How to spend a tenchūsatsu period
Tenchūsatsu is a period that comes to everyone, when “heaven’s help is hard to reach”. There is no need to fear it, but knowing its nature makes it easier to choose how to act.
On this page
1.A void doesn’t stop you; it changes your direction
During a void, things that are hard to control by your own will are said to happen more easily. So Sanmeigaku advises holding back on starting something big and new on your own initiative, and putting your energy into tidying up what you already have.
Put another way, it is a time for maintenance rather than the accelerator. You don’t stop driving; you use the time for a service and a full tank. Thinking of it that way takes the pressure off.
2.What suits a void
- Tidying, decluttering and looking after the home
- Learning again, studying for a qualification, reading
- Health check-ups and looking after your body
- Helping others and taking on what you are asked to do
- Carefully keeping up the work and habits you already have
- Drawing up your next plans “on paper”
3.What is best held off
- Decisions that start from zero: going independent, opening a business, a big job change
- Buying a house or land, taking on a big loan
- Marriage and other contracts that change the shape of your life
- Big gambles on momentum alone
If something can’t be avoided, it is said to help to make it a matter of “going with the flow”: don’t decide alone but consult someone you trust, and check the terms of any contract with care.
4.Year, month and ten-year voids
There are three kinds of void, of different lengths.
| Kind | Length | How it tends to feel |
|---|---|---|
| Year void | 2 years in every 12 | Changes to the foundations of daily life |
| Month void | 2 months every year | Ups and downs of mood, small misunderstandings |
| Ten-year (taiun) void | About 20 years | Your values gradually change over a long time |
When a year void and a month void overlap (for someone with a Horse–Goat void, the Horse and Goat months of a Horse year, for example), it is said to be a time for extra care. A taiun void is long, so it is usually read not as a time to hold back but as a time when you do your best work in surroundings unlike your usual ones. How to read your taiun is explained in Ten-year and yearly fortune.
5.When the void ends
The year after your two void years end is the time to set off, using what you have put in order. Take the plans you thought up during the void and give them shape bit by bit once Risshun has passed.
6.Find your own void periods
The Sanmeigaku reading (Japanese) shows your void group, this year’s and your next void years, and your taiun void periods, all together. For the year ahead, see 2027 in Sanmeigaku.
Now try a reading for yourself
Free readings related to this article.
Read next
