A pattern (ge ju) in Zi Wei Dou Shu is a specific arrangement of stars, formed by which stars sit together and where they fall in the chart. Well-known patterns include the Pillar–Steward–Builder–Loyalist–Perfectionist group, the Pioneer group (the Blade, the Disruptor and the Wolf), and the Support group (the Strategist, the Empath, the Eternal Child and the Sage).

For example, if a chart shows the Pioneer group, it often points to someone with a lot of drive who is willing to break out of the existing frame, and whose life may swing more than average. Every pattern has its own strengths and its own things to watch, so here are nine common ones.

The Pillar–Steward–Builder–Loyalist–Perfectionist Pattern (Zi Fu Wu Xiang Lian)

This is considered a top-grade pattern. It forms when the Pillar (Zi Wei), the Steward (Tian Fu), the Builder (Wu Qu), the Loyalist (Tian Xiang) and the Perfectionist (Lian Zhen) come together. People with this pattern may hold important positions, and often do well in authority, wealth and status all at once.

Features: These five major stars converge in the palaces that shape one another, and the arrangement is treated as a high-ranking one.

Qualities:

• The Pillar is the emperor star and has three supporting "general" stars around it, so the pattern reads like a king with real power. It often shows up in people with talent, ideals and leadership ability.
• When the stars sit in S-tier, A-tier or B-tier positions, the chart tends to be strong: a high position, solid ability and plenty of money.
• Even when the stars fall in D-tier positions, the pattern does not do harm. The person may not get rich, but life usually stays steady and peaceful, without constant money worries.
• The pattern works best when the writing stars, the support stars and the patron stars join it. That combination points to leadership with real authority and a voice that people listen to. If only the major stars are present and they meet harsh stars, the result may be a title without real power, with little ability to direct or lead others.

The Pioneer Group: Blade, Disruptor and Wolf (Sha Po Lang)

The Blade (Qi Sha), the Disruptor (Po Jun) and the Wolf (Tan Lang) meet in all three palaces of a trine, for example the trine of the Ego, Wealth and Career palaces. Of all 14 major stars, this group has the strongest drive to open new ground, and it may carry a person through many difficulties and challenges.

Features: The brighter the stars (S-tier, A-tier, B-tier), the better. In D-tier positions the group takes on a harsher edge, so the outcome, good or bad, depends heavily on how bright the three stars are.

Qualities:

• With bright stars, the pattern shows up as courage, boldness and directness, and a willingness to smash through old barriers and create new paths. People like this often reach a high position and make capable "generals" at work.
• If the Blade, the Disruptor and the Wolf are all in D-tier positions, life tends to feel unstable. The person may have to move around a lot and work hard, and may be tempted to do whatever it takes to get what they want, so they need to watch their own choices.

The Blade–Disruptor–Perfectionist–Wolf Pattern (Sha Po Lian Tan)

This pattern is built from four stars: the Blade, the Disruptor, the Perfectionist (Lian Zhen) and the Wolf. In other words, it is the Pioneer group with the Perfectionist added.

Features: It forms when those four major stars come together. Some sources stretch the name to also include the Pillar and the Builder, but the core pattern is only these four.

Qualities:

People with this pattern tend to be forceful and decisive, but their lives also carry more ups and downs. All of these stars have a big appetite for power and ambition. When personal wishes and real-world conditions cannot be balanced, the person may drift off the original path, with unwanted results.

Like the Pioneer group, this pattern is drawn to business, hoping for a breakthrough in money and power. Still, specialist research may suit them better, because business calls for a flexible but steady approach and not for rash moves.

Men with this pattern are often admired for being strong and decisive. Women with it may find relationships more complicated, because the same strength and firmness can make love harder to manage, even when their ability and courage at work are clear.

The Strategist–Skeptic–Eternal Child Pattern (Ji Ju Tong)

The Strategist (Tian Ji), the Skeptic (Ju Men) and the Eternal Child (Tian Tong) meet in a trine. This combination carries creativity, intelligence and a sense of devotion.

Features: People with this pattern may be drawn to study and public affairs, and the pattern is sometimes linked with great success and a loud reputation.

