Bathing沐浴

Bathing, the second stage, takes its name from the first wash given to a newborn. The strength that has just left Sprouting has not yet found its shape, so the stage is pictured as a bare body open to every touch from outside. That picture is why Bathing is consulted for keen senses, a lively curiosity, and a habit of trying many things and changing course often. Older books also tied this seat to style and the pleasure of being seen, and some handled it as close in nature to Peach Blossom.

• 沐to wash the hair (Korean reading: mok)
• 浴to bathe (Korean reading: yok)

Washing the hair and bathing the body: the first wash a baby is given after birth.

Bathing sits right after Sprouting. A yang Day Master moves one step forward from its Sprouting branch, and a yin Day Master moves one step back. Because the two directions run opposite ways, yang and yin stems end up in separate sets. For every yang stem, Bathing lands among the four branches where yin stems find Sprouting, and for every yin stem it lands among the four where yang stems find Sprouting. The table shows the seat for each stem.

A seat holding Bathing is read as a place where new things easily catch your interest. It can show an eye for trends and styling and a natural ease in expressing yourself. When Bathing turns up in more than one place, interests may shift often, and carrying a single project through to the end is read as a source of strength. Without Bathing, the plus side is a calm steadiness in keeping to your own way.

A 庚 (Geng) Day Master reaches Bathing at 午 (Wu). That 午 is also the Peach Blossom branch for the Metal three-branch group, so for 庚 the two names fall on one branch.

• A common idea

  Bathing brings trouble in romance.

  How we read it

  The worry comes from readings that treat the Bathing seat as the same spot as Peach Blossom and tie it to romantic entanglements. This service does not read Bathing as a relationship event; it describes open senses and free expression.

• A common idea

  Bathing is an unsettled stage, so nothing started there lasts.

  How we read it

  That conclusion follows only if frequent changes of direction are seen as instability. This service takes them as a process of trying many things and picking what suits you.

If yin stems circled in the same direction as yang stems, the Bathing of 乙 (Yi) would sit at 子 (Zi), as it does for 甲 (Jia). This service turns yin stems the other way and places the Bathing of 乙 at 巳 (Si), so no yin stem has a Bathing branch that is also a Peach Blossom branch (子, 午 (Wu), 卯 (Mao), 酉 (You)).