Feng Shui text advice against living in a house that has faces directly North (0 degrees), South (180 degrees), East (90 degrees), West (270 degrees), North East (45 degrees), South East (135 degrees), South West (225 degrees) and North West (315 degrees).

Houses with these facing directions are said to be sitting on the “Death and Emptiness lines” which as the name suggest is highly inauspicious. Dead is dead while emptiness imply losses and apply not just to career and wealth but also to relationships and health – physical and mental.

Facing Direction of a House
But first a few words on the facing direction of a house. It is the direction that lets in the bulk of environmental energy into the house.

For a link or town house, this is the usually (though not necessarily) the street side. Environmental energy from the right and left sides are is totally blocked by the common walls that it shares with adjacent houses. There are usually houses at the back which further reduces energy into the house.

Thus the street side is usually the facing direction and this is further reinforced by the main door, larger windows (that let in more energy) and less unobstructed view.

Another clue is to look at the location of the living and kitchen. The living is usually at the the facing side while the kitchen at the sitting side.

There are exceptions. One notable exception are houses that face the sea or lake and houses that are built on a slope. To maximize the view, the position of the living and kitchen is reverse. While the street and door is still at the so called front or entrance of the house, the living is moves to the ‘back’ and fitted with large windows and door for a maximum view of the sea, lake or unobstructed scenery. In such a case, the living side is the facing.

Apartments are a little harder to decide. However as a general rule (and not cast in stone), for an apartment with a lving and walk out balcony with an unobstructed view, this is usually the facing. If the apartment do not have a walk out balcony, only windows, then the facing is usually the unit entrance door side.

In practice the chances of the house sitting on the “Dead and Emptiness Lines” is small. In theory, a degree or so to the right or left is sufficient to escape the dreaded lines. In practice, if it is better if the facing is a few degrees (say plus minus 3 degrees) away to be on the safe side.

While such orientations are not suitable for homes and offices, they are perfectly acceptable for places of worship.

Other Inauspicious Lines

In most Feng Shui systems, a property can have one of 24 facing directions, also known as mountains. Each cardinal sector (45 degree span) e.g. North is divided into 3 sub sectors each of 15 degrees each. There are named N1, N2 and N3. N1 is between 337.5 and 352,5 degrees, N2 between 352.5 and 7.5 degrees while N3 is between 7.5 and 22.5 degrees. Eight cardinal sectors with 3 sub sectors reult in 24 directions or 24 mountains.

Each of the 24 mountains have a unique ‘energy chart’. Okay this is not entirely true. The 2 and 3 sub sectors share a common chart. For example N2 and N3 shares a similar chart but are different from N1.

It is inauspicious if the facing direction of a property lies exactly between two mountains, for example between N3 and NE1 or between NE1 and NE2. The energy charts are different and which one do you use.

The “qi” that enters such a property is uncertain and confused.

What is the consequence of sitting on the boundary?

The confused qi will cause occupants to suffer in both people related matters such as health and relationship as well as wealth related matters such as career and money. Imagine a house that is detrimental to career, wealth, relationships and heath!

Ancient text also talk about spiritual being entering the house, the head of the household deserting the family, foamily members having to live on charity and occupants having bad dreams.

The modern interpretation is that the confused qi cause occupants to becoming emotionally unstable (hence seeing ghost and bad dreams) and thinking and acting irresponsibly (such as deserting the family).

So how does one rectify the problem of sitting on a “Death and Emptiness Line”? It depends very much on the type of the property. If possible we recommend the house owner carry out renovation works to change the facing of the property by a few degrees.

While this is the best option, it is difficult to do and can be costly to implement. The other option is to change the facing of the “mouth of qi” into the house. This is usually (those not always the case) the main door. Tilting the door and door frame is a more cost effective solution and is a more practical solution.

What are the lessons learnt? Avoid a “Death and Emptiness Line” unless you want to see ghost!

How to Resolve?

Practitioners suggest changing the facing of the house. In theory a small adjustment to the wall on the facing side will do. However in practice, this can be very costly. So a simple solution is to tilt the facing of the main door.