Clash, Harm & Combination are mechanics—not verdicts.
They describe movement, misalignment, and connection between Earthly Branches. Their expression depends on placement, season, chart structure, timing, behaviour, and the real relationship being examined.
Never diagnose a relationship from one pair.
A visible interaction is only one part of the chart. Before interpreting it, identify which pillars are involved, what those pillars conventionally represent, whether the branches are seasonally supported, and what timing layer is activating the pattern.
Where does it occur?
A Year–Month interaction does not carry the same scale as an interaction involving the Day Branch or Hour Branch.
What can the chart carry?
Season, roots, elemental distribution, and the wider configuration alter the cost and usefulness of the interaction.
When is it active?
A natal pattern may remain quiet until a Luck Pillar, year, month, or specific situation completes or intensifies it.
Movement, friction, and bonding require different responses.
None is universally favourable or unfavourable. Each can become useful when recognised early and managed at the correct scale.
Clash moves
Clash can disturb continuity, expose incompatibility, accelerate change, or force a boundary to be renegotiated.
- Useful: breaking stagnation, controlled change, relocation.
- Risk: rushed decisions, escalation, avoidable disruption.
- Response: stage the change and preserve reversibility.
Harm complicates
Harm often describes indirect strain: mismatched assumptions, weak handovers, divided loyalties, or unresolved small breaches.
- Useful: reveals a process or trust gap.
- Risk: cumulative exhaustion and resentment.
- Response: clarify expectations, ownership, and cadence.
Combination connects
Combination can support cooperation and attraction, but connection may also create dependency, obligation, or loss of autonomy.
- Useful: alliance, co-creation, mutual support.
- Risk: over-merging, hidden costs, blurred accountability.
- Response: define terms, limits, ownership, and exits.
The six pairs in each category.
The descriptors below are interpretive prompts, not fixed event predictions. Confirm placement and chart context before applying them.
| Mechanic | Pair | Useful question |
|---|---|---|
| Six Clashes 六沖 | 子–午 · 丑–未 · 寅–申 · 卯–酉 · 辰–戌 · 巳–亥 | What is being moved, opposed, displaced, or forced to change? |
| Six Harms 六害 | 子–未 · 丑–午 · 寅–巳 · 卯–辰 · 申–亥 · 酉–戌 | Where are expectations, incentives, trust, or handovers quietly misaligned? |
| Six Combinations 六合 | 子–丑 · 寅–亥 · 卯–戌 · 辰–酉 · 巳–申 · 午–未 | What is connecting—and what obligation, distraction, or transformation may follow? |
Two branches may suggest a direction. Three establish the full frame.
San He 三合 · Three Harmonies
Three-branch frames associated with an elemental direction. Partial combinations should not automatically be treated as complete transformation.
- 申–子–辰 · Water
- 亥–卯–未 · Wood
- 寅–午–戌 · Fire
- 巳–酉–丑 · Metal
San Hui 三會 · Seasonal Meetings
Seasonal branch groupings. Their strength still depends on the whole chart rather than the presence of the three labels alone.
- 亥–子–丑 · Winter / Water
- 寅–卯–辰 · Spring / Wood
- 巳–午–未 · Summer / Fire
- 申–酉–戌 · Autumn / Metal
Interpret interaction in the correct order.
The method keeps dramatic symbols subordinate to chart structure and observable reality.
Locate the pillars
Identify the scale, relationship domain, and life context being referenced.
Assess structure
Check season, roots, strength, competing interactions, and elemental function.
Name the mechanic
Separate movement, indirect friction, and bonding instead of calling all tension “clash.”
Add timing
Ask whether a Luck Pillar or shorter cycle activates, completes, or weakens the pattern.
Verify in life
Compare the interpretation with behaviour, evidence, consequences, and available choices.
A symbol does not choose the response.
Timing can intensify a theme, but communication, preparation, contracts, boundaries, and professional support influence how it is expressed.
Translate the mechanic into a manageable action.
From symbolism to agreement
- Clash
- Plan movement, independence, or changed roles rather than treating distance as proof of separation.
- Harm
- Make assumptions visible; document shared decisions and repair small breaches early.
- Combination
- Enjoy cooperation while protecting individual agency, finances, and exit options.
From symbolism to operating design
- Clash
- Use pilots, staged reorganisations, and neutral facilitation to contain disruption.
- Harm
- Clarify handovers, decision rights, definitions of done, and escalation paths.
- Combination
- Define intellectual property, revenue split, authority, review dates, and termination clauses.