Starpath · Reading a chart
Reading palaces together
A palace is read with the one opposite it and the two that form a triangle with it.
Every palace has an opposite, six cells away, and two partners, four and eight cells away. Together they are called the “three directions and four alignments” (三方四正), the most important habit in reading a chart.
The opposite palace is like a mirror: it shows what you meet from outside. The two partners show what supports or drives the area.
For the Life palace, the opposite is Travel and the partners are Wealth and Career. Who you are, how you meet the world, how you earn and what you work toward are read as one picture.
Go deeper
When a palace has no principal star, tradition reads it with the stars of the opposite palace, “borrowing” them. Astravia says so wherever it does this.
The two palaces on either side also “flank” a palace. Some schools read a matching pair of stars on both sides, such as two helpful stars, as extra support.
A question for you
Which area of your life feels strongest when you look at it together with its neighbours?