BaZi · Glossary
Shen Sha: Auspicious and Inauspicious Stars in BaZi
Deep Oracle Editorial Team · 2026-06-06 · 2 min read
Shen Sha ("spirit-stars") are markers derived from specific stem-and-branch relations — day stem, year branch, month branch — and are divided into auspicious stars and inauspicious ones. They are a supplement to a reading, not its frame.
Categories
This site covers 38 spirit-stars, grouped six ways for lookup: 13 auspicious/nobleman stars, 7 salary-blade-post-horse stars, 4 romance stars, 10 inauspicious or solitary stars, one talent star (Canopy), and three that exist only as day pillars. The grouping is for navigation; it is not a division the classical texts themselves make.
How they are weighed
Spirit-stars are subordinate to the pattern, the Ten Gods and Day-Master strength. An auspicious star helps only when it serves the chart; a restrained inauspicious one need not manifest. The number of stars in a chart says nothing about whether the chart is good. Schools derive them differently — this site's rules match its charting engine.
Sources
Only some of these 38 can be traced to a named chapter in the San Ming Tong Hui, the Yuan Hai Zi Ping or comparable primary texts. A substantial number appear in no identifiable chapter of those texts at all, and their lookup rules survive as mnemonic verses passed down in practice. Each entry page states which of the two it is.
To see the stars in your own chart, use the free BaZi calculator.
Related terms
Auspicious & Nobleman stars: 天乙贵人 · 文昌贵人 · 天德贵人 · 月德贵人 · 天德合 · 月德合 · 德秀贵人 · 天厨贵人 · 天医 · 学堂 · 太极贵人 · 福星贵人 · 国印贵人
Salary, Blade & Post-Horse stars: 禄神 · 羊刃 · 飞刃 · 血刃 · 驿马 · 将星 · 金舆
Romance stars: 红鸾 · 天喜 · 桃花 · 红艳煞
Inauspicious & solitary stars: 灾煞 · 劫煞 · 亡神 · 元辰 · 丧门 · 吊客 · 披麻 · 童子煞 · 孤辰・寡宿
Talent star: 华盖
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