The North Zone: Eight Family Placements

A son's or daughter's placement lasts only while they are unmarried and living at home; when one marries, the younger brothers or sisters move up a place. For how the zones are found and family members ranked, see How to Read Your Home Map.

Father: Conflict (天水讼)

A married man who sleeps in the North forms Conflict. Only a divorce or a move to another bedroom ends it. It keeps him in lawsuits without end, or makes him a litigious man.

Career and money: In public office he is promoted five years later than others, and nothing goes smoothly; even when he breaks no law himself, others drag him into their trouble. In business no income comes in, and he gets money only by going to court. Doctors, accountants and other professionals must guard closely against lawsuits: when an annual phase brings one, others born at the same time come through untouched, but a person in this placement is certain to meet trouble.

Marriage: His marriage breaks, and the divorce goes through the courts. This turns on his destiny: if his destiny holds it, the pattern forms without fail, and otherwise it does not.

Mother: The Army (地水师)

A married woman who sleeps in the North forms The Army. The placement is unlike any other: a shrew screaming abuse in the street, a woman of firm temper, even one who comes to blows with others, all are its images. A mother who is fierce and violent, quick to quarrel and hostile to outsiders, owes it to this placement, and only changing the placement brings peace.

Character: She presents some masculine inclinations, comes and goes alone, and is bolder than most.

Career and money: Her career does not fulfill her ambitions, and disputes arise often. Going into business breaks her marriage, but she makes money; those born in the Year of the Tiger, the Horse or the Goat gain especially: business openings and public office both go smoothly for them, but their marriage goes badly, so the gains and the losses are even. She differs greatly in every respect from others born at the same time, even from a twin.

Marriage: Her marriage is certain to go badly; there is the image of a wife who beats her husband.

Eldest son: Deliverance (雷水解)

The Eldest son who sleeps in the North forms Deliverance. The placement is common, and unusual too: lawsuits and disputes never stop. For a man born in the Year of the Rabbit it bodes ill.

Character: He is firm, bold and martial.

Marriage: He does not marry. Of all the steps a person can take, only monastic vows undo this placement.

Second son: Water (坎为水)

The Second son who sleeps in the North forms Water. The Water trigram carries the image of danger; it sits due north, at the Rat position on the compass. In a traditional courtyard house, which faces south with its back to the north, the room due north of the center usually holds the ancestral tablets and the shrine to the gods, or serves as the main hall, and no one lives in it: the spot is dangerous, and the gods must hold it down. People today, not knowing this, sleep there and form this placement. Only a person born in the Year of the Tiger or the Ox does well in it.

Character: He loves risk and anything thrilling and dangerous, such as gambling and drugs. He is often caught up in lawsuits and faces imprisonment.

Marriage: He marries two years later than others born at the same time.

Family: When a son born in the Year of the Rat forms this placement, harm grows in secret and falls on his family, his mother first of all.

Remedy: The only way out is for him to move to sleep in the South, where he forms After Completion (水火既济), which resolves the placement and transforms him completely.

Third son: Youthful Folly (山水蒙)

The Third son who sleeps in the North forms Youthful Folly.

Youthful Folly springs from a single thought of his own. As the saying goes, two leaves held before the eyes are enough to hide even a great mountain: one wrong thought sets a person that far off course and can ruin a whole life, and by the time regret comes, a lifetime has gone by. When this placement is found in a home, it should be changed early; but he can be helped only once he sees it for himself, and otherwise no amount of urging from his parents does any good.

Character: He keeps his family in the dark to deceive them, and cares only for profit. He is foolish and does not know when to step forward and when to step back. He is firm, does not listen to his elder brothers, and acts and decides alone.

Career and money: He likes money that carries a gamble in it, so seeking money often brings him danger.

Marriage: He marries before his second brother but after his eldest brother, and seven years earlier than others born at the same time.

Eldest daughter: Dispersion (风水涣)

The Eldest daughter who sleeps in the North forms Dispersion. The placement is common too, and brings one calamity after another; she cannot escape legal trouble or prison.

Character: Her heart is set on religion, but she is easily led astray into a false faith. She has something to hide, and nothing she does succeeds.

Marriage: She does not want to marry.

Family: She escapes calamity by taking monastic vows, and her mother worries about her all day long.

Remedy: She moves to sleep in the Southeast, where she forms Wind (巽为风), and the placement is resolved at once.

Second daughter: Before Completion (火水未济)

The Second daughter who sleeps in the North forms Before Completion.

Character: She presents some masculine inclinations, and is firm and quick to anger.

Career and money: Seeking money in business brings her many disputes, even lawsuits that drag on with neither side giving way. A woman born in the Year of the Tiger who forms this placement is certain to sit idle and achieve nothing.

Marriage: Unlike others born at the same time, she never marries.

Third daughter: Exhaustion (泽水困)

The Third daughter who sleeps in the North forms Exhaustion.

Character: She is fierce and unyielding, and acts and decides alone.

Career and money: She cannot hold on to her money and has only a thin lifeline left, so business is certain to go badly for her.

Health: She is frail and often ill.

Marriage: Her marriage does not happen; it meets obstacle after obstacle.

Remedy: The only way out is for her to move to sleep in the Southeast, where she forms Great Exceeding (泽风大过), which resolves the placement.

Source: The Way of the Earth's Veins (天纪：地脉道)