Miles Davis – The King of Chaos

Original: Tom Palumbo; derivative work: User:Andrew Dalby / CC BY-SA

Been looking for an opportunity to write a post about Miles Davis for quite a while, and yesterday, I finally watched the documentary about his life.

Miles Davis had a pure Performer BaZi Chart, a Yin Wood Master Element with a strong Fire Element.

People with a lot of Fire are often obsessed with visions, the future, and creativity; they don’t like to delve into history. He famously refused to play his old albums and was focused on creating new material.

He loved improvisation and spontaneity, which are standard traits of a strong Performer Talent. Performers are often street-smart; they function pretty well in chaotic situations (which jazz essentially is), and they prefer learning by doing. He pushed improvisation to the next level by forcing his band to perform in front of a large audience without any rehearsal beforehand.

He made art out of chaos.

His Philosopher Talent acted as a Supertalent, providing him with songwriting skills and the ability to be attuned to his emotions, enabling him to express them through music.

The strong presence of the Competitor Talent indicated that he was highly competitive and able to gain a large number of international fans and followers.

Performer Talent made him a rebel, unable to follow orders and insisting on creative freedom, with little to no compromise.

His Chart structure is primarily Fire and Wood, which means he naturally needs Metal for balance. His best years were between 1950 and 1970, during the Metal period, when his creativity (Fire) was fully expressed. Metal created a perfect dynamic, bringing him fame, power, money, and influence.

In the 70s, he entered a Dog period, which further ignited the Fire Element, meaning his creativity erupted like a volcano. During that period, he was in a highly exploratory phase with his music, but that intense Fire was unsustainable. By the middle of the decade, he went into depression, locking himself in the apartment, not touching his trumpet for almost five years.

Due to his rebellious and wild nature, he was also experimenting with drugs, so his health deteriorated rapidly.

In the 80s, he staged a comeback, but due to the negative influence of the Earth Pig, his work and career never reached his previous heights.

Earth Pig damaged his Water Snake pillar, ruining his health and creativity. He died just a year after he came out of that heavy period, riddled with health issues.

He was a pure creative genius, and his Chart clearly shows that. Unfortunately, a lack of ability to manage his health created a lot of problems for him. His creativity was unquestionable, but his entire life, he was battling with drug addiction and the inability to center himself emotionally. The Metal period brought him to balance, but once he was out of it, his life took a wild and uncontrollable route, bringing him a lot of pain and suffering.

Most creative geniuses struggle to control their emotions, and, unfortunately, they often don’t seek help, mainly because they don’t want to ruin their polished image.