Tracing Lu and Ji is like following a chain of transfers to see where money and care went; one palace alone never reveals the other end of cause and effect.
What This Question Is Really Asking
Some read flying stars without setting Tai Ji and lose direction; others inspect one palace without tracing the landing, and end up confusing dynamic flights with static natal transformations.
The Underlying Logic
Palace-stem flights make the twelve palaces a directed relationship network rather than drawers.
Lu governs investment, opportunity and return, Ji governs attachment, debt and sticking points; Lu is the cause and Ji the result.
Lu-turns-to-Ji follows the stem of the palace where Lu lands to see where the benefit finally settles or stalls.
Set Tai Ji before tracing, knowing which palace you speak from, so the direction stays correct.
A Step-by-Step Way to Read It
- First settle the matter to trace and the starting palace, setting Tai Ji
- Find that palace stem transformations and see where Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji each fly
- First read where Lu lands to set the direction of investment and return
- Then read where Ji lands to set attachment, debt or the sticking point
- Use Lu-turns-to-Ji one more step to see which palace finally holds the result
- Conclude within the natal and decade background before deciding how to act
Three Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Tracing without setting Tai Ji and losing all direction
Mistake 2: Reading one palace without tracing the landing, missing the other end of cause and effect
Mistake 3: Confusing flying transformations with natal transformations and losing the layers
Back to Your Own Chart
Tracing Lu and Ji turns the chart into a cause-and-effect map with a sender and receiver. Set Tai Ji and link the steps one by one, and you learn where a matter returns and where it stalls.
Reading Order
- Cast the natal chart first and locate the palaces and major stars tied to tracing the Lu and Ji routes in flying stars before judging anything
- Open the triple-direction of those palaces and count the auspicious, malefic and assistant stars separately
- Check where the natal Four Transformations land to set the chart's baseline tone
- Read the decade-limit transformations to see whether the tracing the Lu and Ji routes in flying stars line is activated in this stage
- Then read the annual transformations and the year's palace to pin down this year's trigger and timing
- Layer natal, decade and year before concluding, then decide how to act rather than labeling good or bad