The calendar, day by day
This guide describes the Pillars phone app. The website does the same calculations, but some screens and features work differently or aren't here yet.
The calendar is the closest view in the Timeline. It's like an old wall calendar where each square also carries the day's pair of characters. Open the Timeline tab and choose Calendar.
The month opens on today, in your phone's time zone. Use the arrows on either side of the month's name to go back or forward.
What's in each square
- The day's number.
- The day's pillar, in small characters.
- A thin bar at the bottom. The longer it is, the closer the symbolic fit between the day and your chart, by the app's model.
- Today has a colored outline.
Next to the number, small marks may appear. The legend under the calendar explains them:
- A dot: a BaZi month starts that day, at a solar term.
- A ring: an event you added.
- Two small squares: the day repeats a pillar of yours or of someone close to you.
Some squares are softly tinted, green or warm. Open one and you'll see a small label: Best day or Avoid. Other days may say Favorable. The label comes from the tradition's day rules, which look at how the day's characters meet yours: a clash with your Day pillar, a combination, help from others. It's about the day's general tone, not about any specific activity.
When the month changes
A BaZi month starts at a solar term, somewhere between the 4th and the 8th of the calendar month. So the first days of each month still belong to the month before. A note under the calendar tells you exactly which days.
Open a day
Tap any square and a page opens for that day:
- The date, and four small stacks: the Day, Month, Year and Decade pillars that are running.
- The day's themes, its rating and its label, if it has one.
- The day's text: a title, a few lines about how the day tends to feel, what it's Good for, and a line on how it leans for you. It carries the Traditional reading label, and Why? shows the rule behind it.
Below that, there may be some notes:
- A solar term starts a new month that day, at an exact time. Before then, it's still the previous month.
- The day exactly repeats one of your pillars, or one of someone else's in your list. As the app says, it's something to reflect on, not proof.
- An event you told us about, or its anniversary, with how many years it's been. These carry the You told us label.
- Your note for this day, if you wrote one on Today.
Adding your events
Events live on each person's screen. Scroll down to Events you shared and tap Add event. You can choose You met, You married or Other event, pick the date and add a note.
Events are kept only on this phone. They let you look back at that day in the calendar, not prove anything. Every year on the same date, the anniversary shows up too.
From Today
On Today, tap the day's pillar at the top. The calendar opens on this month with today's page already open.