The Day Pillar Is the Person Himself
Among the eight characters of the saju, the day pillar (the heavenly stem of the day of birth) refers to the person himself. The remaining seven characters are read as the environment in which that day pillar exists.
The Ten Gods (十神) are the ten divisions of how the day pillar perceives the other characters. The energy that nurtures me is Resource, the energy that is like me is Companion, the energy I give birth to is Food and Wealth, the energy that suppresses me is Official Position, and the energy that I suppress is Wealth — these five categories are further divided into yin and yang, forming ten.
What the Remaining Seven Characters Mean to Me
Once the day pillar is determined, the remaining characters in the natal chart each receive a name. The energy that gives birth to me, the energy that is like me, the energy I give birth to, the energy that suppresses me, and the energy that I suppress — these five branches are further divided into ten through yin and yang. This is the Ten Gods.
Thus, the Ten Gods refer not to relationships with others but to the positions within myself. Which positions are thick or thin indicate my tendencies and the way I live.
Why we read this through the Ten Gods rather than three elemental relations
There is also a method of viewing the relationship of the day stem solely through the three aspects of the five elements (supporting, same, and opposing). It is simple, but the yin and yang disappear. 甲 (yang wood) and 乙 (yin wood) become the same as 甲, which is a representation of 'sameness', and the opposing relationship is lumped together into a single score without direction or yin and yang.
The spouse position must be evaluated according to the Ten Gods in terms of yin and yang. If items viewed through the five elements are mixed with those viewed through the Ten Gods in one engine, there will be two standards for the same two characters. Therefore, we unify it under the Ten Gods.
The spouse position is Proper Wealth and Proper Officer
Traditional fortune-telling views the spouse position differently based on gender. For men, it is Proper Wealth (正財), and for women, it is Proper Officer (正官). Even if they are the same wealth element, only the Proper Wealth that is misaligned in yin and yang is considered the spouse position, while Indirect Wealth is read not as a spouse but in terms of activity and wealth.