Robert, Thank you very much for that clear explanation! It makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Four Pillars merely indicates what sort of heavenly luck one can expect given the combination of heavenly stems and earthly branches that influence a period in time. Sorry to sound obsessive and/or aggressive, but I've spent some time in trying to understand Four Pillars. Just one more question? My investigation has revealed that my Day Heavenly Stem is Yin Metal and Year Earthly Branch is Monkey. My lucky element is fire. My romantic star is Rooster. How do my Four Pillar components affect my relationship with somebody who has Yang Fire in his Day Heavenly Stem, Snake in his Year Earthly Branch, no other Heavenly Stem-Earthly Branch clashes/attractions, and has metal as a lucky element? If the element that represents me, metal, is that also my Companion Star? How does my Companion Star affect my relationships? Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm just trying to gain a better understanding of what's going on in my life. javascript:emoticon('') javascript:emoticon('') -Karen