Feng Shui Directions: How to Use Your Lucky Directions

Eight Mansions feng shui gives every person eight compass directions: four that are traditionally favorable and four that are traditionally unfavorable. This guide explains what each one is used for, how to find them in a real room with a compass, and how to apply them to the bed, desk, front door, stove and sofa.

The eight directions at a glance

The four favorable directions, in traditional order from strongest to mildest, are Sheng Qi (vitality and success), Tian Yi (health), Yan Nian (relationships and longevity) and Fu Wei (stability and personal growth). The four unfavorable ones, from mildest to most serious, are Huo Hai (mishaps), Wu Gui (five ghosts), Liu Sha (six killings) and Jue Ming (total loss).

Which compass point carries which name is personal. It depends on your Kua number, which comes from your birth year and the traditional male or female formula. Two people in the same room can have opposite readings for the same wall. Your own eight directions are shown by the Feng Shui Calculator; the rest of this page explains how to use them, whatever your number is.

Directions are always read from the center: the center of the home when you think about the front door, and the center of a single room when you place furniture inside it.

How to measure your directions

1. Find the center. For a room, take the middle of its floor plan; for an L-shaped space, use the middle of the main rectangle. Stand there.
2. Take a reading. Use a phone compass app or a traditional luopan. Hold it flat at waist height, away from steel furniture, radiators, speakers and other electronics, and take two or three readings a step apart. If they disagree by more than a few degrees, something nearby is pulling the needle.
3. Mark the eight sectors. Each direction covers a 45° slice: North is 337.5° to 22.5°, Northeast 22.5° to 67.5°, and so on around the circle. A rough sketch of the room with the eight slices drawn from the center is enough.
4. Read "facing" and "pointing" correctly. A desk "faces" the direction your eyes look while you sit at it. A bed's headboard "points" toward the direction the top of your head points when you lie down.

Magnetic north: a phone compass, like a luopan needle, shows magnetic north, not true (map) north. In many places the gap is only a few degrees, which matters little against a 45° sector. Near a sector edge, or in regions with a large magnetic declination, check your local declination before deciding.

The four favorable directions and their traditional uses

• Sheng Qi (vitality / success) is traditionally the strongest direction for drive, career and money matters. It is the classic direction to face while working, and a good facing for the main door.
• Tian Yi (health) is traditionally linked to health and recovery. It is the first choice for the direction of the bed's headboard. Tradition associates it with rest and recovery; it is not a substitute for medical care.
• Yan Nian (relationships / longevity) is traditionally linked to harmony between partners and in the family. It is a common alternative for the headboard, especially for couples, and a good facing for a dining or family table.
• Fu Wei (stability / personal growth) is the mildest favorable direction, linked to calm, steady progress and clear thinking. It suits study, meditation and quiet work, and is the usual fallback when the stronger directions cannot be used.

The four unfavorable directions and how they are traditionally handled

An unfavorable direction is not a reason to panic, move house or avoid a room. Traditionally the aim is simply not to face these directions with the things you use most, and to give their sectors to quiet, low-activity uses. Classical Eight Mansions practice even puts bathrooms, storerooms and utility spaces in unfavorable sectors on purpose, where they are said to "press down" the bad direction.

• Huo Hai (mishaps) is the mildest: minor irritations and small losses. Storage, a closet or a laundry corner fits well.
• Wu Gui (five ghosts) is traditionally linked to disputes, gossip and disruption. Avoid facing it in conversations or at work; a storeroom or bathroom suits its sector.
• Liu Sha (six killings) is traditionally linked to setbacks in relationships and legal or money matters. Keep the bed's headboard and the desk from facing it.
• Jue Ming (total loss) is traditionally the most serious. It is the direction people try hardest not to face with the bed or desk; a bathroom, garage or rarely used store is the classic use of its sector.

Room-by-room guide

Two habits run through every room: face or point toward a favorable direction with the things you use most (the bed's headboard, your desk, your main seat), and give unfavorable sectors to low-activity uses such as storage, a closet or a bathroom. The stove is the one traditional exception, explained under Kitchen and stove below.

Bedroom: headboard direction

The bed matters most because you spend a third of your life in it. Traditionally the headboard points toward Tian Yi or Yan Nian, with Fu Wei as the fallback. Put the headboard against a solid wall rather than under a window, and avoid lining the bed up with the bedroom door. If the ideal direction is impossible, any favorable direction is better than an unfavorable one, and a slight angle is better than none.

Desk and study: which way to face

For a desk, what counts is the direction you face while seated. Sheng Qi is the traditional choice for work, business and ambition; Fu Wei suits study, writing and concentrated thinking. Ideally your back is to a wall rather than an open door, and you can see the room's entrance from your seat. For a laptop user, moving the chair and table is often enough.

Front door

A main door that faces a favorable direction, especially Sheng Qi or Tian Yi, is traditionally preferred, and the door is measured from the center of the whole home looking out. Doors are the hardest thing to change, so most people treat the door as given. Keep the entrance bright, clean and uncluttered, and use the door you actually use most often as your reference: in many homes that is a side or garage door.

Kitchen and stove

The stove follows the "sit on the unfavorable, face the favorable" rule: traditionally it sits in an unfavorable sector of the kitchen while its fire mouth, the side from which the burners are fed and controlled, faces a favorable direction. In most modern kitchens the stove cannot move, so treat this as a light consideration rather than a reason to renovate.

Living room seating

For the sofa or the chair you use most, face a favorable direction where the layout allows, and keep the seat's back to a wall rather than to a walkway. In a shared living room, the main chair often follows the person who uses it most.

When you cannot change the layout

Most homes, and nearly all rentals, come with fixed doors, windows and kitchens. Start with the two things you can move in an afternoon: the bed, then the desk. After that, choose which room you sleep and work in, then the seat you use most. If a favorable direction is impossible for one piece of furniture, use the mildest option you have (Fu Wei among the favorable directions, Huo Hai if every choice is unfavorable) and do not worry about the rest. Renters can do all of this without touching the walls.

Feng shui directions are traditional cultural reference, not a guarantee of any outcome. Use them where they fit your home and life.

Ready to find your own eight directions? Enter your birth date in the Feng Shui Calculator; the optional full report then goes through every direction in your home in turn.