In Vastu Shastra, one of the most frequently asked question is how to use the compass to find the facing of the house? It is an important question because the ancient building science of vastu shastra is entirely direction-based and directions in vastu shastra are held as the energy centers.
Therefore, if your compass reading is inaccurate then you cannot make your house vastu compliant as a difference of even 3-4 degrees will make the entire calculation of 16 vastu zones completely wrong. It will also make it difficult for you to uncover the root cause of the problems.
Hence, in order to apply all the vastu principles properly you need to find out the accurate directions of your house. It can be a very confusing and difficult task in the beginning to determine the directions.
But, if you follow the vastu guidelines carefully you will find out that it is not a rocket science. So without any delay, let’s dive right in and learn the easy and simple method to determine the directions of your property.
This Article Will Explain The Following Things:
1- WHAT IS COMPASS?
2- THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE USING THE COMPASS
3- TAKING ACCURATE COMPASS READING
4- MAKING YOUR FLOOR PLAN
- Finding The Center Point of The House
- Main Entrance Location
- 16 Vastu Zones
5- IMPORTANCE OF ALL CARDINAL AND ORDINAL DIRECTIONS
1- WHAT IS COMPASS?
In order to learn how a compass works, you must find out what a compass is.
In the olden days people used to see the shadow of the sun to determine the directions. In the modern and technologically advanced world we can use the magnetic device called compass to check the directions very minutely.
Basically compass is a device with a magnetic needle that helps us to find out the directions relative to the Earth’s magnetic poles.
This magnetic needle is balanced on a nearly frictionless pivot point. The one end of the compass needle is usually colored in red or green color or marked with ‘N’ to indicate that it points toward North direction.
The one end of the needle in the magnetic compass aligns itself with the earth’s magnetic field that means it will always point towards the magnetic North of the earth which is different from the geographic North.
In the picture given below you can see that each of the direction is located on a particular degree on compass. For instance, North is located at 0° or 360° degrees, the East is located at 90° degrees, and 180° on compass is indicating the South direction.
When it comes to choosing a compass you can always go with a magnetic compass that gives you a degree number from 360°/0° to 359°. However, if you don’t have a standard magnetic compass, you can also use the compass app on your smartphone to find out the facing or direction of your property.
2- THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE USING THE COMPASS-
While using a compass, you need to remember some important tips which are as follows:
- You need to make sure that you are away from structures that could affect the magnetic needle (and hence the reading) of the compass.
- Do not carry mobile phone, laptop or any iron object
- There should not be any high-voltage power lines where you stand while using the compass.
- Ensure that there are no magnetic objects near the compass.
- Remove all jewellery on hands and wrists as it may interfere with the reading.
3- TAKING ACCURATE COMPASS READING-
Finding the facing of your house is very easy and simple. All you need to do is to follow these steps:
- Imagine that the front of your house (i.e., the main gate of your house) is oriented to a park. To take the compass reading you will have to stand parallel to a wall with your face looking to the park.
- Put the compass on your palm and keep the elbow at 90 degrees (horizontally) at the chest level.
- Keep your hand as steady as possible and rotate the housing dial until the compass needle (usually a red or green colored tip) lines up with the orienting arrow.
- Once the 0°/360° mark on the compass housing and the North end of the needle are aligned, determine what line is directly in front of you. In other words, the compass line which is exactly in front of you shows the actual degree or the facing of your house. Let’s say that the compass reading is 45° (North-East). Then North-East (NE) will be the facing of your house.
- Take at least 3 reading from different parts of your house or property to determine the correct direction. Sometimes, the three readings will differ. In that case, add all three readings up and divide by 3, i.e., 130+128+132=390 divide by 3 = 130 degrees. It will be the facing of your home.
- You will now have an accurate facing of your house.
- You also need to find out the exact North point of your house to make the floor plan according to the vastu. Let’s assume you are facing a particular wall of your property and the compass reading is 45° degrees, then measure 45° anti-clockwise from that point, facing the same wall on the map and that would be the North direction of your house.
4- MAKING YOUR FLOOR PLAN-
Now the next most important step is to grid the map of your house and locate the main entrance as well as mark all the 16 vastu zones on your floor plan. But before we do that we need to find out the exact center point of the house.
FINDING THE CENTER POINT OF THE HOUSE ON THE MAP-
As you can see in the picture given below, mark all the four corners of your house as point A, B, C and D. Now draw a line from point A to C and B to D. The point where these two lines are crossing each other is the exact center point of your house.
