Saju refers to the 'Four Pillars' of destiny. Each pillar consists of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, totaling eight characters which is why it is also called Saju Palja (Four Pillars, Eight Characters). In the field of Saju Myeongli, analyzing these characters to determine a person's aptitude or predict their future is what we call 'reading Saju'.

  The Four Pillars literally represent the four columns of time:

  Year Pillar (年柱): The year of birth

  Month Pillar (月柱): The month of birth

  Day Pillar (日柱): The day of birth

  Hour Pillar (時柱): The hour of birth

  To say someone has a Sinhae pillar means they were born on the day of Sinhae according to the lunar calendar. Seasonally, the Sinhae pillar sits at the meeting point of autumn and early winter, creating a state called Geumbauksucheong (Pure Metal, Clear Water). Those born under this energy are known for their exceptional creativity and brilliant minds.

  And true to his Saju, Hyunjin was brilliant.

  Grandpa was overjoyed when he saw how quickly I could memorize and understand his lessons. Not to brag, but I had a history of this.

  When Mom suddenly fell ill and collapsed, Dad hurried to leave me in the care of a relative who was a pastor in the neighborhood. I stayed there for about a month, and out of boredom, I memorized the entire Bible passages for the pastor’s upcoming sermons. When he found out, he started having me recite the scriptures before he began his sermons. I performed perfectly every time, without missing a single word.

  The congregation rejoiced, saying it was as if the Holy Spirit had descended upon me. The pastor, convinced I was destined for the ministry, even called my father to say I must become a pastor. I was seeing that same look of awe now, but on Grandpa's face.

  “I guess you really do have the blood for this in your veins. You’re a joy to teach. If you were my own son, I’d teach you everything, but I know your family would never allow it...”

  Grandpa trailed off, but from that day on, he began teaching me the Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. He poured information into me—the Ten Gods, the Benefic God (Yongsin), and so much more.

  I found the stories of the Five Elements and the Stems and Branches far more interesting than the simple memorization of palmistry or face reading. And whenever I looked bored, he would tell me ancient folk tales and unofficial histories that weren't found in books. Those were truly captivating.

  “Grandpa, what exactly is Saju Palja (Four Pillars, Eight Characters)?”

  It wasn't a question you’d expect from a seven year old. But during my few days at the consultation room, those were the words I heard most often. Saju Palja (Four Pillars, Eight Characters). The Day Pillar. And endless talk about various 'Stars' (the karmic energies that influence one’s fate) and stories about destiny.

  Grandpa thought for a moment. Then, he sat me on his lap and explained.

  “Saju refers to the four pillars. Sa means four, and Ju means pillar. That’s why it’s Saju, isn’t it?”

  “Then does Palja use the characters for eight (Pal) and letters (Ja)?”

  Grandpa’s eyes went wide. I thought he was angry, but he wasn't.

  “How did you know that? I teach you one thing, and you already know two! Then, do you know about the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches?”

  I wondered what he expected from a seven year old, asking such difficult things. But as it happened, I knew one of them.

  “I don't know the Ten Stems. But are the Twelve Branches the twelve animals? Like the rat, ox, tiger, and so on?”

  “How on earth do you know that, too?!”

  I couldn’t bring myself to tell him I’d seen it in comic books and TV cartoons.

  “That’s right. The Twelve Branches are called Jiji (Earthly Branches) because they are the letters of the earth. The characters above them are called Cheongan (Heavenly Stems), the letters of the sky.”

  Grandpa explained that one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch combine to form a single pillar.

  “So, Saju Palja are the letters you receive at the moment of birth. They never change.”

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  A question popped into my head.

  “If they never change, why don't you just tell me my Saju in detail once? Why go through all the trouble of studying the Five Elements and all this other stuff?”

  Grandpa burst out laughing.

  “Hahaha! Right. You're absolutely right.”

  I was thrilled. I thought I could stop learning about the Five Elements and just focus on my Chinese characters. But then Grandpa spoke again.

  “Saju is an ancient, fixed map, but Un (Fortune)... well, that changes.”

  Intrigued, I stared intently at him.

  “Saju stays the same, but your Fortune shifts. There’s the 10-Year Luck Cycle (Daeun) that changes every decade, the Annual Luck (Seun) that changes every year, and although we don't look at them as often, there's even Monthly Luck and Daily Luck.”

  “So, to summarize, there’s a 10-Year Luck Cycle, Annual Luck, and then Monthly and Daily Luck as well?”

  Grandpa laughed helplessly again.

  “Exactly. That’s why we don't just look at the Four Pillars; we add these extra pillars to look at Five, Six, Seven, or even Eight Pillars as we analyze how they all interact.”

  “These Luck Pillars also come in pairs of two characters, forming their own pillars. They are the forces that set your fixed Saju into motion. That’s why we call it Un (Fortune)—because it represents movement, doesn’t it?”

