Questions and Answers
8 questions on Directions and Orientation matching north-east
In a house visited earlier an elephant was painted in the Ishaan, yet the elephant is said to be the vehicle of the East. Where does it belong?
The elephant is the vehicle of Indra, lord of the East. Between the East and the North-East lies a 45-degree span with several pads, among them a debt door and a door that makes one rich, and every 11.25 degrees the chemistry and circumstances change, so the exact pad matters.
Why does the degree I take at the centre differ from the degree in a room?
Because the degree must never be taken from the centre. A compass placed at the centre only shows roughly whether a room is in the North-East or North-West; the exact tilt comes only when the compass is parallel to a wall. In a regular house, readings taken parallel to the walls are the same everywhere.
My compass showed North tilted toward the North-East, and Google Earth showed 2.39 degrees. Is that also toward the North-East?
Not necessarily. A magnetic compass shows North directly, so its reading can be stated straight away, for example North 30 degrees toward East. Google Earth and the mobile app only show the heading of the line you draw, and North has to be worked out from it; a heading of 2.39 means North lies 2.39 degrees to the left.
At what degree do the corner directions (vidisha) fall?
North-East, South-East, South-West and North-West fall exactly 45 degrees from the main directions. Where they fall in your own flat becomes clear once you do the zoning.
Which planet and metal belong to each direction, and why place that metal there?
In Vedic vastu each direction represents a planet: East is the Sun (gold and copper), South-East is Venus (white metal), South is Mars (copper), South-West is Rahu-Ketu (panchdhatu), West is Saturn (iron), North-West is the Moon (silver), North is Mercury (kansa and brass) and North-East is Jupiter (gold and brass). The planets cannot be held in a fist, but their energy can be deposited in the home: the material representing a direction's planet captures that planet's energy there, multiplies it, raises the power of the place and nullifies negative energy.
Why does the colour of the kitchen platform matter so much?
Eye contact is greatest with the platform, since rolling, chopping and all cooking work happen on it, so its colour works on the eyes and mind. In a wrongly placed kitchen the right platform colour alone can correct about 25% of the dosh: ivory for South, South-East, South-South-East and West-South-West kitchens; light red lakha granite for South-East and South-South-East, used sparingly because red stone comes only as granite, which develops pin holes; yellow for South-West and West; and green for South-East, South-South-East, South, North-East and North.
How do we find N1 to N8 and the other door padas on a map?
Use the zoning chakra shown on the first day, or draw it: from the centre of the map draw the four directions 90 degrees apart and the corner directions at 45 degrees, then halve again to 22.5 degrees and once more to 11.25 degrees, which gives 32 padas (360 degrees shared by the 32 guardian devtas). Starting from E1 next to the North-East line, go round clockwise from E1 to E8, then S1 to S8, W1 to W8 and N1 to N8, on the 81-pada grid. Practise this as homework.
What is mulank, and why does it carry less weight than rashi or the birth chart in choosing a door?
Mulank is the digit sum of the birth date: born on the 1st it is 1, on the 11th 1 + 1 = 2, on the 13th 1 + 3 = 4, on the 18th 1 + 8 = 9. Indian astrology gives it little weight because India runs by tithi, not by date; if dates mattered, tides, amavasya, purnima and eclipses would fall on fixed dates. Doors by mulank follow the planet of each number (1 Sun East, 2 Moon North-West, 3 Jupiter North-East, 4 Rahu and 7 Ketu South-West, 5 Mercury North, 6 Venus South-East, 8 Saturn West, 9 Mars South), but the rashi and the birth chart should decide.