But if there is a cut or extension in any corner of your house, then draw an imaginary line to make the house square or rectangular. After that, mark all the corners as point A, B, C and D. Then draw a line from A to C and B to D. This crossing point of these two lines will be the center point of your house.
LOCATING THE MAIN ENTRANCE ON YOUR FLOOR PLAN-
There are total of 32 possible entrances according to vastu shastra. After dividing a circle of 360°, you will get 32 entrances each covering 11.25°. Every cardinal direction (North, East, South, and West) is divided into 8 possible entrances. For instance, 8 entrances for North (N1 to N8), 8 entrances for East (E1 to E8), 8 entrances for South (S1 to S8), 8 entrances for West (W1 to W8).
Each entrance creates its own effect but only few of them offers positive results to the occupants of the house.
Therefore, we have to mark all the 32 entrances on your map in order to decide the best entrance of your house. Follow these steps to find out the perfect entrance of your house:
- Firstly, mark the center point of your house on the map.
- Determine the exact north point of your house using compass.
- Draw a line from the center to the North point of the house.
- After drawing a line from center to the north, now draw another line at 11.25° clockwise from the Northern point. It will be called N5. Now, at the regular interval of 11.25°, draw rest of the lines clockwise and mark them as N6, N7, N8, S1, and S2 and so on.
- This is how you can mark all the 32 entrances on your map and thereafter you will be able to choose the best possible entrance for your house.
- Remember, each principal direction (North, East, South, and West) has 8 possible entrances. For instance, north has 8 possible entrances from N1 to N8.
MARKING ALL THE 16 VASTU ZONES ON THE MAP-
Once you have decided the vastu compliant entrance for your house, the next step would be to mark all the 16 Vastu Zones.
Positive flow of energy in all the 16 vastu zones of your house is extremely important to get the desired results because this flow of energy deeply affects your emotions as well as your thoughts. Therefore, it is important to locate the 16 vastu zones on the map and make them vastu friendly.
But, before we determine 16 vastu zones on your house map, we need to understand the basic directions and their degree readings. Basically, 16 vastu zones are composed of four cardinal, four inter-cardinal and eight secondary inter-cardinal directions. Each of them is located on a particular degree on the compass.
First of all, we will find out cardinal directions and their degrees on compass. In a compass, there are four cardinal directions (North, East, South, and West) each separated by 90 degrees. These cardinal directions are:
0°/360° - North
90° - East
180° - South
270° - West
These cardinal directions are further divided into four inter-cardinal (ordinal) directions. Each of the inter-cardinal direction is placed halfway between two cardinal directions. For instance, one of the inter-cardinal directions North-East (45°) is located exactly halfway between the two cardinal directions North (0°) and East (90°). This applies for every inter-cardinal direction. Here are four inter-cardinal directions and their degrees on a compass:
45° - NE (North-East)
135° - SE (South-East)
225° - SW (South-West)
315° - NW (North-West)
Apart from the four cardinal (principal) and four inter-cardinal (ordinal) directions, there are secondary inter-cardinal points halfway between each cardinal and inter-cardinal point. These secondary inter-cardinal points are as follows-
22.5° - NNE (North-North-East)
67.5° - ENE (East-North-East)
112.5° - ESE (East-South-East)
157.5° - SSE (South-South-East)
202.5° - SSW (South-South-West)
247.5° - WSW (West-South-West)
292.5° - WNW (West-North-West)
337.5° - NNW (North-North-West)
These cardinal, inter-cardinal and secondary inter-cardinal directions are known as 16 vastu zones. Now, we will mark these vastu zones on your house map. For that, divide your house into 16 Vastu Zones each covering 22.5° degrees. Follow these steps to determine 16 Vastu Zones:
- First of all, draw a line from the center to the North point of the house.
- Now, draw another line at 22.5° degrees clockwise from the North. It will be called NNE (North-North-East).
- After marking the North and NNE, draw rest of the lines clockwise on the map at the interval of 22.5° degrees and mark them as ENE, East, ESE, and SSE and so on.
- Once you have the marked all the 16 vastu zones, make sure to indicate on your map the locations of all the rooms, stairs, kitchen, underground water tank, over-head water tank etc. Here is a picture to show you the ideal vastu zones to locate all the rooms of your house according to vastu principles:
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