The nine stars — from One White Water to Nine Purple Fire
updated · 5 min read
Nine Star Ki takes a principal star from the year of birth. There are nine, each carrying an element, a number and an image from nature. What marks the names is that a colour sits in each of them.
The name runs number, colour, element. One White Water is one, white, water. Seeing that structure makes them much easier to learn.
The colours run white, black, jade, green, yellow, white, red, white and purple. White appears three times because it is used for the first, sixth and eighth. That repetition is part of how the names have settled.
The nine
| Star | Element | Image | Nature it is taken to show |
|---|---|---|---|
| One White Water | Water | Water | The flexibility to take any vessel's shape; storing deeply inside |
| Two Black Earth | Earth | Cultivated fields | The patience to bring people and things on over time |
| Three Jade Wood | Wood | Thunder and a young tree | The momentum of a beginning; frankness in saying what is thought |
| Four Green Wood | Wood | Wind | The work of passing between people and tying connections |
| Five Yellow Earth | Earth | The centre | A pull on what surrounds it; an influence that is large either way |
| Six White Metal | Metal | Heaven | A temperament that values doing things properly; a tendency to lead |
| Seven Red Metal | Metal | Ripened crops | The work of entertaining people and putting a room at ease |
| Eight White Earth | Earth | A mountain | Persistence in stacking things up; changing sharply at the turns |
| Nine Purple Fire | Fire | Fire and the sun | A brightness that makes things plain; an eye for what is beautiful |
Counting the elements gives three earth, two wood, two metal, and one each of water and fire. It is not even. Five Yellow Earth sits at the centre with the other eight around it.
Earth is the most numerous because it is placed where it bridges the other four. Wood makes fire, fire makes earth, earth makes metal. Within that circle, earth carries both the centre and the turns of the seasons.
Five Yellow Earth is treated differently
The nine stars are often used with directions, and Five Yellow Earth alone has no direction of its own, since it is taken to sit at the centre. That singularity is sometimes spoken of as strength.
The nature of a star shows a tendency, not a ranking. Every star has situations where it comes into its own and situations where it does not. Do not use a star to judge a person.
Everyone holds two
Most people have a different principal and monthly star. The principal shows the nature you were born with and the monthly the nature that appears in daily behaviour, so this list can be read for both.
Where the two fall in the same group, inner nature and behaviour line up easily; where they differ, they come apart more readily. A gap can also be a strength, depending on the situation.
Common questions
- How do I find my principal star?
- Add the digits of your birth year to a single digit and subtract from eleven. On this service a date of birth is enough; the turn of the year at the Start of Spring is worked out automatically.
- Why is there a colour in every name?
- Because the names run number, colour, element. One White Water is one, white, water. Knowing the structure makes them easier to remember.
- Is Five Yellow Earth special?
- It is taken to sit at the centre and has no direction of its own, which sets it apart. That does not mean it is superior; it is spoken of in terms of the size of its influence.