An explanation of magnetism based on knowledge that the universe knows its right from its left — it is not symmetrical, as Eurowestern cultures believed for most of their existence.

This “handedness” is the concept of chirality. Opposites are built into the universe. Yin and yang — one of the earliest concepts of opposites — relate to an early understanding of physics, chemistry and the function of DNA.

The universe is left-handed.

In Chinese science the left hand is yang. All amino acids (what life is built from) are left-handed. See Horgan, “The Sinister Cosmos” (May 1997) in Scientific American.

Because the universe is “left-handed” so is Earth. The magnetic field of the planet has a left (yang, positive) and a right (yin, negative). The positive pole (yang) of the Earth’s magnetic field is at what we call the “South Pole” (the south geographic pole). The negative pole (yin) is at what we call the “North Pole” (north geographic pole).

Interestingly, north is the land of the dead in Chinese culture and has been regarded as such since at least the time of Banpo settlements (c. 4000 BCE).

Eurowest cultures have generally assumed north as the beneficent direction; that is why the compass needle “points north” for them. For example, the mystic Robert Fludd insisted that people sleep in a “boreal” position (with their head pointing to the north pole) to align themselves for health and to keep the demons away. (No kidding.)

It is quite common to find Eurowest ideas passed off to the public as “feng shui” — a clear sign that the “feng shui master” making the claim is a fraud.

Chinese scientists discovered the nonconservation of parity because Chinese science has always focused on the south as the beneficent direction — that’s why feng shui compasses have “south-pointing needles.”

In reality, a compass needle points in the direction of the horizontal component of the magnetic field where the compass is located, not to any single point.