Daeun and Seun — Reading the Great Currents of Life Through Saju
If your innate Saju is 'the vessel you were born with,' then daeun and seun are 'the flow of time that fills that vessel.' Because even the same Saju takes on a different grain of life depending on which fortune arrives at which period, the flow of luck matters as much as the natal chart in reading Saju.
What Is the Flow of Fortune?
If the eight characters of Saju are the innate foundation, then daeun and seun are the energy of time that flows over it. Even a fine chart must wait for its moment if the flow does not support it, and even a lacking chart gains strength when it meets a good flow. That is why, in reading Saju, one always examines the flow of fortune at hand alongside the innate vessel.
Daeun — The Great Seasons in Ten-Year Spans
Daeun (major luck cycles) are the great seasons of life that turn roughly every ten years. Reckoned in order from the heavenly-earthly branches of the birth month, each daeun is expressed by a single stem-and-branch that represents the great energy of that decade. Just as the seasons pass from spring to summer to autumn, the daeun flow onward, and whether the present daeun is a period that fills in your chart's lacking Five Elements (the yongshin) determines whether the flow is favorable or not.
The Direction and Starting Age of Daeun
Depending on the yin-yang of your birth year and your gender, daeun may run forward or backward. The age at which your first daeun begins also differs from person to person, determined by the distance between your birth date and the solar terms. So even those born on the same day may have different daeun directions and starting ages. Knowing where within which daeun you are now passing is the starting point for reading the flow.
Seun and Wolun — The Currents of Years and Months
If daeun is the great season of a decade, then seun (yearly luck) is the flow of a single year seen through that year's stem-and-branch, and wolun is the flow of a month. Each year's seun overlaps upon the larger flow of daeun to produce concrete fortune. When a good seun overlaps a favorable daeun period, opportunity grows larger; and even in a lackluster daeun period, a good seun brings a breath of relief — the two act in layered combination.
The Wisdom of Meeting the Flow
The purpose of knowing the flow of fortune is not to boast in good times or to fear bad ones. To advance and seize opportunity in a good flow, and in a slow flow to avoid overreach while building strength and preparing for the right moment — this is the true reason for reading daeun and seun. The flow is not a fixed fate but like the solar terms of farming, helping you judge when to sow and when to reap.
Daeun and seun add the grain of time to your innate Saju, sketching the great currents of life. If you're curious about the flow of your daeun and the fortune of this year and this month, check your Saju and the flow of your fortune with your birth date and time for yourself.