Day pillar type
Black Snake (Gui Si): Personality and Matches
Hongsimdang Editorial Team · Last updated
Black Snake (Gui Si) is the day pillar where rain and mist that seep in quietly (癸) rests on fire in early summer (巳). In short, it steers a situation by hand and goes after practical results.
What decides the Black Snake: day stem and day branch
Your day pillar is the stem and branch of the day you were born: the upper character is the day stem and the lower one is the day branch. For Black Snake (Gui Si), the day stem is 癸 (Yin Water) and the day branch is 巳 (Snake). The “Black” in the name is the color of the day stem’s element, and “Snake” is the zodiac animal of the day branch. Both are Hongsimdang’s own labels.
The day stem 癸 is likened to rain and mist that seep in quietly. You say little and keep watching, and by the time you speak you have usually reached the heart of the matter. The day branch 巳 is fire in early summer. The Snake is popularly pictured as focused, perceptive and deep-thinking, but that is the folk image of the zodiac. The actual reading comes from the element relationship and life stage that follow.
Read as elements, your stem and branch form a wealth pair, in which the stem steers the branch. Your stem presses on the branch and steers it, so you tend to arrange your surroundings and resources by your own hand and go after practical results. The branch 巳 also holds the hidden stems 戊, 庚, 丙, which lay another side beneath the one that shows.
Seen from your day stem 癸, the day branch 巳 sits at the Womb (Tai) stage of the twelve life stages. It is the stage of carrying new energy, where ideas, planning and a feel for possibility are cultivated.
How the Black Snake shows up at work
You arrange the environment yourself and move numbers, people and procedures to get results. With such a strong results focus, running ahead of other people’s pace draws pushback, so think through the order in which you bring people in.
Deep specialist work, analysis, research and strategy are where you shine, and you let results do the talking. Until you feel sure, you can hide for too long, or keep putting off the first step.
When you are tired you cut off contact and carry things alone, and thinking too much can leave you stuck.
Tell someone what you have been researching, so the insight in your head gets put into words and tested.
How the Black Snake shows up in relationships and love
You tend to push a relationship forward in practical ways and can be a dependable lead. If you treat your partner as something to be advanced, it feels cramped to them, so leave a gap to hear what they want before you decide.
You go deep with only a few people, and once you are attached you do not let go easily.
Someone who respects your time for going deep, and now and then pulls you outside, is a good match.
How the Black Snake handles money
You have a keen feel for spotting openings and acting on them, and a high ability to handle money. Spread too wide and you outrun your ability to manage it, so decide in advance how far you will go.
You save quietly, bit by bit, and gather information before you act, so big mistakes are rare. The cost is that you sometimes let a good opening pass.
Putting money into expertise and knowledge converts directly to income for you. You are strong in fields you have studied deeply and strikingly indifferent to the rest.
Day branches that harmonize with the Black Snake and ones that clash
The day branch of Black Snake (Gui Si) is 巳 (Snake). Which day branch the other person has decides the relation between your two branches, as shown below. A day branch that is not listed has no direct harmony or clash with yours.
| Their day branch | Relation between branches | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Ox (丑) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Snake (巳) | Same day branch | like with like |
| Rooster (酉) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Monkey (申) | Six Harmony, Punishment, Break | pulls together and fills in; rubs, so friction is likely; cracks are likely |
| Tiger (寅) | Punishment, Harm | rubs, so friction is likely; small misunderstandings pile up |
| Dog (戌) | Resentment / Ghost Gate | attracts yet irritates |
| Pig (亥) | Clash | head-on opposition |
Harmony, Clash, Punishment, Harm, Break and Resentment are relations fixed mechanically by the pair of branches. They say nothing about anyone’s character being better or worse.
2027 (Ding Wei year) and the Black Snake
2027 is a Ding Wei year. The year’s stem and branch change over at the start of spring, around February 4, 2027. The Ding of 2027 is the money and openings your day stem steers. The amounts and range that move tend to widen, and your eye for managing what comes in and goes out is tested. The year branch Wei has no direct Six Harmony or Clash with your day branch, so the color of this year shows mainly in its relation to your day stem.
What the day pillar alone cannot tell you
The day pillar is one of the four pillars of a chart. The year, month and hour pillars, the ten-year luck cycles, and Zi Wei Dou Shu and Western astrology readings are not included on this page. Two people with the same Black Snake can show it differently depending on their other pillars, and your day pillar alone does not settle personality or fate.
To see all four pillars, use the free BaZi calculator. To read a specific question through to timing, a personal reading is the next step.
See the whole chart with the free BaZi calculator →Personal readings →Day Pillar Types →
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out whether I am a Black Snake?
The day of Black Snake (Gui Si) comes around once every 60 days, and people born on a 癸巳 day belong to this type. Enter your birth date on the day pillar type index to check.
Why am I a Black Snake if my birth-year animal is not the Snake?
The birth-year animal comes from the year branch, while the Snake in Black Snake comes from the day branch 巳. They are two separate calculations. Even if your birth year belongs to another animal, a day branch of 巳 makes your day pillar a Snake.
Which types match the Black Snake?
Looking only at day branches, the Six Harmony partner of 巳 is the Monkey (申), and the clash comes from the Pig (亥). That is one narrow view. How well two people fit depends on all four pillars and on how they treat each other.
See other types
Same color
- Black Monkey (Ren Shen)
- Black Rooster (Gui You)
- Black Horse (Ren Wu)
- Black Goat (Gui Wei)
- Black Dragon (Ren Chen)
- Black Tiger (Ren Yin)
- Black Rabbit (Gui Mao)
- Black Rat (Ren Zi)
- Black Ox (Gui Chou)
- Black Dog (Ren Xu)
- Black Pig (Gui Hai)
Same animal