Enter your birth details to count Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water
Many charts naturally lack one or two elements. It describes the composition of the chart rather than judging it — it does not mean a “bad” chart.
What traditional practice really weighs is the favourable element — the one most helpful to the Day Master. It is not always the missing one, and sometimes the missing element is one you should not reinforce.
Judging the favourable element combines the Day Master's strength, the seasonal vigour of the month and the chart's warm/cool, dry/damp climate. Different schools may disagree — that is normal.
Build the Four Pillars from your birth date, time and place to get eight characters. Each maps to one of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water. Count how often each appears; the one that appears zero times is the missing element. This page does the count for you.
No. Many charts naturally lack one or two elements. It describes the composition of the chart rather than judging it, and traditional practice looks far more at the strength of the Day Master and the favourable element.
Not necessarily. Traditional practice centres on the favourable element, which is not always the missing one. Sometimes the missing element is one you should not reinforce. It depends on the Day Master's strength, the month and the chart's climate.
This page counts all eight characters: the four heavenly stems plus the principal element of each of the four earthly branches. Some schools count stems only, or also include the hidden stems within branches, so results can differ.