| Day pillar | 丙戌 (bing xu) |
|---|---|
| Heavenly stem | 丙 (bing) |
| Earthly branch | 戌 (xu) |
| Day element | Fire 火 (huo) |
| Polarity | Yang |
| Month pillar | 己亥 (ji hai), governed by 立冬 (lidong) |
Today's day pillar is 丙戌 (bing xu), a yang Fire day in the sixty-day cycle. The month pillar is 己亥 (ji hai), governed by the term 立冬 (lidong).
戌 is the dog branch, dry autumn earth at dusk, the season closing and putting its fire away.
戌 is Earth, yang by position, dog by animal. Its hours are 19:00 to 21:00 and its month begins at 寒露 (hanlu) in early October, the last month of autumn.
As the autumn seam it stores what autumn made. Its hidden stems are 戊 (wu, yang Earth), 辛 (xin, yin Metal) and 丁 (ding, yin Fire), so it holds both the season's metal and a last ember of summer's fire.
戌 sits opposite 辰 (chen) in the twelve, dry earth against wet earth, dusk against morning. Both are Earth branches and the tradition does not treat them as interchangeable.