.
If the Indirect Officer pattern is broken, disaster is averted and the body unharmed.
With Killings and Blade both complete, one is awe-inspiring; with Killings and Resource generating each other, rank and fame run deep.
When Officer and Killings are mixed, one is instead lowly; when Killings and Indirect Resource meet, one dies young or is poor.
The day sitting on a lone Killings makes the talent of a general—martial, strong, unyielding, and full of spirit.
Seven Killings under control gives ample food and clothing; with Killings and Resource generating each other, one is heroic.
Seven Killings most fears clash and combination; clash and combination mostly bring illness and disaster.
Seven Killings also dreads the arrival of Rob Wealth; for men and women alike it means an unsmooth marriage.
A single true Seven Killings in the hour pillar, with a strong day combining the Blade, makes a person of wealth and rank.
Killings in the hour does not fear clash or combination, but controlling the Killings too much instead harms the self.
Meeting Seven Killings in the hour means by nature no son; with too much Eating God and Hurting Officer there will surely be early loss.
With a strong self and thriving Killings, the Abundance Star is rich and full; with a weak self and much Wealth, one is poor.