Qualities:

• People with this trio are often known for sharp minds, perfectionism, creativity and many talents. They tend to suit literature, theory, writing, specialist research or science. Their credibility and ability often win recognition from society, along with respect and admiration from others.
• When the three consecutive transformations (Reputation, Power and Resource) all gather, or when helpful stars such as the writing stars, the support stars and the patron stars join in, the good side of the pattern gets stronger.
• Without those helpful stars, people with this pattern may face more hardship and may end up ordinary and without much power, because luck is thin and chances are easy to miss. It is especially tough when the Strategist and the Skeptic sit in the Ego palace. The classical saying is "effort struggles to succeed and fame struggles to arrive," so career may be hard, health may need attention, and helpful stars are needed to soften the picture.
• Women with this pattern may be comfortable financially but can find marriage more complicated.
• If the pattern meets Xun Kong, Jie Kong, the six harsh stars or the six ruin stars, it may be weakened, bringing more difficulty, setbacks or loss.

The Support Group: Strategist, Empath, Eternal Child and Sage (Ji Yue Tong Liang)

The Strategist, the Empath (Tai Yin), the Eternal Child and the Sage (Tian Liang) come together across four palaces: Ego, Wealth, Career and Persona. This is a gathering of four "fortune" stars.

Features: The brighter these stars are (S-tier, A-tier, B-tier), the better. Because four fortune stars gather here, the pattern does not usually cause harm even when the stars are in D-tier positions.

Qualities:

• People with this pattern tend to be gentle, kind, talented and well known, but their strength lies in supporting others. They lean toward writing, planning and strategy more than toward leading an organization from the top.
• Fields that often suit them are education, media and other work that needs intelligence and specialist skill. In a government office or a large company, they may reach a senior role.
• When the writing stars, the patron stars, the support stars or the Resource, Power and Reputation Transformations join the pattern, the person may be better off than average.
• Even with B-tier or D-tier stars, life tends to stay steady. There may be no breakthrough in money, but there is usually no worry about food and clothing, and the household often has enough to spare.

The Visionary–Empath–Sage Pattern (Yin Yang Liang)

The Empath, the Visionary (Tai Yang) and the Sage together form this pattern. It carries a lot of weight in a chart because it touches family, relatives and the person themselves. It is a symbol of gentleness.

Features: It forms when the Empath, the Visionary and the Sage come together. When harsh stars push it in different directions, though, it can turn unstable.

Qualities:

• With S-tier or A-tier stars and no harsh stars, the pattern brings plenty of good luck, helps the person avoid disaster and aggression, and may mean a happy life with the protection and help of parents. For this reason it is considered a good and very strong pattern.
• People with this pattern are often good at supporting, planning and taking on a helper's role, but they may find it harder to lead.
• If harsh stars appear, most positions break the pattern, meaning the luck and good qualities of the pattern are reduced. The exceptions are the Visionary and the Sage in the Rabbit (Mao) palace, and the Empath in the Pig (Hai) palace, which carry a helpful quality that can soften the harshness.
• When the pattern meets the edge, the drag and a big-spending pull, it often points to separation and parting. With the Empath and the Visionary both present, meeting the edge and the drag may strengthen that tendency to split.

The Skeptic–Visionary Pattern (Ju Ri)

The Skeptic (Ju Men) and the Visionary (Tai Yang) meet in a trine. This pairs a "dark" star with the Visionary, which can lift that darkness. The pattern is best when the Visionary is in an S-tier or A-tier position and is not disturbed by Xun Kong or Jie Kong.

Features: The Skeptic and the Visionary sit in the trine of the palace.

Qualities:

• People with the Skeptic and the Visionary in the trine are often good communicators with a gift for speaking, but they lean toward watching and sizing people up before adjusting how they act. That makes them the type who adapts easily to almost any setting.
• The pattern may bring prosperous money luck and a wide career path, but it needs effort and ambition for the career to really take off.
• People with this pair in the trine may also want to start a business or break through, yet it is usually wiser to pick a stable career without heavy pressure and to set goals that fit their real ability.
• This pattern can also draw gossip and disputes, and when the Entanglement Transformation joins, the talk may increase.

If you want to see which of these patterns show up in your own chart, you can open HOROS and generate a chart to look at the stars and their positions.

