Severing絶

Severing is the tenth stage, where the earlier flow is cut once. The strength taken in at Storing disperses down to its last trace while no new strength has formed yet, so this gap is the lowest point of the life story. A break is also the doorstep of the next round, though. Where the twelve stages are known as the po-tae method, this seat is called po, the sac that wraps a new life, and the count sometimes starts here instead of at Sprouting. That is why the stage is consulted for a readiness to change course without looking back and the nerve to move somewhere unfamiliar.

• 絶to cut off, to sever (Korean reading: jeol)

A thread snapping: the gap after one flow runs out and before the next arrives.

Severing lies nine seats from Sprouting, just past Storing, found by the branch order for yang stems and by the reversed order for yin stems. It sits directly opposite Standing, so for every stem the two seats form a pair of branches that push apart. Thus yang Wood, whose Standing seat is the Tiger, meets Severing at the Monkey, and yin Wood, whose Standing seat is the Rabbit, meets it at the Rooster. The Earth stems follow Fire here as well, taking the Severing seats of yang Fire and yin Fire.

Charts with Severing bring to mind a strength for clearing away the past and beginning again rather than clinging to it. There is little hesitation in the face of change, and settling in quickly after a move into an entirely different field is part of the reading. Several Severing seats suggest that delaying a decision a little and looking once more adds strength. Without Severing, what stands out is the stamina to keep walking one road steadily.

A 庚 (Geng) Day Master meets Severing at 寅 (Yin), across from its Standing branch 申 (Shen). The yin stem 辛 (Xin) turns the other way and meets it at 卯 (Mao), which faces the Standing branch of 辛, 酉 (You).

• A common idea

  Severing means ties with people get cut.

  How we read it

  The literal meaning of cutting, combined with readings that shun the low stages, spread the idea of parting and estrangement. This service does not use Severing as a sign that a relationship ends; it describes wrapping up one phase and changing direction.

• A common idea

  Severing is the worst of the twelve stages.

  How we read it

  Calling it the lowest point speaks only of how much strength there is, not of good or bad. Just as the po-tae method starts counting its cycle at this seat, this service sees it as a doorstep for preparing what comes next.