One section of Feng Shui input has to do with best personal directions. This can mean that a room in a house may be better for one person than another. It may mean that sitting facing west may be better for you and facing east better for someone else, based on birth year.

We can personalize our space for sleeping direction, best entrances, and even ideal orientation for a whole house. And yet, there can be contradictions for any person, which need to be compared and prioritized.

As an example, let us refer to a man who was born in 1960. This is a person who is born in the Year of the Rat (Zi). The Rat zodiac sign is related to exactly North (between 353-7 degrees) and its polar opposite direction is South. The very middle section of South (between 173-187 degrees) is called the Horse sector, (Wu). Since the Horse opposes the Rat, we could say that an entrance through the Horse Direction would be draining and “opposing” to the Rat person. For the Rat person to enter their home through the Horse sector could make it harder to save money. This is just one example that is specific to a person. This information is culled from Chinese Astrology, as it relates to Feng Shui. Chinese astrology, Feng Shui and Chinese medicine can all be practiced together in a complementary way.

Now, in another complementary system called Ba Zhai (Eight House) School of Feng Shui, a man born in 1960 should be compatible with the direction of South. It should be one of his four best directions: North, South, East and Southeast. This is then a contradiction from two different systems. Usually we need to respect the separate domains and not even try to mix them. As a comparison, a person who is born April 5th in Western Astrology is the Aries “fire” sign. But in Vedic Astrology, that April 5th birth date would be aligned to the zodiac sign of Pisces, which is a “water” sign. It is not that one piece of information is true or false; they are separate domains.

Many Feng Shui practitioners will try to tease out the best of various systems and utilize as much as possible from several systems to cater to someone personally. Going back to the example of the man born in 1960, we could say that NOT all of South is draining for him as an entrance or sleeping direction. The Horse Sector is just the middle 15 degrees of a total 45-degree range of South. This is one reason why having an accurate floor plan and a precise compass reading is critical to determine the location of the 24 sectors within a 360-degree range of directions. In other words, it is not good enough to say a house faces “east” or “west” or “southwest.” Some Feng Shui Schools depict the luo pan compass with the divisions noted for the 3 sectors within each main direction, such as North-1, North-2, North-3. “North-3” would be the 15-degree sector of North that is closest to Northeast.

It is also important to distinguish what each direction does for or against an individual. Let’s say that sleeping with ones’ head pointing to a certain direction is undermining for attracting a romantic partner or spouse. That same direction may not be harmful for the same person to sit in while studying. This is an example of a certain direction only influencing one aspect to a person’s life, as opposed to a general notion that a direction may not be good for someone’s well being overall. When there is a contradiction, we have to just pick and choose, what is the priority or how can we get around the situation.

Another example has to do with timing as opposed to direction. Let’s say that Pig Days are bad days for signing a contract for a Snake person. What do we do if the Pig Day is the best day for signing a contract for the spouse who is another zodiac sign? The couple may choose to have just one person sign a contract, on a good day for one person. But if the couple has to sign together for any kind of loan or purchase, they may need to choose a day that is neutral for both of them, as opposed to being good for one person and not another. Common sense needs to prevail when applying Feng Shui recommendations where there are contradictions. The good news is that there are often alternative remedies and measures to use when one application is not ideal for all involved.

This comes up frequently when a couple is making travel plans or moving house. In the discipline of Nine Star Ki, if two people have opposing best directions, they may need to find neutral directions for both to work with.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Relationships of All Kinds Blog Series