12 Day Officers
12 Day Officers (十二值神 Shi'er zhi shen) is a method of the art of selecting dates based on the interaction between the month and the day, specifically, the animal of the month and the animal of the day. We are talking about those 12 animals that are known to most of us as the "Chinese Zodiac," which represent the years: Horse, Rat, Rabbit, Dragon, and so on. But in the Chinese calendar, the same animals represent not only the years but also the months, days, and even hours. However, the animals are just the "nicknames" of other signs, the Earthдн Branches, on which the Chinese calendar is actually based. For example, the Earthly Branch of Zi is called the Rat, the Branch of Mao is called the Rabbit, and the Branch of Si is called the Snake. Do not be afraid of the Chinese names; they are given here just for example, as our website is first of all for beginners, but it should also be interesting for specialists.
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According to the method of the 12 Day Officers, the combination of the Earthly Branches of the month and the day determines which activities will and which will not bring luck not on that day in accordance with the characteristics of its energy. The method allows for categorizing dates into positive, negative, and neutral for specific activities. Each of the 12 Day Officers, meaning each type of qi energy, has its own purpose and function. Therefore, the goal of this technique is to match the energy of the Day Officer with the intended action when selecting a date.
It is important to emphasize that when calculating according to this method, we consider only the data from the Chinese calendar, the Earthly Branches of the day and month. Therefore, the auspiciousness of the day in this case is not personal but general. Which means, a day may be suitable or unsuitable for certain activities for all people on Earth. There are also methods that allow combining the general auspiciousness of the day with personal luck. For this, we need to consider not only the general but also individual data, "personal stars," which are calculated based on your date of birth. In our Feng Shui Fortune Calendar, this is implemented through the integration of the "Personal Calendar."
The method of the 12 Day Officers is also referred to as "12 Rulers of the Day," "12 Officials," "12 Day Deities," and so on. The literal translation of 十二值神 (Shi'er zhi shen) is "12 Deities," where the word "deity" (神 shen), as in many other areas of Chinese metaphysics, has no relation to spiritual or divine aspects. Here, "deity" refers to the energy responsible for each day of the month. This method is also widely known as Jian chu (建除). This name is composed of the Chinese names of the first two Day Officers: Establish — Jian (建) and Remove — Chu (除). The full name of the method sounds like Jian Chu erzhi shen (建除十二神), which means "Establish and Remove, 12 Deities."
According to this method, each day corresponds to one of the twelve Day Officers, indicating its auspiciousness.
The twelve Officers are:
10. Collect(收, Shou)
11. Open (開, Kai)
12. Close (閉,Bi)
Different texts attribute different properties to the 12 days of the cycle. In general, most specialists, when interpreting the Day Officers, rely on classical texts such as the "Treatise on Harmonizing Times and Distinguishing Directions" (協紀辨方書, Xie Ji Bian Fang Shu) and the "Wisdom of Huainan" (淮南子, Huainanzi).
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The names of the 12 Day Officers come from the twelve types of qi energy that govern the days. However, it is not advisable to categorize days as "good" or "bad" based solely on the names of the Day Officers. The most important thing is how to use the energies of each day. It is essential always to remember that the choice of day should primarily align with the nature of the planned activity for that day.
In general, the Day of Success can be considered auspicious, while the Day of Destruction can be seen as destructive and unfavorable. For the other days in the Day Officers cycle, it is not possible to definitively determine whether a day is "black" or "white," or 100% auspicious or inauspicious. It is essential to consider other energies, such as additional stars that influence the day; they can strengthen both negative and positive forces. In our Feng Shui Fortune Calendar, we have already calculated not only the 12 Day Officers, but also all the stars present on a given day. Feel free to use it to calculate your Luck today!