There are many systems of date selection. There is the Xuan Kong Da Gua Date Selection method, the Grandmaster Dong System, the Great Sun Formula, Qi Men Dun Jia etc. These methods require an in-depth knowledge of Chinese Metaphysics.
In this two part article, you will learn a simple but highly popular date selection technique. It is the foundation of date selection found in the Chinese Almanac and is known as the 12 Day Officers method and also as the Establish Divest 12 Gods (Shen) method.
The 12 Day Officers method is a simple system that is based on the concept that each day is governed or influenced by a certain type of ‘qi’. There are altogether 12 types of ‘qi’ that is repeated every 12 days, hence the 12 Day Officers.
The 12 types of ‘qi’ have names and are order in a fixed sequence. They are Establish, Divest, Full, Balance, Stable, Initiate, Destruction, Danger, Success, Receive, Open and Close. Establish is the leader of group and it falls on the day where the earthly branch is the same as the earthly branch of the month.
For example, the first Chinese solar month of 2008 is Jia Yin and includes the days from the 4th Feb to the 4th Mar. The stem and branch of the 8th Feb is Wu Yin while the stem and branch of the 20th Feb is Geng Yin. The branches of both the days are similar to the branch of the month and hence they are Establish Days. The next days i.e. the 9th Feb and the 21st Feb are Divest Days. Next comes Full and the cycle is repeated every 12 days (there are exceptions which I will not cover in this article).
Each of the 12 Day Officers (or types of ‘qi’) has a function and is suitable for certain type of activities. Of the 12 days, only Success Day and Destruction Day have clear cut positive and negative aspects respectively. The others have both positive and negative aspect and the trick is to match the correct day to the right activities.
The first of the lot is the Establish Day. As the name suggest, this day is suitable for establishing or starting an activity. For example, starting a new job or negotiating to start a new business. It is also suitable for proposing marriage (not the marriage itself), starting school, commencing a trip, kicking off a business plan, signing up for a study course and also for starting construction work (but not ground breaking). It is however not a good day for funeral or burial.
The second in the list is Remove Day. Remove Day can be used to start demolition work on a building. It is also a good day for a business to conduct a sale to get rid of old stock. It can be used for cleansing activities or getting rid of something (including the unseen). Sadly by correctly it is also a good day end a relationship or file for a divorce!
Full Day is the third on the list. It is the day to use if you want to have good returns. It is a good day for signing contracts and conduct official openings. It is also a good day for holding a house warming party and for marriage. Some even say that it is good for collection (collecting in full)! It is not however suitable for demolition or burial.
You will learn about the remaining days in part 2 of this article.
