The day pillar for Thursday, 12 August 2027

Day pillar	癸亥 (gui hai)
Heavenly stem	癸 (gui)
Earthly branch	亥 (hai)
Day element	Water 水 (shui)
Polarity	Yin
Month pillar	戊申 (wu shen), governed by 立秋 (liqiu)

Today's day pillar is 癸亥 (gui hai), a yin Water day in the sixty-day cycle. The month pillar is 戊申 (wu shen), governed by the term 立秋 (liqiu).

癸 (gui), the tenth heavenly stem

癸 is yin Water: dew, mist and rain, the smallest water there is and the one that gets in everywhere.

癸 closes the ten heavenly stems. It is Water in its yin form, and the classical images are all fine and dispersed: morning dew, drizzle, groundwater. It reaches by seeping rather than by carrying, which the tradition contrasts with 壬 (ren) and its rivers.

癸 is the last stem, so 癸亥 (gui hai) is day sixty of the sexagenary cycle, the pillar that hands the count back to 甲子 (jia zi). Seeing 癸亥 on a daily page means tomorrow restarts the whole sixty.

癸 is the main hidden stem of 子 (zi) and it hides in 丑 (chou) and 辰 (chen) as well. When the page reads Water and yin, this is the stem it is naming.