時辰 · shíchén · the double-hours
Hours & your inner animals
You are not one animal but three. The year gives the mask the world meets first. The month gives the heart only the loved few are shown. And the two-hour shichenyou were born in gives the secret self, the hour-animal that lifts out of the dial's shadow when the clock remembers your time. Enter a birth date and hour, and the pointer sweeps the twelve branches to wake all three.
The live shichen is the Hour of the Snake just now, 09:00 to 11:00. The dial leans toward late morning, when the snake suns on the warm stone, whatever your own three may be.
The twelve double-hours
Hour of the Rat
the first watch, the turning of the date.
Hour of the Ox
the deep night, the ox chewing in the dark.
Hour of the Tiger
the hour before dawn, when the tiger hunts.
Hour of the Rabbit
dawn, the rabbit in the wet grass.
Hour of the Dragon
mid-morning, when the mists rise.
Hour of the Snake
late morning, when the snake suns on the warm stone.
Hour of the Horse
noon, the sun at the top of the sky.
Hour of the Goat
early afternoon, the goat grazing the hillside.
Hour of the Monkey
late afternoon, when the monkeys grow lively.
Hour of the Rooster
dusk, when the birds come home to roost.
Hour of the Dog
early night, the dog keeping watch at the gate.
Hour of the Pig
late night, the pig asleep and content.
The month-animal follows the solar terms, not the Western calendar month, so its dates drift a little each year. The hour-animal is read from local clock time exactly as it was recorded, with no time-zone conversion, the way a birth hour is kept in practice.