BaZi Four Pillars of Destiny 101: What is a Clash?

This article will only cover the symbolic meaning of a Clash. To learn more about the fascinating and comprehensive system of BaZi (or Four Pillars of Destiny), please read here. Or click below for articles covering other symbolic meanings.

My clients hear the word “clash” and you can sense their nervousness and unease around this idea. Yes, being “under clash” is never the most comfortable feeling in the world and it is definitely the opposite feeling of peace and harmony.

Unfortunately – or fortunately depending on how you look at it – life is not all roses and cotton candies! And from a BaZi sense of view, a clash is a normal occurrence. It’s part of life. We all go through periods of clash, multiple times in a lifetime, and it can happen at any moment – in a particular hour, a day, a month, a year, or even an entire 10-year luck cycle! But knowing this valuable information is a lot like being given an armor. You can better protect and prepare yourself to help minimize this clash.

Now, the weight or severity of a clash depends on many variable factors that is all too complicated to explain in a single article. And a clash can manifest in different ways to different people, showing up as either a clash in their home, relationship, health, money, career, or the clash can even affect other people in their lives such as parents, grandparents, or children.

But a clash can be as minor as twisting your ankle in a pothole, a fender bender, running more errands in a single day, misplacing your house or car keys, missing the freeway exits, or having a simple misunderstanding between people. A clash can also be serious enough to cause physical harm like being involved in a car crash, it can also break up a rocky marriage or relationship, trigger a windfall of money outflow, cause you to get fired or laid off from a job, or even getting sick.

Similar to the energy of the Traveling Star, you can choose to view a clash half-full and understand that a clash creates a change of events in one’s life. It is part of our human nature to want more, to live more, to strive more, even if it means we want to learn more or to grow. Because life does not stay in a static motion, a clash offers all of us an opportunity to let the organic and manmade shifts to happen throughout our life.

My teacher Grand Master Raymond Lo once told me privately, “You know BaZi so you can adjust your actions. If you know you’re under clash, then satisfy the clash yourself so the universe doesn’t have to do something else to make it happen.”

What he means is if you are under clash, one way you can safeguard yourself is to carry the pendant of the animal that helps to attract away the clash. This serves as a psychological and emotional reminder that you are in a period of significant movement and change. But most importantly, you should be more cautious or tentative in your actions and decisions during a time of clash. Perhaps you might want to think twice before going bungee jumping, driving a fast car, or making a risky financial investment.

But if you also understand where the clash is happening, such as your House of Spouse, then you can turn up the notch in your relationship aspect by communicating your needs and concerns more clearly, more compassionately, and with more patience. Remember, destiny is just one-third of life, you have to actively participate with your own free-will. And when you are under clash, it becomes especially more important to take care of the Feng Shui of your home.

To derive your clash and animal protection, you can use this table.

Birth Year or Day Clash Animal Protection

Tiger 寅 Monkey 申 Snake 巳

Rabbit 卯 Rooster 酉 Dragon 辰

Dragon 辰 Dog 戌 Rabbit 卯

Snake 巳 Pig 亥 Tiger 寅

Horse 午 Rat 子 Ox 丑

Goat 未 Ox 丑 Rat 子

Monkey 申 Tiger 寅 Pig 亥

Rooster 酉 Rabbit 卯 Dog 戌

Dog 戌 Dragon 辰 Rooster 酉

Pig 亥 Snake 巳 Monkey 申