The term “out of trigram” refers to a house which has an indecisive compass reading. The trigrams are related to the eight basic directions of North, South, East, West, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Southeast. Within those eight basic directions, there are three more subdivisions, each having a 15 degree span.

This makes twenty-four possible directions for a house to have as a facing direction and usually we don’t have to split hairs over single degrees. For example, one of those 15 degree increments is called “East-1.” A house faces East-1 if it faces between 68-82 degrees. Or another example is a house which faces South-1 which is between 158-172 degrees. If you were to get a compass reading between 160-165 then you wouldn’t have to sweat it because the 5 degree span is still in the comfortable range of a definitive sector.

If you are house hunting and the compass reading is verified as being right on the line between two distinct directions, then you have a house type where the energies never really settled in the house when it was being built. This ends up being a challenging house to remedy and it is not as predictable in terms of how the energies will manifest. More than other house types, the Out of Trigram House can contribute to stress for the occupants.

The Out of Trigram house can indicate that the occupants may have some eccentricities at the very least. But there can also be problems with nervous disorders, personality disorders, O.C.D. and even mental illness. With this house type I am not just describing it “academically” or just in theory. I have audited many Out of Trigram house types where the occupants were not emotionally or mentally stable and it appeared to be related to the house type.

Many people have the impression that there are Feng Shui solutions for every flaw or problem that a house can have. But the Out of Trigram House is one of the more difficult houses to deal with. If you can walk away from this house type when you are house hunting, I would recommend that. It sounds drastic, but the indecisive compass reading can be like the twilight zone and all classical Feng Shui practitioners try to steer their clients away from this house type.

I might be determining the compass reading remotely from Google Compass or doing a reading in person. Some clients want to verify the compass reading themselves when I call it as Out of Trigram, especially if they are already emotionally attached to the house. You are welcome to do that, although I do have a lot of confidence in my own readings, having done thousands of readings, in person and remotely.

Within the realm of this topic, some Feng Shui practitioners will label a house as Out of Trigram if it is as much as 3 degrees away from the cut-off point between the twenty-four sectors. For example, 112.5 degrees is the cut-off point between an east and southeast direction. Some would say the reading is Out of Trigram if it reads 110 or 115. I try not to consider it Out of Trigram unless it is right on the line or just a degree on either side of the cut- off point. But of course, it is very difficult to get a reading that is down to less than 3 degrees in accuracy. These are not even ranges which are obvious to the naked eye.

I also have another article about how Compass Apps can be very inaccurate and why. And in Feng Shui, we refer to magnetic North as opposed to Geographic North. When in doubt, use an old-fashioned military compass.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions (R) Since 1992
From the Feng Shui Theory Series