Feng Shui Northern versus Southern Hemisphere
The north south hemisphere question:
The question of whether or not the orientation of Lo Pan, Lo Shu should be reversed when applied to the southern hemisphere has been contested for years, so consider the excellent arguments presented at Qi Concepts in the [http://www.dragonsbreath.co.uk]
Feng Shui originated in China between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago. China is a vast country, yet its location is entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, with no part closer than 18 degrees north of the equator. There are no authentic historical data, nor are there any records on the application of the Feng Shui theory in the Southern Hemisphere. The evidence simply isn’t there, so unfortunately we have to debate the issue, postulate our theories, and make our own decision about what we feel comfortable with. Certainly, if you live near the equator, you should be aware of the difference between the geographic equator and the magnetic equator, as I have already pointed out in the previous section. The difference can be quite considerable as much as 12? of latitude which is 720 nautical miles or 828 statute if you like.
Isogonic graphs show the magnetic flux. It can vary from 0° to 30°. Interestingly, the large area over China has no magnetic variation. This diagram is only to illustrate the variation in flow. For a good example of an isogonic graph, visit the British Geological Society website
If you look at the earth, can you see that the earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5? the plane of its orbit around the sun is called the ecliptic. It maintains this inclination by pointing rigid and parallel to the same point in space towards the Star Polaris. If the angle of the Earth’s axis remained perpendicular to the plane of the Sun, then the Sun would be on the equator at all times. However, this is not the case and we are stuck the way it is.
The Earth revolves around the sun in 365 days. The sun’s apparent motion crosses to the north side of the equator for about six months, peaking at the summer solstice on June 21, over the Tropic of Cancer, where it reaches its maximum declination* North around 23? North. It then begins to decline and crosses over to the south side of the equator crossing the point of Libra around September 21. It continues its southward loop until it is over Capricorn around December 22, the winter solstice, where it is at its lowest point to the west. (Reverse for the S hemisphere) It should be clear by now how the seasons are formed. (*the angular distance of the sun north or south of the equator)
From this model, we can see that most people in China lived above the 22nd parallel north latitude. This means that your view of the sun, from north central China’s Quinghai province, for example, on June 21 would have been rising to the east and northeast at about 064? True (24°N of E).
The sun would cross the sky, reaching its maximum height of 74? at noon, when heading south, and moving across the westward sky, where it sets west-northwest about 290?True (16°N of W)
Now if we consider the fact that the first school of Feng Shui was Form School Feng Shui, which supposedly predates the compass by at least 2000 years and was concerned with landscape surveying using the configuration of the four celestial animals, we can see that a pattern is formed. .
We have at Chinese Form School an arrangement that naturally faces the Sun/South of noon, our greatest source of energy and ultimate Yang. the source of our heat and light. This is the Phoenix facing Red/Orange its element is Fire like the rising and setting of the Sun. It is natural that this is the direction that the Yang rooms of a house should face. These would be the most active and used rooms during the day.
They would be the most open rooms with the largest windows The entrance hall, the living room, the family room, the conservatory, the patio, the terrace,
The tortoise is north behind us giving us protection. Blue/Black/Yin Cold and dark like the long northern nights. The Black Turtle historically represents the shady side of the hill. It makes sense that this direction with the least amount of light, the smallest windows and being the most Yin would be considered the most suitable for the Yin rooms of the house, such as the bedrooms, bathrooms, bathrooms, storage rooms.
The Blue/Green Dragon, the color of the eastern plains and the China Sea, is to the left/East and the rising Sun. Its wood element is expansive and represents the growth of spring and the dawn of each new morning. This area is conducive to a kitchen that is yang but less yang than south and good for breakfast, if there is a garden then this is an area for a kitchen garden or vegetable garden, especially if they can face south.
The white tiger to the right/west, towards the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas and the setting sun. its metal element is representative of contraction and autumn is yin, feminine, conservative and protective by nature. This is also a good area for children’s bedrooms and nursery, especially for the youngest daughter.
It’s relatively easy to see how and why the ancient Chinese set up their houses to face in these directions. This configuration is as relative to homes in the Northern Hemisphere today as it was to China 5,000 years ago. If we had the option of building our perfect house, this would be the configuration we would probably choose, for sure.
The energy pattern and apparent motion qualities of the sun in the Northern Hemisphere as viewed from the North Pole are clockwise. Similarly, the main ocean currents and the main air currents, the trade winds and the monsoons, circulate in a clockwise direction.
(The world weather chart for July in Admiralty Navigation Directions NP136 is an excellent illustration.)
In harmony with the laws of nature; and therefore the balance, the Yin and the Yang. The opposite exists in the southern hemisphere. Although the Sun will continue to rise in the East, the apparent movement of the Sun as seen from the Southern Hemisphere is counterclockwise. The main currents and air currents are counterclockwise. The Sun, the main source of energy, is to the North and the cold darkness and shadows are to the South. The four seasons are not reversed, i.e. fall, summer, spring and winter, as is often said, but rather complement their opposites, spring and fall, summer and winter, fall and spring, winter and summer. The wave patterns are cyclical, alternating but equal in frequency and amplitude, providing dynamic balance and overall harmony. Common sense dictates that you would not choose to build a house facing the cold south of Yin, the dark side of the hill in the southern hemisphere.
There are a number of other very powerful phenomena and examples in nature that reinforce the idea that orientations are reversed in the southern hemisphere and that we should be looking at our surroundings and pay attention and listen to nature and our surroundings afterwards, right? ? What is Feng Shui about?
Feng Shui Qi Concepts is available from The Pot and Grass Company