Feng Shui Lucky Directions
From your birth year and gender we find your Kua number and your lucky and unlucky directions.
Traditional Eight Mansions feng shui: from your birth year and gender, it finds your Kua number and your four lucky directions and the one to avoid. The method sorts people into an East group and a West group, each with its own set of favourable bearings. The Kua number comes out differently for men and women because the reckoning has always been kept separate, and since 5 sits at the centre and has no direction it is replaced by 2 for men and 8 for women. Start with the places you occupy longest — which way your head lies when you sleep, or which way your desk faces.
How it works
Enter your birth year and gender; nothing else is needed. The year is converted to the lunar calendar so the New Year boundary is handled, and your number places you in the East or West group.
What you'll get
You see the nature of your Kua number, your four auspicious directions — prosperity, health, longevity, and stability — the direction to avoid, the texture of love, work, money, and health, and your lucky direction and color.
How to take a bearing
The compass app on a phone is enough. Indoors the needle wanders because of steel furniture and electronics, so it is more accurate to fix your direction at a window or balcony where things are open, and then work out the rooms from that. In this school the directions mean the eight bearings taken from the centre of the home, so measure with the whole place in mind rather than a single room.
The four good directions do different jobs
The four are not equally good; each has its own office. Sheng qi lifts energy, so it suits where you work and study. Tian yi looks after the body, so it suits where you sleep. Yan nian joins people, so it suits where you receive guests. Fu wei settles the mind, so it suits where you rest. Choose by what the spot is actually for, rather than putting everything into whichever direction ranks highest, because a study placed in the direction meant for rest works against you.
When you cannot match them all
You cannot rearrange the structure of a home at will, so matching all four is usually impossible. In that case matching just one, wherever you spend the longest, is enough. The head of the bed first, then the desk. There is no need to worry if everything is off, and forcing furniture around until daily life becomes awkward costs you more than it gains. A spot that is easy to use comes first and the bearing second.
If you live in the worst direction
A bad direction is no reason to resolve on moving house. This school splits the eight bearings into four favourable and four not, so in any home fully half of them are unfavourable. Turning only the places you occupy longest, or simply sitting with your back to that direction, has long been considered enough. This method was never a standard for choosing a home in the first place; it is closer to a way of using the home you have.
What not to settle with feng shui
Do not make a bearing the basis for buying a home or signing a lease. Light, noise, transport and price matter far more, because those are what actually govern living there. Nor would we suggest looking to a direction for the cause when the body is unwell or work is not going well. Keep it to the modest use of shifting a spot to freshen the feel of a room. Matching a bearing does not make things go right, and missing one does not make them go wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does it ask for gender?
In Eight Mansions feng shui the formula for the Kua number differs for men and women. We follow the traditional method as it is.
How do I use the auspicious directions?
Use them for which way your desk or the head of your bed faces, or where to sit for study and talks. Avoid the one marked to avoid — and take it all as entertainment.
How do I apply the lucky directions at home?
Traditionally you start with the places you occupy for a long time — which way your head points in bed, which way you face at a desk or entrance. It is about adjusting placement, not remodelling.
Why is there no Kua number 5?
Eight Mansions feng shui uses eight directions, so 5, which belongs to the centre, has no direction of its own. When it comes up, the traditional handling is to use 2 for men and 8 for women.