Not only in Chinese culture and Feng Shui is there a strong importance of studying the cardinal points and the wind. Some people, such as the Hebrews, named directions according to geographical features that were important to the ancient Israelites who lived in the Judea region. The East is referred to as “Kedem”, which derives from “Edom” (“red”), and may be a reference to the colour of the rising Sun; North is referred to as “Saphon”, from Mount Zaphon, in the far north of Syria; South is often referred to as “Negev”, from the southern Negev Desert, and West is yam (“sea”, i.e. the Mediterranean Sea). Among the Greeks,the first ways of representing directions were related to the places where the winds came from, thus bringing the characteristics of that region. For example,wind from a maritime region brings moisture. This information is very important for agriculture and navigation, which depended on the wind to get from one point to another. In Greek mythology, the name of the group of deities that represented the wind was called “Anemoi”, while in Roman mythology it was called “venti”. In Egyptian mythology, Amun was the creator god of the wind, Qebui was the god of the north wind (represented as a four-handed man or a winged ram with four heads), and Shu was the god of wind and air. Depending on the time or region, one of them was the worshipped god. Among the Aztecs, Ehecatl was the god of winds, while Ehecatotontli was the god of breezes. There was also a god for each wind direction: Mictlanpachecatl (N), Tlalocayotl (E), Vitztlampaehecatl (S), and Cihuatecayotl (W). Throughout human civilization, the wind has inspired architecture, mythology, influenced historical events and warfare, powered transportation, and provided a source of energy for mechanical work, electricity, and also earth’s surface through wind erosion and sedimentation, giving rise to fertile soils for agriculture. In saying this, the importance of studying this energy that is capable of transforming the environment in which we live, be it the external or internal climate of our living spaces, and making them suitable to this force becomes clear.
SHÙMÙ 