The Steward–Loyalist Court Pattern (Fu Xiang Chao Yuan)

The Steward (Tian Fu) and the Loyalist (Tian Xiang) meet in the trine.

Features: The Steward or the Loyalist sits in the Ego palace, and the other star shines in from the Career palace or the Wealth palace. It also counts when the Ego palace has no major star and the Career and Wealth palaces hold the Steward and the Loyalist. This points to both status and wealth, and money that tends to flow in.

Qualities:

People with this pattern often have good luck in their careers, receive help from patrons and are respected by others. Their love life may be less smooth, though, and marriage needs care because the Disruptor or the Wolf (stars that carry a meaning of breaking apart) may sit in the Love palace.

• When you see the Steward, look at the Loyalist, and the other way around. The two stars are read together. When the Steward meets harsh stars, the judge star, the Entanglement Transformation, or lacks any Resource support (a Resource Transformation or the reserve), it can easily become a "leaking vault." Its careful, saving nature is weakened. Without Resource support or helpful stars, the Steward needs the Loyalist to be in a good position, or to be flanked by wealth and shelter stars, before it can show its good side fully.
• The Loyalist flanked by the judge star and the Skeptic. The Loyalist (the "seal") is normally flanked by one star of the "punishing" type (the Sage) and one of the "obstructing" type (the Skeptic). That alone is not a problem. It is read as a negative only when those punishing and obstructing qualities get stronger, for example when the pair is joined by the Entanglement Transformation, the judge star, the edge or the drag. In that case the Loyalist is held back and cannot show its good side. The whole chart still has to be weighed, especially whether the Steward in the trine is a "full vault" or a "leaking vault."

People in this situation may find family life less settled and may lack a feeling of stability inside. Their parents may be strict, conservative or critical, and siblings may compete or quarrel quietly. Family matters may not go smoothly.

The Open Palace Pattern (Wu Zheng Yao)

An Open Palace means the Ego palace has no major star, so the reading borrows the major stars from the palace across, the Persona palace.

Formation: The Ego palace holds no major star.

Features: An Ego palace with no major star is called an Open Palace. The reading takes the major stars from the Persona palace across from it and treats them as its own.

Qualities:

People with an Open Palace in the Ego position may feel less settled and be easily influenced, so they may find it harder to lead and may do better in a supporting role. Because they borrow stars from the palace across, they tend to be flexible, versatile and quick to adapt when circumstances change.

There are several kinds of Open Palace:

• Open Palace with three voids (comparable in weight to the Pioneer group): The Ego palace has no major star, is occupied by Xun Kong and Jie Kong, and the trine also receives the emptiness star or another void star. This is seen as a pattern of strong wealth and status. It works best with a Fire element, and with other elements the person may not be rich but still lives comfortably, with no real money worries. It also needs helpful stars to ease the harshness of the palace, and it is best when neither the emptiness star nor a void star is present, so the pattern stays whole.
• Open Palace with Xun Kong and Jie Kong in the Ego palace: Here Xun Kong and Jie Kong help block harsh stars and can make the good traits of the Open Palace stronger. If the palace holds a harsh star in a strong position, Xun Kong and Jie Kong are better absent. In every other case they are welcome.
• Open Palace with the Visionary and the Empath shining in: The Ego palace has no major star, the Empath and the Visionary shine in from S-tier or A-tier positions, and there is no Xun Kong, Jie Kong or star in the same palace. This is a good pattern.
• Open Palace with four voids: This brings a lot of luck in money and reputation. But money may come fast and leave fast, and Xun Kong and Jie Kong cut both ways, mixing good and bad, so the whole picture is not complete.

In short: Start with Brightness and Helpful Stars

Each of the nine patterns has its own character and its own suitable direction. When you read a pattern, three points matter most.

• Star brightness: with S-tier, A-tier or B-tier stars, the strengths of a pattern come through more easily. With D-tier stars, the qualities may tilt the other way.
• Helpful stars: the writing stars, the support stars, the patron stars and the three consecutive transformations may make the strengths of a pattern clearer.
• Harsh stars and void markers: the edge, the drag, Xun Kong and Jie Kong may weaken a pattern, so always judge it against the whole chart.

To see which patterns apply to you, you can generate a free chart on HOROS and begin with where your stars sit and how they combine.