Saju has an eye that reckons twelve stages through which the energy of the birth day (the day master) is born, grows, ripens, wanes, and is conceived again — just like a human lifetime. This is called the “Twelve Life Stages” (sibi-unseong): Birth (jangsaeng), Bathing/youth (mogyok), Coming-of-age (gwandae), Prime (geollok), Peak (jewang), Decline (soe), Sickness (byeong), Death (sa), Grave (myo), Cutoff (jeol), Conception (tae), and Nurture (yang) — these twelve turning round and round like the seasons.
These twelve stages tell which “season of energy” each pillar of the chart is now in. The energy at the Prime and Peak places, for instance, is vigorous and flourishing, while that of Birth and Nurture is a grain growing softly. Conversely, the energy of Decline, Sickness, Death, Grave, and Cutoff is a grain quieting and gathering inward. Those who read saju use this sense of season to gauge whether a person’s energy is in a time of reaching outward or of ripening within.
But here is something that must be noted. Names like “Death,” “Grave,” and “Cutoff” sound frightening and are easily mistaken for something ill-omened — yet they are by no means signs of misfortune. Just as winter is not a lesser season than spring, the quieting and emptying stages too are times of rest and preparation that the cycle absolutely needs. Only the stillness of Cutoff, where a seed sleeps in the soil, allows the sprout of Birth to break forth the next year. No stage is superior or inferior to another.
So there is no reason at all to be frightened because “Death” or “Cutoff” is in your chart. It is only a tender signal that some energy of yours is now in a time to ripen and rest inward rather than to step outward. As FortuneLeaf always does, what the Twelve Life Stages offer is not a ranking table grading luck good or bad, but a soft reflection that helps you sense which season your energy is in and gently align yourself with that flow — for just as every season is beautiful in its own portion, every stage of energy is precious in its own use.