Four Pillars
The year, month, day and hour pillars, each a heavenly stem standing over an earthly branch.
In one sentence
The year, month, day and hour pillars, each a heavenly stem standing over an earthly branch.
How it is used
The year pillar is read as roots and family background, the month pillar as the season and the environment you grew up working in, the day pillar as you and your closest ties, the hour pillar as your inner life and later years. The month pillar carries the most weight in the element balance, because the season decides how strong anything can be. When the birth hour is unknown a reading uses three pillars and says which conclusions it is leaving out.