Feng Shui: Which is the front of your home?

A good test to find your facing direction: If you had to take a photo of your home or office which angle would you take it from?

Would you take the picture of the front door that has nothing on that wall except the main entrance, or would you take the picture of the side that has the most windows and is more pleasing to the eye. The side that's more pleasing is, of course, the front!

Every thing in this world has a 'face' and a 'back', including a built structure.

In the study of Feng Shui, it is very important to determine a property's face and back. You also need to know which direction the front faces, right down to the last degree. For this, you need to learn the correct method of taking a compass reading.

Finding the front

Most people assume the front of a structure is the direction the main door faces. But this isn’t always the case. Let's take a look at the factors that decide which direction a property faces.

The facing direction is the front that faces active energy; and the sitting direction is the one exactly opposite to this.

Here's how to recognise the direction of active energy; ie energy that's lively.

* The side of a property that has the most windows is most likely to be the facing of your house.

* A busy road or a public footpath.

* A flowing river; if you are lucky to stay within the realms of nature, but even a street resembles and is symbolic of the same.

* A playground for children or primary-level school.

* A view of a swimming pool, garden, etc

Some examples of sitting and facing directions

1. This property has a main door that faces east. The door looks onto their neighbour's wall and has no other windows. Remember, the facing direction is different from the direction which the front door faces. Here, even though the main door faces east, this is not its facing direction. This is a north-facing property.

2. Determining the front of this house is clear-cut. The front door is on the front main wall along with lots of windows, and there is a pathway leading to it. Trees are at the back. In this case, having the main door on the front wall makes it easier to decide the facing direction.

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3. In this example, the house’s main door faces west. However, the front of the house is clearly the wall where the four windows are. If you had to take only one photograph of this house and show one wall, you would take it at this angle. So this house faces north and sits in the south.

How do you take a compass reading?

To understand this you will need to get yourself a compass from the local stationery store, if you do not have one already.

You have probably noticed an arrow denoting the north, normally on the bottom-right side of the plan, on an architect’s plans or those from the local council, This is not the magnetic north; it is the geographical north. All you need to remember is NEVER use these readings when it comes to Feng Shui.

In Figure A you see how the compass needle, (the red part) always points north. Manually rotate the dial so that its north (N) marking is aligned with the compass needle (north). Once done, trace an imaginary line 90 degrees/perpendicular to your property.

The degree that this line meets on the compass will tell you the direction and angle that your property faces. In the illustration you can see that the property faces 310 degrees (north-west). To find the sitting direction check the degree reading that’s exactly opposite on the dial.

Reading tips

* Once you have determined the face of your property, stand with your back parallel to it, facing outside.

* Remove all metal jewellery as it will interfere with the magnetic needle.

* Hold the compass at waist level.

* Stand 3 to 5 feet away from property.

* Rotate the compass dial and make a reading as explained above.

* Read the compass degree on the indicator line. The direction line will be the one that is perpendicular to you while you stand with your back parallel to the property.

The next big thing is to get the detailed, accurately-proportionate floor plans on paper and we’ll get cracking on how to superimpose the directional chart onto the floor plan. Until then, keep practising face reading… of the property, of course!