  It was starting to make my head ache, but I could still follow him.

  Just then, Grandma appeared. She swung her palm at him again, but this time, Grandpa managed to dodge.

  “Are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten this boy comes from a pastor’s household? Can’t you imagine the chaos if they find out? Are you really a fortuneteller? How can you not see such a simple consequence?”

  Grandpa retorted, “I told you, I’m teaching him the Thousand-Character Classic. If I explain a bit more about what the characters mean, that's just Saju Myeongli. It’s no big deal!”

  Turning to both a dumbfounded Grandma and me, he continued.

  “Besides, Chinese characters are just symbols. If you don’t use them, you forget them. Why bother teaching him at all if he's just going to forget? It’s a waste of energy!”

  Grandma stared at him as if he were absurd and rushed back to the kitchen. Her soup was boiling over. Grandpa whispered to me.

  “I’ll teach you behind your Grandma’s back. When you go home, you tell them you only learned Chinese characters from me, okay?”

  I wasn't too thrilled about the secret, but I agreed. It didn't seem like he was going to stop teaching me anyway. It’s not like a seven year old could just pack his bags and leave his grandpa's house because he didn't want to learn Saju Myeongli.

  And contrary to my first impression, this was far from superstition. It was a field of study that involved calculating and reasoning based on principles and logic—much like addition, multiplication, and subtraction.

  One day, Grandpa said to me.

  “You might think people are fools for bringing bags of money to a place like this for a future they’ll find out soon enough anyway, but life isn't quite like that.”

  “Huh?”

  He must have heard me muttering to myself in the bathroom. The night before, while doing my business, I had said.

  “Why would anyone pay money to ask about things they’ll find out if they just wait a bit? They must have money to burn.”

  Thinking he’d overheard my private thoughts, I felt a bit embarrassed and sorry. But Grandpa didn't care at all.

  “Some people don’t just come to know the future. They come because they're suffocating and just want to pour their hearts out to someone. Many come because they’re desperate to live, not wanting to die. I’m just giving them advice on how to survive.”

  Just as he said, as I watched from the side, many people left after simply venting their frustrations. Sometimes, Grandpa would just listen, and the clients would find the answers themselves.

  “To give that kind of advice, you have to know their fixed Myeong (Destiny) or Saju Palja (Four Pillars, Eight Characters), and then understand their moving Un (Fortune). That’s why we call it Myeongun (Destiny and Fortune).”

  I had been taught as a child to always ask adults about words I didn't know. I’d never heard the word Myeongun before, so I asked.

  “Myeongun? What does that mean? I know the word Unmyeong (Fate), but I’ve never heard of Myeongun.”

  Grandpa burst into laughter at my claim that I "knew" fate.

  “You? You know fate? Hahaha! Myeongun and Unmyeong are essentially the same. So, what is this 'Fate' you know so well?”

  “You don't know? Unmyeong? It’s the song composed by Beethoven. You know, Da-da-da-dum!” (In Korean, the word 'Unmyeong' means 'fate,' but it is also the title of Beethoven's 'Fate Symphony'.)

  As I explained 'Fate' by humming the symphony, Grandpa clutched his stomach, doubled over in laughter.

  “Boy, you’re a riot! Your sense of humor is better than the comedians on TV. Stop it, or your grandpa’s gonna die before his time from laughing too hard! Cough, wheeze!”

  I had no idea why he was laughing so much.

  Even with similar Saju, people live entirely different lives. Even those with the exact same Palja follow different paths. I believe the reason for this lies in the difference of era and environment.

  When analyzing Saju, your own chart is important, but the Saju of your family and spouse is crucial as well. They constitute your immediate environment. The method of reading one's environment through the lens of family relationships is called Yukchinbeop (The Law of the Six Kin).

  Your 'grade' or 'status' is determined by your own Saju in conjunction with those around you, and that’s where the magnitude of Fortune’s effect differs.

  Take, for example, a beggar and a billionaire born on the same day, at the same hour, with the same chart. For the billionaire, a 'jackpot' might mean an income of trillions. For the beggar, a 'jackpot' might be a few hundred dollars. The timing of a 'lucky break' might be the same for both due to the flow of Fortune. However, the scale of that impact varies wildly depending on their environment.

  This is why a Saju practitioner cannot simply rely on the eight characters of a chart alone. Since the same destiny can manifest in such vastly different ways depending on a person's reality, understanding the 'now' is the only way to accurately predict the 'later'. And the only way to truly see that reality is through genuine connection.

  Therefore, I believe the best way is to listen to their stories with a humble attitude and an open heart, comforting their pain. Rather than merely acting as an oracle who spits out cold predictions, we should naturally design the future together through consultation. That, I believe, is the true path for a modern practitioner.