“When looking at a chart we are looking at hours, days, months and years like four units of time,” says Chinese medicine practitioner Katie Brindle.
“They impact us in the ways we behave, our mannerisms, and they create patterns of behaviour and even propensity for disease.” Keep your eye rolls to themselves — nowadays ‘getting your readings done’ is as integral a part of a well-rounded wellness routine as a visit to the dental hygienist. Well, it is for a certain (and increasingly large) subset of TV celebrity-turned mental health podcaster, spirituality influencer or #witchTok content creator. And while basic level wellbeing enthusiasts have astrologers — the top tier have BaZi readers.
Based on an analysis of the time and date of your birth, BaZi — a form of Chinese astrology — was traditionally used to help you understand why you are the way you are, why things happen the way they do, why you have the illnesses or symptoms that you have – and how to counteract them. Basically, it is an ancient and revered way to hack your whole being. What’s not to love? Still largely unheard of in the Western world for those in the know (including the likes of Fearne Cotton, Trinny Woodall and Ian Wright), it is one of the best kept spirituality-based health secrets out there.
I tell Brindle that I am plagued with heartburn, a general sense of mind and body burnout, varying degrees of mid-life crises – and suspect that I need to do something to reset. “No problem,” she says with all the serene confidence of a woman who holds my entire fate in a stack of A4 printed sheets in her hand.
Based between Notting Hill and Somerset, Brindle has studied Advanced BaZi reading to Master Level. She looks over a decade younger than her 50 years — and is brimming with energy. Armed with just the time and date of my birth, she provides an eye-poppingly accurate portrait of my nature and how it is affecting my life. I slightly glaze over with the talk of yin and yang, and wood and water, but perk up at the mention of zodiac animals which Chinese medicine is supported by — the Taoist masters believed that humans mirror the personality traits of animals.
I don’t want to brag, but I have the three top power animals in the Chinese zodiac in my chart (Tiger, Dragon and Horse). As a result of the combination of tiger and dragon, Brindle spotted my natural tendency to trap myself into places, people or projects – and then become angry (as tigers and dragons would).
Brindle believes that my feelings of being trapped (last year I opened a shop which has left me feeling locked in and unable to escape) are what is causing my heartburn. On the other side, the water rat in my chart means that my secret weapon is to be cunning and turn around any tricky situation — a trait I have never embraced fully until now. “You are naturally intuitive,” Brindle emphasised. “So be led by your instinct and don’t question it”. The horse is about parading around and having fun more, “be okay with being admired, shake that mane and whinny more” instructed Brindle (this will have to be a work in progress). The dragon is a sign of fun — so since my reading, I have made more of an effort to be light hearted and it’s a tonic in itself.
She provides an eye-poppingly accurate portrait of my nature and how it is affecting my life
The mind fog, osteopenia and afternoon slumps can all be kept under control by adapting my behaviours as per my chart analysis. Since the reading, I have nourished my liver and kidneys through diet (primarily by including lots of dark leafy greens), added Qi Gong, a slow and meditative form of movement, to my exercise routine, and taken regular cold showers. I’ve even ordered an ice bath for the garden.
Brindle has told me to make lists – noting that when I don’t make a plan, I don’t finish one thing before I start another, which creates frustration, annoyance and before you know it, the heartburn is raging again. She even prescribes naps every afternoon at 3pm, “crucial for you to recharge, and take deep breaths every hour”. These don’t just feel like examples of healthy living making me feel better – there is a reason behind each one, which make total sense to me. And guess what. I’m sleeping better, the heartburn has gone, and I’m feeling more energetic.
I have had many specialist and ‘intuitives’ (the new word for psychics) do my chart and, while I have always been intrigued (with a healthy dose of scepticism), I have always treated them as a bit of self-indulgent entertainment. And while they have all been entertaining, and in many cases enlightening, none have given me practical tools of what I can actually do — until BaZi. Since my reading, I have heard more and more about it being dropped quietly into conversations — and overheard unexpected people talking about it at dinner parties.
In the current state of flux and anxiety, it seems more of us are turning to ancient guidance. It may be considered woo-woo, but I’m happy to put my faith in it.
