Measuring a House’s Facing Direction

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What is the facing direction of a property? It is the direction perpendicular (or at 90 degrees) to the facade wall of the facing side of the property as shown in the diagram.

A common question that I get is whether we should measure looking into or out of the house? Since it is the facing direction of the house, you should use the house as the principal (or host) and measure looking out of the house.

So far so good. But where should we take the measurement?

Logically it should be at the intersection of the facing direction with the facade wall on the facing side. While it is logically so, it is not the best position to take the measurement. Let me explain why.

The direction of the needle of the magnetic compass can be easily affected by nearby metal objects. You can easily verify this by bring a metal object near the compass.

Most homes here are built using the RC (reinforce concrete) method. Within the beams and pillars are steel bars which can affect the reading on a compass.

For an accurate reading you should be as far away as possible from metal objects. Try to stay away from the gate which is usually made of metal or has a large metal content. It is a good practice to remove the cars from the garage as they may compromise the reading.

So where so you take the measurements?

I will illustrate with a diagram of a typical link house. I would normally take a reading at point A and at point B. Both the position are as far away as possible from the porch pillars, overhead beams, stairs and columns.

In the accompanying diagram, I have indicated imaginary lines that are parallel to the facade wall at the facing. In most homes, these lines are can be real and they are usually formed by the tiles or stones that owners install on the porch. In its absence we can use our best judgement and in the worst case scenario, you have to mark it with a chalk.

Usually the reading at both the locations will be the same or very close. When measuring the facing direction most systems of Feng Shui measure by spans. For example S2 facing is between 172.5 to 187.5 degrees. Therefore if one reading is 181 and the other 182, it is still S2!

Another thing that I have observed is the influence of the electricity meter and distribution box. The compass needle vibrates ever so slightly when you are near them. This vibration is almost never seen in buildings that have yet to receive their power supply.

Therefore, I would also advice against taking the measurements too close to them.

Do you need a Feng Shui Lou Pan (compass) to get an accurate reading? Not really but it would be good to have one as the straight edge allows you to easily align with the facing.

A navigation compass with a straight edge will do to. I do not recommend a round compass as you cannot easily align it parallel to a straight wall or line as it does not have a flat side.

(This is an article that I wrote in a column for the Sun Daily newspaper).

From the Ba Zi (or date and time of birth) an astrology practitioner can figure out a person’s fate potential and luck cycle throughout his or her life.

The facing direction of a house or the side that allow in most of the environmental energy is often used to iron out any pitfall in the person’s fate potential and luck.

For example, a person’s has poor lifetime career luck. This means that he is likely to experience obstacles and challenges in his career throughout his life. Things may become better during periods of good luck but is likely to revert to bad once he passes these good luck periods.

The ‘right’ house facing direction can help to correct or at least try to improve upon his poor lifetime career luck making life more pleasant. Correcting the lifetime fate potential will also help to improve the 10 years and yearly luck cycle as they are somewhat related.

For a person with a balance fate potential and luck cycle, the correct house facing direction can be used to enhance specific aspect of his luck for example career and wealth or spousal or children relationships.

For most systems of Feng Shui the facing direction of the house is also used to determine the quality of the house. Some systems uses the sitting direction which is essentially the opposite of the facing while others combine the sitting or facing with the period of the house to determine its quality. The period of the house is determined by when the house was completed and first occupied. The period and hence the quality of a house can be also be changed via a major renovation or rebuild.

The ideal house is one which is beneficial to career and wealth and to relationship and health. It is often referred to one that “prosper wealth and prosper descendants”. Think of it this way, poor relationship and poor health is unlikely to result in a lot of descendants!

In practice, houses may benefit wealth but not descendants or vice versa. Worse still some benefit neither wealth nor descendants. You will learn more about this in future articles.

Meanwhile, the facing direction and period also determines the auspicious and inauspicious sectors in a house. Knowing this allow practitioners to allocated the most auspicious spaces for the main door, kitchen, bedrooms, study and living area. The underlying principle is that the auspicious energy in the auspicious sectors will rub off on the occupants and influence their luck in a positive manner.

This explain why buying the wrong house can require a expensive relocation of the kitchen or why you as the master, may need to sleep in the smallest room. It just happen that they are in the auspicious sectors!

Feng Shui Unzip

By Feng Shui Consultant Henry Fong

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