How To Get Your Auspicious Direction

Loshu Numbers and Elements

Earlier I wrote about selecting the right direction. One was based on one’s own year of birth, another based on the birth chart.

Given that not everyone is able to work out one’s birth chart, not without some effort at least, the year of birth is the easiest to figure out and use.

A friend dropped over and complained that I had no tables on these pages which give his year number. He must have missed it but it is found here. There is a chart but maybe this time a little background theory would be good

Before I give a very simple method of working out the year number, perhaps a little explanation may be helpful. The year that a person is born is used by feng shui and astrology to give a quick indication of the basic nature of a person. As we know, there are five elements that are used to describe a person. These five elements are earth, water, fire, metal and wood.

Each year is governed by one of these five elements. For example, this year is a tiger year and is governed by wood. You may have heard of it being mentioned that this year is a metal wood year. What this means is that there are two elements which are used to describe the year. Within the Chinese astrology system, each year has a branch and a stem. This year the branch is metal and the stem is wood and that is why it is called a metal wood year.

For our purpose of determining the number, the stem is the one we use. Thus a person born this year falls under the tiger sign and carries the wood property.

When it comes to a person’s birth number, it is worked out a little differently. On its simplest level, this number is used to derive a person’s natal element characteristic. It is also used to figure out the fengshui relationship of a house or property and the occupant.  Actually the number is based on the 60-year cycle but thankfully, there is an easier method to derive this number.

The method

Obtaining a person’s birth number is different for males and females. The method below applies only if the person is born 1999 and earlier.

For a male,

Add the last 2 digits.

If it is 10 or more, add them again to arrive at a single digit number

Deduct this number from 10

The remainder is your birth number

(for example, if you were born in 1967; 6+7=13 …. 1+3=4 …. 10-4=6 … your birth number is 6)

Special note – If you get a remainder of 5, use 2 as the birth number

For a female,

Add the last 2 digits.

If this is 10 or more, add them again to arrive at a single digit number

Add five to this number

If it is 10 or more, add them again to arrive at a single digit number

Special note – if you get a remainder of 5, use 8 as the birth number

How to Use this Number

Now to be able to use this number. Each number has an element quality. To know this element quality, check out the diagram at the top of this page.

There is one more step to determine those directions which are suitable and that is to know the element relationship.

The interaction of these 5 elements can be simply put as productive, destructive and neutral. To select a good direction, we go for the productive or neutral relationship which are:

Gold produces water,

Water produces wood

Wood produces fire

Fire produces earth

Earth produces gold

Elements are neutral to each other, like wood to wood, metal to metal and so on.

As an example if your number is 4, then the wood and water directions are good for you as wood is your neutral direction with water a direction that nurtures you giving you strength and well, luck.

I must add that this is the simplest and most basic method to decide on a suitable direction and certainly not the most comprehensive. But in any case, feng shui is often a case of “not getting the wrongs” which means that getting one right is a good start.

Tagged as: Birth Numbers, fengshui tips, FIve elements, House Feng Shui