Had a fun extended family breakfast last weekend, with about nine people ranging from 6 years old to, oh, much older! We got talking about personalities and so I pulled out my Fortune Compass Professional and put everybody's birthdate in. Looking at the Ba Zi (Four Pillars) you can tell lots of things about someone's personality. And sharing that around the breakfast table was lots of fun!

For example, the Earth Branch Year shows the celestial animal and element (such as Yang Fire Horse), while the Heaven Stem Day revels the essence of your inherent nature (such as Yin Wood).

There many sites that give simple explanations of the twelve Chinese animals that make for fun sharing with a group. My daughter had her iPhone with her, so she looked up the interpretation for each of us as we ate.

Its a great conversation starter, and the family's laughter and follow on comments evidenced they found it downright insightful too.

Ba Zi is a deep and complex science with detailed interpretations best done by skilled professionals.... but you can have a lot of fun with friends by sharing their Year Animal and Day Element. Who knows.... everybody might learn something new about themselves as well as each other!