It is important to remember the distinction between direction and location when dealing with Feng Shui. Direction is the degree to which you face. Location is where you are within a structure. The words "Sector" or "Palace" are used to indicate location, and the word "Facing" indicates direction. Direction and location are important because they are the primary means to tapping into and harnessing positive Qi within the environment.
Energy in a structure can be tapped into by locating a person within a sector that houses the energy. Direction is then used to fine-tune the effectiveness for the individual. Ideally, a person should be located in a sector with positive Qi, and oriented to one of his or her positive directions (as determined by the Life Gua method). If this is not possible, it is more important to consider location than direction.
In classical Feng Shui, the layout of an internal structure is demarcated with a "Nine Palace Grid", which looks like a tic-tac-toe grid (see the template to the right). A door, room or other object's location refers to the square within this grid where the object is found. This may or may not correspond to the direction that object faces. A door could be located in the southwest sector, for example, but face south. It's location would be southwest, and its direction would be south.
To create a Nine Palace grid, take the facing direction of the propery, as you learned to do previously. Now use an accurate floor plan of the house and divide it into three equal sections horizontally and vertically. Mark the lines off in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Do not include areas like patios or external garages which are not integrated or enclosed in the same space as the living areas of the house. However, if the garage is attached to and enclosed with the house, it must be included.
Sometimes there will be missing sectors in a floor plan. In general, if less than two-thirds of one of the squares is occupied by a structure, that sector is considered missing.
Beginning with the sector that corresponds to the center of the facing side of the house, mark the compass directions corresponding to the location in the grid. If the house faces south, for example, the center grid of the facing side of the house will be south. The grid opposite this will be north. Now you can mark the direction of every other grid on the chart. Mark the Facing sector with an arrow on the outside of the grid, and mark the Sitting sector with a rectangle outside the grid on the opposite side of the Facing sector.
Professional Feng Shui practitioners will often refer to a location by the Trigram that corresponds to the location, not by the direction. So instead of saying "South Palace", for example, they will say "Li Palace". "Southwest Palace" would be referred to as "Kun Palace", and so on.
It is also important to recognize that the Nine Palace grid's lines do not in and of themselves represent boundaries for the Qi of an environment. Qi will not follow invisible lines drawn on a piece of paper! The actual walls and structures of the building are more of a determinant of the flow of Qi, but the grids can give us a general idea of where each type of Qi exists.
The "Eight Pie Wedge" chart should be used to analyze the EXTERNAL features of a property, or to place water features when specifically called for. To use the Pie Wedge chart, find the center of your floor plan by connecting the upper right corner to the lower left corner with a line, and then connect the upper left corner to the lower right corner with another line. Where the two lines intersect is the center of the property. Now find north (0 degrees) on the floor plan and mark it. Draw a line 7.5 degrees from this spot, and continue drawing lines at 15 degree intervals until all 24 wedges are created. Extend the lines past the walls of the structure. Alternatively, you can download the pattern on this page and overlay your floor plan with it.
Chad Dunham
8-White Star Feng Shui