The stability of Magnetic North is critical for the accuracy of divining your fortune with a compass. In physics the convention is that the end of a dipole magnet where the magnetic field flows out is the "north" pole of the magnet, and the "south" pole of the magnet is where the field flows in. The geomagnetic field flows out of the geographic South Pole, and runs back into the geographic North Pole -- so geomagnetic north is actually at the geographic South Pole. The convention is to call the pole in Canada the North Magnetic Pole. "The Chinese always place south at the top of the compass but North is still magnetic North." The fact that all geomagnetic poles wander has not prevented compasses from being useful.[41] For example, compasses are installed in cars, ships, and oil rigs.

All Chinese compasses point to geographic south (thus the literal translations "pointing-south needle" and "pointing-south spoon"). A Luopan is used to determine the orientation of structures or the angle of something in relation to a structure.

Magnetic North and True North (the Earth’s axis) are not the same. A Luopan compensates for this. On a Luopan the Human Plate Central Needle was added during the Tang dynasty to measure declination and this has been updated as necessary. During the southern Song dynasty the Heaven Plate Seam Needle was added for magnetic deviation and also updated as necessary. The Earth Plate Correct Needle indicates current geomagnetic conditions.

As Joseph Needham remarked in a lecture, "When speaking of magnetism and of the magnetic compass … in China people were worrying about the nature of the declination (why the needle does not usually point exactly to the north) before Europeans had even heard about the polarity." Declination was discovered, says Needham, because "geomancers had been attending most carefully to the positions of their needles.”

The solar wind vibrates the magnetic pole, moving magnetic north. If you use magnetic north to determine where to put your furniture, the degrees are not critical, the overall direction is. However, if you use magnetic north to find a site location the reading will not be accurate. The convention is to call the pole in Canada the North Magnetic Pole.

The solar wind (a stream of hydrogen and helium nuclei) fluctuates during the Sun's rotation, with high-and low-speed streams creating high-pressure and low-pressure fronts that contribute to space weather, which sometimes hits the Earth's magnetic field to produce storms in the Earth's magnetosphere. Space weather fronts are like weather fronts on Earth. Space weather fronts generate interplanetary 'weather' such as aurora and magnetic storms, which can interrupt radio and satellite communications. Space weather has led to better early warning mechanisms, not to abandonment of affected technologies.

The Geological Survey of Canada Geomagnetism Where is the North Magnetic Pole?has now determined that the location of the North magnetic pole is now moving more than 40 km per year. The Geological Survey of Canada Geomagetism Daily Movement of the North Magnetic Polehas also determined that the North magnetic pole is in constant motion on any give day and may be displaced by as much as 80km or more. Geomagnetic storms are responsible for these constantly occurring fluctuations in the location of the North Magnetic Pole.

A magnetic compass is comprised of a magnetized needle balanced on a pivot point. No matter where you are the magnetic needle will point to the current location of the North Magnetic Pole. How Compasses Work This answers the question asked by so many students, “Why do I get different compass readings from the same location?

Source: Feng shui - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia