Bagua
In classical Feng Shui each of the eight compass directions and the centre stands for its own themes, an element and a family member.
Lo Pan the compass in Feng Shui
The Lo Pan, also written Luo Pan, is the Chinese Feng Shui compass and the most important tool in my consultations. I call it my wooden laptop. On the Imperial Lo Pan, the 64 hexagrams are arranged around 360 degrees, each occupying 5.625 degrees. I use it on site to measure the alignment of a house, front door, desk and bed, and the positions of water, mountains and neighbouring buildings.
- Hexagrams64on the rings
- Each hexagram5.625°5.625 degreesone sixty-fourth of a circle
- Characters250+over 250to read
What is a Lo Pan?
All the information is stored on the Lo Pan and precisely located in terms of direction and energy. What fascinates me about this particular Imperial Hexagram compass is that its 64 hexagrams, together with their information code, are arranged with mathematical precision according to the binary code, from north to north-west.
The more deeply you engage with this demanding Feng Shui system, the more fascinating it becomes: on the one hand its energetic logic, on the other the mathematical harmony and rhythm of a specific arrangement of space.
I explain the school behind it under Imperial Feng Shui, and exactly what Feng Shui is on a separate page.
How is the Lo Pan built?
A Lo Pan has four parts, read from the centre outwards.
- The magnetic needle sits in its “Heavenly Pool” at the centre.
- Around it is a rotating circular disc with many rings.
- Beneath it is a square base plate, lacquered red on my Lo Pan.
- Two red threads form crosshairs over the disc.
The rings of the Imperial Lo Pan carry the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. Each hexagram, with all the energetic information of its Yang and Yin lines, is assigned a compass direction. The arrangement is not random but mathematically precise. Every measurement therefore falls within a particular hexagram, and each of its six information lines occupies just under 0.94 degrees on the compass. A Feng Shui measurement point carries both the whole hexagram’s information and the focal point of that information, because a measurement generally falls exactly on one line.
To read this particular Lo Pan compass, you need to know over 250 Chinese characters.
Who invented the compass?
The compass is considered a Chinese invention. Early forms from the Han period, a lodestone spoon on a bronze plate, were used to align buildings and graves long before sailors used the compass. The Lo Pan is their descendant.
What does a Feng Shui consultant measure with the Lo Pan?
During a Feng Shui consultation, the consultant uses the Lo Pan compass to measure important energy points (acupuncture points). These include the alignment of the house, sightlines, door positions and angles, and the alignment of a bed or desk, for example.
In business premises, this includes the reception sightline, till position and desk coordinates. In a landscape, the positions of mountains, lakes, sea, valleys, hills and woodland are measured to determine their influence on the building. The same applies in an urban setting, with other houses, shops, offices, roads and paths.
How do you measure a house’s alignment?
In front of the house
Measure in front of the house, parallel to its façade, looking outwards.
Keep your distance
Cars, metal and electrical devices deflect the needle, so I keep my distance from them.
Measure several times
I measure at several points and compare the results until the direction is established.
Determine the front
The result determines where the front is. An example from Potsdam shows how difficult the question of front and back can be.
Chinese House in Sanssouci Park
Lo Pan or compass app?
What matters is being able to read the rings, and that takes a great deal of training.
The app shows degrees
An app shows degrees, nothing more. Mobile phones are also easily affected by nearby metal and electronics.
The Lo Pan shows the rings
For each measurement, the Lo Pan shows the information on its rings: the hexagram and the line.
The Lo Pan during an on-site consultation
During a consultation, I take measurements on site with the Lo Pan, then work out the calculation charts. I describe in detail on the process page how such a site visit during a Feng Shui consultation goes.
Even in snow and hail
Even at one degree, in snow and hail, you have to go outside when the consultation is booked. In this case, near Laboe on the Baltic coast. The client had travelled from Bavaria especially. So: thermal underwear, thick socks, wellies, hat, warm thermal jacket, and off we go, Lo Pan in hand!
There are more photographs from my consultations in the gallery.
The Lo Pan in the Feng Shui motorhome
The Lo Pan always comes along when I am on tour in the Feng Shui motorhome. Greetings from the home office in the Feng Shui motorhome, with printer, computer and Lo Pan: everything under control for the Feng Shui consultation. This is what it looks like in “real life”, beyond the romance of travel. But always with fun, and joy at being able to do it.
Measurements at historic sites
I also take measurements at historic sites. Travelling in antiquity with the Lo Pan, researching at the Palace of Knossos and taking compass measurements at the so-called throne room: this brings interesting insights for my Feng Shui teaching.
Further reading
Kua number and compass directions
Your Kua number comes from your year of birth and sex and shows four favourable compass directions, two for rest and two for activity.
The I Ching and its 64 hexagrams
A hexagram consists of six lines, solid for Yang and broken for Yin, and is a code carrying information.
The Lo Pan on site with you
I measure your house, entrance, desk and bed with the Lo Pan on site, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I explain how it works under Feng Shui consultation.