How to Get a Saju Reading in English (and What to Ask)

Saju is one of the things many visitors want to try in Korea, and one of the hardest to do in English. Here is what to bring, what changes if you don’t know your birth time, and what to ask so the reading is about you rather than about the vocabulary.

How can I get a saju reading in English?

You can calculate your chart online in English, then take it to a reader or read it yourself. A saju chart is the same eight characters in any language, so once you have yours, most of the language barrier is in the explanation, not the calculation.

What information do I need to read my saju?

You need your birth date, your birth time and your birthplace. The date sets three of the four pillars, the time sets the hour pillar, and the birthplace lets the time be corrected to true solar time — the sun’s actual position where you were born.

Readers in Korea will often ask whether your birthday is solar (양력) or lunar (음력). If you use the ordinary Western calendar, your birthday is solar.

What if I don’t know my birth time?

Your chart can still be read from the year, month and day pillars — six of the eight characters, including your Day Master. The hour pillar adds detail, so a careful reading leaves out what depends on it rather than guessing.

If you can find your time later, a birth certificate or a hospital record is the usual source. Even an approximate time helps, as long as you tell the reader it is approximate.

Why is a saju café reading hard to follow in English?

Saju has its own vocabulary — terms like 일간 (Day Master), 용신 (the element a chart leans on) and 대운 (ten-year cycles) — and readers often speak quickly and in their own shorthand. Many readers don’t speak English, and general translation apps tend to miss these terms or translate them literally.

It helps to arrive with your chart already calculated and a few terms written down. Then the reader can point at your characters, and you can follow along even when the words are hard.

What should I ask in a saju reading?

Ask about tendencies rather than events: what your Day Master tends to be like, which elements your chart is short on, and how the current ten-year cycle meets your chart. Questions like these give the reader room to explain your chart instead of guessing at outcomes.

• What does my Day Master tend to be like, and how does the rest of my chart shape it?
• Which of the five elements is my chart short on, and which does it have plenty of?
• How does my current ten-year cycle (대운) meet my chart?
• How does this year’s pillar meet my chart?
• If I bring a partner’s chart, how do our two charts meet?

What should I bring to a saju café?

Bring your birth date, time and birthplace, your chart if you have it, and your questions written down. A translation helper made for saju readings — such as PAL:JA’s Café Translator — can help with the specialist words.

Can I read my saju myself?

Yes, up to a point. Once you have your chart, you can learn your Day Master and your five-element balance and read what they tend to describe; the Day Master guide is a good place to start.

A reader adds how all eight characters work together, which takes practice. Reading your own chart first tends to make a reader’s explanation much easier to follow.

How do I calculate my saju chart in English?

Enter your birth date, time and birthplace in the calculator on this page. PAL:JA calculates your eight characters, Day Master and five-element balance for free, corrected to true solar time.