The Northern Southern Hemisphere Question:
The question of whether or not the Lo Pan, Lo Shu orientation should be reversed when applied to the southern hemisphere has been pushed around for years, so consider the excellent arguments presented in 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, nowhere closer than 18 degrees north of the equator. There are no authentic historical data, nor are there records on the application of Feng Shui theory in the Southern Hemisphere. The evidence simply doesn’t exist, so unfortunately we have to debate the question, 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? latitude which is 720 nautical miles or 828 statute if you like.
The 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 just to illustrate the variation in flow. To see 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 tilt by pointing rigid and parallel to the same point in space towards the Polaris Star. 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 during the summer solstice on June 21, over the Tropic of Cancer, where it reaches its maximum North declination* around 23? North. It then begins to decline and crosses to the south side of the equator crossing the point of Libra around September 21st. 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. (Reversed for hemisphere S) It should be clear from now on how the seasons are formed. (*the sun’s angular distance north or south of the equator)
From this model, we can see that most of the people in China lived above the 22nd parallel of north latitude. This means that your view of the sun, from Qinghai province in north-central China, for example, on June 21 would have been rising in an east-northeast direction at about 064? True (24°N of E).
The sun would traverse the sky, reaching its maximum height of 74? at noon, as it heads south, and moves across the sky to the west, 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 the Form School Feng Shui, which supposedly predates the compass by at least 2000 years and was concerned with landscape topography 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 midday Sun/South, our greatest source of energy and the last Yang. the source of our warmth and light. This is the Phoenix facing Red/Orange its element is Fire as the rising and setting of the Sun. It is natural that this should be 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 to the north behind us giving us protection. Blue/Black/Yin Cold and dark like the long northern nights. The Black Tortoise historically represents the shady side of the hill. It makes sense that this direction with the smallest windows and the least light and being the most Yin is considered the most suitable for Yin rooms in the house, such as 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 the South and good for breakfast, if there is a garden then this is an area for a vegetable garden or orchard, especially if they can be oriented to the south.
The white tiger to the right/west, towards the snowy 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 the nursery, especially for the youngest daughter.
It is relatively easy to see how and why the ancient Chinese configured their houses to face these directions. This configuration is as relative to homes in the Northern Hemisphere today as it was 5,000 years ago in China. If we had the option to build our perfect house, this would be the configuration that we would probably choose, for sure.
The energy pattern and apparent motion qualities of the sun in the northern hemisphere as seen 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 July World Climate Chart in Admiralty Navigation Directions NP136 is an excellent illustration.)
In harmony with the laws of nature; and therefore balance, Yin and Yang. The opposite exists in the southern hemisphere. Although the Sun will still rise in the East, the Sun’s apparent motion 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 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 the orientations are reversed in the southern hemisphere and that we should look 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
