When Metaphysics Becomes a Mirror of the Practitioner, Not the Client

I used metaphysics as an emotional crutch during times of uncertainty, and it helped me survive turbulent times. It gave me hope to continue and reassured me that the future would be better. So I’m grateful for that. I find that I prefer the practitioners from years ago who gave more general energy trend readings, instead of the ones I’ve encountered in the last few years who are adamant but inaccurate. They really frustrate me. Not only are they inaccurate, I also sense their attitude. The ones who gave a general energy trend are no longer available. Maybe others preferred that style too, which is why they are fully booked. Again, if practitioners in general were very accurate, they might not even be practicing.

One practitioner taught classes that dragged on. He combined certain aspects of different systems which he felt were accurate. But every system claims to be the most accurate. He waited until the supposed end of the sessions to say he wasn’t done yet and needed more classes to finish. We were charged by the number of classes. He focused more on calculations during the sessions, then waited until the end to give the meat of the course; of course, we had to continue. In the middle, he talked about these stock trading courses he also teaches. So maybe his Bazi, Zi Wei, and Feng Shui readings and teachings weren’t enough to sustain his living, and he needed to push stock trading courses as well? It seems like he’s in the business of selling courses. Red flag.

I’ve heard stories of people paying hundreds of thousands of HKDs because of the practitioners dragging their classes out (equivalent to tens of thousands of USDs) as they were never given a clear end date or a definitive number of sessions. At the end, they still don’t know how to interpret their own charts.

Another practitioner, in a Zi Wei Dou Shu reading, said “You have these negative stars, you are emotional, and you make emotional decisions which you later regret. You’re not happy, and you just walk off the job.” Which is absolutely false. I may have emotional depth, but that doesn’t mean I make irrational decisions. As a matter of fact, I even weigh out the pros and cons with AI to help me assess situations. Then I said to him, “I may not have liked the job, but I left the job for rational reasons. It was a revolving door. Even my boss at the time resigned the same day as me.” I guess they all walked off the job because they were “emotional”. His response was, “That’s what the stars said.” That tells you a lot.

I saw his YouTube videos years ago. Back then he said the wait time was 2 to 3 months. When I contacted him after the last few years of high inflation, I was surprised his prices came down and there was almost no wait. So what happened to his clients? He got about 15% to 20% of the reading right. I give him that. Then about 25% to 30% was generalized, like if members of my family have heart and blood issues. Issues like high blood pressure and cholesterol are very common among older folks. It is called the “Three Highs” (三高) in Chinese health discussions. It’s a term used in China to describe high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar that tend to increase with age, particularly among middle and upper-class adults. He checked off his checklist like he’s some prophet. There is nothing mystical about this insight or certain health issues that affect 70% of the population. The rest of the reading was completely off.

He said if I was born the previous hour then I would have lung-related issues. I told him I have asthma, and he said if it started before 18, it would go away, but if after 18 then it’ll stay with me for life. He didn’t address that his claim was wrong.

In one of his videos, he talked about a client who canceled on the day of the appointment. He said that never happened to him before and he would never take that client again. He was really offended, even said: “我唔係為咗錢，係為咗啖氣” , he’s not doing it for the money, he’s doing it to satisfy his ego. The thing is, he also claimed he saw in the stars that the client had some pending legal issues, so maybe there was a real reason for the cancellation. But he didn’t care to consider that. To me, this shows exactly how ego-driven he is and how little he listens.

Looking back, maybe I should have seen that as a red flag. I guess sometimes we tend to ignore these little red flags and give people the benefit of the doubt, hoping for the best or assuming there’s context we don’t see. But reflecting on it now, it’s clear that this pattern, forcing interpretations, ignoring context, and prioritizing ego over understanding, is exactly what I experienced during my own reading. It felt like he was trying to force a square peg into a round hole rather than really seeing the person in front of him.

There are positive stars too, but a lot of practitioners don’t emphasize that. They seem to have a negative streak and don’t give a balanced reading. I did notice that practitioners in Chinese communities tend to be more negative. I don’t know why, especially in Hong Kong, a lot of the YouTube content from practitioners is negative. They are always selling content like “female chart with tragic life” type of videos. I can’t help but think it has something to do with the grim aspects of that society. Without getting into politics, it is well known that residents’ prospects there are a bit weak. In my experience, Taiwan, for example, has much happier people, and I think that reflects in the way the readings are done. After all, the culture one is in affects the readings.

That’s why an informed consumer is best. Since I have knowledge, I know they are not mentioning any of the good stars. It seems that when they predict a positive event, they say “there’s a possibility,” but for negative events, they are a lot more adamant. So the readings tend to lean negative. It is said that practitioners often have indirect resources in the charts, and if it’s an unhealthy manifestation, these people have a negative streak. But what’s the point of getting a reading in the first place if nothing can be done to improve the outcomes?

An acquaintance said to me that believers in astrology and similar systems refuse to accept that life is full of uncertainties and try to find a pattern where none exists. At this point, I am seriously considering his viewpoint. The world is chaotic, and we have a need to find patterns to control the chaos.