Blade羊刃

Blade has an unsettling full name, a blade for slaughtering sheep; English books often say Goat Blade. The heart of the idea, though, is the seat where the Day Master's force rises most fiercely. It sits one step past the seat where the Day Master takes root, so the force was thought to overflow into a knife edge. Handled well it was a tool for decisive action, older readings said, and handled poorly it became stubbornness. This service looks at the drive to push ahead once decided and a refusal to back down before competition.

• 羊sheep, goat (Korean reading: yang)
• 刃blade, knife edge (Korean reading: in)

A blade used on sheep: a picture of force honed to a keen edge.

Only the five Day Masters with a yang stem are checked. The branch right after the Day Master's Standing seat is the Blade, which is also where it reaches the Peak stage. For yang Wood that is the Rabbit branch, for yang Fire and yang Earth the Horse, for yang Metal the Rooster, and for yang Water the Rat. All four branch seats are checked, and a character sitting in two seats is marked in both.

Blade describes a chart with strong power to gather speed once a goal is set. Focus is said to sharpen under deadlines or competition, and when drive runs high the reading suggests checking the pace of those beside you. Without it, your strength may lie in adjusting to the flow. In the month branch it also takes in the force of the season, so many readings give that seat particular attention.

Take 丁巳 (Ding Si) year, 己酉 (Ji You) month, 庚午 (Geng Wu) day, and 庚辰 (Geng Chen) hour. For a 庚 (Geng) Day Master the Blade branch is 酉 (You), and the month branch is exactly that character.

• A common idea

  Blade means getting hurt somewhere down the line.

  How we read it

  The worry comes from the knife in the name and old readings saying an overgrown Blade invites harm. Here Blade is not read as a sign about your body or work; it is explained as sharp drive.

• A common idea

  Blade is just another word for Rival.

  How we read it

  As a Relationship Type, the Blade branch is Rival for yang Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water Day Masters but Direct Resource for yang Earth. Blade names a seat and Rival a relation, so this service keeps them apart.

Some books give yin stems a Blade too, but disagree on the branch: for 乙 (Yi), one side says 辰 (Chen), another 寅 (Yin). Others, holding that only yang stems have it, swap the sheep character for one meaning the sunny side. This service checks the five yang stems only, and 戊 (Wu) takes 午 (Wu) like 丙 (Bing), since Earth follows Fire.