Special Chart Case Study: Michael Jordan

By Steve Lipofsky at basketballphoto.com

As we all know, due to Coronavirus, all sports events are canceled. Still, sports fans, especially those who follow basketball, got a real treat this month, a 10-episodes documentary about Michael Jordan.

I’m three episodes in, and I can’t wait to express my thoughts about this magnificent athlete 🙂

Michael Jordan has a Special Chart, meaning that the usual analyzing method is not sufficient, so, for example, our Talent Bridge won’t be useful here.

He is born as a Yin Metal Master Element, surrounded by Wood structure, which is additionally supported by Water Element. Such a chart structure means that Yin Metal is fully surrendered to the Wood Element, which in this case, represents Wealth Component.

When Master Element surrenders to Wealth Component, then a person can have excellent money luck. As we know, Michael Jordan made a fortune while playing basketball, but on top of that, he built a huge business, using his name as a brand, which made him extremely rich.

So, as we can see, the fact that his Yin Metal is weak is irrelevant here, and that is the key aspect of Special Charts. Special Charts are rare, though, and many are just a border case, but in Jordan’s case, it’s pure.

What is also important for Special Chart is that Dynamic Luck must be supportive of that narrative. During his peak years, 1987 to 1997, he was going through the Pig period, which combined with his Goat, Rabbit, and Tiger to create a Wood Superstructure.

When it comes to Talents, the Pioneer was the most exceptional in his case, which gave him innovation, curiosity, and high octane energy. Also, because his chart is mainly Wood Element, he was putting a lot of emphasis on personal growth, which is the key character trait of Wood Element. In one way, he behaved more like a Yin Wood person, than Yin Metal. This is characteristic for Special Charts, where the Master Element surrenders to the flow of the chart and the person obtains the characteristic of the dominant Element.

From that perspective, if we acknowledge that he behaved more like a Yin Wood person, it also becomes more clear why he was so competitive. The answer is in strong Yang Wood Element, which took the role of a Competitor Talent. On a negative side, the excessive Wood did affect his liver quite a bit, so he had a lot of anger, and often he would behave rather aggressively towards his teammates, but he used that energy in a positive way, to push them to become better players.

This extreme competitiveness, and overwhelming Wealth structure, lead him also to develop a gambling problem, which almost ruined his career. The Wood Element also represents his father, who got killed, and that event affected him greatly. The Wood is essential to him, and the father represented that Wood. By losing his father in such a tragic way, shocked his system to the core.

Interestingly, both events, troubles with gambling, and loss of father happened in 1993, a Rooster year, which indicates that Metal Element was indeed very disturbing for him, and confirms that he truly has a special, Follow the Wealth Chart. During the Rooster year, he even temporarily quit his basketball career, that’s how strongly this clash affected him.

Also published on Medium.